THE RETURN

At the end of this journey, we have completed a great circle and returned to the starting point. Chapter 40 of the Tao Te Ching says it in this way: “The returning is the movement of the Tao.”

This means the end of something - anything - is always the beginning of something else. The Tao is the ever-present principle that rules all beginnings and all endings. The end of winter is the beginning of spring. The end of a dream is the beginning of awakening. The end of this book is the beginning of the next leg of your life journey.

If you wish it, the Tao will be your faithful companion as you continue down the path. With the Tao by your side, you will observe the world with new eyes and experience life with new ideas. You will still be you, and yet you will never be the same again.

The Tao Today

Contemplate the great circles of existence. If everything comes to a beginning when it reaches the end, then why should human consciousness be any different?

Some may harbor fears that awareness will end in oblivion upon the death of the body, but everywhere we look, the entire universe is telling us the exact opposite. The end of life is but the completion of one circle and the starting point of another - a new circle filled with potentialities and possibilities.

The Tao of Joy Every Day

~ Derek Lin