When you practice, remember that you are in the now wherever you are and in whatever you do. The now is a constant, massive, ginormous thing. It is ever productive and always changing. I tend to forget this and catch myself striving to get ahead, longing for a place I imagine to be better and more peaceful. But there is no state of accomplishment, no “final frontier.” Rather all is in process. This speaks directly to the ancient Chinese notion of the Tao.
The Tao of Becoming: Trusting the Flow of Change
The Tao refers to the way things are. Like water, the Tao flows continuously. Some translate Tao as “the law of nature”—that which is never static, never fixed. You can witness the flow of the Tao in music, in the weather or in an email. It is in your exhalation and your DNA. Each of us is an expression of this great source. In this way we are all verbs—becoming, happening, evolving continuously. So the key is to realize you are part of the ever-changing. Don’t imagine you are outside of it or live in isolation from it. Rather, trust that you are part of a great unfolding.
When you stop perceiving yourself as separate, you “return to the source” and take your place in the order of things.
