4 Ways To Simplify Your Life From The Philosophy of Lao Tzu

In this blog, you will be exploring 4 ways to simplify your life from the philosophy of Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher known to be the founder of Taoism and the writer of Taoism’s most sacred text, “the Tao Te Ching.” So with that in mind, here are 4 ways to simplify your life from the philosophy of Lao Tzu.

How to simplify your life from the philosophy of Lao Tzu.

Lao Tzu, literally translated as the old master, is a Chinese legendary and historical figure who is considered to be the founder of Taoism. Taoism is a philosophy which preaches that the secret to a simple life is not force, fret or struggle to control and manipulate reality, but to relax, smile, and go with the flow, allowing things to unfold naturally.

At the core of Taoism is the concept of the Tao.

The word “Tao” is defined as a path or way that, if followed, leads to a life of simplicity and harmony.

Taoists believe that the tao is the driving engine of creation – both the source and essence of all things.

It encourages us to be in touch with our inner selves, for it is when you know who you really are that you become one with nature, naturally doing things with no unnecessary complications – thus achieving the truest simplicity in life.

Lao Tzu is also credited as the writer of Taoism’s most sacred text, the Tao Te Ching.It is packed with his remarkable wisdom and messages of peace, resilience, and cohesiveness that remind us what matters in life.

He is a central figure in Chinese culture, but his words can apply to people all over the world, which is why in this blog, I bring you 4 ways to simplify your life from the wisdom of Lao Tzu.

Cultivate the three treasures of Taoism

Lao Tzu says, “Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”

Lao Tzu outlines what he calls the three treasures – three values, or qualities of mind, that are key to living a simple life of virtue, integrity and living in natural harmony with the Tao.

These three treasures are compassion, moderation, and humility.

As simple as it sounds, cultivating all three jewels does not come easy.

Let us cover all these three jewels one by one:

Compassion

This also means love or kindness and is one of the most prominent beliefs in Taoism. It is selfless love for all others, including giving others happiness and removing their suffering.

Most people have love and compassion that is very conditional in nature, and the transaction

goes something like this – “If you behave the way I like, I will treat you well; if you don’t, then I won’t treat you well.”

When you put such conditions in place, you feed off judgment, greed, competition, and negative comparison.

When this happens, compassion disappears, and we become disconnected and alienated from our fellow man, which inevitably leads to isolation, conflict, and potential disaster.

The compassion called for by Taoists is impartial, expects nothing in return, and is not possessive.

People who only have conditional love are selfish and tend to have frequent conflicts with others.

One can practice compassion in many ways, starting from the simplest day-to-day activities.

It could be as simple as remembering to smile and say hi to your colleagues after entering

your workplace, or holding the door open for the person behind us, etc.

Every morning think about how we can help the people around us, how we can practice compassion by your speech, actions, and thoughts without any expectations. We find more happiness and less conflict in life if we are more compassionate.

Moderation

Taoism believes that everything in life is connected, and thus allowing ourselves to focus on our fear and greed causes imbalance and will adversely affect our deepest selves and everyone around us.

When we want something expensive, we tend to get stressed and work harder than we normally do to attain it.

After we attain that thing, we then need to work even harder to maintain it or the lifestyle it allows, and then we become stressed about losing that, too! 

On the other hand, adopting a moderate lifestyle breeds simplicity. Simplicity is all about knowing exactly what you want and critically, what you don’t want.

When we live in moderation, when we recognize our needs are few, we can relax and be present.

The best way to practice a moderate lifestyle is by being more mindful of how much we spend and how many resources we use.

Once we have an estimate, we can then find ways to be more frugal.

It could then mean doing the simplest things like not wasting your food or not throwing away unused clothes but instead donating or recycling them by not leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth or cleaning your car with a bucket of hot, soapy water instead of driving to the car wash.

People who live in moderation tend to use little for themselves but are happy to spend lots on others.

Humility

In Chinese, this jewel of humility is translated as “dare not be first.”

Not concerning oneself with being the first to do something is the Taoist way to avoid premature death.

Competing will not only shorten your life but often requires too much risk and energy which will only increase unrelenting stubbornness, which in turn can create conflict and even ruin relationships.

On the other hand, when we yield, meaning when we let go of what we want and let others have what they wish to enable us to choose content and quiet life over a competitive and difficult one.

So a humble person is a person who is happy to yield to others.

A yielding person will not only give more to others and take less for themselves but will also never show off or step on others.

Instead, they praise others’ goodness to raise them.

They are not interested in fighting for the top spot.

If someone else is more worthy of the position, they would happily yield to them.

They care about benefiting all things without conflict.

These three invaluable treasures – Compassion, Moderation, and humility are gifts from Lao

Tzu, and when we cultivate each of the jewels, we will not only bring simplicity, happiness,

love, and success into our life but also bring peace and prosperity to the world.

Go with the flow

According to Lao Tzu, “When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.” One of the most critical aspects of Taoism is the idea of ‘going with the flow.’

This teaching is best explained with the concept of wu wei, which can be translated to ‘inexertion,’ ‘inaction,’ or ‘effortless action.’

A more accurate translation, though, might be ‘non-forcing’ – for wu wei urges you not to fight against our life conditions and instead, allow things to happen as they naturally would.

Imagine life as a river

When you do nothing, the river’s current will effortlessly take you along, moving you forward without breaking a sweat.

Doing nothing does not result in being stuck in one place – instead, the river takes you to new places and situations.

This is an effortless way of living life and the way by which you can enjoy the ride the most.

If you give in to impatience and try to swim with the current to get there faster, you will only waste more energy reaching what you would have reached anyway.

Or, worse, if you fight against the path of life and swim against the current, it might Take all your energy only to lead to limited and disappointing results.

The concept of wu wei urges you to go with the flow of the river.

In our current day and age, we want many things and more often than not, we want them to happen right now.

The most encouraged and thus most common mindset when it comes to life stresses on working hard and taking action, no matter how difficult life is, to get where you need to be.

When following this advice, it is no wonder that we wear ourselves out, risk burnouts and exhaustion, and tend to rush things to get them to the finish line.

When we rush through projects and force ourselves to work on them through setbacks and hardships, they turn out better than we want them to. Plus, we are so often focused on getting through our tasks we often deny ourselves the rest in those times we need to keep going afterward.

When we try to meet every deadline imposed on us regardless of our circumstances, it eats away at both our well-being and the quality of our work.

Additionally, when we are encouraged to push through unfavorable circumstances, we are at increased risk of making errors and compromising quality.

Pushing yourself to work irrespective of the circumstances is one of the most challenging and most exhausting ways to live and often brings limited results.

Taoism instead suggests that we give up this rush and surrender ourselves to the natural flow of life, the Tao.

Now, this does not mean that we refuse to work or sit back lazily and never do anything. Indeed, understanding wu wei as ‘laziness’ would be a gross misinterpretation.

Wu Wei does encourage you to take action, but to do so only when it will be effortless rather than forceful.

Wu Wei encourages you to turn away unfavorable life circumstances and encourages you to embrace favorable ones whenever they may come.

If the opportunity for a project, like a job offer in a new city, arises, and you feel calm, prepared, and even excited – Go for it!

Imagine yourself in this position

If the prospect of a new job does not stress you out and the move to a new city is a welcome change, then you would be acting without effort if you took it.

Opportunities such as the job offer that makes you feel calm, prepared, and even excited are the kind of actions you want to embrace.

Those are the kinds of actions that will breathe life into you instead of sucking it out of you.

By taking action at the point in your life where it will be the most impactful and efficient, you truly ‘become’ an act instead of merely ‘doing’ it.

In other words, at the right time, an action can take hold in the most meaningful and defining way.

On the other hand, when an opportunity or obligation feels too stressful for you to keep up with it, and take a step back.

For example, when a promotion at work comes up at a time when you feel unable to handle the extra responsibilities, deny it.

Take a step back

When you do not know what to do, keep doing what you are already doing. New opportunities will come when life presents you with a chance that you believe will be good and fulfilling for you to take on.

When you are unsure of what you want when it comes to work, just keep working where you are, and your feelings will figure themselves out in time.

And when life presents an opportunity to you, like a promotion or job offer, that makes you feel good and excited, and it feels right – take it!

When we learn how to embrace the concept of wu wei and learn how to go with the flow, we reach achievements in the simplest way possible. To simplify your life, don’t force action. Let action come to you.

By flowing along the river, you will eventually get where you need to be without the struggle.

Let go

In the words of Lao Tzu, “If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.” Taoism teaches us that nothing in life is constant, permanent, or forever.

When the caterpillar learns to get rid of how it is used to living, it can transform into a butterfly.

Just like the caterpillar, humans are constantly changing, and so is everything around us.

To keep life simple, Taoism tells us to embrace change and impermanence by learning to let go.

Change and impermanence generally scare us. We spend most of our time trying to avoid having to face change, and we tend to want the things we enjoy to last as long as possible.

When life inevitably does not work out the way we want it to, we feel powerless. To ignore this feeling, we tend to focus only on what we can control.

This often results in clinging onto those things that we pretend to control, like a job that’s making you miserable or holding on to a fading relationship and so on.

We are incredibly attached to life and its temporary circumstances, to the point where we do not even acknowledge that anything could be different in the future.

This attachment results in a lot more difficulty and pain in life, for when the inevitable change or even end of something does come, we are entirely unprepared to deal with it.

For example, Imagine you are in an unhealthy relationship. You fully realize that you do not enjoy living and spending time together any longer – but you have been together for so long that you barely know how to be alone.

The possibility of finding a new place to live and figuring out how to manage by yourself is daunting enough for you to try and deny your feelings instead. You look for any sign that love is still there and refuse to let go of a relationship that you know, in truth is already long over.

Thus, when the time inevitably comes when your partner ends up breaking up with you first, you will feel more unprepared than ever.

Because of the fact that we are afraid of change despite its inevitability, we tend to deny it instead of embrace it. And when the change comes, it leaves us feeling caught off guard, distressed, and sometimes even hopeless. Not only that, those negative feelings often distract us from any new opportunities that might arise.

 But change needn’t feel like a punishment.

Instead, letting go and embracing the change might be the answer to many of our problems and leave us freer than we could ever imagine. Every change or end comes with a new beginning.

Those who have not mastered the art of letting go tend to be preoccupied with the doors that have already closed, trying to pry them open again, to walk back through them… and getting nowhere as a result.

This refusal to let things go and move on is like swimming against the current of a river instead of accepting where it will take us.

To let go, on the other hand, is going with the flow; it means being able to accept the closing of doors and look forward to new, open ones.

Like how after a relationship is over, you can look forward to having more spare time, more individuality, a newfound focus on personal life goals, and eventually, a possibility of a new, better relationship.

Letting go means embracing the freedom that changes and ends might bring you and looking for new opportunities whenever you can.

Letting go is the gateway to living our most harmonious and simplest life possible. To live our life in the easiest, happiest, and most freeway, we must acknowledge that change and death are the only constants in life.

We need to avoid forming unhealthy attachments to our desires and learn how to appreciate what we have in our present moment without clinging to the idea that it will be there forever.

Find your balance

In a final quote from Lao Tzu for this blog, he says, “Tao engenders One; One engenders Two; Two engenders Three; Three engenders all things. All things carry the yin while embracing the yang. Neutralizing energy brings them into harmony.”

One of the most important concepts within Taoism is the concept of yin and yang. Yin and yang stand for two opposing forces.

Yin represents a negative or passive force, also seen as the feminine force, and yang represents a positive, active force, also seen as the masculine force.

The symbol of yin and yang represents yin as a dark or black droplet and yang as a white droplet. Together, they make the circle perfectly whole.

Their balance, as seen in the symbol, is perfectly harmonious, with just as much yin as there is yang. Neither one is superior to the other.

These forces can be found everywhere and in everything, as everything in nature tends to be a bit of both to thrive.

Think of day and night, wet and dry, cold and warm, dead and alive, et cetera.

All things need their opposite in order to exist, and all things have aspects of both yin and yang, with nothing being inherently one or the other.

Yin and yang changes with time; as one of the forces increases, the other decreases – and vice versa. As nature is a constant balance of opposites, so are you.

Sometimes, we use one side of our personality to excess at the expense of the other. This makes life unnecessarily complicated and tiresome; the most accessible lives consist of balance and harmony.

We are used to perceiving opposites as one being ‘good’ and the other being ‘bad’ – such as preferring light over dark or active over passive.

As a result of this view, we tend to try to lean towards one side, completely dismissing the other.

Someone who is very passive and never dares to act may get stuck in unfavorable situations, while someone very active may rush into equally unfavorable situations.

Both need to lean into their opposite side more in order to reach a harmonious balance.

We must realize that neither force of opposition is inherently worse than the other, and we must learn to embrace both.

For example, someone who is too kind may get taken advantage of and so needs to learn how

to become more assertive. However, someone who is too aggressive will put people off, leading to the same result.

Just as light shines brightest after darkness, so can your best traits only excel if you also are able to display the opposite when the right situation calls for it.

And thus, yin and yang represent finding a balance within yourself that grants you the best of both worlds.

Finding balance goes for more than just character traits. You cannot live a physically active lifestyle without taking enough rest.

Everything in your body is interdependent; when your mind is being uncared for, it performs badly, and in turn, so will your body, and vice versa.

Thus, a healthy mindset is as important for your physical health as a good diet, and the same can be said in reverse for your mental health.

Finding balance means examining your physical health when you are currently focused on improving your mental health and vice versa.

In order to live a simple and happy life, let your yin and yang truly complement each other.

Be in complete harmony with yourself and the world.

Final Thought

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and hope these 4 ways, from the philosophy of Lao Tzu, will help you to simplify your life. Taoism is a Chinese philosophy attributed to Lao Tzu, which contributed to the folk religion of the people, primarily in the rural areas of China and became the country’s official religion under the Tang Dynasty. Taoism is, therefore, both a philosophy and a religion. Taoism teaches us to embrace wonder and the joy of living gracefully with style.

Do comment and let us know your thoughts on this and please do share as well !!

Thank You.