Lao-Tze, Lao Zi, Laozi or Lao-Tzu is that mysterious sage who may or may not have existed, but whose philosophy has flowed through the millennia like a tranquil river.

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He is said to have been born around the 6th century BC in China and worked as an imperial archivist before growing tired of the world and riding off into the unknown. On the way, a border guard asked him to leave something written down before he disappeared, and thus was born the Tao Te Ching, a manual of minimalist wisdom that teaches the art of flowing with life instead of fighting it. After that, he disappeared like a true master of the Tao, leaving humanity trying to understand his enigmas to this day. Did he exist or not? It doesn't matter. What matters is that his legacy lives on - and much more Zen than we are.