{"id":34333,"date":"2021-05-04T16:11:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T20:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=34333"},"modified":"2026-01-22T15:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:02:07","slug":"harmonious-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How can you live a harmonious life? Why can&#8217;t humanity live in harmony with the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To live a harmonious life means to do what the universe requires of you and nothing more. Unfortunately, humanity has fallen out of harmony with nature because of its need to industrialize and consume. But you can still live a harmonious life within a corrupt world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn how to live in harmony with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-tao\/\">the Tao<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-live-a-harmonious-life\">How to Live <strong>a Harmonious Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To have a harmonious life, understand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/find-your-place-in-the-world\/\">your place in the world<\/a> and work to fulfill the function the universe requires of you\u2014nothing more, nothing less. <\/strong>Contrary to popular belief, you can\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/society-culture\/how-to-make-the-world-a-better-place\/\">improve the world<\/a>. It&#8217;s sacred, and if you try to change it, you\u2019ll lose touch with it. Instead, focus on what the universe requires of you, and you\u2019ll find peace within your existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a time for everything, including negative emotions and experiences. If you\u2019re one with the Tao, nothing will faze you, not even death. Through the lens of the Tao, death is an unavoidable part of life. Instead of fearing death, embrace it as part of the cycle of the universe. This will allow you to live your life without apprehension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-corruption\"><strong>Corruption<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When the world is in harmony with the Tao, life can flourish.<\/strong> However, when humanity works against the Tao, the world becomes corrupted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:  If humanity was willing to live a harmonious life within the guidance of the Tao, only taking what we needed to survive, we could co-exist with the animals of the world. However, because of mankind\u2019s need to industrialize, many species have either gone extinct due to pollution or have become a part of the ever-growing meat industry, thus corrupting the natural order of the Tao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of succumbing to corrupting forces, approach the world with compassion and empathy. <strong>Listen to the guidance of the Tao, finding your place within the world instead of trying to rule over it.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-violence-and-aggression\"><strong>Violence and Aggression<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Peace should always be your top priority. <\/strong>Approach the world around you gently. Meet people where they are instead of trying to force them to bend or break. Aggression only pushes people away.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Violence should only be used in the most extreme of circumstances. If you <em>must <\/em>resort to violence, it should pain you to do so. Even if you\u2019re victorious, you should be upset by the fact that you had to use aggression. That is the path to a harmonious life with the Tao.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can you live a harmonious life? Why can&#8217;t humanity live in harmony with the world? To live a harmonious life means to do what the universe requires of you and nothing more. Unfortunately, humanity has fallen out of harmony with nature because of its need to industrialize and consume. But you can still live a harmonious life within a corrupt world. Keep reading to learn how to live in harmony with the Tao.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":34368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,24,6],"tags":[279],"class_list":["post-34333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-society","category-spiritual","tag-tao-te-ching","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1070\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"598\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Tao Te Ching\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Society\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\",\"name\":\"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg\",\"width\":1070,\"height\":598},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism - Shortform Books","description":"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism","og_description":"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1070,"height":598,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism","datePublished":"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/"},"wordCount":436,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","keywords":["Tao Te Ching"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Society","Spiritual"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/","name":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T20:11:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-22T19:02:07+00:00","description":"How can you live a harmonious life within a corrupt world? It is possible to live in harmony with the Tao if you follow these guidelines.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","width":1070,"height":598},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/harmonious-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Have a Harmonious Life Through Taoism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/girl-in-field.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34333"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147761,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34333\/revisions\/147761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}