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The Tao of Success: The Five Ancient Rings of Destiny ReviewIn contrast to the first book "The Tao of Daily Life" in which Derek organize the contents based on themes, this book has been written in a sequential and systematic manner. Derek chose this organizational style to further clarify how to apply Tao to our daily life systematically. I believe this is also to address many questions from the readers who want to look at the big picture of how to apply Tao to daily life.
Specifically, according to Derek own words' "Although there is no universally recognized curriculum for the Tao, there are common patterns in traditional cultivation. These patterns are not random or arbitrary. They have been distilled from experience over thousands of years. When the ancient sages observed someone making a meaningful change for the better, they took notes."
Derek addresses this with 5 steps sequence considering both internal and external aspects of our life:
Internal aspect:
Step 1: Your spirituality. Change yourself inside-out and "unleash the hidden power within". In my opinions, it is similar to "substance over form" (a popular phrase in accounting field).
This consists of 5 elements: Tranquility, Buddha nature, faith, existence, and renewal.
Step 2: Your mind. "Take advantage of the water by regulating and channeling its flow. Rather than to let it splash out in random directions..." is such a beautiful metaphor for this. I think this is to understand, recognize, monitor and control your own thinking.
This consists of 5 elements: Perception, authenticity, integrity, perspectives, and alchemy.
External aspect:
Step 3: Your relationships. Good relationship management and conflict resolution are emphasized here. "The Tao encompass the full range of human interactions, from the darkness of discord to the light of fellowship."
This consists of 5 elements: criticism, reaction, harmony, alignment, and seamless compassion.
I extremely like "The Blanket" short story that illustrates "seamless" compassion. This story clears up not only the doubt of what is really compassion and forgetfulness but also why we should have compassion--a seamless compassion. Seriously, if everyone reads and understands this story alone, our world will be way more peaceful!
Step 4: Your world. "This step highlights the practical and down-to-earth nature of an authentic practice...in managing prosperity."
This consists of 5 elements: Emptiness, attention, knowledge, acquisition, and detachment.
In my opinions, opposite to many who misunderstand that the Tao suggests no-action, the Tao actually suggests we not only plan, think and talk about something but also take actions accordingly. In this step, Derek shows exactly how we should be pro-active to take opportunities and "handle the gains properly, rather than to have them handle you."
Step 5: Your destiny. "The last step pulls together the work of the previous four to channel it toward life transformation...This step is not only about the how of destiny determination, but also the why."
This consists of 5 elements: Command, goals, persistence, fortitude, and purpose.
This is like now you have all the parts and tools, you actually need to assemble and build the whole system. Therefore, systematically speaking, I would suggest everyone to learn the parts and tools (from the first 4 steps) and build your own unique system (with suggestion of step 5) for gradual improvements in your life from now on and forever.
The above is just a very brief summary of what this book has to offer. For every element from every step, Derek illustrates it with concrete and memorable short story in a format similar to the "Tao of daily life". Again, Derek's writing contains such significantly deep wisdom from seemingly simple and sometimes funny stories.
Last but not least, when you read this book with an open mind and critical thinking, don't forget to actually test it by applying Tao in your own life, then you will probably see Derek Lin' short stories playing right in your head. When you encounter a similar situation like the short story, review what you do with and without the Tao wisdom, and see the result live. I always like to revisit the stories and magically enough, every time I re-read the story, I clear out few more doubts.
Finally, as a student in many practical majors (undergraduate student in math, and accounting and graduate student industrial engineering), I always like to look at big pictures before scrutinize into the details. This book provides exactly that systematic framework.
I would say this is like the new invention of the century: iTao 1.0 framework! :)
This book can be improved even further if Derek links in more Tao-Te-Ching chapters comprehensively, not just short stories.
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