TaoBee

I was once in a supervisory job that I found extremely stressful and left the company to take another job with less money and less stress, the new company could see my potential and I was upgraded once again to assistant manager, unfortunately I failed miserably due to my wish to remain friends with the staff and the higher managers. I was unaware of the Tao back then and often wonder if I would have had better judgement had I known of the three treasures that Lao Tzu spoke of.

 

Chapter 67 sums it all up.

 

Everyone under heaven says that my Tao is great and beyond compare.

Because it is great, it seems different.

If it were not different, it would have vanished long ago.

 

I have three treasures which I hold and keep.

The first is mercy; the second is economy;

The third is daring not to be ahead of others.

From mercy comes courage; from economy comes generosity;

From humility comes leadership.

 

Nowadays men shun mercy, but try to be brave;

They abandon economy, but try to be generous;

They do not believe in humility, but always try to be first.

This is certain death.

 

Mercy brings victory in battle and strength in defense.

It is the means by which heaven saves and guards.

I have every intention of changing jobs to one with less responsibility, stress and naturally money...in hopefully 18 months or so! I think that centering yourself on the Tao in a work environment is both helpful and difficult. Corporate America is about money, status and power. As both a human and a Taoist, I am not. I thought being in the industry I am in, the money, status and power issue would be less...I was wrong.

I have studied the book, found that it was extremely inspirational and artistic. There are certain teachings in the book that might change your life if you truely can believe in it and allow yourself to trust the teachings. It does not hold life changing knowledge that can't be found elsewhere, though. It is more purposed for your soul, rather then the mind. It goes to the essence of your heart and changes the thoughts from there out.

 

I enjoyed it allot, but haven't touched it in a long time as its sparks has evaporated now.

 

If you want to experience the sparks in a quicker and more enjoyable way, watch the movie "the shift" on youtube.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInwRDBcI7w&feature=&p=BC5FA3977183D880&index=0&playnext=1'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInwRDBcI7w&feature=&p=BC5FA3977183D880&index=0&playnext=1

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInwRDBcI7w

 

There is something about his knowledge that is useless to be reading. Its better to see and hear him say it, try to look inside his soul if you know what I mean. He is trying to explain something that is beyond words. Also the music will allow you to experience his teachings more deeply. In the end, your heart will forget the meaning of it, unless you stick with it.

Thank you for sharing...Awesome!

Morning TB!

 

And thank you. This kind of posting is heart-warming.

 

I do feel somehow important and loving.. In fact I feel like.. a King

You need an emoticon with a crown on it. Of course you have to be able to knock the crown askew on those days when things just aren't quite right!!

Which means I need one with bee wings ( with a broken wing for those days when I don't quite fly right!!)

Buzz!!

I lol'd

Me too!!

Has anyone read This book by wayne dyer.

Change your Thoughts, Change your life on amazon

 

Ive always liked Dyers approach to spirituality. This is an audiobook that is on my list at the moment. Ive listened to it before, but reliving the tao te ching never hurt anyone.

 

His approach to taoist meditation consists of using the word tao as a mantra. Im not quite sure what to think about this.

 

Thomas Cleary is my definitive translation, but I like diversity.

Good Morning!

For me, this book was very important. I am not sure why this particular one struck me on delving further into the TTC but it did. I am not personally a huge fan of Dr. Dyers other motivational type stuff, but this one is important. I enjoyed reading the TTC along with Dyer's essay that goes along with the chapters. It helped me to one really become interested, two start to learn about the TTC. It also opened up pathways within me to change and grow.

I like the John C.H. Wu translation I carry a copy with me-my darling husband gave me a copy recently.

Peace and Love!

I'm not exactly good with words, so pardon me if this is not as eloquent as some would like:

 

I've come here before on occasion, but I never registered. I recently decided that maybe it was time to register.

 

So... Hello and good morning.

Eloquence is overrated sometimes All that matters is you share when you feel the need!

Welcome!

In my situation it's my wife who doesn't seem to get turned on by me. She's an Asberger person so for her it's a bit different anyway but I don't pretend like I haven't caused a lot of our problems by not being the man, in and out of bed.

 

So we love each other dearly as best friends and we have a nice peaceful country place and beautiful kids..Things could have been quite perfect if not for this one issue.. But it's mostly processed by now, next step would be to find a lover to practice the Tao of yin & yang with.. And that's not very easy, especially when I 'm spending most of my time here in the woods. So I'm just building my Jing and doing an hour of Small Universe a day in full lotus to make sure everything runs smoothly.

 

One progressive step I noticed is that once we decided to quit trying to make things work sexually (a few weeks ago) I have not felt the lust for her as I used to. Still her presence has an effect.. Things seem to get a bit chaotic in the house, instead of two people working together to keep it clean and make things work it's two people distracted by each other. But it's nice to have her around every once in a while, she has the best sense of the absurd I've ever encountered.

Good Morning KK-

I have worked with Asperger's patients before...tough stuff. You being there for her still and being there for the children is both important and loving

Peace and Love <3

You're welcome!

 

I read this first time in Finnish and somehow it works even better:

 

 

Lu-vuori usvaisessa sateessa, Che-joki nousuveden aikaan

Kun en ollut kaynyt siella, ei ollut lepoa kaipuun tuskasta

Menin sinne, tulin takaisin. Se ei ollut mitaan erikoista.

Lu-vuori usvaisessa sateessa, Che-joki nousuveden aikaan

 

Don't you agree?

Hey no one told me we were doing tongue twisters!! Wow...I wish I could even begin to sound that out How cool!!

Finnish..Never have heard that out loud to my knowledge. German yes..having been stationed there a 100 years ago.

If you were in a country where most of your potential partners would rather go to a maid cafe, stay out all night with their friends smoking and drinking at a hostess bar, or read manga would you be into sex ?

Exactly!!

Where I am from guys also grope women in crowded places too,ok they are into lots of mainstream porn.And culture is very sexual and not repressed.

(p.s Tao Bee cool to see that you make/create things and sew-me too ).

 

But anyway I just had a thought after reading this thread,that maybe I was Japonese in my past lifeas my interest in sex was always quite low or virtually non existant unless I am really in love.It could be repression in general or it could be that some people are just like that-mind working differently.

I love making/creating...via art and sewing!! Its so freeing for me.

For me the sex+love connection is very important.

And what it is it with guys in any culture that think its okay to behave that way? When I first came to the States, and went to San Francisco to Chinese New Years parade...I think my poor bum was bruised by the end of the night!!!

Sheesh!

In general it's more an Asian thing, although work does have something to do with it. As far as I can make out it's part genetic, with many Asians not being as highly sexed as the other races. This is their view too usually.

 

There is a rather nice side-effect to it though. Many Asian males and females can have real true friendship with each other even at a young age without any sexual pretext at all (remember the 'When Harry Met Sally' dialogue as to why men and women can never just be friends).

 

 

 

I think I'm in love.....

 

 

 

I think this is also part of the problem, a very big part. Many of the men seem to have little or no idea of what they are supposed to be doing...not to be rude...but really they don't. Japanese porn is bizarre at the best of times (so I've heard...I wouldn't really know )... I'm not sure technological gadgets really get a female going!

 

My favorite all time line I've heard in China when the guys want to get intimate with a female is : "you should have sex with me, it's good for your health!"

 

The really strange thing is it works for them!!!

Having grown up in Japan...I've seen the men sit on the trains reading their manga comics and other magazines. They also have this tendency to grope women while were all jammed on the train.

So IMO I think between the crazy porn and the sly groping they are repressed sexually. Well then again, I think they are repressed in a lot of ways.

I am not surprised to hear a line like that..given some lines that I am sure many women have heard in our lives!!!

Peace and Love! <3

So you are not happy? Why do it if you're not?

Why finances of course! Isn't that why any of us work? To have a roof, food, stuck with a car payment and all that jazz. I am working on downsizing our lives. I will be able to change my field once my son has moved on. He is still in high school. These are the only things holding me back.

Also it does help that I am happy elsewhere in my life- I share my world with the love of my life, I have creative outlets and I get to learn a little everyday. If I didn't have those gems in my world, work would be a larger thorn.

Peace and Love! <3

hey bee,

 

while i really can't say much about your specific situation, the one thing that stuck out to me when reading your post was when you said "merging the two"...i assume meaning your study of the tao and your work life...

 

my only advice would be to think of it more as applying tao principles to your work situation...try first to observe the tao in action in your workplace. get to know literally everything by practicing openness and quiet mindfulness (eavesdropping! )...over time, the correct action for every situation will become obvious and things will begin to happen naturally...

 

at least, that's what "they" say should happen. and of course, this is easier said than done, and i wish that i could have these habits already ingrained in myself...things would be so much easier!! good luck with work.

Thank you!! I have started practicing wu wei at work...and that seems to be working well. And I am working on the quiet mindfulness...as I can be filterless (mouth fires off before the filter between brain and mouth have a chance to work!)

Easier said than done!

Peace and Love <3

Great advice from Ben here.

 

I have seen managers fall into easy ego traps, which are suggested by the above quote. For example, if the manager gets mad when people contradict him, then the staff will learn to self-censor, and the game becomes just about pleasing the manager. If the manager wants others to value his decisions, then people will learn to fake it.

 

The more "me" the manager injects into his job, the less "we" can flourish.

 

The best managers I've worked with know how to get great work out of their employees, by treating them as valuable, creative assets, not as tools to be put away when not in use. They don't overpower their employees, or punish them for straying from the "consensus reality" of the company/department/whatever. They encourage "out-of-the-box" thinking and don't sideline iconoclasts. They praise their employees publicly, and never steal credit. They recognize that humans can never be machines, and need to balance their productivity with their own natural cycles / life events / etc.

Lol I duck and dodge the other managers who fling their ego about like poo! I'm sorry you feel so unimportant that you feel the need to behave that way.

I also feel a good manager/human will admit their mistakes rather than throw other people under the bus.

"They recognize that humans can never be machines, and need to balance their productivity with their own natural cycles / life events / etc." Sigh...I wish my COO thought this way!

Peace and Love <3

I have a Japanese friend who told me the same thing about life in Japan.

Konichiwa!

I am half-Japanese..with that said, obviously I have a Japanese family!

My mother has flat out told me for easily two decades that sex is of no interest to her...she is busy and tired. She works excessively long traditional Japanese hours. My step-father, to whom she has been married to for 16 years is the same. Too tired, too busy. Its that way for a lot of my family, younger generation included.

Of course I have retorted that if its just not that important, too much trouble etc, someone isn't doing it right

Heehee!

Peace and Love <3

Now its time to sleep!

In your blanky warm and cute,

Little Buzzing Bee.

Little Buzzing Bee,

doesn't like profanity.

Smiling, flies away!

instead of hearts, farts

giggles instead of romance

the little death waits

The little death waits,

Anticipation so sweet,

Now its time to sleep!

Hi TaoBee,

 

'Leadership' is a fairly new term - in many of the old works and true to the practice of martial arts for self-defense or even the execution of policy the old Chinese have great works related to strategy (which is important to leadership, albeit not leadership in isolation). I recommend Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

 

Here you will find a bunch of Tao related altruisms.

 

Here's how it starts:

 

 

Source: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

 

As you will notice, this may not be directly applicable to your situation. Yet, look again. The company you work for is the State in this case. You are the Commander.

 

The Moral Law is your ethics and responsibility to your customers and staff. Heaven and Earth constitute your environment (articles of incorporation, the laws that govern your business, the general public and the public's interest). Method and discipline make up how to manage.

 

Now, let's move a bit further into the text:

 

-here, you find wisdom about to the leadership qualities you need to cultivate to lead your army/company.

 

As with many old Chinese texts, you can skim through it in about half an hour - yet you will find yourself coming back to it time and again.

 

I wish you happy trails, Commander TaoBee!

Hello!

I have thought of picking up this text before- one to simply read it (my son had talked about it before) and two, I wondered if it would pertain. I do believe I will be reading it.

Thank you everyone for your input. I have never been a micro managing type of manager. I am very hands off, but staff are aware of expectations. I am just a bit overwhelmed that my staff has doubled in size. And I'm in another 90 day probationary period. What??? You give me a job I didn't ask for, my choices are accept it or find another job (in this economy) AND you are putting me on another proby period? Hmmph! I would stamp my foot and scowl, but its so childish and petulant

Off to man the troops!!

Peace and Love <3

Nope. No advice. Hehehe. Do your job and keep your mind and spirit clean.

And no making faces at the staff!!

Good Evening!

First let me preface this with how grateful I am to have a job I just wish it didn't put me in the role of upper management! Due to downsizing in the company..I have been upsized so to speak. I initially started in the company as a middle manager. I was happy with that-it gave me the income I needed to support my family as a single parent. Here I am almost 4 years later-no longer a single parent but now so high up on the food chain at work it makes me nauseated! I can whine and whing all I like that I didn't ask for it, its here and I have to deal.

I am currently reading a book on Taoism and Leadership- since I really wanted to combine them. WOW talk about a task. The stress alone makes one and then to incorporate what I am admittedly still learning just about Taoism...

Any advice? Would love to hear!

Thanks~ Peace and Love <3

call me... crocodile.

the face of the second death.

eater of hearts.

Eater of hearts,

A problem counting to five?

Instead of hearts, farts!

So I was sitting here at the computer and I think, "I want a cup of coffee." I get up, walk toward the coffee pot and look out the window and think, "I want it to be warmer outside." (because it really is bitter cold outside). And then I think, "But I have what I need."

 

I think that this is the bottom line regarding contentment and the possibility of attaining happiness. Knowing that we have enough, that we have what we need for a comfortable life, and that anything beyond that is just frosting on the cake.

Well said!!

Bah! Little Bo-peep!

Never was a shepherdess,

Sheep saw pink and ran!

Sheep saw pink and ran!

Baa baa no wool for you here.

Now I am so cold.