Weekly Tao Te Ching Verse - Week #16

I spent my weekend volunteering at the Engine 2 sponsored 2Forks Weekender here in Cleveland at the Downtown Marriott hotel. The amount of information was absolutely staggering. There were times that I felt such a disconnect to the rest of society, that such critical, lifesaving information is not more widely known. There shear amount of data demonstrating the overwhelming benefits of a whole foods, plant based diet is almost overwhelming.

A couple of scary statistics I remember off hand from the weekend

The US could save 40 trillion dollars by eliminating heart disease (the number one cause of death in the United States). A plant based diet has been shown reverse heart disease.

Over 7000 studies linking smoking cigarettes to cancer were published prior the Surgeon General officially recognized that smoking causes cancer. It took more that 25 years for that to happen. Studies show that processed meats are as or more carcinogenic than smoking and the World Health Organization has categorized it as a level 1 (?) carcinogen along with asbestos and smoking.

But I am still processing all the information from this weekend.

Welcome to this week's Tao Te Ching verse. See here for what this is all about. 

Verse 16

Empty your mind of all thoughts.

Let your heart be at peace.

Watch the turmoil of beings,

but contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe

returns to a common source.

Returning to the source is serenity.

If you don't realize the source,

you stumble in confusion and sorrow.

When you realize where you come from,

you naturally become tolerant

disinterested, amused,

kindhearted as a grandmother,

dignified as a king.

Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,

you can deal with whatever life brings you,

and when death comes, you are ready.