The work of self-cultivation encourages the practitioner to return to the original state of being. Self-cultivation requires a certain amount of detachment from outside relationships. Passions not to be repressed, yet quietly transcended, give way to peaceful contemplation. One learns to live frugally. Anxiety, grief and disappointment fall away. One who chooses the path of self-cultivation is part of the path and is altered by the process. Once the path is traversed, there is no going back. The actions of the student in pursuit of the way of dao determine what progress is made. As such, students are accountable for the way they speak and act. Students who follow the way of dao day after day through the complexities and demanding realities of contemporary life try to walk the path compassionately and harmoniously. Advanced practice frees one from worry, seeking self pleasure, seeking appreciation from others, and the need to compete in this world. Students refine skills to act in accord with nature and experience increasingly frequent states of grace. The ultimate aim of practicing self-cultivation is to return to the source. In order to return to the source, one must be willing to let go of problems of self concern that have been accruing since birth. A principle activity of self-cultivation is to engage in the process of recognizing our individual capacity to project onto things and people outside ourselves all that we cannot accept within ourselves. These projections sow the seeds of anger, disillusionment, and other emotions that determine the way we live. Meeting our shadow head on is pre-requisite to walking the daoist path. With daily practice, students can avoid becoming trapped by the expectations of the projections of others – be they negative or positive -for both are illusory. Using daoist lifestyle to escape from illness, fear, pain, stress or other personal problems manipulates the philosophy for personal use and in doing so contradicts the principles of daoist life. Self-cultivation leads one to approach life without expectations which allows the practitioner, over time, to spontaneously become free of anger, hate, fear, malice, pride, worry, attachments, and self-centeredness. Practitioners of self-cultivation are responsible to take the initiative in walking the daoist path and for acting in harmony with insights discovered through the practice of daoist lifestyle.