The thread becomes the bridge

Becoming angry with his prime minister, a king had him confined in a very high tower with no way to escape; if he tried to jump he would surely be killed. The king did not know it, but on his way to the tower the prime minister had whispered something in his wife’s ear. On the very first night she came and left an ordinary insect on the tower wall. She applied a little honey to its antennae and the insect began to climb up the tower in search of the honey, but she had also tied a thin silk thread to its tail.

Slowly the insect climbed the three hundred feet of the tower where the minister was waiting for it. He grabbed at the silk thread to which the wife had tied a string, and to the string she had tied a cord, and attached to the cord was a strong rope. The minister pulled till he had the rope in hand, and with its help he climbed down from the tower. The story states that not only did the minister escape the prison, but he also discovered the means to escape from life’s ultimate prison.

If even the thinnest, weakest thread comes to hand, there is no difficulty in attaining liberation. The weakest thread can pave the way to beatitude, but the thread must come to hand. A slight ray, once recognized, can lead to the sun. All religions, all gurus, have reached God by catching hold of one thin thread or other. These threads are many, and can be tied to many kinds of insect. It isn’t necessary to smear the insect’s antennae with honey; you can apply anything that tempts the insect to climb to the prisoner. The thread becomes the bridge.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Lao Tzu some more Famous quotes

Here are some of his famous quotes of :

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

He who knows does not speak.
He who speaks does not know.

He who knows others is wise;
He who know himself is enlightened.

He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire.

I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is deep love,
The second is frugality,
And the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world.
Because of deep love, one is courageous.
Because of frugality, one is generous.
Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world.

Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.

People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.

The best [man] is like water.
Water is good; it benefits all things and does not compete with them.
It dwells in [lowly] places that all disdain.
This is why it is so near to Tao.

The more laws and order are made prominent,
The more thieves and robbers there will be.

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
Through this I know the advantage of taking no action.

The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.
The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.
There is no greater guilt than discontentment.
And there is no greater disaster than greed.

To be worn out is to be renewed.

To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.

To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.

To produce things and to rear them,
To produce, but not to take possession of them,
To act, but not to rely on one’s own ability,
To lead them, but not to master them -
This is called profound and secret virtue.

lao-tzu-fieldWhen armies are mobilized and issues are joined,
The man who is sorry over the fact will win.

When the highest type of men hear Tao,
They diligently practice it.
When the average type of men hear Tao,
They half believe in it.
When the lowest type of men hear Tao,
They laugh heartily at it.
Without the laugh, there is no Tao.

When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty,
There arises the recognition of ugliness.
When they all know the good as good,
There arises the recognition of evil.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You