The Tao of Money

Work and leisure are both important. The art lies in the fact that we usually forget to harmonize them and live in the Tao. Freely according to the yin and yang – relaxation and tension, working and resting, we should arrange our days. Better yet, we should surrender to this rhythm without trying to control it with our heads.

This may be easier said than done. When we so urgently need to run and run and run so that we can meet all our obligations!

And yet – precisely because we surrender to the flow of life and sail more calmly through the ups and downs, we are left with more energy at the end of the day. The Chinese principle of yin and yang says that all of life consists of courage to change – apparent opposites, because if there were only one side, the other would not exist either. A Paradox?

Two sides of a coin

I say: No! – An example: Think of the state of happiness without thinking of the state of unhappiness. Or imagine a euro coin, but only the one side. Do not go? As soon as you imagine the euro coin, the automatically has two sides? Otherwise it would be a picture and not a coin?

Do you understand what I am trying to say with this example? A certain state can only be here on earth if it also has an opposite pole. It can be only day, because there is also a night. So by choosing one side of the euro coin, you get – even though you may not want to 😉 – the other side along with it.

So if you decide to be happy, you will also get phases where you are less happy. If you choose love, then there will be times when you feel hatred. Nobody has rented success – there will also be phases of failure in his life.

All these poles are characteristics and signs of the flow of life. To accept and embrace that is what we are here to do. If you know that love and hate are the same coin, you will understand your feelings better and will not be ashamed of either of them.

The art of Tao

The art of living in the Tao is to accept the ups and downs and to take it as it is. And neither cling too long to the positive, nor too long to the negative.

When you have worked, then enjoy a period of rest. If you have eaten, then relax afterwards. If you have just put some money in the sand, then you know that it will soon come in again from somewhere else – provided that you live in the Tao.

And about the Tao life in relation to money, here are some tips I would like to share with you.

Three mnemonics for the holistic use of money and interest

(from: The Tao of Money, Walter Lübeck, see book tip)

1) The law of fair trade
Every service must be answered with a suitable service in return. It is not even the financial value that counts, but the value that the respective service has for the respective person. An example: Many years ago (PC“s were not to be found in every household at that time), my work colleague (who came from the Czech Republic and worked in our company as a cleaning lady) asked me if I would let her daughter use my PC for a certain period of time for her dissertation.

Since I was in the company during the day anyway, I saw no problem there and gave my apartment keys to my colleague for her daughter free of charge (that was for me no question at all) use. After a short enrollment, the daughter went to work every day and when she was done, one day towards evening, her mother brought me the key to work. How big was the surprise when I came home that evening and found all the windows (inside and out) cleaned spotless?

2) The law of wealth through love and awareness
The more consciously and lovingly someone exchanges service and service in return, the higher and more sustainable their holistic gain will be. Mind you: Profit and wealth do not necessarily have to be understood in the sense of money.

3) The law of the optimal use of cosmic forces
The unused powers of the universe (z.B. Money) can be attracted by individuals and used to increase their personal creation possibilities. (Someone invents something completely new, looks for sponsors so that he can build his invention, so that it is available to the whole world.)

In order for this redistribution of energy not to create disharmony in the flow of life, the beneficiary must guarantee the return of the power (money in this case) to the source as soon as it is no longer needed. (He has to make sure that his sponsors get back their investment with interest or he gives them a share of the profit.)

The profit or interest for the sponsors must be to an extent that they would have achieved even with the money, had they not borrowed it.

The fear of loss, the greed and the thought of security

Every time we try to create as many securities as possible for ourselves, we are in the grip of our fears and greed. Through insurances, invested money or our savings book we try to keep our fears down. But if we constantly let fear and greed determine our thoughts and actions, we will ultimately fail.

What we can learn from the mechanisms of fear and greed are new insights on our path (Tao), which may eventually lead us to a state of enlightenment.

If we manage to act out of love and understanding instead of fear and greed, then we live in the Tao.

Fear is a useful and extremely important function. When our subconscious mind encounters an unknown situation that it considers dangerous or life-threatening, the feeling of fear is mobilized to cause the creature in question to react. (If you are faced with a tiger, your fear causes you to either play dead, fight, or run away.)

Which of the three actions you personally will do, you cannot say as long as you have not been in this situation. Your reaction will be controlled by your subconscious, the consciousness will be largely switched off.

In the course of a human life, our subconscious mind has now made a program for many ‘dangerous“ situations that it can reel off. Many of these programs developed in our childhood and are no longer suitable for us as adults – yes, they even develop as a hindrance.

These patterns must be recognized and further developed. Every one of us started with childish patterns, but it is much more useful and satisfying for our life path to exchange these old patterns for new timely ones.

From a permanent fear situation (because you can’t face your problems with old patterns) a neediness develops, which in turn weakens your self-confidence. To satisfy the need, man goes in search of the outside, but he usually finds there only apparent satisfaction (food, drink, addictions, sex, play, work…).

However, since these apparent satisfactions do not satisfy the Actual Need (z.B. After stroking), the feeling of satisfaction is short-lived. Therefore, you quickly want more of it and so that you always get it when you need it, you stockpile it. One hoards. This is greed.

If you ask someone who is working hard and accumulating money on the edge, why he does not use his fortune to have a good time for a while, then you will usually hear that this is not enough and that he will soon end up in the gutter anyway. Because deep inside him seethes his primal fear of being at the mercy of a hostile environment, helpless and unprotected.

We all sicnd on the search for the absolute security, the guarantee for luck and success. But in the outside no one will ever find this security. Neither much nor little money is the key to happiness and a fulfilled life. It always depends on what you make of it.

Universal laws for success

(loosely based on Walter Lübeck, translated by Eva Laspas)

Live (or strive to live) in the Yin and Yang. (This may not always work, but if you notice that you are not doing it right now, change that immediately!)

Take responsibility for your life now. (Nobody can live your life as well as you do!!)

Always act (or be anxious) for the best of all concerned – renounce the enforcement of your will but never the satisfaction of your needs.

Use your ability for self-knowledge. (What you do not want to recognize, that will always get in your way! So reflect on all your actions and ways.)

Make an effort not to judge. Try to dismiss your prejudices. Through this effort you will find helpers who will give you more than you would have expected for yourself.

Make an effort for fair exchange. Nothing comes to you without a corresponding counter line. Everyone gets richer through fair exchange. Accept what you get in return, keeping your eyes open for the unusual so you don’t miss out on the riches (because the exchange may be different than you expect).

Use the right time. If you live in the flow of time, you will feel the right moment for each of your actions. Do everything in its time and success will come.
(So see grass in the spring and not in the winter… 😉 )

Recognize that nature is subject to cycles – according to the yin and yang principle, nature gathers energy towards the end of a cycle to set a new one in motion. Jump on and surf with us, then you are on the way to holistic success (from the cosmic point of view)!).