The Story

When East meets West… when Lao Tzu wrote down the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching 2,500 years ago in ancient China, he may not have realised the impact its philosophy would have millenniums later in the West and the newly-emerging profession of life-coaching.

When Julia from Taiwan met Nick from England on a coaching course, they didn’t realise at first that they had a common interest in the work of Lao Tzu. This joint interest soon became a course project. As we explored a few verses of the Tao, we began to see how Lao Tzu’s teachings could be related to personal development and coaching principles.

On this blog we intend to continue this work by exploring one verse of the Tao Te Ching each week. We invite you to join us on our journey and add your own thoughts to deepen our learning. How do you interpret Lao Tzu’s message? And how does it speak to you as a coach?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Verse 29

Do you want to improve the world?
I don't think it can be done.

The world is sacred.
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.

The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.

[For Personal Development]

  • The world is our mirror; it holds the reflection of ourselves that we see in other people.
  • What we resist persists.
  • The world is prefect. Things may not always happen for the best, but we certainly can make the best of what happened.
  • Proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. Reactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern. [Stephen Covey]

[For Coaching]

  • As coaches we reflect back to the client what is being heard in words and emotions.
  • Our clients are whole and do not need to be improved.
  • Coaching presence: we show up as who the client needs us to be in order to move forward.