Sabtu, 26 Februari 2011

The Taoist Path through Stress and Spirituality

It’s likely that Charles Dickens was not well versed in the Taoist
philosophy when he began his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities
with the now infamous paraphrased line “It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times.” The truth is, you don’t have to study
Taoism to appreciate the concept of balance. Balance is an inherent
aspect of life. It’s ubiquitous throughout all cultures and has
been expressed in the wisdom of every language since the dawn of
humanity. Words such as inner peace, equilibrium, stability, homeostasis,
coherence, and steadiness all speak to the philosophy of
Taoism. Lao Tzu just happened to be the first to describe this
philosophy—quite eloquently, I might add—more than two thousand
years ago in his book Tao Te Ching. Dickens’s phrase, however,
strikes a harmonic chord in the heart of almost everyone, because
deep down inside, we know that both good and bad moments can
coexist, for better or worse, on any given day and sometimes in the
same situation.
With the rapid changes taking place in our society today, you
might find it hard to acknowledge, let alone appreciate, the positive
aspects of life, particularly if you watch the nightly news. Current
research suggests that over one-third of the American public
takes antidepressants. Sixty-three percent of the American population
is overweight. The average American carries approximately

B R I A N L U K E S E AWARD, P h . D.

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar