Hello AWE-mazing Pronoia Lovers!!


I have been thinking about living as nature does - which is completely in the natural flow of just - being... It has been on my mind quite a bit because one of the affirmations Wayne Dyer has on his Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life Meditation CD. I don't remember the exact statement, and next time I play the CD I'll write it down, but it said something like: By the natural laws of nature, a storm has to come to end. Something like that.

It made me apply that concept to life. By the natural laws, every "storm" or "hard time" has to come to an end.

Gosh, I wish I remembered the original quote! But, hopefully you are getting my point here. If life seems like it is hitting a rough patch, know that it has to end if we are living in a state of going with the flow and living by the natural law. And, basically, the more you live like nature - meaning, living as nature does by not pushing, not rushing, not struggling.... by only - just "being, allowing and knowing" that everything grows and transforms exactly when and the way it is supposed to, without one once of fear or doubt - it happens! Perfectly! Every time!

I just picked up my W. Dyer book to read a little, when I was drawn back to Verse 29. I would love to share it with you, as it has to do with what I had been thinking about, Living by Natural Law - what a coincidence!


Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

By: Wayne Dyer


29th Verse [of the Tao Te Ching]

Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.

Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel and cannot be controlled.
Trying to control leads to ruin.
Trying to grasp, we lose.

Allow your life to unfold naturally.
Know that it too is a vessel of perfection.
Just as you breathe in and breathe out,
there is a time for being ahead
and a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion
and a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous
and a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe
and a time for being in danger.

To the sage
all of life is a movement toward perfection,
so what need has he
for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?



Living by Natural Law

This verse speaks of a natural law that's unaffected by ego. The message? You're not in charge - you never have been, and you never will be. So you're advised to let go of any ideas you have about controlling anything or anyone, including yourself. It's a difficult lesson for most of us to learn. As Lao-tzu puts it in the beginning of this verse, "I do not believe it can be done."

Nevertheless, here's one of the world's most famous scientific minds, Albert Einstein, commenting on this law:

[The scientist's] religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection, This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work...

It is to this feeling that I urge you to turn as you put into practice the wisdom of the 29th verse of the Tao Te Ching. Tuning in to this rapturous feeling of amazement at the sacred perfection of the world helps you release your desire to control anything or anyone. Doing so will allow you to live in the "harmony of natural law," as Einstein describes it.

Lao-tzu reminds you that "everything under heaven is a sacred vessel," needing no input from you. Since you're also a part of everything, you may need to change the way you look at your life and all that has transpired in it, as well as your vision of the future. Whether you agree or disagree, whether you like it or not, all of it is outside of your ego's domain. It's all unfolding according to the same natural law that causes the seasons to follow one another, the moon to look as if it rises and falls, the whales to traverse oceans, and the birds to migrate and return without benefit of a map or human-made guidance system. When you look at your life in this way, you'll begin to see it unfolding organically.

The Tao is a natural law, not some controlling force that's manipulating you. In The Tao Philosophy, Alan Watts reminds us that Lao-tzu once said, "The Great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things but does not lord it over them." The Tao is the informing principle of God, not nature's lord and master. A power-hungry and ego-dominated control freak it's not! Feeling superior is a human creation. The Tao doesn't act as boss, forcing itself on you or anyone. It simply allows all of creation to reveal itself with perfect timing... and all that is revealed is sacred because it's a piece of the ego-free Tao.

I suggest that you create some quiet time to reread this verse and reflect on the sacred nature of everything in your life. Include past experiences that you've blamed for preventing you from having the abundance, health, or happiness that you've wanted and even expected. Ponder the advice that there's a time for it all: Just as you must breathe in to breathe out, you may experience what it is to be ahead by also having a "being-behind experience." All of those times tat you felt betrayed, abandoned, abused, frightened, anxious, or incomplete - they all came about according to a natural law tat also led you to feel cared for, protected, loved, comforted, and whole. There's a time for everything, including what you're experiencing today.

Begin recognizing that every moment of your life is in accordance with the Divine Tao. By doing do, you'll shift from judgment (and perhaps anger) to gratefulness for being able to feel both exhausted and rested, scared and safe, unloved and cared for. All of it is a part of the natural law. Your "ego-mind" tries to protect you from pain by insisting that you can learn to eliminate some aspects of your life. However, the safe within you desires to be more harmonious with the perfection of the Tao. How do you allow this? Lao-tzu urges you to avoid the extremes, the excesses, and the extravagant, and know that all is unfolding perfectly, even if your thoughts tell you that it's imperfect. Those thoughts must also have their own time, and in the natural flow, they'll be replaced by new ones... which will show up on time as well.

Here's what I believe this verse from Lao-tzu offers you from its 2,500 year old perspective:


Give up needing to control.

Begin a conscious program of surrendering, and allowing your world and everyone in it to do as they are ordained to do, Surrendering is a mental process: It involves taking a split second stop yourself in your mode of judgment or frustration and have a brief talk with yourself on the spot. Just remind yourself to step back and be a witness rather than a protagonist, which you can do by providing a sanctuary for the feeling you're judging. Invite Divine natural order in by simply allowing what you're experiencing to go forward without criticism or control; in this way, you move to the center. Think of the need to control as a signal to allow the Tao to flow freely through your life. At first ego-mind may loudly scoff at the idea of the Tao being responsible for the perfect unfolding of everything. It's up to you to recognize that your belief that ego can control life is an illusion.


Practice recognizing that there's a time for everything.

When you're in the middle of a tough moment, repeat the lines given to you by Lao-tzu. I do this in yoga practice when I feel exhausted holding a position for what seems like a too-lengthly period. I mind myself, There's a time for being exhausted, and there's a time for being vigorous. This frees me immediately from my demanding ego, which is saying, You shouldn't be feeling this tired. You can do the same in any moment in your life. Experiences of pain, loss, fear, anger, and even hatred seem to vanish when you remember that this is a part of the perfect blossoming of natural law; and there will soon be a time for comfort, peace, and love.

Apply this verse of the Tao Te Ching by creating your personalized statement when you observe things such as crime, AIDS, hunger, and war. Try something like, Yes, there seems to be a time for such things, and I choose not to remain in extremes of resentment and anger. But there is also my desire to do something about these circumstances - that feeling is also a part of the natural law unfolding. By remaining internally peaceful and avoiding extremes, I will impact the world in the same loving way that the Tao eternally manifests from love and kindness.

It's not what you see around you that keeps you connected to the Tao; it's understanding how this eternal flow works. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "By atoms, by trifles, by sots, heaven operates. The needles are nothing, the magnetism is all."


Do the Tao Now

Find a place where control is all-consuming and relinquish it today. Stifle your inclination to interfere, reminding yourself as you do so that there's a time for everything and you're becoming more adept at observing peacefully rather than taking over.

Post a poem by Naomi Long Madgett where you can read it, and be constantly reminded of your desire to live naturally:


Woman with Flower

I wouldn't coax the plant if I were you.
Such watchful nurturing may do it harm.
Let the soil rest from so much digging
And wait until it's dry before you water it.
The leaf's inclined to find its own direction;
Give it a chance to seek the sunlight for itself.

Much growth is stunted by too much prodding,
Too eager tenderness.
The things we love we have to learn to leave alone.


************


In short: All you need is the knowing that you can manifest _________. Your only job is to have the knowing, relax and allow. It will be here in the perfect timing.

Find yourself pushing or struggling... surrender and get back to Living the Natural Law.