The Second Book of the Tao

Departing from the Tao can happen only in the mind; it’s an illusion that becomes our reality. Though we actually live in what is, we think ourselves into what isn’t. Though every apparent detour is the path, we get lost in our imagined wanderings. That’s why, if we’re interested in freedom, there is nothing sweeter than to cultivate, cultivate: to

She lets the confused stay confused if that is what they want and is always available to those with a passion for the truth.

there’s a radiance about people who have settled into the depths of not-knowing. You can see it in their eyes. It doesn’t depend on what happens or doesn’t happen. They have found the inexhaustible treasure, in the most obvious place of all.

The only thing that can interrupt happiness is an untrue thought. It’s like a cloud hiding the sun. When we investigate it, it dissolves. Wisdom is the art of cloudlessness.

Living in harmony with the way things are, the mind finds its center everywhere, its circumference nowhere. The part becomes the whole; what is becomes what should be. Heaven takes its proper, its only place: on earth.

There may be a lot that needs fixing, but there’s nothing out there to fix.

It’s all about paying attention to what is happening within our innermost self, until the unseen, the unquestioned, is as obvious as the seen. When the mind is free of its thoughts, it becomes its own fulfillment.

The mind at peace with itself needs only what it has, wants only what it is.

Once you realize what you are, there’s nothing left but gratitude and laughter.