An Interpretation of the Tao Te Ching
Revealing Systems Thinking as Spiritual Development
Read online free—or download your copy:
If you prefer, you can buy your own copy on Amazon (links below)
"The system that fits in a slide deck is not the eternal system.
The goal that can be perfectly defined has already failed."
— Verse 1, The Tao of Systems
Twenty-five centuries ago, an old librarian walked through a mountain pass, leaving behind everything he knew. A gatekeeper asked him to write down what he'd learned. What emerged was the Tao Te Ching—eighty-one verses that have whispered the same secret to emperors and peasants, monks and merchants.
The secret is simple: There is a Way that everything moves. When you stop fighting it, you become it.
This interpretation marries ancient wisdom with modern systems thinking. Every verse connects timeless truth to contemporary action—whether you're debugging code, building a business, or trying to figure out why your carefully planned life keeps taking hilarious detours.
Ancient wisdom through the lens of systems, probability, and practical philosophy
Each verse includes the original character with etymological explanation
Every verse ends with a concrete practice you can implement today
The highest system is like water: It improves everything it touches and never argues about credit. It flows to the places others avoid—the unsexy industries, the boring problems, the niches everyone thinks are beneath them.
Everyone adds. Masters subtract. Everyone fills. Masters make space. Your calendar's power isn't in the meetings—it's in the blank spaces between them. The profit is in the nothing.
The softest force in the universe overrides the hardest resistance. Water defeats rock. Persistence defeats talent. Compound interest defeats lottery tickets.
A sequence that mirrors both ancient initiation structures and modern transformation psychology. Each door prepares you for the next.
Before you can work with systems, you must see them. Reveal the patterns underlying patterns.
The lens turns inward. Map your own operating system—energy patterns, identity traps, validation addictions.
Your power lies not in what you add but in what you dare to remove. The profit in nothing.
Leadership as water—flowing to low places, succeeding by not competing, winning by serving.
Soft overcomes hard. Retreat creates advance. Bend to become unbreakable.
Compound interest. Accumulation. The regenerative systems that flourish across time.
The journey spirals rather than ends. Return to the beginning, transformed.
The digital editions are free. No email required—just download and begin.
Receive one verse daily for 81 days. A gentle practice delivered to your inbox.