Lao Tzu Quotes

He who is overly attached to his family members experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.

The secret self knows the anguish of our attachments and assures us that letting go of what we think we must have to be happy is the same as letting go of our unhappiness.

How do you let go of attachment to things? Don’t even try. It’s impossible. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them.

Don't ignore the past, but deal with it, on your own pace. Once you deal with it, you are free of it; and you are free to embrace your life and be a happy loving person because if you don't, the past will come back to haunt and keep coming back to haunt you.

Love without attachment is light.

Enlightenment is not something you achieve. It is the absence of something. All your life you have been going forward after something, pursuing some goal. Enlightenment is dropping all that.

All religious leaders and spiritual teachers emphasize finding a place within us that is true. People who obsessively follow these leaders instead of their own purpose attach to the spiritual leader and become fanatical and controlling. That's why Jesus tried to tell his followers not to get attached to outward form.

When you're not attached to anything, nothing can harm you. When people become attached, they can be harmed. I know this, so I don't attach myself to anything, really.

We must be able to appreciate and enjoy the places where we tarry and yet pass on without anguish when we are called elsewhere. In our spiritual development we are often required to pull up roots many times and to close many chapters in our lives until we are no longer attached to any material thing and can love all people without any attachment to them.

That non-attachment gives us the freedom to be exactly who we are.

Become alert about desire and non-attachment begins to appear. This is not to be made to happen, it follows naturally from awareness of attachment. Each one of us has to become aware of his attachments, and keep being so! Nothing should be done unconsciously.

Suffering only shows where you are attached. That is why, to those on the path, suffering is grace.

The emptiness where I used pain to fill the hole no longer controls me, no longer calls me because of you.

Sometimes our thoughts and feelings are our most prized possessions... and then there are times to let go of your possessions and wander.

Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you're attached to something not true for you.

Seeker, empty the boat, lighten the load, be free of craving and judgment and hatred, and feel the joy of the way.

No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it

Any teaching will not transform you as long as you are deeply attached to your body. Yoga is towards reducing this attachment.

You don't have to give up to let go

Don't cling to anything. Clinging is the cause of our being unconscious.

Holding on to anything blocks wisdom.

Selfhood begins with a walking away, And love is proved in letting go.

I let go of all expectations. People, places and things are free to be themselves, and I am free to be me.

Until we let go of our mental images of who we are or who we should be, our vision remains clouded by expectation. But when we let go of everything, open ourselves to any truth, and see the world without fear or judgement, then we are finally able to begin the process of peeling off the shell of false identity that prevents our true self from growing and shining in to the world.