Some people meditate because they are sick and tired of their life, of the world, of the way people abuse each other and abrogate each other's freedoms.

Those whose primary concern is to destroy others are at the lowest level of development. Those who are only interested in their own satisfaction are farther along. Those who both do things for their own satisfaction and the satisfaction of others are even father along. Then there are saints who just constantly live for the welfare of others.

Lao Tsu uses the anology of the tree. The old hard tree breaks and falls when the wind blows. The young tree bends and does not break. He advises us to bend and not to break.

Many sections are taken up with political discussions and how the way of the ruler, the merchant, the householder, and the army interact with the Tao.

You should be drawing awareness from a deeper part of your being. Your deeper mind has everything already. It knows everything already. It has all the answers.

Just as when water is frozen in to a form as ice and then melts - so at the time of death, there is no death. The spirit simply changes form.

Some people are so solemn. They take their practice so seriously, that when the moment comes to let go of it, they can't.