Last fall I blogged about Wayne Dyer’s view of a leader according to Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. In keeping with that topic, I’ve recently been taking an in-depth look at a particular chapter in The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh.

Chapter 5 entitled: On Laozi and Generating Worlds is particularly enlightening. Note that Laozi and Lao Tzu refer to the same individual.

The analogy that kicks off the chapter forces us to focus on what is really a source of strength. Our perception of strength usually revolves around thoughts of superior force, height, space, etc.

For me one of the key sources of strength that this chapter’s introduction highlights is flexibility.

Puett and Gross-Loh ask us to take a look at two different trees in a forest. One is the “mighty” oak and the other is the “tiny” sapling, referenced on page 87.

Given our initial thoughts of superior force, height, space; we may think that the “mighty” oak is clearly stronger than the “tiny” sapling.

But what happens when a major storm comes, which of the two trees will be the strongest?

I will allow Puett and Gross-Loh to explain, “The oak tree might not be able to withstand the wind, rain, and lighting of a fierce storm. In the end, it will topple to the ground, yet the sapling will remain intact. Why? The sapling has been bending and shifting with the winds; pliable and soft, it stands up again when the storm has passed.”

For me the key factor of strength is flexibility which is what the sapling exhibits and the oak does not.

There are a number of historical events and figures that Puett and Gross-Loh mention, which exhibit Laozi’s key teachings. I learned a lot from those examples and may make them the topics of future posts.