and the way is not difficult at all
Spiritual success is gained by daily cultivation.If you practiced for the day, then you have won.If you were lazy for the day, then you have lost.Self-cultivation is the heart of spiritual attainment. Gaining insight and ability is not a matter of grand statements, dramatic initiations, or sporadic moments of enlightenment. Those things are only highlights in a life of consistent activity.Whatever system of spirituality you practice, do it every day. If it is prayer, then pray every day. If it is meditation, then meditate every day. If it is exercise, then exercise every day. Only then will you be able to say that you are truly practicing spirituality.This methodical approach is reassuring in several ways. First, it provides you with a process and a means to maintain progress even if that particular day is not inspiring or significant. Just to practice is already good. Secondly, it gives you a certain faith. If you practice every day, it is inevitable that you will gain from it. Thirdly, constant practice gives you a certain satisfaction. How can you say to yourself that you have truly entered a spiritual path unless you can look back on years of daily practice and take comfort in the momentum that is has given you? It really seems that his approach is more Zen than Taoist. There is no deviating from the Tao, for the Tao is everything. And whether you practice daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, everything you DO is Taoist, for you are Tao, and all around you is Tao. You do not "practice" Tao, you live it. And why judge yourself? We do what we have to do, nothing more, no less. We all live our spirituality differently. The Tao is forever flowing, it is like water, it goes wherever it runs, and you can TRY to dam it, but it just ends up flowing somewhere else. There are some, who do dam it. Who keep it stagnate, and once in a while open up the dam doors to let it out in small amounts. This is more of a control issue than a "proper practice" of Taoism.What are they afraid of if they just go with the flow, run with the wind, float with the river? I find that when I try to control the events in my life that is when things start to get more difficult for me. When I let things just flow and move with them, there are moments of pure beauty and joy that open up for me, and the way is not difficult at all.