 BOOK
TALK
Change Your Life
by Gayl Woityra
Readers of Book
Talk may be aware that Dr. Wayne Dyer is one of
my favorite author-teachers. We’ve discussed
three of my favorite Dyer works in past years:
Wisdom of the Ages (July, 1999), Spiritual
Solutions to Problems (July 2002) and The Power
of Intention (Aug. 2004). Now it is time to
explore Dyer’s newest work: Change Your
Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of
the Tao (Hay House, Inc. 2007).
It is interesting
to note that the Tao has offered rich
inspiration for many contemporary authors of
spiritual, self-development books. Looking back
once again, we recall discussing (Feb. 1999)
three excellent books inspired by the Tao: Tao
of Inner Peace by Diane Dreher and The Tao of
Pooh and The Te of Piglet, both by Benjamin
Hoff. Just this year (July 2007) we commented on
a current favorite also based on the Tao: A
Thousand Names for Joy by Byron Katie with
Stephen Mitchell (Harmony Books, 2007).
Clearly, something
about the Tao forms a rich treasure source that
current writers mine for insights directly
useful to modern life. So what is this “Tao”
that is so rich in universal wisdom? Its full
title is Tao Te Ching, which means “the Way and
its Power.” Its author was Lao-tzu who lived in
China some 2,600 years ago, about the same time
as Confucius. In The World’s Religions (Harper
SF, 1958; 1991), author Huston Smith calls the
Tao, “A testament to humanity’s at-home-ness in
the universe.” The legend of its creation is
that Lao-tzu, saddened by disregard for his
teachings to cultivate natural goodness, was
about to leave China for Tibet. A gatekeeper
asked him to leave a record of his beliefs. In
three days, Lao-tzu created a “slim volume” of
5,000 Chinese characters (letters). It contains
81 highly concise and often enigmatic verses.
Huston notes, “It can be read in half an hour or
a lifetime.”
Perhaps it is this
brevity, as well as its rich depth, that
inspires so many current authors. Dr. Wayne Dyer
reports that he read, researched and
contemplated ten translations of the Tao Te
Ching for his preparation and writing of Change
Your Thoughts—Change Your Life. In actuality,
the Tao has been translated and interpreted in
hundreds of versions around the world. Dyer
says, “Many scholars consider this Chinese
classic the ultimate discourse on the nature of
existence; and it continues to be a valuable
resource for achieving a way of life that
guarantees integrity, joy, peace and balance.”
He also says, “It describes a way of living
that’s balanced, moral and spiritual; and that
works for all facets of life on Earth.”
With those
comments we clearly see why the Tao is so
appropriate to current life. We all need those
qualities more, both in our personal lives as
well as our national and world situations. Dyer
tells us that he felt inspired “to write an
essay for each verse that showed its valuable
wisdom applied to the 21st century.” He
explains, “This book is my personal
interpretation of the Tao Te Ching.”
Dyer sees this
source as one that can provide wise insights
into daily life for everyone. He recommends that
readers “make reading this book a personal
journey.”
I agree with
Dyer’s suggestion for readers. In a Dyer book,
readers will always benefit from the author’s
finely tuned experience as a teacher. Dyer’s
organization and clear-cut lesson plans always
impress me. This book consists of 81 lessons
(chapters), each consisting of four to five
pages of text. First comes Dyer’s interpretation
of Lao-tzu’s verse, followed by commentary in
which Dyer explains what he thinks Lao-tzu means
in the verse. Then he states what the wisdom of
the verse is saying for the 21st century.
Finally, as the trained psychologist and
spiritual teacher that he is, Dyer provides
practical techniques, easy-to-do activities and
behaviors to practice in order to actually apply
the lesson or wisdom to everyday life. The
simplicity of the arrangement and the clarity of
the explanations and discussions make this book
an inspiring, yet highly practical,
one-step-at-a-time guidebook for each reader to
work on spiritual growth.
Now we come back
to the point of how to best use this fine guide.
Clearly, this is not a storybook, nor a work
filled with entertaining anecdotes. It is as we
just described: a neatly organized plan to
follow in order to grow in wisdom and
understanding of life. Hence, Dyer urges readers
to “peruse one of the passages... and the essay
that follows it... (and then) spend some time
applying it.” This means that a reader might do
just one of the 81 lessons in a week or at most,
one per day. There is no rush. This book can
serve its readers for years. I would reiterate
that this lovely work is not one to read
quickly. Its richness fills the reader best when
the reading is approached, as Dyer recommends,
as “a personal journey.”
Given that the Tao
relates to all the important areas and issues of
life, there is no way we can briefly summarize
its content. Nevertheless, it is always useful
and interesting to explore a small portion of
the work to whet one’s appetite for the entire
opus. (To experience an entire lesson from
Dyer’s book, look in this very issue of
phenomeNEWS. The editors have been including
individual chapters from this new Dyer book for
several months.)
Each one of Dyer’s
81 units is titled “Living... ” followed by a
key word or two for the central theme of that
particular lesson. One approach to the book
could begin with the Table of Contents of topics
or issues that currently apply to our own life
situation, rather than moving sequentially
through the chapters. Just to suggest a few
topics or lessons that might interest most of
us, let’s make a short list. The numbers of the
Verses are in parentheses.
Living...
Beyond Ego (7); ... Oneness (10); ... an
Unhurried Life (15); ... with Flexibility (22);
... Calmly (26);... Without Force (30); ... in
Simplicity (37); ... Beyond Superficialities
(45); ... Beyond Judgment (49);... Honorably
(53); ... by Letting Go (55); ... by Cooperating
(68) ;... with Awe and Acceptance (72). Surely
we see by now that this book contains
inspiration and guidance we can all use.
Throughout the
lessons, Dyer reminds readers that as we grow
insightfully – that is, we change our thoughts –
; and as we practice the wisdom in the Tao – in
effect, to walk and practice a deeply
philosophic “Way” of living – we literally can
“change our life.” He says, “This book is asking
that we change our ingrained ways of thinking
and see how our lives change as a result.”
The very first
lesson reiterates what Dyer and so many other
teachers have told us before: to “live the
mystery.” In the Western world we tend to
analyze everything, demanding answers where
answers often don’t exist. One of the gifts of
Eastern philosophies like the Tao is the
reminder that much in life is paradoxical,
enigmatic and often, inexplicable. So much of
the universe and life itself is a mystery. Dyer
urges us to “Let the world unfold without always
attempting to figure it all out.... Don’t try so
hard to make something work – simply allow.”
This reminds me that most of us have various
control issues that we need to observe and
acknowledge. Dyer says to allow life “to be the
way it is. Relax, let go, [and] allow.... Become
an astute observer... judge less and listen
more.”
Just think, if
each of us just worked on this first lesson and
really applied it to our individual
circumstances, our life would truly be
different. This was just Verse and Lesson number
one. Dyer has 80 more in his book to help us
process all the potential enlightenment we can
gain from the Tao.
Finally, another
gift that Dyer brings to readers throughout the
book is to include brief quotations, usually
brief poems or excerpts from poems to underscore
the themes. These quotations include thoughts
from poets Hafiz, Rumi, Walt Whitman, TS Eliot,
Shakespeare, Goethe and William Blake, among
others. These beautiful words complement
perfectly the attractive layout of the entire
book and of course, its exceptional content.
We’ll conclude our
discussion with one of my favorite quotations
that Dyer includes, this one to illustrate the
lesson on “Living Beyond Superficialities.”
Instead of focusing on all the imperfections in
ourselves, the people in our lives, politicians,
the weather and all the things that we see as
“stupid” or “wrong,” Dyer and the Tao urge us to
change our perspectives, our thoughts and to
“See imperfections as perfect, even if your
ego-mind cannot comprehend this.” In support of
this idea, Dyer quotes from one of history’s
great mystical thinkers, Meister Eckhart.
Several
centuries ago, Eckhart said:
Every object, every creature, every man, woman
and child
Has a soul and it is the destiny of all
To see as God sees,
To know as God knows,
To feel as God feels,
To Be as God Is.”
Wayne Dyer’s
website is:
www.DrWayneDyer.com.
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