Five Life Lessons From The Great Sages

Looking back at the great sages will bring what we learn from modern writers into a clearer view. Because most modern writers are saying what the greats have said for centuries. From the Buddha to Lao Tzu and Confucius to Jesus. We’ve had great teachings for thousands of years.

 

If you like what you hear, please remember to subscribe and share this with your friends.

 

If you want to stay up to date with all the happenings at Recapture Your Life, you can sign-up on the website https://RecaptureYour.Life

We also offer complimentary coaching sessions. You can sign-up through the website Here or directly by clicking HERE.

You can read more on the Blog or listen on the Podcast

 

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
Welcome to the Recapture YourLife podcast with Steve Crenshaw.
Welcome back.
This week we're going to focus onlife lessons that come from different
philosophical and religious teachingsfrom the Buddha to Lao Tzu and Confucius

(00:30):
to Jesus. We've had greatteachings for thousands of years,
and I want to focus on these teachingsmore because I get caught up in the
teacher of the day syndrome,and maybe you do too.
Looking back at the Great Sages will bringwhat we can learn from modern writers
into clear view because let's be honest,
most modern writers are saying what thegreats have said for centuries. Number

(00:54):
one, pay more attention to yourinsides than your outsides.
Maybe it's been this wayfor hundreds of years,
but I know today we focus so much ofour time on what other people are doing,
whether it's watching reality television,watching YouTube, looking at Facebook,
Instagram, TikTok,

(01:15):
whatever we can do todistract us from ourselves.
What this does is cause us to judgeour insides by someone else's outside.
We've all seen the perfectfamily on Facebook vacationing in Cancun or skiing in
Colorado,
but we see the videos of people withthe belief that if I act craz or do

(01:36):
something over the top, people willlike me because they like my video.
The trap many people fall into is feelinglike they're missing out because they
post a video or a pictureand six people like it.
The truth is most people watch a videoor look at a picture and maybe they like
it, maybe they don't. Then they moveon to the next thing in the algorithm.

(01:58):
They possibly never think ofthe person who posted it again,
even friends on Facebook,
Lao Tzu says in the Tao te Ching,
an excess of light blinds the human eyeand an excess of noise ruins the ear.
An excess of condiments,deadens the taste,
the effect of too much horseracing and hunting is bad,

(02:19):
and the lure of hidden treasurestemps one to do evil. Therefore,
the wise man attends tothe inner significance of things and does not concern
himself with outward appearances. Heignores matters and seeks the spirit.
Jesus said, the kingdom of Godis within you and the Buddha.

(02:39):
It's better to conquer yourself than towin a thousand battles than the victory
is yours.
I think Lao Tzu's explanationencapsulates everything here.
Too much of everythingdeadends our senses.
We wake up one day and don't understandhow we've gotten to where we're at. If
we look at ourselves andjust focus on ourselves,

(03:02):
everyone else will takecare of themselves.
If we all quit watching reality TV orliking things on YouTube or Facebook,
it will all go away,
but it's easier to watch somebody elsebe crazy than it is to look at yourself
and say, what am Idoing? How am I feeling?

(03:23):
What do I need to change about myself?
Take what all three said.Everything we need is inside of us.
The kingdom of God is within you.
It's better to conquer yourself thewise man attempt to enter things.
We've known this forover 2000 years and still
90, 95, 99% of us are lookingfor peace in externals or

(03:47):
other people.
I think that's why one of the mostpopular sayings of Jesus is the gate is
narrow and the road is perilous. Ifyou want to find an authentic life,
because looking at myself ishard, looking at you is easy,
but it kills your soul when youfocus on other people. If we

(04:07):
truly want to pay more attentionto our insides and our outside,
we can take a couple of minutes eachday to meditate or journal how we're
feeling.
We can set a timer for different hoursin the day to just stop and say a quick
prayer. We can study Tai chi oryoga to help us center ourselves,
light a candle and incense in the morningand just quieten ourselves before the

(04:29):
day starts. As we slow downand focus on ourselves,
we will see the world in a new lightand find that not nearly as many things
bother us. Number two,
don't try to control othersControl.
We all think we have it and none of us do.

(04:50):
Controlling others is a majorsport in today's society,
whether it's using force,
speaking ill of someone or subtlytrying to get them to conform to your
ideals. Controllingothers is our way of life.
Many of us have heard the golden rule ofJesus due to others what you want them

(05:10):
to do to you, but Confuciushad a golden rule as well.
Don't do to others what youdon't want them to do to you.
Both of these messages sound the same,
but they have two differentimplications. Jesus says,
do to other people the thingsthat you want to have done to you

(05:30):
actively show them love,actively care for them.
Actively listen to what they're saying,
but what Confucius says is don't do toothers what you don't want them to do to
you,
so don't slap them in the face or talkabout them behind their back. Don't
yell at them if you don't want tobe yelled at, how about this one?

(05:53):
Don't tailgate. If youdon't want to be tailgated.
We can learn from both of these becausethey bring a synergy to us that we
sometimes can't see.
If I actively do things for others andI'm actively feeding into someone else's
life that shows them that Ilove them and care about them.
If I learn to control my actions and Idon't do the things that I don't want

(06:16):
done, to me, that helps me to grow asa person, but with either of these,
if I'm trying to control anyoneelse by doing these things,
I'm doing it for the wrong reason.
The only thing I'm trying to controlis what I'm doing, saying and being.
Life is filled with give and take,
and when we stop and think about whatour actions do and how we're trying to

(06:39):
manipulate the situation,
we can see that showing love andnot reacting brings a harmony to the
relationships we have.
We can let other people be themselvesnot what we want them to be.
Lao Tzu said this kindnessin words creates confidence,
kindness in thinking createsprofoundness kindness in giving creates

(07:03):
love. Number three,
what you think about is what you become.The Buddha said,
we are shaped by our thoughts.
We become what we thinkwhen the mind is pure.
Joy follows like a shadow that neverleaves. In the Protestant Bible,
St. Paul wrote, the renewingof your mind will transform you

(07:28):
as a coach. When I talkto people about thinking,
it's about what does my future look like?
Am I saying the right things to myself?Am I asking myself the right questions?
Are there things I canstop saying to myself?
I have a handout of cognitive distortions,
and you can get these byGoogling cognitive distortions,

(07:48):
but what a cognitive distortion is issomething that we say to ourselves that
aren't true or they're twisted truthsthat have become false because we've
twisted 'em out of shape. Ifyou say to yourself every day,
I can't do this job,
you're going to end up not being ableto do your job. If you say to yourself
every day, I hate my spouse,
you're going to hate your spouse ifyou change the way you phrase it and

(08:13):
ask yourself, how canI do this job better?
How can I love my spouse the way they are?
Your mind gives youanswers to those questions.
You have literally started renewingyour mind by asking the right question.
Author Michael Singer says in his book,
the Untethered Soul that we shouldbecome the person watching for whoever is

(08:34):
saying these things in our head.
If we learn to watch andlearn to ask better questions,
every answer that we need, everyanswer we truly seek is in there.
We have to learn to look forit and ask in the right ways.
Number four, change isinevitable, so embrace it.

(08:55):
Change is life, and life is aboutchange. Nothing is ever static,
and this goes along with trying tobe in control all the time as well.
When we understand thatchange is inevitable,
we can release our controlon the world. Lao Tzu wrote,
life is a series of natural andspontaneous changes. Don't resist them.

(09:16):
That only creates sorrow.Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forwardin whatever way they like.
Worrying about what might happendoesn't stop something from happening.
It just causes us to bemiserable in the here and now.
What Lasu is saying is that we cancreate our own sorrow by worrying

(09:37):
about what changes are coming.When we understand people move,
jobs are lost and accidents happen,we can stop worrying and start living.
The stoic philosopherMarcus Aurelius wrote,
observe constantly that allthings take place by change
and learn that the nature of the universeloves nothing more than to change the

(09:58):
things which are and tomake new things like them.
Most of us have settledinto a comfort zone.
We're afraid of anything new or changing.
We like our routinebecause it's comfortable.
We are complacent because we like to be,
or maybe we just believe that nothingwill change and hope for nothing better.

(10:18):
Every change in our life opens upnew opportunities no matter what
that change may be. We can always findan opportunity for growth in the change.
New beginnings lie around every corner,
but each new beginning requires change.
When we resist change, we canbecome complacent in a job,
relationship or family situation,like Marcus really has said,

(10:42):
the universe loves nothing more than tochange the things that are and to make
new things just like them.
And number five, learn to live intoday. Jesus told his disciples,
don't worry about tomorrow. Lettomorrow worry about itself.
Let today's trouble besufficient for today.

(11:04):
Have a friend who has been told shehas a short time to live and she has
embraced this with open arms.
What she reminds all of us to do isthat no matter what, stay curious,
she says that she's stayingcurious about what's coming.
She's not just giving up and not livingtoday because she doesn't know what's
going to happen tomorrow.

(11:26):
She has made the choice to live intoday knowing what tomorrow holds.
Like Jesus said, no matterwhat happens tomorrow,
we still have to live today because wehave to earn a living and do our job or
take care of our families today.
Living in tomorrow has nevermade doing today's job easier.

(11:48):
It only adds to the stress of tryingto live today. The stoic philosopher
Seneca said, this,
expecting is the greatest impedimentto living in anticipation of tomorrow.
It loses today.
We all only get so many minutesin a day and so many days in
life, some get more, some get less,

(12:11):
but what you choose to dowith today is your choice.
Whether you manage today wisely and workwith good purpose or you live as the
Taoists say, and follow theflow of life, no matter what,
you can only live in today andmore importantly in this moment,
so what will you do with it? Alright,

(12:34):
that's it for this week. Thankyou so much for listening.
If you like what you hear,
please remember to subscribe andshare this with your friends.
If you want to stay up to date with allthe happenings that recapture your life,
you can sign up on the website.
We're also offering complimentary coachingsessions and you can sign up on the
website as well. Thanks for listening.I'll talk to you in a couple of weeks.