Quotes from Derek Lin

The blind pursuit of learning leads to excessive desires—the more you see, the more you want. Excessive desires, in turn, lead to anxiety and misery.

Creation is a process where something seems to come out of nowhere. You are an example of this, because you exist right now, but prior to your conception, you did not exist as a physical entity.

Favor and disgrace make one fearful The greatest misfortune is the self

Similarly, forcing your beliefs onto someone else damages your relationship. The damage may not be easy to spot at first, like tiny cracks in a wooden wheel, but it's just a matter of time before the wheel splits apart.

Chuang Tzu's message for us is not to completely discard books but to put them in their proper place by understanding the limitation of words. Reading a description of how to make wheels can never give you the skills you will gain by actually making them. Similarly, reading a book about the Tao can never give you the wisdom you will gain by actually living life.

When taking care of a horse, what one must do is remove everything that is harmful to the horse in order to bring out the horse's own natural vitality. The way to rule the empire is similar.

What are the harmful elements you should remove? Everyone is different, but some of the common ones are as follows: Habits that are unhealthy or even destructive A negative mind-set that leads to frequent complaints Tendency to sabotage your own success Physical, mental, or spiritual clutter Inertia or indecisiveness that prevents effective action

Human beings have a tremendous need to have quiet time alone, to reflect upon life and reconnect with the soul.

The self or wealth, which is greater? Gain or loss, which is more painful?

Every dark cloud has a silver lining—conversely, the silver lining frames a dark cloud. Or as chapter 58 of Tao Te Ching expresses it: Misfortune is what fortune depends upon Fortune is where misfortune hides beneath Yin contains yang; yang contains yin. Every failure harbors the hidden seed of future success; every triumph contains the covert cause of future defeat. Thus, Sai Ong's father isn't mortified by bad news—but neither is he overelated

The senior disciple is your creative mind, your ability to absorb knowledge, solve problems and invent new solutions. The second disciple is your ability to organize your world and channel your energy in constructive ways. The junior disciple is your social charisma—just as every organization needs some way to interact with the outside world, this organism known as you also requires an interface with other people.

No one is intrinsically superior or inferior — we are all just going through phases.

Use the art of reduction in every aspect of life. The Tao is all about simplicity, so the Tao process is about subtraction rather than addition. Remove obstacles and complexity to unleash the power of your natural capabilities and to fully express your vast potential.

All living things are looking to gain an advantage for themselves, but the process also imposes a burden on them. Generally speaking, the potential gain right in front of you causes you to forget the potential disaster right behind you. The two are connected." Chuang Tzu

Thus, if you look for the Tao in books, you won't find it anywhere . . . but if you look for the Tao in life, you will find it everywhere.

The Tao does not accumulate or increase complexity—it reduces, simplifies, and streamlines. It's not about learning more techniques—it's about discarding the harmful elements.

changes must be made from the inside out.

many of the problems we encounter in life come from the mind within, rather than the external world. To solve such problems, we need to stop blaming outside forces that we have no control over, and instead take a long hard look at ourselves. When we realize that we are the cause of our own misfortunes, we can begin to adjust our thinking at a fundamental level, and start to create real changes.

Facing the Changes in Life and Mastering Them While alive, the body is soft and pliant When dead, it is hard and rigid All living things, grass and trees, While alive, are soft and supple When dead, become dry and brittle Thus that which is hard and stiff Is the follower of death That which is soft and pliant Is the follower of life The Tao

Those who flaunt themselves are not clear Those who presume themselves are not distinguished Those who praise themselves have no merit Those who boast about themselves do not last

The assignment of more importance to wealth can actually lead to gain being more painful.

In life, we see evidence of leaky containers all the time. They are the hard-charging, aggressive personalities who keep pushing themselves for the bigger paycheck at the expense of health, family, relationships and peace of mind. By the time they realize the frantic rush does not work, their container of life is already broken into pieces. By then, it is too late.

The more attachments we accumulate, the more we need this inner cleansing. If we have mental baggage, we need to unlearn; if we have emotional dependencies, we need to let them go; if we have possessions that clutter up our lives, we need to give them away.

Integrity is the courage to maintain your resolve despite pressure or temptation, and the conviction to hold on to the truth even when everyone disagrees with you.