The Story

When East meets West… when Lao Tzu wrote down the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching 2,500 years ago in ancient China, he may not have realised the impact its philosophy would have millenniums later in the West and the newly-emerging profession of life-coaching.

When Julia from Taiwan met Nick from England on a coaching course, they didn’t realise at first that they had a common interest in the work of Lao Tzu. This joint interest soon became a course project. As we explored a few verses of the Tao, we began to see how Lao Tzu’s teachings could be related to personal development and coaching principles.

On this blog we intend to continue this work by exploring one verse of the Tao Te Ching each week. We invite you to join us on our journey and add your own thoughts to deepen our learning. How do you interpret Lao Tzu’s message? And how does it speak to you as a coach?

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Verse 25

There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.

It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.

Tao is great;
Heaven is great;
Earth is great;
Man is also great.
These are the four great powers.

Man follows Earth.
Earth follows heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao.
Tao follows what is natural.

[For Personal Development]
  • Tao flows through all things. Notice, see and trust the greatness in everything.
  • We are animated by the eternal Tao. The resource is always accessible when we are fully present with ourselves.
  • Leadership is about aligning people and strategy to make your vision a reality.
[For Coaching]
  • The first element of all changes is awareness, an internal shift.
  • Our clients are naturally creative, resourceful and whole; sometimes just need help to look outside the usual places for insights.
  • Integrity is displayed in the small daily decisions that demonstrate whether our words and actions align with our core values and beliefs.
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