When the Way is lost there is virtue. When virtue is lost there is benevolence. When benevolence is lost there is righteousness. When righteousness is lost there are rituals.
The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that. What is grievance? The baggage of old thought and emotion.
Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still. The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return. They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
![Laozi Quote - Take [preventive] action before things happen. Establish order before disorder has begun.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/take-preventive-action-before-things-happen-establ-1-683x1024.jpg)
