Speak simply when it's necessary. Think about what you are going to say before opening your mouth. Be brief and precise since every time you let a word out through your mouth, you let out a part of your chi at the same time. In this way you will learn to develop the art of speaking without losing energy. Never make promises you can not keep. Do not complain and do not use words that project negative images in your vocabulary because everything you have made with your words loaded with chi will take place around you.
If you have nothing good, true and useful, it is better to keep quiet and say nothing. Learn to be like a mirror, listen and reflect energy. The universe itself is the best example of a mirror that nature has given us because the universe unconditionally accepts our thoughts, our emotions, our words, our actions and sends us the reflection of our own energy in the form of the different circumstances that appear in our life.
If you identify with success, you will be successful. If you identify with failure, you will have failures. Thus we can observe that the circumstances we live in are simply external manifestations of the content of our internal gossip. Learn to be like the universe, listening and reflecting energy without dense emotions and without prejudice, being like an emotionless mirror we learn to speak differently. With a calm and quiet mind, without giving him the opportunity to impose himself with his personal opinions and preventing him from having excessive emotional reactions, he simply allows a sincere and fluid communication to exist. Do not give yourself much importance, be humble because the more you show yourself superior, intelligent and arrogant, the more you become a prisoner of your own image and live in a world of tension and illusions.
Be discreet, preserve your intimate life, in this way you liberate yourself from the opinion of others and you will lead a quiet life becoming invisible, mysterious, indefinable and unfathomable like the Tao. Do not compete with others, become like the land that nourishes us that gives us what we need. Help others to perceive their qualities, their virtues and to shine. The competitive spirit makes the ego grow and inevitably creates conflict. Have confidence in yourself, preserve your inner peace by avoiding entering the provocation and the traps of others.
Don't compromise easily. If you act rashly without being deeply aware of the situation, you will create complications for yourself. People do not trust those who say yes very easily because they know that this famous yes is not solid and lacks courage. Take a moment of internal silence to consider everything that comes up and make your decision later. Thus you will develop self-confidence and wisdom. If there really is something you don't know or don't have the answer to the question asked, accept it. The fact of not knowing is very uncomfortable for the ego because it likes to know everything, always be right and always give its very personal opinion. In reality the ego does not know anything, it just pretends that it knows.
Avoid judging and criticizing, the Tao is impartial and without judgment, does not criticize people, has infinite compassion and does not know duality. Every time you judge someone, all you do is express your very personal opinion, and it's a waste of energy, it's pure noise. Judging is a way to hide their own weaknesses. The wise man tolerates everything and will not say a word.
Remember that everything that bothers you about others is a projection of everything that has not yet resulted from yourself. Let everyone solve their own problems and focus your energy on your own life. Take care of yourself, do not defend. When you try to defend yourself, you are actually giving too much importance to the words of others and giving more force to their aggression. If you accept not defending yourself, you are showing that the opinions of others do not affect you, that they are simply opinions and that you do not need to convince others to be happy. Your inside silence makes you impassible. Regularly fast from the word to re-educate the ego that has a bad habit of speaking all the time. Practice the art of not speaking. Take one day a week to refrain from speaking. Or at least a few hours a day as your personal organization allows. This is an excellent exercise to learn about and learn the universe of unlimited Tao instead of trying to explain in words what Tao is. You will progressively develop the art of speaking without speaking, and your true inner nature will replace your artificial personality, letting the light of your heart and the power of the wisdom of silence appear. Thanks to this force you will attract to yourself everything you need to fully realize and liberate yourself. But you have to be careful that the ego does not interfere. Power remains when the ego is quiet and calm. If your ego imposes and abuses this power, the same power will become a poison, and your whole being will be quickly poisoned.
Be silent, cultivate your own inner power. Respect the lives of others and everything that exists in the world. Don't try to force, manipulate, and control others. Become your own teacher and let others be what they are, or what they have the ability to be. In other words, live by following the sacred life of the Tao.
Taoist text translated by Oscar Salazar