Verse 33

Knowing others is intelligence:
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power  .

If you realize you have enough,
you are truly rich.
if you stay in the center
and embrace death with your whole heart,
you will endure forever.

Observing the enormous forces of change sweeping across our little blue planet, I cannot help but marvel at the profound truth and direct applicability of verse 33 from the Tao Te Ching. At a time of massive and overwhelming disruption to the world order, as we have come to rely on, one cannot lose focus by looking at the outside and trying to grasp what is happening by the appearance of chaos and destruction. It has become impossible to plan, project or predict. Nothing we have learned or previously experienced previously can help us now to keep a sense of control. Uncertainty and unpredictability can be felt everywhere, as a global crisis unfolds, and this is when we understand that truly, being rooted in stillness is the only safe place to weather the gathering storm.

Practicing to stay at the centre,  is our first priority now.