I can summarise Taoist wisdom for personal growth in five words: Take the safe, enlightened path. I do not mean that we should fear everything, become paranoiacs, and hide under our bed. I just mean that Taoists prefer to cultivate their skills daily and expand their reach slowly, operating from their strengths.
Lao-Tzu presents this principle in Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching. It encourages us to focus on the roots and not look only at the surface.
The Tao Te Ching praises individuals who advance step by step, prudently, without rushing. Their pace is aligned with the Tao, that is, aligned with reality. In contrast, fools are likely to get themselves into trouble because their behaviour is reckless, delusional, and out of sync.
How do Taoist identify the enlightened path? By aligning their thoughts and actions with the Tao. By learning to love the good and discard the evil. By repeatedly cleaning up our soul, removing impurities, and practising virtue.
Perception had taught Lao-Tzu that trees produce fruits and that those are delicious, but experience had revealed to him that trees draw their strength and nourishment from their roots.
The Tao is the invisible path that starts underground, carries the life force, and ends up producing fruits. It combines purely physical elements with ethical and spiritual aspects.
Lao-Tzu and personal growth
Aristotle (384-322 BC) would have been puzzled by the Tao concept employed by Lao-Tzu. The Aristotelian mind finds it hard to accept any definition that does not rely on the material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause.
Those four elements, which define the Aristotelian universe, prevent Western logicians from grasping the Taoist approach to personal growth. Their inability to look beyond the four causes only became worse in later centuries, especially since Tomas of Aquinas (1225-1274) tried to link the final cause to divinity.
In contrast to the Aristotelian focus on causality, Taoists are more concerned with the present than with the future. Lao-Tzu told us to cultivate our garden, taking especial care of the roots and any other aspect taking place underground. If we carry out this recommendation, the future will take care of itself.
While the Aristotelian pursues goals, the Taoist simply does each day what needs to be done. He does not devote long hours to figure out his goals, make plans, and keep tabs on them. Nor does he grow anxious when he is confronted with setbacks or failure.
Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching observes that the tree gives fruit because the Taoist had been focused on the roots. The Tao is responsible for turning the roots into flowers and fruits. If we aim at harvesting the fruits, we just need to feed the roots.
The Tao Te Ching and personal growth
While the Aristotelian will count the flowers and attempt to predict the number of future fruits, the Taoist will simply enjoy seeing the tree grow healthily day after day. He trusts that good results will naturally follow from assiduous, virtuous activity.
Western causality means goal setting and implementation in an environment of tightly defined expectations. In contrast, the Taoist will patiently cultivate his skills, trusting that favourable opportunities will arise naturally.
Wu Wei (the non-action principle) is truly incomprehensible for Westerners as a method of personal growth. Taoists find it natural to steer away from conflicts, constraints, and emerging threats. Instead, they prefer to work on their garden, their skills and projects that they can carry out autonomously.
While other cultures take pride in placing themselves in the path of danger (financially, emotionally or physically), Taoists will make a pause and think twice before engaging in risky ventures or taking disproportionate personal risks.
Chapter 3 of the Tao Te Ching predicts that, if we practise Wu Wei, things will fall into place. It means refraining from all kinds of reckless, confrontational, high-pressure behaviour. As Taoist, we prefer quiet, overwhelming victories rather than big, tense fights where the outcome is uncertain.
Chuang-Tzu and personal growth
Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu give us precise recommendations on how to align our actions with the Tao. If we follow their advice, chances are that we will speed up our personal growth, render our lives more pleasant, and increase our happiness. Let us review what Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu advise us to do:
First, we should focus on acquiring mastery in our field, but not in the way portrayed in martial arts movies. It is not about making public demonstrations, taking part in competitions, and trying to assert ourselves as the best of the best.
Chapter 41 of the Tao Te Ching speaks of skill development that appears, for the untrained eye, seems to be ordinary and unsophisticated. Quiet, assiduous practice turns the Taoist into a master in his trade or profession, not aggressive competition.
Second, the Taoist builds his skills (professional, emotional, financial, physical) in a concentric manner. He identifies what is important, and then he expands little to by little into related areas. He identifies a few areas in which he wants to grow, and devotes himself to those, avoiding overburden and exhaustion.
Chapter 26 of the Tao Te Ching calls for personal growth (in a metaphorical sense, it speaks of “travel”) without going far away from home or from our centre of gravity. The Taoist goes further one step at a time, without endangering his base.
I define the Tao approach to personal growth as concentric because it allows no contradictions. If we keep our base in the centre and we expand carefully, we do not need to sacrifice or endanger what we already have.
As we expand further, the circles will become wider, but not interfere with each other. In case of a setback, we can go back to our base, heal and strengthen, without having bet our whole future on one card.
Third, Chuang-Tzu recommends that we keep things simple and build up step by step. In the area of personal growth, what does it mean “to keep things simple”? Chuang-Tzu encourages us to concentrate on areas where we can cultivate our skills in a self-reliant manner, without hard-to-obtain items or services.
Chuang-Tzu favours steady personal growth without a tight schedule, outside pressures, and aggressive competition. Each individual must grow at his own speed. If we happen to grow more slowly than other people expect, we should just shrug our shoulders and count our blessings.
Stress and anxiety often result from obsessive ambitions. It is in our interest to avoid those, says Chuang-Tzu. Individuals who have exaggerated ambitions might have beautiful dreams, but it does not take much for those to turn into nightmares.
The fact that millions of people suffer from stress should remind us of the danger of excessive ambitions. The Taoist will enjoy the fruits that naturally grow from healthy roots, but he sees no benefit in watering the tree in excess.
“When the shoes fit, we forget about our feet,” said Chuang-Tzu. Similarly, when we cultivate our skills assiduously, they become pleasant habits for us, but inconspicuous or invisible to third parties. That’s the Taoist path to smooth, sustained and unrushed personal growth.
If you are interested in putting effective insights into daily practice, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living.”