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Lessons from The Book of Chuang Tzu - Part 3

This temporary thing called human life is a gift.

Accept what is given by the flow of the universe, including loss and death. Don't react against it.

Death is as much part of life as life itself. Sickness is as much part of life and being well.

If you accept and go with the flow of the universe then sorrow will not touch you.

Don't get involved with the junk of this world, or the transient issues that seem so pressing in the moment. Try to stay on the true, simple, narrow path. With many paths comes confusion.

Struggling for fame people destroy each other. They also destroy themselves. Have nothing to do with it.

Knowledge is used for argument. Have nothing to do with using it for selfish or evil ends.

Keep your advice for yourself and for those who want to learn. The powerful already assume they are right and won't listen to you. The wisest cannot manage these people. Don't try. Shun them.

The Way is found in emptiness, in simplicity, in the mundane.

Learn to bear what cannot be changed.

We are governed by Destiny, despite our sense that we have free will. The best thing is to leave it all to Fate even if this is not easy to do.

When the whole world has wisdom the sage can flourish. When the world does not have wisdom the sage must seek only to survive.


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