Imagine having everything you ever dreamed of. How would that make you feel? Now imagine having a road map to that feeling. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer has written a book that serves as a road map to having an extraordinary life. In Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, the reader embarks on the road to blissful living and the steps are exquisitely presented.
The Tao Te Ching
Dyer has studied and researched and meditated on the Tao Te Ching, the wisdom of Lao Tzu, a philosopher and prophet living in China before Confucius became famous.
Dyer’s intention is to shake the reader down to his or her roots. He invites the reader to examine every aspect of life in the light of the wisdom of the Tao which is summarized in these beautiful short four lines:
Where there is conflict, give in.
Where there is fear, run toward it and embrace it.
Where there is love, look for heartbreak and pain because that is love.
Love the dark so you can know the light.
A Simple Set of Instructions
Lao Tzu was a very practical sage. He handed his readers an artful set of instructions on how to completely surrender the ego’s control over a person’s life.
Lao Tzu considered the ego-centered life to be driven by power, judgment, fear, doubt, shame, guilt and any other energy that clouds the light that is within the deepest heart of every human. He believed that any individual could access this light by following the Tao.
How to Live in the Light at All Times
The fundamental question is how an ordinary human being can find his or her way to living in the divine light at all times. The answer is simple – complete surrender. Living a life of complete surrender is the hard part.
Who would be really willing to give up control of all parts of his or her life? Dyer invites the reader to imagine a stressful situation or a conflict in his or her life and then to imagine giving up their power in that situation. It doesn’t matter who is right or who is wrong; the surrender is an energy exchange.
Energy exchange can be defined as attitude. If the conflict is embraced with love and kindness and thoughtfulness, even if the outcome is the same, the energy exchange is completely different.
Changing One’s Way of Thinking from Old to New Thinking
An example to illustrate the different ways of thinking could be illustrated by the following scenarios. an employee comes to the boss complaining of mistreatment and blaming the person responsible for this behaviour.
The employee wants the situation to change dramatically, instantly, and seems unsatisfied with any suggestions. The boss knows both sides of the story and is aware of the decision that the employee is complaining about.
In the old ego-centered way of thinking, the boss speaks harshly and dismissively to the employee and ultimately closes the door on all discussion. The boss even perhaps penalizes the employee for their forthrightness.
In the new Tao-inspired thinking the boss regards the employee with compassion.Without explaining or defending the situation, the boss simply and honorably states that he hears how difficult the situation is, even though at this time the situation cannot change. The employee is invited to consider the situation from all perspectives and thus to take part in his own change in thinking.
The Power of the Tao
Lao Tzu asked only one thing – tha people always consider the opposite of what they were thinking or feeling. By considering the opposite of what one is thinking, one opens oneself into a new understanding of whatever is taking place. Living life in this way on a daily basis has a dramatic effect on the way one lives. As Dr. Dyer demonstrates, by following the Tao will change one’s way of thinking and this can indeed change one’s way of living.
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