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Tao Te Ching Verse 81

translated by Isabella Mears

Faithful words may not be beautiful,
Beautiful words may not be faithful.
Those who love do not quarrel,
Those who quarrel do not love.
Those who know are not learned,
Those who are learned do not know.
The riches of the self-controlled person are in the Inner Life.
When one spends for others, one has more for oneself.
When one gives to others, one has much more for oneself.
Heavenly Tao blesses all and hurts no one.
The way of the self-controlled person is to act and not to fight.

Photo by Nastya Dulhiier on Unsplash

Staying Connected

In this final verse of the TTC, I feel like there are three things with which Lao Tzu leaves us:

The first is that when we are connected with Tao (which is always, btw), we can

See without looking

Listen without hearing

Feel without touching

Internalize without smelling or tasting

The second is the property of reflection - both internal and external to ourselves, which to me means that when I look inside, the Tao is reflected back.  Ripples in a pond, while they emanate outward, always return to the source.

And the third is that emulating the Tao is the way to align ourselves with it, just like a magnet points toward the closest pole.

How do we practice all of this?  That is our individual choice!  Throughout the podcast, we have discussed different ways to put the principles into practice, and have acknowledged that those aren’t the only ways.  In fact, I suspect that like the Tao, the number of ways I can use to practice those principles are infinite.  In my short journey so far with the Tao, I have learned four centering mindsets that lead to different practices for different times, and I’ll leave them with you for your consideration:

1.  I must approach the Tao with as much sincerity as I can.  It doesn’t matter how deeply sincere I am - just the best I can do in the moment is enough.
2. I ask Tao for the willingness to see things a different way.  I ask for awareness.
3. I ask Tao to show me what I can do to practice.
4. I ask Tao to help me be willing to practice once I know the way.

This is pretty much the cycle for me.  It is simple, AND easy to do, at least most of the time.  This mindset has helped me to become open to new ways of seeing things, new meditations, new contemplations, and what I feel is the coolest thing yet: being able to work with Tao to transmute my hangups, fears, and the negativity that has been with me since childhood into a loving, very real connection with myself, others, and the environment around me.

I am experiencing being human.  It can be great.  It can be horrifying.  It can be incredibly beautiful.  I can choose to do it alone.  I can choose to do it with Tao.  The choice is mine alone, and the action is mine to take.

Tao is impartial to my choice - so even Tao doesn’t influence my choice or action.  How profoundly poignant is that?  This is my journey.  It is your journey.  It is our journey.  We all share this human experience, and yet we experience it individually.  I am grateful that I have been willing enough to experience Tao in all its myriad forms.  I am grateful for this human experience.  I am grateful I can know compassion, contentment, and humility.  I am grateful I have had this experience because of and with...you.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 80

translated by Hua-Ching Ni

Let there be small communities with few inhabitants.
The supply of vessels may be more than enough,
yet no one would use them.
The inhabitants would love living there so dearly that they would never wish to move to
another place.
They may have every kind of vehicle,
but they would not bother to ride them.
They may have powerful weapons,
but they would not resort to using them.
They would return to a simple system of cords and knots to record their simple events,
as was done in ancient times.
They would be content with plain food,
pleased with simple clothing,
satisfied with rustic but cozy homes,
and would cling to their natural way of life.
The neighboring country would be so close at hand that one could hear its roosters crowing
and its dogs barking along the boundaries.
But, to the end of their days, people would rarely trespass the territory of another's life.

Photo by Johnny Cohen on Unsplash

Utopia On the Surface

My experience with this verse has been unexpectedly beautiful. 

In this verse, he outlines utopia:

• Abundance 
• Harmony in the Community
• Ability to Travel and Defend but no need for either of those things
• Simplicity in Knowledge Management
• Comfortable lifestyle
• Peace with the Neighbors

So as I’m reading it and reflecting, knowing everything that I’ve learned and practiced so far, I can see that the utopia is actually possible!  

There have been two times when I’ve witnessed this, and I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I knew things were different.  I’ll tell you about one of them.

In one of my trainings in the Army, I was in what we’d call a squad - about 8 of us in a small group.  We were to train, eat, and sleep together for about 35 days.  Some of my comrades would have forgotten an item or two, and just me - I would offer what I had blindly.  Now someone might say that was a little dumb of me - you know, like I should have given of my overflow, not my cup, right?  But naive as I was, I did it.  I did that for a week or two, and I noticed that the others started doing the same.  Soon, we were a functioning little family unit, and we looked out for each other and our needs.  It became normal.  Some time later, maybe about 3 weeks, one of our cadre remarked that there wasn’t any infighting in our group like the other squads.  They wondered what it was.  At that moment, I knew.  And it wasn’t like I could have said anything about it - there was no way I could have said that I was the cause in the beginning.  It was one of those subtle things that folks weren’t even paying attention to, to include myself!  But I knew it. 

As I’m considering that experience with that group and reading this verse today, I’m thinking about at least observing how my journey with the Tao has affected my relationships since I started.  At home, I have enjoyed a deeper connection with my spouse as I grow with her and we share spiritual insights.  At work, I have opened up to more ways to be of service, and interesting opportunities have presented themselves.  With friends, I have practiced humility and have met some people that have had profound impacts on my life - and statistically, it seems pretty much impossible that that would have occurred had I gone out searching for them in a deliberate manner.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 71

translated by Hua-Ching Ni

One who regards one’s intellectual knowledge as ignorance has deep insight.
One who overrates one’s intellectual achievement as definite truth is deeply sick.
Only when one is sick of this sickness can one cease to be sick.
One who returns one’s mind to the simplicity of the subtle truth is not sick.
One knows to break through conceptual knowledge in order to directly reach the subtle
truth of the universe.
This is the foundation of one’s health!

Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

Break On Through to the Other Side

Jim Morrison’s song lyrics aren’t all that far off from this second part of the verse.  He starts out talking about the day destroying the night and night dividing the day.  Hmm, sounds kind of Yin and Yang to me.  Then there are the last couple verses in the song that talk about there being a side of life that is there and different from our immediate perceptions.

In this Tao Te Ching Verse, Lao Tzu says that because we recognize that our minds can’t think us into blissful enlightenment, just that recognition alone is what allows us to look in a different direction that unlocks the door to connection with the Tao.  

To me, this is clear only after I have taken some time to reflect how the Tao isn’t a concept; rather, it’s a thing we call that universal truth that we are always experiencing.  Some folks call it God, some call it the universe, some call it Allah, some call it the Buddha, nirvana, Shiva, Kali - while there are subtle differences in each of those personifications, the list of ways we refer to that universal truth are pretty much the same.  It is the spiritual energy that moves around and through us, of which we very much are a part.  

You can’t start a gasoline-engine car by getting in and willing it to turn on.  We can’t access the Tao just by enhancing our knowledge of it.  The car needs a key, a human to turn the key, and a bunch of other parts to work together.  We must open ourselves to the Tao, be willing to be vulnerable with it, allow it to show us things and do things for us.  We must feel the Tao to access it.

So not gonna lie, this seemed impossible for me in the beginning.  Mostly because I had no idea what I was supposed to do.  But, with a little patience and by practicing some of the other verses in this book, I was able to catch a clue, and as long as I continue to practice, I find that truth after truth is revealed as I progress. 

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Tao Te Ching Verse 70

translated by Bruce R. Linnell

My words are very easy to understand,
Very easy to practice.
But there is no one in the world who can understand them,
There is no one who can practice them.

My words possess a lineage,
My duties possess a ruler.

Now : only because I am without-knowledge,
Thus I am not understood.
Those who understand me are rare,
Consequently I am one who is valued!

Thus the sage wears coarse cloth, but carries jade in her Heart.

Photo by 五玄土 ORIENTO on Unsplash

The Return to Harmony

How would you describe the color red to a person who might be born without sight?  Here you are, around colors your whole life, watching them mix to create new colors, playing around with them, and you are trying to describe what sensation you get when you see the color red to someone who simply doesn’t know.

Lao Tzu says that his teachings are easy to understand and easy to practice - like our ability to experience things.  In Harmony with the Tao, Lao Tzu practices the Way - which when you’re in it, in flow, you get it.  

Maybe like a dream?  When you're in the dream, things just seem to make sense, whether they’re logical or not.  That male person who is embodying my mother and who is popping wheelies in a car over there?  That all makes sense - at the time.  But then I open my eyes and try to make sense of it, or even more challenging, try to explain it to someone else, and well, yeah.  Not happening.

So yes, easy to understand and easy to practice - if you get it.  Which is why I feel he says that even though they’re easy, no one can understand and no one can practice.  The Tao is something that you just have to ‘get,’ isn’t it?

Well that’s not fair, I might say.  How is it that the Tao is available to everyone and yet I can’t get it if I don’t get it?  Well.  on the surface, it would appear that all doors are locked, wouldn’t it?  Like if I’m not plugged into the Tao, I’m basically talking about something that might as well be a dream, or an imperceptible color.

I guess it’s a good thing that the Tao is always giving.  All I need to experience just a tiny bit is a little bit of the opposite of what I’ve got between my two ears in the beginning.  For me, and most of the time, I had habits of shutting out the Tao - they just developed as my sense of self did.  You know, fear, anger, embarrassment, guilt, shame.  Those things.  But when I started looking in the opposite direction of those things, the Tao suddenly unlocked its doors and I was able to enter.  Actually, I think it was me who unlocked those doors from the inside - the Tao did nothing except remain available.  

By practicing compassion, contentment, and humility - the three treasures - I am able to access the Tao.  What seemed inaccessible before now becomes something I’ve always been able to get.  Like Dorothy’s red slippers, I have with me the ability to travel home any time I want by concentrating on practicing the three treasures.

So, easy to practice and easy to understand?  You bet!  When I am of the world and concentrating on my worldly stuff and giving attention to all the ego-feeding desires I have?  It’s pretty much impossible for me to access the Tao when I am 100% invested in that stuff.  Thankfully, I’ve got tools like natural compassion, contentment and humility that I can tap into at any time to offset those things and return to Harmony.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 69

translated by Bram den Hond

Those who use weapons have a saying which goes:
"I do not presume to act like the host
but instead play the part of the guest;
I do not advance an inch
but would rather retreat a foot".

This is called moving forward
without appearing to move -
Rolling up one's sleeves
without showing one's arms -
Grasping firmly, without holding a weapon -
And enticing to fight when there is no opponent.

Of disasters, there is no greater catastrophe
Than thinking you have no rival.
To think you have no rival,
Is to come close to losing my treasures.
Therefore when weapons are raised,
and opponents are fairly well matched,
Then is the one who feels grief that will win.

Photo by KT on Unsplash

Practicing

For me, I have found humility to be an ongoing practice, one that requires constant attention and balance.  I have experienced two sides of humility:

The first is when I feel I am superior to others or have superior morals or have said superior things or have acted in superior ways.  I sometimes allow these feelings of superiority into my mind as a shortcut to connecting with the Tao.  I say, look, there is evidence that we are OK and we are worthy of Harmony.  I feel like this is a shortcut because it still takes an effort from me to move into Harmony - I must get still, become aware, and focus.  Having not done this for much of my life, it is difficult for now.  I suspect in a few years it will get easier.  To practice humility in this case, I must remember that I am always OK and there is no need to feel superior to anyone or anything.  

The other side of humility is when I feel unworthy.  During life, there are things that occur or things that I interpret that I allow to make me feel insecure.  Emotionally, financially, intimately, or socially insecure.  Those are the main categories for me.  This feeling of insecurity - it’s this feeling of ‘ick’ that makes me wonder if I’m even allowed to be there in life.  Like there are others that are way more worthy than I am.  These insecurities are also shortcuts.  They are the result of me looking at what I think is evidence and being OK with the outcome - that I don’t deserve my own love because I am defective, somehow.  I say this is a shortcut because it takes work and introspection to remember that despite what I may experience through my corporeal senses, I am still a perfect expression of the Tao.  In the moment, it’s easier to give in and move on.  And again, it is difficult for now to stop, dig through that programming, and reassess any false beliefs I have around my insecurities.  

When, in the midst of a busy life, I find that once in awhile, I can feel like I‘m directly in the middle of infinity because I have practiced humility, I know that all is right with the world.  I wish this and more for you.

And that will wrap it up.  Thank you for considering the principle of Practicing Humility humbly with me today.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 68

translated by Lin Yutang

The brave soldier is not violent;
The good fighter does not lose his temper;
The great conqueror does not fight (on small issues);
The good users of people place themselves below others.
- This is the virtue of not-contending,
   Is called the capacity to use people,
   Is reaching to the height of being
Mated to Heaven, to what was of old.

Photo by Mario Klassen on Unsplash

Practicing Non-Contention

1.  What do I secretly wish was better about life?  In my worldly life, I secretly wish I had an awesome car.
2. Next, just sitting with this, I can ask, what does this have anything to do with my social status?  Do I think that if this thing was better, it would mean that I would be satisfied?
3. And now the next question: why?  This one is where I need to be super honest with me and consider how much of this thing I wish was better has to do with my social status or who I think I’ll be as an individual.  If I had a dope ride, for example, I could roll around looking awesome and I’d have this feeling of ‘got my stuff together’ ness. Sure, a nice machine is a nice machine, and great speakers, that awesome new car smell, the sleekness with which I slide in and out of the cockpit - those are all things that are pleasurable and are a joy to experience.  Apart from that, though - are they the things that are worth the money or effort that I would spend getting that experience?  Or is there more to it than that?  With that money, don’t I also get bragging rights, a quiet sense of satisfaction that I can afford such a cool thing?
4. So the next question I can ask is, if I had this thing that I secretly wished was better, how would I use it to compete with others for emotional security or social status?  If I had a great car, I could allow myself to feel a little superior to the other cars on the road.  If I had a spouse that listened every time I said something, I would have important things to say.  If I had a boss that told everyone how much she depends on me, I would be the best worker.  If I was the cool kid in my group of friends, I could walk around and be myself without having to doubt.  And if I was spiritually achieved, I could just plug into the Tao at will and make cool stuff happen.

I guess the good news is that there isn’t a shortage of ways we can practice non-contention.  For me, I can start with the big things and ask why I secretly wish something was different.  I can identify what I’m trying to get out of that secret wish, and I usually find that it’s because I want to feel more secure about - anything - in relation to other people.  There must be people there to acknowledge I have a sick ride.  There must be people there to listen to me.  There must be people there to say I’m the best worker or the coolest friend.  And there must be an unrealistic standard against which I am measuring myself in spiritual matters or personal achievements.

When I identify this aspect of competition within myself, I can consider how allowing the Tao to control that aspect would look.  If I took my competitive attitude and set it aside for a moment, I can observe how according to Tao it could be irrelevant or how I could focus on another, more positive aspect.  I could practice non-contention, and see how, when choosing this way forward, things turn out better than I could have imagined or planned.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 67

translated by Ellen Marie Chen

All under heaven say that my Tao is great,
That it seems useless (pu hsiao).
Because it is great,
Therefore it seems useless.
If it were useful,It would have long been small.

I have three treasures (pao),
To hold and to keep:
The first is motherly love (tz'u),
The second is frugality (chien),
The third is daring not to be at the world's front.

With motherly love one can be courageous,
With frugality one can be wide reaching,
Daring not be at the world's front,
One can grow to a full vessel (ch'i).

Now to discard motherly love, yet to be courageous,
To discard frugality, yet to be wide reaching,
To discard staying behind, yet to be at the front,
One dies!

One with motherly love is victorious in battle,
Invulnerable in defense.
When Heaven wills to save a people,
It guards them with motherly love.

Photo by N. on Unsplash

The Cycle

Not gonna lie, I’ve done this whole verse backwards for most of my life.  Which I guess is OK, given that the nature of the Universe is cyclical!  Here’s what I mean: Lao Tzu says that there is a divine order to things.  It starts with compassion, then leads to contentment, then continues with humility.  If one lives life in placing these virtues second, one courts disaster.  When things are confusing, he says, remember to just start with compassion.

Right now, in where I’m at, If I were to sum up the Tao Te Ching, I’d use this verse as the cover page.  Of course, I love how it is ensconced  about 80% of the way through, mostly because of the reason Lao Tzu cites in the very first part - that it’s great and all but doesn't seem to have anything to do with real life.  So in my pain, I became receptive to the first 80% of this teaching and practiced it as best I could along the way.  This has made me even more receptive to what is for me in this moment the crux of the Tao Te Ching. 

I mean we’ve talked about the different ways and aspects of compassion.  We’ve talked about not judging, we’ve talked about fighting and then mourning the fight, we’ve talked a bout that do-nothing thing.

We’ve talked about contentment.  Becoming aware of desires and abandoning them, attending to no-affairs, and non-competition.

We’ve talked about humility, too.  Abandoning identity, service others and giving, and being vulnerable.

I feel like Lao Tzu sums up all these things for us in this verse.  And not only does he say that these are the main things we’ve been discussing, he also presents the cycle, so if people like me have done it backwards, I can use the light to guide me back home.  It starts with compassion, he says.  Practicing that will lead me to contentment and practicing contentment will lead me to humility.  When I am close and connected with these three things, I then discover that life seems to be worth living.  I find limitless opportunities to take advantage of being in human form.  Once I am connected - and I can reconnect any time by practicing - I move back into Harmony and can really begin consciously participating in the Divine Infinite.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 66

translated by Dwight Goddard

The reason rivers and seas are called the kings of the valley is because they keep below them.

Therefore the wise ones desiring to be above their people must in their demeanors keep below them; wishing to benefit their people, they must ever keep themselves out of sight.

The wise dwell above, yet the people do not feel the burden; they are the leaders and the people suffer no harm. Therefore the world rejoices to exalt them and never wearies of them.

Because they will not quarrel with anyone, no one can quarrel with them.

Photo by Janusz Maniak on Unsplash

Serving and Leading Ourselves

In meditation, I have tried to force myself to be present.  This works poorly for me, especially when I’m agitated.  Sometimes, I’m all focus focus focus, and I end up trying too hard and then I’m focusing on focusing, and then a thought creeps in, and then I’m all noooo that’s not how you do it, then I try to focus harder.  At the end of the session, I just give up and tell myself I’ll try again.

Sometimes, I’ll tell myself that no, I’m not going to eat this.  Or entertain thoughts of grandiosity.  Or argue with others.  I say no Dan, we’re better than that.  Stop it.  And while I may be able to control my physical behavior, I end up agitating myself and holding things in because even though I haven’t done the thing I didn’t want to do, I’m still wanting to do it.  

Probably more so, since I told myself no.  So what’s the deal here?  I thought that following Tao I would be able to control this stuff.

At this point, I can ask myself - which ruler am I being right now?  Am I the despot, the dictator who is ruling with fear and punishment?  Or am I being the Sage that leads from behind?  Well, let’s have a look: I tell myself no, and I mean it, we’re not going to do this, think this, feel this.  And then I say for good measure, if we do, think, or feel this, you won’t be worthy, you’ll be weak and a failure.  And then if I avoid doing it, I feel all proud, like yeah, I made that happen.  Or if I don’t avoid doing it, I punish me with the same feelings with which I threatened myself.  Does this sound familiar?  I think this is a natural thing for us to go through...until we can become aware of and begin practicing the way of the Sage.

As the Sage, I am the gentle, weak force of gravity that gives myself a choice - and I side-step that exhausting battle completely.  I lead from behind, gently guiding me, giving me the choice.  Most of the time, I end up not doing the thing, being ok with the feelings, or suffering no consequence of idle thoughts I’ve given no power.  When I’m aware, of course.

There are also times when I just can’t be willing.  But if it’s really really important for me to not do stuff, I have yet another tool I can use!  Yes, I can ask the Tao to help me be willing.  It’s OK to be vulnerable, remember?  It’s ok to ask the universe for help.  Actually, I’ve found this to be a great thing to practice.  If I’m open and patient, I gradually do become willing.  All I need is a little trust, a little patience, and then a little gratitude.  And of course compassion with me in case I don’t get it right the first, second, or 50th time.  The Tao provides.  Like every time.  All I need to do is to keep walking on the Path.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 65

translated by Hua-Ching Ni

In ancient times, those who were well-versed in the practice of the subtle Way of the universe did not lead people to disintegrate their minds through intellectual development
for the sake of partial achievement.
Instead, they dissolved all contradictory concepts and images in order to maintain the
natural state of simplicity.
Why are people so hard to manage?
Because they have become complicated.
He who leads others with a conditioned and complicated mind is the source of calamity.
He who leads others with simplicity is the source of blessing.
To know these two principles is to possess a rule and measure, the symbol of the ancient
wise one.
To keep the rule and measure constantly in your mind,
is to spontaneously manifest integral virtue.
Deep and far-reaching is the subtle truth of integrity.
It leads all things to return from worldly divergence to one great and universal life.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Simply Leading

If we recall verse 19, we get a similar message, at least on the surface:  Lao Tzu seems to be encouraging anti-intellectualism!  And as with everything Lao Tzu, there is usually more to it than what’s on the surface.

In this verse, he opens up by saying that rulers should aim to keep the people ignorant instead of enlightening them.  Taken at face value, one would be reasonably justified in saying, ‘preposterous!  Blasphemy!’ Mentally, I sat there open mouthed and in shock, wondering how my 2500 year old teacher could be saying such nonsense.  And then, worse, I wondered, ‘if this is crazy, what about the rest of it all?’

I doubled my efforts to understand, mostly because I didn’t want to have wasted the time I’ve already put into the Tao Te Ching by silently denouncing Lao Tzu and his crazy ideas, solely based on my interpretation of a part of this verse.

So what does this ‘keep them ignorant and not enlightened’ thing mean?  Well, similar to verse 19, I think we can start to think about this by saying that we ought not overemphasize the importance of knowledge - you know, knowledge for knowledge’s sake.  So with that in mind, I can interpret a little differently - the aim of the ruler is not to encourage people to develop only their intellectual achievements.  In Hua-Ching Ni’s translation, he talks about intellectual development for the sake of partial achievement.  And this makes sense, doesn’t it?  We’ve seen over and over again that there is a difference between reading the Tao and doing the Tao.  Reading about the Tao and understanding concepts is the first part - putting them into practice and integrating the principles into our lives is the other.  So I feel like what Lao Tzu is getting at here is that the primary aim of the ruler is to lead with simplicity.  The ruler is not trying to bring about any particular outcome; the people can do what they do.  The ruler is the servant, the one who takes care of the human organization of society.  The ruler is most effective when not trying to put together plans and designs that create this awesome society -- that’s the people’s job, not the ruler’s.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 64

translated by Sanderson Beck

What stays still is easy to hold.
Without omens it is easy to plan.
The brittle is easy to shatter.
The minute is easy to scatter.
Handle things before they appear.
Organize things before there is confusion.
A tree as big as a person's embrace grows from a tiny shoot.
A tower nine stories high begins with a mound of earth.
A journey of a thousand miles begins under one's feet.

To act is to fail.
To grab is to lose.
Therefore the wise do not act and do not fail.
They do not grab and do not lose.
In handling things people usually fail
when they are about to succeed.
Be as careful at the end as at the beginning,
and there will be no failure.

Therefore the wise desire to have no desires.
They do not value rare treasures.
They learn what is unknown,
returning to what many have missed
so that all things may be natural without interference.

Photo by Frank Eiffert on Unsplash

The Questions

The first thing I want to do is realize how the problem I have is being caused by me.  I ask myself:

1.  Who is the person or situation that is causing me this insecurity?
2. What are they doing?  If it’s a fear, I ask myself, ‘what’s going to happen if this fear comes true?’
3. What type of security am I needing here or trying to get?  Emotional? Financial? Social? Intimacy?
4. What did I do to start a chain of events that led to me having this insecurity?  A quick note - this is the most difficult part for me, as it causes me to exercise my humility here.  The important thing to remember for me is that I am not concerned with the other person’s actions; they may have contributed, but I am the one looking at my own reactions.

I’ll know I’ve completed this section if I can clearly see how I am the progenitor of my anger or fear.  Now the next series of questions is designed to allow me to see how I have a false belief that is contributing to my propensity to create anger or fear.  I want to look at that 4th question and ask, “is there a reason I am doing this?  Specifically, what belief system is at work?  For me, I believe that if I do what’s in question 4, I’ll get what I’m trying to get in question 3.”

Sometimes I’ll need to explore this a bit in conversation with others or by writing.  Once I know which belief is at work, I’ll write it down.  I’ve come up with things like, “I am alone, I will feel content if I have money, I can feel safe if this person wouldn’t behave in this way.”  Things like that.

OK, so here are the next set of questions:

1. What is the belief?
2. Is it true?  Or did it come from a series of reactions and interpretations of reality as I was growing up?
3. What is the payoff for me believing this?
4. Now: what would my life and my thoughts look like if I didn’t have this belief?
5. Would I be willing to consider letting go of this belief?
6. If yes, when would I be willing to let go of this belief?
7. Moving forward, what can I practice in order to reinforce this new outlook I have?

I find that when I move through those questions, I undo and unlearn some of those destructive thought patterns that I unknowingly created as I grew into adulthood. 

Finally, I say: Thank you for showing me this.  Please now show me how I may practice living with this new outlook.  Please help me be willing to

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Tao Te Ching Verse 63

translated by James Legge

(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting;
to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste
without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great,
and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.

(The master of it) anticipates things that are difficult while they
are easy, and does things that would become great while they are
small. All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a
previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one
in which they were small. Therefore the sage, while never doing
what is great, is able on that account to accomplish the greatest
Things.

One who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith; one who is
continually thinking things easy is sure to find them difficult.
Therefore the sage sees difficulty even in what seems easy, and so
never has any difficulties.

Photo by TOMOKO UJI on Unsplash

Attending to the Subtle

Accomplish do-nothing, attend to no-affairs, and taste that which has no taste.  I like how parts of the Tao Te Ching start off with statements like this that make me think.  Like they don’t make sense at first, but once I sit with them for a while and contemplate, I begin to understand them.

After having practiced Harmony with the Tao for a short while, I have an idea of what these statements mean, and I’ll bet you do, too.  In fact, they’re probably not all that cryptic if we’re in a quiet state of reception.  I’ve noticed that during the day, when I’m immersed in my work and relationships and life, these verses don’t resonate with me as much as when I’m sitting quietly.  Knowing this, I’ll pick out a quick one or two phrases I can repeat that day for quick remembrance while I’m doing life.  It helps me to practice.

So - the subtle things.  That’s what I’ve been trying to remember in little moments.  The subtle things that belong to Harmony with the Tao.  Doing nothing, attending to no-affairs, and tasting the no-taste.  Doing nothing - that’s an easy one, since we’re always talking about abstaining from inserting our selfish egos into things.  How about no-affairs?  I feel like this is our self-cultivation, which we’ve been talking about, too.  Practicing, when they come to mind in certain situations, what we’ve learned so far on our journeys.  And tasting the tasteless?  For me, that means paying attention to the whole experience and savoring it as best I can.

As I think about this, I realize that there is a lot to do when doing nothing!  And a lot to attend to when I’m attending to no-affairs.  And yo, there’s almost too much to taste when I’m aware of everything.  Crazy.  But it’s in the subtle things, isn’t it?  The tiny, seeming not even there aspects of life that quietly run in the background.  Like that wall clock that ticks ticks ticks 24/7, it can’t be heard except at 4 o'clock in the morning when everything else is still.  Our Tao is the same.  So I feel like the main call to action in the first part is to pay attention to the little things, because if we do, we can begin and create great things with very little effort.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 62

translated by Han Hiong Tan

Dao is the safe haven for all beings.
The good people value it.
The bad people receive protection from it.
Words consistent with Dao will place you in a coveted position.
Deeds consistent with Dao will make you stand out from the crowd.
Even if people are bad, Dao will not reject them.
There are important events such as coronation and swearing in of ministers.
In these pompous ceremonies, officials carrying precious jade lead the procession followed
by four thoroughbreds.
This grandiosity becomes insignificant when compared to simply presenting Dao as a gift.
Why has Dao always been valued since antiquity?
It is as the saying goes:
"If you seek it, you will get it; if you make an error, you will be forgiven."
Hence, Dao is valued by all.

Kindness Contagion. Image created by Adam Niklewicz. Submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives - help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Giving the Tao to Others

The Tao is our treasure and our refuge.  When it’s my treasure I can be grateful.  When it’s my refuge, I can work to connect with it.

So.  At home: what do I appreciate?  Who do I appreciate?  Run your mind’s eye over the people in your home life.  Go as close as you like.  My wife has this little freckle on the back of her ear.  It’s cute - just doing its thing, and it’s one of those things that make her her.  And what about you?  

Now let’s consider if there are any aspects about our home life that seem like they could use a little more harmony with the Tao.  I would like to spend more time playing with my cats, giving them attention and love.  What about you?

Now let’s think about how we might set aside our selfish desires at home and those places where we can move more into Harmony.  Let’s ask the Tao to help us be open to ways in which we can serve its gifts to others.  There’s no need to identify specific actions - let’s allow the moments to reveal themselves and be willing to serve if called upon.

Let’s look at work, now.  Who do I appreciate at work?  With whom do I like working?  Who do I respect?  

And: where do my relationships at work need a little more harmony?  With bosses?  Customers?  Colleagues or coworkers?

And let’s again think about our selfish desires at work.  Can we ask the Tao to help us be open to abandoning these desires?  Can we ask the Tao to show us ways we can exercise compassion, humility, and joy?

And now with friends.  Let’s appreciate the feeling we get when we’re with friends.  There are the funny ones, the interesting ones.  The listening ones.  The ones with whom we may have a strong bond.  Let’s remember how much they enrich our lives.

And what about those people in our group that we don’t usually talk to?  Are they weird?  Not so easy to talk with?  Are they funny in a uh-oh way instead of a ha-ha way?  

Let’s ask the Tao to help us include those people in our lives in a way that honors them and is safe for us.  Let’s also ask the Tao to help us be open to serving the group with genuine humility, setting aside the desires that may crop up to be popular or liked from time to time.

OK, now let’s ask the Tao to help us practice these things as we go about our week.  Let’s ask for the willingness to be open to considering them.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 79

translated by Keith H. Seddon

When a bad grudge is settled,
Some enmity is bound to remain.
How can this be considered acceptable?
Therefore the Sage keeps to her side of the contract
But does not hold the other party to their promise.
One who has Virtue will honour the contract,
Whilst one who is without Virtue expects others to meet their obligations.
It is the Way of Heaven to be impartial;
It stays always with the good person

Photo by Gus Moretta on Unsplash

Giving to Receive

I have experienced time and again that most of the time, if I smile at someone, they’ll smile back.  I’ve also experienced that when I’m angry or sour-faced, people kind of leave me alone, and if I try to make them feel the way I’m feeling, I’ll get that back, too.

In our physical world, it seems that when I push on object A it moves to location B and pretty much stays there.  But in our spiritual world, it seems that when I do action A, it goes out to B and comes back to me in a reflective manner.

The emotions observation was just one thing.  Let’s think about a couple more aspects.  When I treat others with compassion and they feel safe around me, people open up and share themselves with me.  Just doing nothing, just being there and holding space for them, kind of like being the empty vessel, does the trick.  When I am doing the opposite - being selfish and closed off, I am left alone and can’t connect with others.  When I am feeling desire for stuff or relationships I don’t have, people somehow pick up on this and again, I am left alone mostly.  Except in cases where others who are in the same position connect with me and we feed off of each other in unhealthy ways.  But when I am in love with my life and am quietly appreciate of myself and everything around me, I attract other people to share in this feeling with me.  When I am feeling equal to people, real relationship moments occur.  But when I am feeling superior or inferior to others, self-doubt usually surfaces and that feeling eventually causes me to act in passive aggressive or mildly hostile ways toward others.  Subtle ways, but hostile nonetheless. 

When I give my three treasures away, they return.  Similarly, when I give my ‘ick’ away, it returns.  So I can pretty much observe that I get back what I put out.  It is tempting to enter into esoterica here, and equally so to enter into grander visions of a honed manifestation ability.  And while I feel like that’s all got a true feel to it, I do like the way Lao Tzu helps us remember this axiom in a simple way. 

He talks about the Sage staying with the left side of the tablet - the debtor’s rather than the creditors.  He says that when we emulate the Tao by always giving, always being open and available to connect and serve, we become the forces that help others move into Harmony along with us.  And when we do that, we can’t help but reap the rewards - we don’t have to do anything - they just arrive.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 61

translated by Lin Yutang

A big country (should be like) the delta low-regions,
   Being the concourse of the world,
   (And) the Female of the world.
The Female overcomes the Male by quietude,
And achieves the lowly position by quietude.
Therefore if a big country places itself below a small country
   It absorbs the small country.
(And) if a small country places itself below a big country,
   It absorbs the big country.
Therefore some place themselves low to absorb (others),
   Some are (naturally) low and absorb (others).
  What a big country wants is but to shelter others,
  And what a small country wants is but to be able to
      come in and be sheltered.
Thus (considering) that both may have what they want,
   A big country ought to place itself low.

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Being Vulnerable with the Tao

I find that I’m simultaneously the big country and the little country, depending on the situation in which I find myself.  When I think about the Tao, I automatically place myself in the position of the little country - I want to be sheltered and looked after.  I have no problem - most of the time - being lower than the Tao, because I know that when I can exercise humility and join it, I am in Harmony and therefore at One with the Tao.  

Which makes me the Tao!  And then I become the big country - the One.  I can then participate in sheltering and protecting others.  I can allow the Tao to operate in my life and use it to help other people find joy, peace, and contentment.  Idk about you, but I do enjoy bringing a smile to someone’s face.  

Let’s pause for a moment and wonder what it would look like if the Tao didn’t lower itself as the big country.  Sometimes a bigger country in the world, instead of lowering itself to others, puts itself above them.  And what happens?  Oppression, strife, and uncared for people, both inside and outside the country.  And if little countries don’t lower themselves to bigger countries?  They become belligerent and usually create international messes that end up affecting people outside and inside.  We can see this pattern occurring over and over throughout our human history.

The Tao is always lower, isn’t it?  Just like the spirit of the Valley, the Tao is always ready to receive.  It is always giving.  It is always there, waiting.  That’s good, because since I am not always in a place of lowering myself, I’ve got to start somewhere, and if the Tao wouldn’t do it then I surely wouldn’t.  I would become the belligerent little country.  I have been that belligerent little country more times than I care to admit.

So if the Tao is always lower, I guess the main question is: how do I lower myself to the Tao?  How do I allow the Tao to absorb me?  I think the answer to that is what we’ve been discussing all along, actually!  The practices of acceptance, humility, and compassion have been allowing us to get to a place where we can willfully exercise putting ourselves below the Tao.  We have but to practice these things as best we can, and then - by allowing things and situations to develop as they might, without fighting, either internally or externally, we lower ourselves to the Tao and receive its care and aid with everything.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 60

translated by Han Hiong Tan

Governing a big country is akin to frying a small fish.
When the power of Dao is prevalent,
Even the demons become impotent.
Although the demons continue to possess magical power,
Their power is rendered innocuous.
Hence, the demons cannot harm people.
The sage also does not harm people.
Both do not interfere with people.
Thus by sticking to non-intervention, both let their virtues merge together.

Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary on Unsplash

The Management

There are a few things in the kitchen that I need to watch and be patient with if I am to not ruin them when I am cooking.  I can relate to fish for starters.  If I set it and go about preparing the rest of the meal, I’ll end up overcooking it and it’ll taste like rubber.  Or if I flip it too many times because I want it to hurry up and cook, it falls apart.  

But we’re not just talking about food and the kitchen, are we?  In the verse, Lao Tzu refers to a big country.  And even if we’re not rulers or heads of state, we are leaders and teachers.  Does the term micromanage ring a bell?  I think we’ve all been subjected to leaders that have asked us to do certain things and then wanted to “heavily guide” us in how exactly it should be done.  I also suspect that we ourselves have fallen into the role of the micromanager with others before.  I know I have.

And there are times when I try to manage myself.  I’ll look in the mirror and decide that I need to eat differently.  Or my exercise routine is not going to my satisfaction.  Or I’m not understanding the book I’m reading well enough.  Or I just don’t seem to have enough time for anything.  What are these but examples of me not striking a balance between an intent and proper, unhurried but attentive execution?

Do I get to choose exactly how my food turns out?  How people treat me in my life? What my routines are, how spiritual I can get?  Some aspects of my culture tell me that I am 100% in charge of all of that.  That I must know what I want and take it.  Be bold, act, and get what I’m after.  And while these messages can be well meaning and designed to motivate, I tend to interpret them as empowering encouragements that put me solely in the driver’s seat. 

Consequently, I thought for a great many years that I needed to decide everything about my life.  What exactly my career should look like, which businesses I would build, how many customers I would have and what exactly they would buy from me.  How fast I could run a set distance, how many exercises I could do in a certain amount of time.  What I would eat, what I wouldn’t eat, what I would learn and how in depth and how fast. 

And then I decided that these expectations I was putting on myself were counterproductive, and I swung the other way, embracing spirituality with vigor.  I remember in the beginning, I would actively work on specific aspects of my spirituality, which worked, but ended up exhausting me in the end.

So after reading this verse’s first part, I am given some perspective - do, but not too much.  Set intent, but don’t micromanage.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 59

translated by Herman Ould

In the ruling of men and the serving of Heaven nothing equals moderation.
For moderations leads to foresight in conserving;
Foresight in conserving leads to the storing of treasures of power.
The strength of one who has stored such treasures of power cannot be overcome.
As nothing can overcome it, its potency is boundless.
Because its potency is boundless,
Its possessors can attain sovereignty over the whole kingdom.
And if, having attained sovereignty, he returns to the Mother,
He will endure long.
For by striking deep roots he will be building on firm foundations,
And through contemplation he will repose in the Eternal Tao.

Photo by Alexa on Unsplash

Widening the Channel

What do we mean by Widening the Channel and how does that have anything to do with moderation?  Well, for me, I kind of had this sense that when I open myself to the Tao, I receive its gifts - or I’ve got immortality.  Or I become the Tao and am therefore One with everything.  We’ve considered these themes before throughout our journey together.

I guess being sparing with things allows that space within me to open up to allow the Tao to enter.  So if I practice staying in the middle, I’ve got the power and sense of Infinity at my back!

If I’m not thinking about yesterday, not thinking about tomorrow, but thinking about things now.

If I’m not overindulging and not under indulging, then I’m just participating in what’s going on.

If I’m not trying too hard, not trying halfheartedly, but just trying, I’m on the quickest way to doing.

Let’s take a look at our actions in the past few moments or days.  Have our actions been desire focused?  Have they been excessive?  Have they been inadequate?

How about our words?  Have we used our speech to make ourselves look better than we think we are?  Have we been verbose when simpler language would have gotten the job done just as well?  Have we used our words to heal?  Have we used our words to hurt?

Now let’s look at our thoughts.  What have we been thinking about?  My brain usually has from 7-10 things it’s cycling through over and over.  In paying attention to my thoughts, have I been taking them too seriously?  Have I been neglecting some thoughts because I feel uncomfortable when I think them?  Do I indulge in other thoughts when I feel good, powerful, or even angry when I think them?  Do I try to think not at all?  Do I try to think more?

Now.  we’ve allowed some awareness into our consciousness about where we might be missing the mark.  The next step is to ask the Tao to help us be willing to move into the center.  It’s my experience that when this is the case, there are no more bad things or good things - there are just things.  There aren’t any good lessons or bad lessons - there are just lessons.

When we practice this verse by looking for external as well as internal ways to get better at moderating things, we create the space inside us that allows the Tao to operate from within.  When we have infinity at our backs, there is limitless assistance and presence on which we can draw.  We may use this for our own growth or we may use it to help others, provided we remain in a genuine place of humility.

Thank you for helping me to explore and practice moderation today.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 58

translated by Wing-Tsit Chan

When the government is non-discriminative and dull, The people are contented and generous. When the government is searching and discriminative, The people are disappointed and contentious.

Calamity is that upon which happiness depends; Happiness is that in which calamity is latent.

Who knows when the limit will be reached? Is there no correctness (used to govern the world)? Then the correct again becomes the perverse. And the good again will become evil. The people have been deluded for a long time.

Therefore the sage is as pointed as a square but does not pierce. He is as acute as a knife but does not cut. He is as straight as an unbent line but does not extend. He is as bright as light but does not dazzle.

Photo by Christophe Hautier on Unsplash

Threading Life’s Needle

Lao Tzu says that the Sage is square but has no rough edges, is bright but not dazzling.  In other words, the Sage is balanced in her approach.  She keeps things within herself as steady as she can - and that is the priority.  Not trying to control everything around her, she pays attention to her reactions to those things.  Notice we said she doesn’t try to control her reactions - she just observes them.  

I’ve got this image of a boat navigating through a strait avoiding tricky outcroppings of rocks and shallow bottoms.  Or of threading a needle.  It seems to me that despite all the challenges, all the opportunities and disasters, the thing that is important is for us to maintain balance through it all.    And how do we do that?  Observing things, firstly.  And the second thing is more of an attitude than anything.  Things we call ‘bad’ happen.  And when that’s the case, idk about you, I tend to internally resist undesirable things or situations or feelings.  But what if I saw these things as growth opportunities?  Would they be so bad after all?

Of course on the surface, this looks like me just trying to be optimistic about things, right?  But what else can we say?  A broken car and no work would mean that I could look for the opportunity to see the situation as a tool to help me refine my reaction to it, couldn’t I?  Absolutely.  I wouldn’t have the opportunity to work on my reaction to it without it!  So yes, trying to put a positive spin on things is one thing.  But using a seemingly negative situation to become aware of my negativity and addressing it is another.

And so that’s what I feel like we are called to look at in this third part.  The fact that yes, things are going to happen - and it’s not totally about letting them be, although that’s the first part.  It’s also about trying to maintain balance during those things that helps us grow into more evolved versions of ourselves.

So taking a step back, I think the takeaway from this verse is this:

When I try to force things, it just causes discontent and chaos, so maybe it’s better to allow things to occur.  But when great things occur, there is almost certainly the chance that not so great things will come out of it.  So if I can remain aware of and detached from the ebb and flow of things, without trying to control it, I can work on my internal reactions.  I may use the ebb and flow as opportunities to evolve myself.  And like threading a needle, I’ve found a way to approach life that allows me to grow without having too much effort into it.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 57

translated by Xiaolin Yang

When governing a country you must be fair and just;
When fighting a battle, you must use tricks;
When taking over the world, you must practice WUWEI.
How do I know everything in this world? This is how.
The more restrictions the government sets, the more people become poor;
The more people have dangerous weapons, the more the country falls into chaos;
The more people become clever, the more bizarre things happen;
The more severe the law becomes, the more thieves there are.
So the great leaders said: "If I practice WUWEI, the people will govern themselves;
If I am always peaceful, the people will be upright by themselves;
If I do not initiate things for my own purposes, the people will become rich by themselves;
If I do not have desires, the people will become simple and plain by themselves.

Photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash

Let’s consider how we can apply the principle of Practicing Gentility in this verse today.

I’d like to use an acronym to practice this verse today.  The acronym is  A-S-K.

Keeping in the spirit of being gentle with ourselves and therefore others, here’s what I think we can do:

The A is for Acceptance - lifting those prohibitions on ourselves and others - observing things without judgment.  Of course this doesn’t mean we have to approve of anything - we’re just not judging.

The S is for Simplicity.  By eliminating the weapons of guilt we use on ourselves and avoiding overthinking, we allow our lives to unfold in the natural way of things.  We grow quiet and rich in spirit.

And the K is for Kindness.  By becoming aware of my selfish desires and then discarding them, I am naturally kind to myself.  There is nothing to beat myself up over when I fail to achieve that desire!  Remember that’s not saying we can’t have goals - we’re talking about desires to feel a certain way that results from our manipulating a certain set of external circumstances.  Going on a diet, stopping a habit, getting more love from people, getting approval from others because we want praise - that sort of stuff.

So today, I can A-S-K ask the Tao for assistance with all of this.  I can ask the Tao to help me concentrate my attention on the light energy, the light energy that is there all the time anyway.  And after I make my request, I can relax and be grateful, knowing that that which I’ve requested is already on its way.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 56

translated by Chang Chung-Yuan

One who is aware does not talk.
One who talks is not aware.
Ceasing verbal expressions,
Stopping the entry of sensations,
Dulling its sharpness,
Releasing its entanglements,
Tempering its brightness,
And unifying with the earth:
This is called the identity of Tao.
Hence, no nearness can reach her nor distance affect her.
No gain can touch her nor loss disturb her.
No esteem can move her nor shame distress her.
Thus, she is the most valuable person in the world.

Photo by Peter Nguyen on Unsplash

Being careful to not Kiss and Tell

I feel like after all we’ve been considering for the past 5 episodes, Lao Tzu provides us with a final thought.  And it seems to be this:  Don’t kiss and tell with the universe.

I don't know about you, but I have experienced some true, correct, and wonderful things and feelings along my journey with the Tao.  There have been times when I just want to tell everybody about how cool it all is.  Perhaps I’ve had an experience when I felt intimately connected with my environment.  Perhaps I’ve experienced using the creative power of the Tao.  Perhaps I’ve grown a little and have had paradigm shifting insights.  Um, yeah I want to tell people about it.  My world just changed - how can I not talk about it?

But I started noticing something when I would tell people about my adventures.  And it wasn’t because I became super aware of it on my own, either.  It was this verse and other sources - that hinted to me that I shouldn’t be going around and blabbing about my growth.  But why?  I asked.  Isn’t this joyful?  Isn’t this something I should be sharing?  You can, said the Tao, you can share all you want.  But guess what happens when you do?  You take the power out of what you have received and you will feel that that joy you have dissipates more quickly.

So yes, I have learned that when I have paradigm-shifting experiences because of my efforts to move into Harmony, if I want to hold on to those lessons and make them a part of me, I must stay quiet about them.  That’s just my experience - yours may look different.  All I know is now, despite the temptation I have to talk about it, I am better off if I hold it inside and accept whatever has occurred as a precious, personal gift. 

Now, does that mean I withhold information or my experience with people when they ask?  I don’t think so - of course, we are here to help each other.  But I must be careful about oversharing - and not just because I’ll diminish the beauty of my gift, either.  I can also be practicing compassion simultaneously when I am judicious about what I share and don’t.  Have you noticed that sometimes someone may not be ready to hear what you have to say?  I have, for sure.  I haven’t been ready to hear things from others, also!  

The Tao, it seems, prompts us to act and to talk when its time in the manner and depth it specifies.  So I don’t need to go out of my way to not share - this stuff isn’t secret, nor is it meant to be.  It is given freely to those who are ready and willing to receive it.  So I may allow my experiences to come up in conversation, and if I’m asked, I can share about the bigger picture.  When I share out of willingness to give freely and not because I want people to know, I retain my gift and pass it on to others in the way that they need in that moment.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 55

translated by Lin Yutang

Who is rich in character
Is like a child.
   No poisonous insects sting him,
   No wild beasts attack him,
   And no birds of prey pounce upon him.
His bones are soft, his sinews tender, yet his grip is strong.
Not knowing the union of male and female, yet his organs are complete,
   Which means his vigor is unspoiled.
Crying the whole day, yet his voice never runs hoarse,
   Which means his (natural) harmony is perfect.
To know harmony is to be in accord with the eternal,
(And) to know eternity is called discerning.
(But) to improve upon life is called an ill-omen;
To let go the emotions through impulse is called assertiveness.
(For) things age after reaching their prime;
That (assertiveness) would be against Tao.
And he who is against Tao perishes young.

Photo by Daniel Sandvik on Unsplash

Staying on the Path

Do you remember that path we walked on two verses ago?  We were in a forest on the main path, headed to where we didn’t know with little offshoot paths.  They seemed to be luring us down them, but we kept going.  We said that the offshoots were just temporary diversions from the main path we were to walk.  And there definitely was a destination - it’s just that it seems invisible while we’re back on the ground walking again.

We know what the Way feels like, what it is, and the biggest thing of all - if we’re on it or not.  Lao Tzu tells us in the first part of this verse that if we are on the Way, we are strong in our vulnerability, our creative energies are retained and we’re not needlessly spending them on diversions.  And we’re walking effortlessly.

So I don't know about you, but from time to time, I get bored.  While I’m walking the path, the stones crunch the same way over and over, the trees don’t seem to change, and it’s one curve in the path after another.  Sometimes, yes, I’m all, dude a waterfall or a stream would be cool.  And in those moments, I may have an idea.  I may get the idea that I should liven up the path a bit.  Maybe play games with seeing how many drag marks I can make with my feet.  Maybe taking branches from the side of the way and pretending they’re swords, or using them to draw shapes in the path.  Perhaps I even get an idea that it would be neat if the path was paved into a road and I could get to my destination faster if I had a skateboard, a bike, or even a car.

To what end, though?  Let’s say I’m on the path and I get that momentary feeling of boredom and I want to make improvements to my experience.  Aren’t I slowing my effortless progress?  The goal, as I saw from the elevator, is to get to that magic place.  So why drag my feet along, even if it seems fun for a moment?  Why try to pretend I’m something my inherent nature isn’t by waving pretend swords around?  If I had a vehicle that would get me there faster, wouldn’t I be missing the whole experience?

Maybe what makes that magic place magic is my experience of the mundane.  Maybe it’s magic only after I have learned a thing or two about the forest by careful observation.  Maybe on the surface, when I get there, it seems like any other place, but only after I have absorbed the forest’s energy does the place truly come to life.

Maybe...I am already at my destination but I must tune myself to it.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 54

translated by Hua-Ching Ni

What is well planted cannot be pulled up.
What is closely embraced cannot slip away.
The wise establish virtue firmly within themselves, and are honored for generations
ever after.

Apply natural, integral virtue to your own character,
and it will be genuine.
Apply natural, integral virtue to the family,
and it will abound.
Apply natural, integral virtue to the state,
and it will flourish abundantly.
Apply natural, integral virtue to the world,
and it will be pervasive.

Understand other people's lives by means of your own life.
Understand other people's families by means of your own family.
Understand other societies by means of your own society.
Understand other countries by means of your own country.
How can you know what is right for the world?
By knowing what is right for your own life.

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Handed down from Generation to Generation

Growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I experienced an environment that was much like my immediate ancestors.  There were old streets with names like Wageman drive.   We ate hotdogs and sauerkraut, sometimes haluski, and did friday fish fries during the springtime.

All of that seemed normal to me - you know, the way things were.  It wasn’t until I was stationed in Germany with the Army and came home for a visit that I realized my Southwestern PA experience was an echo of three or four generations past that had largely come from there.  

My family on my mother’s side was largely German.  But we never talked about it - it wasn’t a thing that came up in conversations.  

Some of the German culture as it revealed itself in interpersonal relations I experienced in Europe was present in my hometown, as well.  When scolding a child in PA, an adult would make a fist with his left hand, extending the index finger.  With his right index finger, he would hold it perpendicular to the left finger and move it from his left knuckle to his fingernail in the same way one might peel a carrot.  That would be accompanied by a verbal “shame on you.”  I saw the same thing in Germany. "Scham," is what they would say.

If this is the case for external influences, I wonder how many internal influences were also passed on.  I remember growing up learning that I didn’t matter as much as my work ethic mattered.  I needed to do well for my employer.  Despite whether or not I wanted to work, I needed to work.  I didn’t need to go around trying to find my passion - that was for people who didn't have to worry about putting bread on the table.  I needed to save my money.  The adults in my life were the absolute authorities, and if I didn’t behave, it was expected of me to feel guilty about it. 

It wouldn’t be until I began my journey with the Tao that I realized that everything I thought was reality while growing up was just a collection of experiences heavily influenced by past emotional and economic environments, environments that didn’t even exist anymore!  I have spent a short time so far unlearning some of those destructive thinking and emotional habits.  No longer do I have the belief that I don’t matter.  That I am alone.  That I should be ashamed of myself for things I think or do, especially if I’ve made mistakes in earnest.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 53

translated by John C. H. Wu

If only I had the tiniest grain of wisdom,
I should walk in the Great Way,
And my only fear would be to stray from it.
The Great Way is very smooth and straight;
And yet the people prefer devious paths.
The court is very clean and well garnished,
But the fields are very weedy and wild,
And the granaries are very empty!
They wear gorgeous clothes,
They carry sharp swords,
They surfeit themselves with food and drink,
They possess more riches than they can use!
They are the heralds of brigandage!
As for Tao, what do they know about it?

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The Way

Let’s imagine that we are in the forest.  We are on a path.  It’s a wide one, and it seems straight enough, though we can see that it turns gently to the left at the limit of our vision.  There are green trees on either side of the path.  They filter out the harshness of the sun but there is plenty of light.  Little bushes grow alongside the path.  There are even some that are producing berries - the ones that you can eat.

Birds are calling to each other.  And it smells of fresh earth, maybe a little like the trees once in awhile.

It seems that all is well, and you happily walk on, wondering sometimes in the back of your head what’s next or when you’ll arrive at your destination, what you might do there.  But mostly, it’s pretty peaceful.

You’re hearing people in the distance.  This seems interesting - it’s kind of far off, but they sound like they’re laughing and having a good time.  You walk a little further and now it seems like the sounds are coming from the right.  A little further, and you see a little path, about half of the size of yours, veering off.  No one is on the path, but you realize the sounds you are hearing are coming from that direction.  The little path is more windy than yours - and it disappears down a hill and around a left curve just a little distance from you.

You wonder: where is all this going?  Those others seem to be having a good time.  Why should you even be walking on this path right now?  How did you get here?

For awhile, things get quiet again and it’s just the sound of you walking.  Then, just around the next curve, you see an object in the center of the path.  You keep walking, and reach it.  It looks like an elevator, and there is a sign that is encouraging you to get in. So, you do.

There’s only one button, so with a little hesitation, you push it.  The doors slide shut and you feel upward movement.  The walls and the door become transparent, so now you can see the tops of the trees.  In a couple moments, you are looking down on the forest.  You look forward in the direction you’ve been walking, and you see off in the distance, the forest ends turns into a beautiful landscape with rolling hills and lush green grass.  There aren’t any signs of what the place could be, but you inherently know it’s a magical place.  You can just feel it.

The elevator pauses for a moment, and starts its way back down.  Soon, you’re stepping out of it.  You look to the direction of your destination, and keep going.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 52

translated by Anonymous

The world sprouts from something
People could call it the mother of the world
When one knows that mother, one knows her child
One who becomes like that child again, will know the mother
And for the rest of his life nothing can harm him ever again
He won't criticize anyone and lets no one influence him
And his life will be without worries
But one who condemns others and whose interests concern only himself
Will be full of worries the rest of his life
One that sees a gleam of light in darkness sees the light at the end of the tunnel
Holding on to that gleam of light requires strength
One who follows that light, turns back to the original light
Then all danger is gone
And you'll live the eternal life

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Using the Light to Integrate

Lao Tzu says to use the brightness of the way to return to the light.  This unlocked a piece of the Integral puzzle for me today.  In the Yin Yang symbol, there is the Yang, or the bright side, and the Yin, which is the dark side.  Until now, we have been talking about the Yang as being physical energy, material things, and the Yin as being that dark, unmanifested side of the Tao.  

Recently, a Taoist master has come into my life, even though he doesn’t know it - I got my hands on some literature that explains the Yin Yang as it applies to humans and our lives.  A simple way to put what I’ve learned is that the Yang represents the light that Lau Tzu is talking about and the Yin represents our desires to fulfill our corporeal senses.  So if we were to simplify that a bit more, it would be that Yang is my willingness to move into Harmony with the Tao and Yin would be the selfish desires for emotional & financial security, prestige, and intimacy on my terms.

So now it makes sense - using the light of the Tao, or constantly working to move into Harmony with the Tao, sort of as a beacon for when I get lost in my selfish ego’s desires, I can remember what to do when I recognize I’m all up in my ego and move forward into Harmony again.  So of course, this is a part of the human experience, isn’t it?  We’re here, participating, always going back and forth between Harmony with the Tao and questing to satisfy our base natures.  We have the ideal, which is Harmony with the Tao, but we fall short of it often - at least I do, ya’ll.  

As I continue to refine my practice, partly by getting quiet and seeing the small disturbances in my Yin, and then partly by remembering to return to Harmony, I keep this process going.  Like filtering dirty water through charcoal, over and over.  The more I do this, the clearer the water gets.

So for now, that seems to be the mechanism of integration that we talked about earlier and as described by Lao Tzu.  For me, the takeaway for this verse seems to be this:

• Everything I do causes ripples
• There’s no way to immediately know my center; I must practice and practice to become aware of it.
• By trying my best to move into Harmony with the Tao, I am integrating my being and thus continue to purify my life’s energy.

And the point of all this?  Less suffering and more natural joy in my life, for starters.  I suspect that there are more esoteric benefits but I’m content to stay with this for now.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 78

translated by The Tao of Rivenrock

There is nothing more flexible and yielding than water.
And yet there is nothing better for attacking the hard and rigid, there is nothing that can do
what it can do.
So it is that the rigid can be overcome by the flexible, and the haughty by the humble.
Yet even knowing this; still no one will put this into adequate practice.
For this reason it is said that the ones who accept the humiliation of the country are fit to be
its rulers.
Those who take the sins of the people onto themselves are able to act as King.
This is the paradox of truth!

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Our Venerable Teachers

Recently, I found myself reacting strongly to a large group of people, like not in a positive way, then transferring those frustrations to a smaller group.  

My typical pattern of reactions to large groups I can’t influence directly is this: the group adopts a position with which I disagree and I judge it as wrong.  Then the people in the group act, and since they’re wrong anyway, anything they do thereafter is of course amoral and despicable.  The judgement cycle continues.  Then when I see members of that group in day to day interactions, I reserve myself and withdraw my willingness to think anything about them that resembles compassion, contentment, or humility.  There are also the nasty thoughts I entertain at each step of the way, which only solidify my resolve to stay away from our three treasures when thinking about the group.

Lao Tzu says that the one who can take on the troubles of the world and who can tend to calamities for the sake of all beings is qualified to rule it.  

I don't want to rule anything - but I do want to contribute to our collective growth and well-being.  So I think that moving toward this ideal will have a similar result.

This time, I decided to break the pattern.  I decided to acknowledge my feelings and thoughts as it pertained to this and the smaller group.  I sat with my feelings.  I was as mindful as I could be at the time - in the midst of feeling them, I would catch myself indulging in them.  I knew I was indulging when I noticed judgements or fantasies about particular outcomes.  I just tried my best to allow the feelings to be there and I welcomed them.  And then, something wonderful happened.  I dropped my resistance to the feelings, and a flood of realizations gradually washed through me.  I began to understand why I was uncomfortable with the group.  Why I reacted the way I did.  And that led to other realizations that were tangential to the original issue!  Once realized, I had the opportunity to explore those ‘whys’ and look for false belief programs I had been running in the background.  I took the chance to undo them as best as I could, and after this work was complete, I knew a new freedom.

Without this larger group, I would not have released myself from some of my old ego-thought-feeling patterns.  Now, I still don’t have to agree with the group or its members, and can work toward changing it for the better.  But I can be grateful for it and ask for the willingness to extend my own compassion, contentment, and humility toward its members when I have the occasion to do so.  Different from enabling, sometimes compassion means denial.  Sometimes contentment means resistance.  Sometimes humility means setting and enforcing boundaries.  In any case, exercising the three treasures comes from a place of harmony, of love, not vindictive denial.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 51

translated by Tien Cong Tran

The Way gives birth [to all things]; Virtue nourishes; matter shapes; environment
perfects.
Therefore all things without exception revere the Way and honor Virtue, although
they are not commanded, but left to do so naturally.
Hence, the Way gives birth; Virtue nurses, grows, fosters, shelters, comforts,
nourishes, and guards.
It gives birth but does not claim as its own; it does but does not claim its doing; it
grows but does not claim to be master.
This is called hidden Virtue.

photo of Herb Alpert 

Appreciating without needing to possess

Are there things in your life that you feel would bring you happiness if only you owned them?  Could it be a new car?  What about a dwelling place?  Would you be happy if you owned a new kitchen knife set?  A new phone?  A new computer?  What would these things actually do for you?  Could it be possible to feel happiness just by appreciating them without needing to own them?

Now let’s think about people.  When you see a person to whom you are attracted, what is your reaction?  Do you immediately want to be intimate with that person?  Do you start thinking of what a relationship with that person might be like?  Do you start thinking how you could make that person happy?  Do you initiate a conversation sometimes with the intention of waiting to see if an opportunity develops?  What could it look like if we were to internally acknowledge if that person was attractive and just...appreciate that we can appreciate that attractiveness?  Can we be happy with just the moment without needing to do anything about it, either mentally or physically?

Finally, let’s think about our own spiritual status.  Are we at one point in our growth, trying to get to another?  Are we trying to grow actively?  Do we want to get to a place where we are masters of the Tao, or just get good at going with the flow?  Isn’t this like wanting to possess the Tao in a way?  What would it look like if we were content to play our parts, to participate in our lives in the way the Tao orchestrates, not worrying about if we’re spiritual enough?  What if we could be ok with our current state of spiritual awareness instead of wanting to get better?  Do we need to possess our spiritual growth, or can we merely appreciate it when we notice a change in our perceptions?  Just like appreciating a beautiful object or attractive person, we can appreciate the gifts of the Tao and being in Harmony with the Tao.  Let’s remember though that we do not need to force it.  Yes, there are things we can practice, but we can do those things without an endstate in mind.  We can do those things much like a key in a lock makes a new discovery possible when the door is opened for us.

So yes, we can practice emulating the Tao by exercising respect, honesty, kindness, and service to others.  That’s all from a desire to move into harmony with the Tao.  We can also, as this verse states, allow the gifts and the power of the Tao to enter us freely without its needing to possess us.  So we can complete the circle by freely giving respect, freely being honest, freely offering kindness, and freely performing service to others - with no strings, no if I do this then I’ll get that, no expectation of return for any of it.  For if we can do this, we are then truly imitating the greatest thing and no-thing we can.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 50

translated by Anonymous

Humans come and go
Their bodies as the seat of life
Their bodies as the seat of death
Humans get old and decay
Why is that?
It's because they are already dead, but think that they're living
There have been stories told and written about people who had found true life
And wandered around the earth
Not afraid of tigers or rhinos
Those who avoided weapons and violence
And lived in harmony with all creatures
Therefore no creature felt threatened by them
And no weapon could harm them
Why is that?
Because they were only living
And that's where there is no room for death

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Immortality

What’s it mean to be unscathed on the battlefield?  Like swords and bullets literally can’t destroy me?  No, there are laws of physics, so they’ll destroy your biology for sure.  But they can’t touch those experiences.  The swords and bullets can’t do anything to destroy the impact that you've made on others around you.

Rhinos and tigers.  Or bullies.  Or people that have abused you.  Or natural disasters.  None of those things, if you are in ‘possession’ of the Tao, can affect your inner nature.  

So we are talking about non-corporeal immortality here.  And it’s quite simple:  We are expressions of the Tao.  The Tao is infinite.  Therefore, we  are infinite.  

Of course, I always forget this.  My senses and the life I live have a keen way of pulling me back into thinking that this is all there is.  But there are times when I can remember - in morning meditation, mostly - that despite being biologic, I am part of something way bigger than I think.  And sometimes, I can take this with me when I leave my dwelling and interact with the world.  In those moments, I gotta tell you, everything looks different.  Cars on the road are funny.  The seriousness with which we carry ourselves seems funny.  Money is...idk, this fake concept that everyone’s decided to go with because it’s easier than carrying heavy metal around.  The illusion is displayed in front of me, available for everyone to see and yet it is safely ensconced behind a transparent veil.  And then I realize that I am the one creating the veil by separating from it, too, and I go back to that whole ‘just participate’ thing.

It’s a trip, for sure.  I would encourage you to try this out - if only for a thought experiment.  Take a moment or two, during meditation maybe, to remember that the Tao of you is impervious to physical harm, that despite your corporeal death, that life force, that feeling inside you of being alive and that knowing of being a part of something far greater than imagination, even, is what goes on to infinity.  Then go interact with the world.  Or look at stuff on the internet.  Observe everyone seeming to take things so seriously.  Laugh a little, then go back to participating.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 49

translated by Chou Wing Chohan

The sage has no self that she can call "mine,"
She turns the self of the people into her own.
I act with goodness toward the good,
I act with goodness toward the bad, too,
And so the good is contagious.
I relate with trust to the person who is worthy of trust,
I relate with trust to the person who is not worthy of trust, too,
And so trust is contagious.
The sage lives in the world in her victory and rules the world with her simplicity.
But when all the people look at her and listen to her,
The sage takes care of them, like a mother takes care of her children.

Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash

Growing relationships

What is the Sage to the people and the people to the Sage other than a relationship?  Sure, it looks a little different than a one on one, but the basic idea is there: one entity or person co-existing in relation to another.  Lao Tzu urges the Sage to treat those who are good well, and treat those who are bad well.  The terms ‘dignity and respect’ come to mind.

So no matter who a person is to me, no matter what they do, I can always find a way to honor their humanity.  Does this mean that I should roll myself out like a doormat and allow people to walk on me?  No, on the contrary - in a relationship, I am at least 50% of it, and allowing another to have their way with me to the point that it is detrimental to me robs them of a potentially beautiful experience they can have.  So no doormatting!

What about personal relationships?   

If I am 50% of a relationship with whomever I treat, I am in a position to impact it either positively or negatively.  Same with the other person.  And while I may have started a relationship with another for business, romance, or friendship, my primary concern needs to be how the relationship grows.  For example, I can meet a colleague that becomes my friend.  I can meet a significant other that becomes my business partner and friend.  So roles, perhaps, are arbitrary and convenient ways to think about relationships.  But what about the magic that happens when I grow in relation with the other person?  There is this give and take, this ebb and flow between us.  My influence and their influence make us a type of One, don’t they?  

Now, if that growth past the initial definition of roles is what creates that beautiful tapestry of humanity for which I’ve got an opportunity to sit and work side by side with the weaver, what is it that keeps the growth happening?  What keeps that shuttle moving back and forth, tirelessly, making imperceptible changes in just a pass but over time creating wonder and beauty?  Treating the other person well all the time, not just when I feel like it or don’t feel like it.  Being sincere and honest with that person, whether I feel like it or not.  

In treating another with love and being sincere with them, I keep that shuttle’s path free of obstructions, and allow it to do its work.  By treating others with equanimity, I make way for the Tao to flow through us and create this precious experience we call life.

If I can practice showing love and sincerity, dignity and respect to others as much as I can and to the best of my ability, I can allow the relationships in my life to grow into stunningly beautiful expressions of the Tao.  

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Tao Te Ching Verse 48

translated by John C. H. Wu

Learning consists in daily accumulating;
The practice of Tao consists in daily diminishing.

Keep on diminishing and diminishing,
Until you reach the state of Non-Action.
Do nothing, and find that nothing is left undone.

To win the world, the Sage must renounce all.
If one still has private ends to serve,
One will never be able to win the world.

Photo by Bankim Desai on Unsplash

How to Gain by Losing:

Is there something that is throwing you off balance right now?  Do you feel like things were ok last week or even yesterday, but today, maybe you’re not feeling as content and tranquil as you’d like?

If so, I’d invite you to stop for a moment when it’s safe and convenient, and come into awareness of yourself, your surroundings.  Come into the awareness of your thoughts and feelings.  Come into the awareness of your innate connection with your inner self and with the Tao.

Ask the Tao, ‘please show me what is causing me to feel this way.’  Then, knowing that the request is granted as soon as you think or say it, appreciate and thank the Tao for providing.  If you can do that, the hard part is over!  Go about your day and allow little things around you to come into your awareness, and see where they point.

Remember that the thing that is causing you to be off center is usually something that is the closest to you, which is why it’s difficult to see.  It can be relationships that you think are in a ‘good’ status.  It can be silent ambitions that only you know about.  If you’re open and patient, you will become aware of it.

Once you do, set aside some time to sit with this realization.  I like to sit with a blank piece of paper.  I write the cause down in the middle, then start exploring why.  Why am I feeling this way?  Why is this important to me to feel this way?  How do I think this thing, if I get it, is going to give me emotional security, financial security, prestige, or intimacy?  

When I have answered these questions thoroughly, I find that I’ve got a bead on that little gremlin.  The next thing to do is to take responsibility for him.  I ask myself:  what am I doing to feed this ambition?  How am I running counter to the principles of the Tao?  How am I inserting my selfishness into this situation?  What am I doing or not doing to cut off my trust in the Tao to provide?

I know I have searched and explored enough when I have written everything I can think of and a feeling of stillness comes over me.  Sometimes, the thought, ‘rest’ flashes in my mind. 

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Tao Te Ching Verse 47

translated by Ellen Marie Chen

Without stepping out the door,
Know the world.
Without looking out the window,
See the Tao of Heaven.
The farther one comes out,
The less one knows.
Therefore the sage knows without traveling,
Understands things without seeing them,
Accomplishes without work.

Photo by ANIRUDH on Unsplash

Staying Inside

Lao Tzu says we don’t need to leave the house to know what’s going on.  He says we don’t need to peer outside the windows to know the Tao.  My short time in Brazil and the wonderful things I experienced seem to be defying that, don’t they?  Only maybe not.  Maybe Lao Tzu is talking about volition and desire here instead of actual actions.

Let’s imagine that the house and windows are our corporeal forms.  Let’s also imagine that we who are inside our dwellings are just our consciousness.  So now, the verse reads a little different: To know what’s going on outside of me, I don’t need to leave my body.  To  know the Tao, I don’t need to look outside.  Nope, to know the Tao, I need to look inside, don’t I?  Let’s extend a little bit.  Perhaps the house in this verse is the satisfaction of our corporeal senses.  And looking out the window is the lie we tell ourselves that we don’t have everything we need to grow into harmony with the Tao. 

I think the main takeaway from the first part of the verse is that in order to move into Harmony with the Tao, we don’t need anything external to ourselves.  In fact, those external things are actually distractors.  We talked about Abandoning Desires in the last verse - perhaps desires are those external things that we keep looking for that ultimately don’t hold the answers.  

So literally staying inside the house and not venturing out?  Sure, that’s fine.  Venturing off and experiencing the beauty of a people and language, customs and ways of life?  Sure, that’s fine, too. 
To me, It’s setting aside the belief that I must go outside myself to experience the Tao.  That’s my interpretation of what Lao Tzu is speaking about here. 

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Tao Te Ching Verse 46

translation by Isabella Mears

When Tao was manifested to humanity,
Horses were used for cultivating the fields.
When Tao was hidden within itself,
War horses were reared on the frontiers.

There is no sin greater than desire,
There is no misfortune greater than discontent,
There is no calamity greater than the wish to acquire,
Therefore to be satisfied is an everlasting sufficiency.

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

We are the Warhorses

A horse can be either a utility animal or a weapon.  Just like our ego idea back in verse 39, isn’t it?  We can use our egos for selfish pursuits or we can use our sense of self awareness to create beautiful things.  

So if we can imagine ourselves for a moment as neutral entities, just like the horse in this verse, can we observe how things feel different in peacetime and wartime in our homes, our work, and with friends?

At home, what does it look like when it's peacetime?  Everyone is doing their thing, life is pretty tranquil.  Dinner time is nice.  There is a feeling of contentment there, like ah, this is what it’s supposed to be like, isn’t there?    How do you feel?

But what about when there are disagreements, no matter how small?  Can you feel the ‘not quite right’ feeling?  What do you do in these cases?  Try to weather the storm, add your influence to the strife to make it go your way?  How does this feel?

At work, when everyone is working as a team and the mission is getting done in a productive, feel-good way - how does that feel?  Pretty good, in my experience, like things are as they should be.  Idk about you but for me it feels so good in those moments, like they’re perfect moments, when all cylinders are firing, the machine is well oiled, and it is producing things with precision and with regular timing.

Sometimes it seems that those moments are few and far between, depending on your work culture - who’s there, what the leader’s like, what the chemistry seems to feel like.  And when your workplace isn’t having those moments of pure...purpose, what’s it like then?  Things getting done but with little eddies of discontent flowing around, sometimes catching you and sometimes missing you.  What does that feel like?

With friends, a get together is a happy occasion, isn’t it?  Everyone’s there, enjoying each other’s company, doing their own thing.  Until so and so opens their mouth and starts creating drama, right?  You either watch it, join in, or avoid the drama, right?  Regardless of your level of participation, how does that make you feel?

So we’ve had a look at what peacetime and wartime look like in our daily lives.  And just like the verse, there is a common element to it, isn’t there?  In the verse, it’s a horse.  In your life, it’s you.  Lao Tzu is talking about the state in the first part here - what happens when the state is at peace and at war.  What he doesn’t mention specifically about the state of the state is why it’s sometimes at peace and sometimes at war.  Is it due to outside forces?  Or is it due to the state’s state of discontent?  I think it’s safe to say that while the first part of this verse seems to be about government discontent, we can apply it to ourselves.  So if the common element is you in your daily life, ask yourself - how much of my daily war and peace comes from my discontent?  

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Tao Te Ching Verse 45

translated by Dwight Goddard

Extreme perfection seems imperfect, its function is not exhausted.
Extreme fullness appears empty, its function is not exercised.
Extreme straightness appears crooked; 
great skill, clumsy; 
great eloquence, stammering. 
Motion conquers cold, quietude conquers heat. 
Not greatness but purity and clearness are the world's standard.

Photo by Tolu Bamwo at nappy.co

The Tao Provides

Growing up in rural, southwest PA, I was in the woods often.  I haven’t been there in years, but I remember many things about it.  I remember the broad, green leaves that turned the air cooler and made a slightly different color of shade.  I remember the soil, and how it smelled so earthy - sometimes it was black, sometimes it was clay, sometimes it was rocky.  But it always had this nice, full smell to it.  There were hills and ravines everywhere, and it was impossible to find a flat place that went on for any amount of time.  We had robins, worms, little bugs, we had deer, turkeys, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, the occasional mountain lion and bears.

My travels have taken me to other landscapes since then.  I think the most austere place I visited was the northern tip of the Sahara Desert in Tunisia.  At first glance, there was nothing but sand to meet the horizon.  But after awhile, I started to notice things - little things that popped up out of the sand.  Little hills came up out of nowhere, little bushes that didn’t seem like they could thrive there, sand colored spiders and other insects.  Though it looked sparse from an outsider’s perspective, I found that the desert too was teeming with life.

Regardless of the landscape in which I found myself, I noticed that there was always some theme, some flavor of life that occupied it.  Seemingly abundant or seemingly sparse; it didn’t matter.  There was an entire ecosystem in each place.  There was perfection everywhere.

In this verse, Lao Tzu talks about how things aren’t as they seem.  There is perfection in imperfection, there is abundance in scarcity, there are direct routes through curvy paths.  I feel like taking a look at a desert landscape can help illustrate this for us.  The desert I visited had everything it needed to be a desert.  And life, uh, found a way, despite the most inhospitable conditions it seems nature could hurl at it.

So how is there perfection through imperfection in our lives?  Isn’t everything that we need there as well?  Not only to survive, but to thrive!  In our own lives, our own circumstances, we have our little emotional ecosystems, our little interpersonal networks, and our ‘lifestyles’ all around us, don’t we?  We don’t really need to do anything, nor do we need to look very hard to see that we are supported pretty much no matter what.  

Of course we have the power to change our personal ecosystems.  We have the power to be dissatisfied with them.  And we have the power to become content with them as well.  Everything is provided for us to do so.  

Could the desert change itself into a verdant, lush rainforest?  I think so, given time and momentum gained from small, microscopic changes that could occur over time. But would it be necessary?  That’s my question.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 44

translated by Lin Yutang

Fame or one's own self, which does one love more?
One's own self or material goods, which has more worth?
Loss (of self) or possession (of goods), which is the greater evil?

Therefore: those who love most spend most,
   Those who hoard much lose much.
The contented person meets no disgrace;
Who know when to stop run into no danger -
They can long endure.

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Those who love more spend more, Those who hoard more lose more

Isn’t spending really more fun than saving?  For me it is.  Of course I understand that saving money now helps safeguard against a significant disruption in my lifestyle later.  So I do it.  And to a certain extent, it’s nice to see some of that financial security in the bank.  But it’s still way more fun to spend it, at least in my opinion. 

But what if we’re not talking exclusively about money here?  Maybe we’re talking about spending love vs hoarding love?  Maybe we’re talking about service to others!  What is service but the outpouring of one’s own energy for the benefit of others?  Further: what if by spending my own energy on others, I become more and more like that empty vessel into which the Tao may flow more and more?  

The contented shall know no disgrace

When I’m still, when all is right with the world and me, I feel no need to change it.  When I don’t need to change anything, there is nothing at stake.  When I am not putting myself out there, there is no risk of failure, is there?  But let’s not confuse this with doing the right thing - remember we talked about non-action as really the abstention of inserting our egos into things.  If I am trying to make positive change in the world and do not attach to the outcome, I am still not putting myself at risk for feeling disgrace, am I?  I am doing my part, I am honoring myself by not attaching.  I am still content within.

Who knows when to stop runs into no danger & can long endure

I feel like knowing when to stop is a byproduct of contentment.  So the obvious ones are knowing when to stop consuming things, when to stop in an argument, when to stop doing things.  But what about knowing when to stop not doing things?  Ignoring a certain circumstance because it’s not convenient - isn’t that not doing something, not to be confused with non-action?  What about standing by and not addressing the elephant in the room?  I’ve experienced some dire consequences from both cases.  

So for me, knowing when to stop is knowing when I am either doing or not doing something to serve my corporeal or egoistic desires, reexamining my motives, and adjusting accordingly so I can move into Harmony with the Tao.  I feel like when my waters are calm and my dust is settled, it is easier for me to know when to stop.  

Tao Te Ching Verse 44 (Anonymous):

What comes first, life or status?
What's more important to you, yourself or your possessions?
What's worse, having or losing?
One who wants a lot pays a high price
One who has a lot, has a lot to lose
But one who is satisfied knows neither fear nor disgrace
And one who has stopped playing a part in the game will never be afraid again and will live happily ever after.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 43

translated by Walter Gorn-Old

The gentlest thing in the world will override the strongest.
The Non-Existent pervades everything, though there be no inlet.
By this I comprehend how effectual is non-action.
To teach without words and to be useful without action, few among people are capable of this.

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The Dextrous butcher, translated by Burton Watson

Cook Ting was cutting up an ox for Lord Wen-hui. As every touch of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every move of his feet, every thrust of his knee — zip! zoop! He slithered the knife along with a zing, and all was in perfect rhythm, as though he were performing the dance of the Mulberry Grove or keeping time to the Ching-shou music.

“Ah, this is marvelous!” said Lord Wen-hui. “Imagine skill reaching such heights!”

Cook Ting laid down his knife and replied, “What I care about is the Way, which goes beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole ox. And now — now I go at it by spirit and don’t look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to a stop and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and following things as they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or tendon, much less a main joint.

“A good cook changes his knife once a year — because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month — because he hacks. I’ve had this knife of mine for nineteen years and I’ve cut up thousands of oxen with it, and yet the blade is as good as though it had just come from the grindstone. There are spaces between the joints, and the blade of the knife has really no thickness. If you insert what has no thickness into such spaces, then there’s plenty of room — more than enough for the blade to play about it. That’s why after nineteen years the blade of my knife is still as good as when it first came from the grindstone.

“However, whenever I come to a complicated place, I size up the difficulties, tell myself to watch out and be careful, keep my eyes on what I’m doing, work very slowly, and move the knife with the greatest subtlety, until — flop! the whole thing comes apart like a clod of earth crumbling to the ground. I stand there holding the knife and look all around me, completely satisfied and reluctant to move on, and then I wipe off the knife and put it away.”

“Excellent!” said Lord Wen-hui. “I have heard the words of Cook Ting and learned how to care for life!”

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Tao Te Ching Verse 42

translated by Shi Fu Hwang

From Tao arises one;
from one arises two;
from two arises three, and from three arise all things.
All things leave behind them the obscurity (Ying), and go forward to embrace the 
brightness (Yang) and inherit the blending property of the two harmonized polarities.

What people dislike is to be called solitary, unworthy, virtueless;
and yet those rulers regard them matching to their status.
So those things are benefited by being harmed, others are harmed by being benefitted.

While others have taught their precept, I have my own,
- the violent person shall die a violent death.
I will make this the basis of my teaching.

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What's my purpose?

At the beginning of this year, I started questioning why I was actually here on Earth.  I had realized that I am not my body, I am not my thoughts, I’m not my words, all of that.  What I was left with was this corporeal experience I was having.  And I really could figure out what the point of it was.  

I pondered, read some things, and talked with some people.  And at the end of it, seeing how I was still alive, I came to the conclusion that I am here to participate.  That’s it.

So that helped me be ok with this cosmic circumstance in which I find myself.  Chalk it up to a part of the journey.

If that’s the case, and I’m here to participate, I can be assured that the Tao provides every experience I need to be here fully.  So when I find myself in a situation that seems undesirable, I can ask myself: is the circumstance, situation, or the way others are treating me, is it just something I’m supposed to learn from?  Or am I doing something to cause it all so I can learn?

Here’s what that question’s got to do with this verse:

The motion of the yin and the yang creates the universe.  I am of the universe, therefore, I am the universe.  There are others who are the universe as well.  Our perception of time binds us to a linear corporeal experience to allow us all to learn and experience different things.  Your journey is specific to you; mine is crafted for me.  When we look at others and their situations, and we find ourselves wanting what the other person has, be it material, people around them, or social position, we can remember that not only would a  situation like that contain trade-offs - we can also remember that our positions or circumstances may be enviable to others, as well.  Further, we can remember that each aspect of our trade-off represents this constant motion, this ebb and flow of things.

If I were to paraphrase this verse into language for today, I’d probably say something like this:

There is no need to do anything except participate in the universe.  Stop wanting more.  Allow the Tao to provide everything that you’ll ever need.  Be here for your life.  Set aside violent or selfish pursuits by concentrating on being aware of how you can bring the Tao to others.  Move into Harmony with the Tao.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 77

translated by Anonymous

The natural order is like stretching a bow
The low bow gets pushed up high
And the high tendon pulled downwards
Where there is too much, it takes away
Where there is not enough, it fills
Nature strives for harmony all the time
Decreases where there is too much
And increases where there is too little
But how opposite are the people in their behaviour
The poor get poorer while the rich tend to get richer
But one who is wise realizes that possession is burglary to community
Therefore he disposes himself of that which belongs to the community
So only one who is wise is detached
He does what others ask him to, but nothing for himself
Without taking credit for it

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Equilibrium

I can picture in my head this back and forth motion of a spring, because that’s what a bow kind of is - a spring that stores and releases both potential and kinetic energy, depending on its state.  If not at rest, it is always wanting to return to its opposite.  Until of course it finds the equilibrium point again.

Now I get it - and how it’s like the Tao.  The Tao is always in motion, always providing.  

Not so with humans, says Lao Tzu.  No, we seem to like to keep the bow in a static state, usually one that is excessive.  

What other creature likes to store way more than they need?  I googled around about this and found that there are some animals that hoard food supplies - but that’s pretty much only for when times are scarce.  There aren’t like big squirrel parties where a bunch of squirrels show up with each other and pass around nuts on trays and have piles of nuts laying around that anyone can eat just because they’re there.  

No, they don’t do that!  But we do.  And I guess my question for now is why?  Why do I feel the need to gather large quantities of things like food, toys, electronics, clothes, relationships, friends, status, certificates, all the things?

I suppose the short answer is that as a human, I’ve spent about 40 years with the illusion that I was alone and not provided for.  I mean when I think about it, I wonder how I could not think that way.  Like I come out into the world cold, naked and scared, and as I develop it seems like I’m an individual, because only I can experience my physical sensations.  It’s not until I begin to be open to sensing other energies that I can see the invisible Tao at work in my life.  So I guess it’s natural at first to think I’m alone and that I’d better provide for me because who else will?

So why do I feel the need to keep that bow stretched by gaining as much of whatever I can?  My thoughts for now are because I have this thing called consciousness that at first, I misinterpret as being all alone.  But when I start becoming aware of the Tao and allowing it to do its thing, which is provide, then I realize that hoarding things is silly, mostly because there is no need.  

Sweet, so I’m good, then?  I don’t have to save money for the future or make sure I’m not isolated?  I can just sit there and let the Tao do its thing?  Nope, because as it turns out, we do need to energize the Tao for ourselves - we do need to be of service, we do need to take some sort of action, mostly in helping other people and in self-cultivation.  That’s how it seems we get what we need from the Tao.  That’s how we allow it to provide.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 41

translated by Charles Johnston

When those of the highest order of learning hear the Way declared, they follow it with zeal.
When those of the second order of learning have heard the Way declared, they now follow it, now lose it.
When those of the lowest order of learning have heard the Way declared, they laugh at it. If they did not laugh at it, it would not deserve to be called the Way.

Therefore those of old said:

He who has the understanding of the Way, seems hidden in darkness.
He who has gone far along the Way, seems backward.
He who has ascended the Way, seems of low estate.
The man of high virtue is like the valley.
The man of perfect purity is as though despised.
The man of infinite worth seems full of weakness.
The man of true virtue appears inert.
The man who is simple and true seems low and degraded.
It is a square so great that its corners cannot be seen. 
It is a vessel so great that it seems uncompleted. 
It is a voice so great that its sound is imperceptible. 
It is an image so great that its shape is not perceived.

The Way is hidden, so that none can name it.
It lends its aid and leads all beings to perfection.

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Paradoxes of the Tao

This is another, albeit compact way to describe the Infinity within.  As seemingly finite creatures, we have only our 5 senses to tell us about the physical world around us.  And in our journey so far with Lao Tzu, we have come to see that the physical senses are kind of just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of what kinds of connectedness they yield.  Conversely, we’ve also been experiencing so much more that is hidden from our senses.  And how?  Have we touched, tasted, smelled, seen, or heard any of it?  No!  We’ve used our sense as tools to observe a much much greater thing at work - the Tao.

So wait - there’s a new level here - maybe we can call it the “5-senses meta” just for discussion’s sake.  If we have felt ok with detaching from the identity we create with our senses, and see those senses as tools to help us gather evidence of the Tao working, then we have, somehow, transcended those senses and moved simultaneously inside and outside ourselves into an Infinite realm of possibilities and new experiences.  Wow.  No wonder why on the outside, a person of the Tao seems overly simple.  No wonder why a person of the Tao allows herself to be seemingly imperfect on the outside.  She has travelled beyond her senses and by keeping things uncomplicated here, is free to explore infinity there.

So if I look at this and sell all my stuff or wear rags, am I following the Way?  I’m the only one who knows - my thought is that if I do that for the sake of doing it, then no.  I’m just trying to make it look that way.  But if I simplify in order to connect with that which is far greater than I, perhaps the indicator is I adopt simpler ways.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 40

translated by Tao Huang

Tao moves by returning.
Tao functions by weakness.
All things under heaven are born of being.
Being is born of nonbeing.

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Ebb

The tide rolling out seems like kind of a letdown, doesn’t it?  At least it does for me, at first glance.  I mean the raw energy of the sea just isn’t there.  In other aspects of my life, there are similar situations.  I read a book, and after it’s done, I feel a little empty.  Same with a good series that I’ve binge-watched.

I feel these little letdowns at the end of every week - I know I need rest, but making the transition from working to restful seems to take effort.  ‘Winding down’ is a term I’ve heard before to describe this.

And with my wife - sometimes there are really happy moments and sometimes there are just calm moments.  Times when we’re just coexisting and nothing too much is going on.

And of course with friends, there’s a party or an event, and it’s great, and everyone has a great time.  The following day, when things are getting cleaned up, we tell each other stories about what happened and who said what and how funny things got.  And the excitement just doesn’t feel the same as it did in the moment.

So yeah, we’re talking about the Ebb part of things.  The Tao’s reversion.  The weakness that overcomes strength.  The non-being that births the being.

Until recently, I have mentally and emotionally resisted the ebb, kind of with the attitude that it is something that is necessary but to be endured, not welcomed or even grown into.  I mean, once I get into a relaxed state on the weekend, I do enjoy it, since there is not a lot going on and I am ok with sitting still - it feels good, even.  It’s the same with a creative project that I’ve been working on.  Many times, the vision in my head is screaming to get out, and every thing I write, every video I create, every book I read, or every little piece of progress I make on the model I’m building says, ‘yes, more, more, we’re not done yet, we must keep going. Taking a break now will only delay the gift that is waiting to reveal itself to us!’  

When I’m in flow, I want to stay there, and I don’t want to make the transition to ebb.  It feels like a loss of energy, of momentum, of excitement.  Only i don’t think it’s really a loss.  I think it’s more of a state-change that involves less energy.  You know, like going from action to non-action.

But I’d like to work on appreciating the ebb.  Until now, I’d seen it as a nuisance.  But - when I’ve been able to embrace it and take it as an equally beautiful part of the journey, my perspective changes a little.  

It turns out for me, that the more I practice appreciating being in the ebb of things, the more I realize that a lower state of energy doesn’t mean it’s a letdown.  It’s actually an opportunity to notice even more things, subtle things, things that are always there but are covered up by a higher volume of energy when in the flow state.  The ebb, it would seem, is an equally beautiful state of lower energy.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 39

translated by Cheng Lin

Since antiquity the following may be said to have attained Truth:
Heaven, which by Truth is clear.
Earth, which by Truth is secure.
The gods, which by Truth are divine.
The valleys, which by Truth are full.
All animate creation, which by Truth are alive.
The rulers, which by Truth are capable of rectifying the Empire.

Conversely, the following inferences may be stated:
Without that which renders it clear, heaven stands the danger of disruption.
Without that which renders it secure, earth stands the danger of depression.
Without that which renders them divine, the gods stand the danger of impotence.
Without that which renders them full, the valleys stand the danger of desiccation.
Without that which renders them life, all animate creation stand the danger of
annihilation.Without that which renders them capable of rectification, the rulers stand the danger
of being overthrown.

Humility forms the basis of honour, just as the low ground forms the foundation of a
high elevation.
Wherefore, the sovereigns are content to call themselves "The Virtueless" and "The
Unworthy."
Does not this show that they regard humility as a matter of utmost importance?
Hence, the most praiseworthy are indifferent about praise.
It matters not to them whether they are admired as are beautiful jades, or despised as are rugged stones.

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Looking at the Tao as a magnet

I’d like us to imagine the Tao as a magnet.  Despite the fact that there are two poles on the magnet, there is ever only one magnet.  The north and south poles make up the same One magnet.  And what happens where we cut the magnet in two pieces?  Those two pieces become little complete magnets, each with its own north and south poles.  Cut those in half and you have four little magnets.  Cut them into however many pieces you like; all of those little pieces will have two poles on them no matter how small they are.  And we can observe that norths attract souths, and they can all fit back together again to make a big magnet at any time.

So seeming opposites attract, no matter the scale at which we find them.  Every magnet always has two poles.  One condition always depends on the other to be whole.  

Just like the Earth, Heaven, Spirituality, the Valley, and Life need the One in order to support humanity, so do the nobles - the sovereigns, to use Lao Tzu’s words - depend on others to ennoble them.

Let’s consider our leaders.  Don’t they need us to be the leaders?  Don’t they depend on us for their purposes as leaders?  I would argue in every case, yes.  Let’s also roll teachers into that - don’t teachers need, like really need the students in order to teach?  

One step further, now: we established that we always find ourselves in the roles of leaders and teachers in our lives, at home, work, or with friends.  We might say then that we depend on each other for our respective roles.  We can see the north pole as the leader and the south pole as the follower.  The north pole as the teacher and the south pole as the student.  No matter how you look at it, we all need each other in our respective roles to be whole.  

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Tao Te Ching Verse 38

translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao

The superior virtue is not conscious of itself as virtue; Therefore it has virtue. The inferior virtue never lets off virtue; Therefore it has no virtue.

The superior virtue seems inactive, and yet there is nothing that it does not do. The inferior virtue acts and yet in the end leaves things undone.

The superior benevolence acts without a motive. The superior righteousness acts with a motive. The superior ritual acts, but at first no one responds to it; Gradually people raise their arms and follow it.

Therefore when Tao is lost, virtue follows. When virtue is lost, benevolence follows. When benevolence is lost, righteousness follows. When righteousness is lost, ritual follows.

Ritual, therefore, is the attenuation of loyalty and faith and the outset of confusion. Fore-knowledge is the flower of Tao and the beginning of folly.

Therefore the truly great man keeps to the solid and not to the tenuous; Keeps to the fruit and not to the flower. Thus he rejects the latter and takes the former.

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The Tao and Authenticity

Do you remember being a teenager?  I do.  Like any other time in my life, I have fond memories and not so fond memories of that time.  The fond memories were bonding with other people my age and discovering things about life together.  Having some deeper understanding of how the world worked and still very innocent about a great deal.  Those were tender moments.  

Then, there was all the angst that came along with being an adolescent.  What would they think?  How should I be?  How should I dress?  What music should I listen to?  Who should I be? There were so many social questions, none of which I knew the answers to but desperately wanted to.  I remember being so unsure of myself and my relationships, so when people told me to just ‘be myself’ in situations, I hated that.  What did that even mean?

Well, looking back, I think it meant, ‘don’t worry about how messed up you think you look.  Accept what you are, which is something you don’t know, and own it.  Be that.  Don’t try to be another person that you’re creating.  There’s no need to get ahead of your own, beautiful development.  

Great advice.  I think that’s what I would tell me if I had the chance.  I’m almost certain that the teenage me wouldn’t have even heard it.  Ha.  But what could it have looked like if I had owned all that turmoil?  How much better off would I have been now had I started practicing ‘being myself’ years ago?

Eh, who knows?  I think the point with the first part of this verse is to realize that it’s not just ok but also productive to just...be yourself.

And how?  By being myself in the moment.  

I’d like to read from Brian Walker’s Hua Hu Ching, copyrighted in 1992 and published by Harper Collins.  In the paperback edition on page 44, it says, 

“Why scurry about looking for the truth?

It vibrates in every thing and every not-thing, right off the tip of your nose.

Can you be still and see it in the mountain?  The pine tree?  Yourself?”

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Tao Te Ching Verse 37

Translated by Lin Yutang

The Tao never does,
   Yet through it everything is done.
If leaders could keep the Tao,
   the world would of its own accord be reformed.
When reformed and rising to action,
   Let it be restrained by the Nameless pristine simplicity.
The Nameless pristine simplicity
   Is stripped of desire (for contention).
By stripping of desire quiescence is achieved,
And the world arrives at peace of its own accord.

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Practicing Doing Nothing

How does one practice doing nothing?  Well, by actually doing nothing.  It’s that simple.  In conversations with people along my journey, the subject of simplicity comes up from time to time.  As I’ve walked my path, I have found that each time I do something I’m supposed to do or practice something I’m supposed to practice, it gets easier to walk on it. It’s the total opposite of what I would’ve thought starting out.  I thought I’d have to achieve this state or that state by working hard.  On the contrary, I have found that I have arrived at each ‘milestone’ of awakening by simply letting go of the way I see the world.  Doing nothing.

To lose weight, we abstain from eating as much.

To stop smoking, we abstain from ingesting tobacco or other methods.

To get up earlier each day, we abstain from sleeping so long.

To accomplish things, we abstain from our internal resistance to not do them by letting go of that resistance.

For me, doing nothing, even yes, practicing doing nothing has been what has gotten me comfortable with abstention.  So I thought I’d list a couple ways you can practice doing nothing, things that I have found work for me:

1. Mindful breathing
2. Observing things other than my thoughts.  For instance, observing the sounds around me, near and far.
3. Observing my thoughts as if they were a bunch of monkeys swinging around in the forest of my mind.  Then, allowing them to swing wildly.
4. Something called Jappa meditation.  It is the simple repetition of a mantra using beads, and you can get them anywhere - even the dollar store, as one of my friends pointed out.  Mantras that I use are ‘Now, Aum, Still, Peace, Listen.’  One word kind of stuff.
5. Sitting.  Sometimes sitting on the couch for an hour with just yourself - no books, no phone, no nothing - brings clarity and peace of mind.
6. Yogic meditations, such as Pranayama, Kriya, Kundalini, and Tantra.

I have found that practicing one or more of these things - and here’s the key - on a regular, consistent basis - helps me to remember that I don’t always need to take action when I am interacting with the rest of the world.  It can help me remain in a place where I see desires of mine popping up, and I can abstain from acting on those desires more often.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 36

translation in The Tao of Rivenrock: a personal translation

It is the way of the Tao that:
To reduce the influence of something,
first allow it undue influence.
To reduce something, it must first be allowed to expand.
That which will be torn down, must first be raised up.
This is the subtle way the weak can overcome the strong.
A fish should not leave the water.
And one should not display one's weapons.

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The Subtle Way

Ebb & flow.  Sometimes doing. Sometimes resting  More than just opposites, these are states in which we find ourselves from time to time.  There is an event.. Then there’s a time of reflection.  A physical feat like a race , and then a period of physical recovery.

There is a noise, and then silence.  Remember how we talked about the Tao always being in motion? That’s one of the principles I think Lao Tzu is building on in this verse.

But he takes it a little further, as far as human attributes are concerned.  He talks about a time to expand and a time to contract.  A time of strength, and a time of weakness.  A time for influence and a time for none.

I think we can get a couple deeper meanings.  One meaning, the one I came away with, was sort of a derivation of the verse that explained contentment.  The one that said the one who doesn’t compete is not competed against.  Remember that one?  I took that plus this verse and  thought hmm, I need not experience such extremes in my life if I recognize where I’m at, examine its opposite, and if that’s an undesired state for me, dial back the intensity with which I’m pursuing or giving attention to my current state.  In other words, I’m kind of consciously using the Law of Balance.  

The second deeper meaning expands on the one we just talked about, from Chuang Tze, as relayed by Lin Yutang in his book, The Wisdom of Laotse, page 192 in the 1948 version:  “To take the phenomena of rise and fall, growth and decay, the Tao does not regard rise and fall as rise and fall...These are all leveled together by Tao.  Division is the same as creation, and creation is the same as destruction.  There is no such thing as creation and destruction, for these conditions are again leveled together into One.”

So this seems to be drawing a wider net around our counterintuitive discussion: that a time of action and a time of rest are just different varieties of times for the Tao.  That a time of happiness and a time of sadness are just different ways to describe an experience.

So there are a few takeaways here: one, that we can use the Subtle Light to look for and work towards balance in our lives, that seeming opposite times are just different kinds of times for the Tao - it’s only that importance that we place on them that makes them seem to matter, and two, the implication thereof: that nothing we can experience eclipses the Tao.  We are safely ensconced in its domain.  There is really nothing, either in our current forms or other forms of which to be afraid.

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Guided Meditation at the end

Tao Te Ching Verse 35

translation by Xiaolin Yang

If you have the DAO, everything will come to you.
They come to you because they will not be hurt anymore, and they will become secure and peaceful.
Pleasant music and tasteful food will make even the passerby stop.
When being talked about, the DAO is tasteless.
When you look at it, you will not see it; when you listen to it, you will not hear it;
However, when you use it, it will never run out.

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The Tao and Synchronicity

I’d like to introduce the concept of Synchronicity, first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl Jung, which holds that events are "meaningful coincidences" if they occur with no causal relationship yet seem to be meaningfully related.

Sometimes I’ll refer to it as serendipity - you know, times when things just work out.  Like I’ll be thinking about so and so calling and an hour later they call or I see them randomly.  Or I’m thinking about how it would be cool to be of service to someone and later that day, an opportunity pops up.  Or when I’m wondering about something and all of a sudden I see the answer, either in a sign on the road or someone says something that is directly related to what I was wondering about.

These are really awesome moments for me, if only because they show me that I am not alone, that somehow, the Tao responds to my requests.

For me, I began to notice synchronicity in the beginning part of my journey.  Just little moments of which I became aware.  At first, I thought they were mere coincidences but still pretty cool.  Then, as I got more comfortable with the idea that perhaps something larger was at play, I started noticing that these moments were occurring more and more often.  I thought they were pretty cool, so I kept on paying attention.  One day, I realized that this kind of stuff is actually happening all the time; the question becomes whether or not I am paying attention.

After getting better at observing, for about a year, I started wondering if I could make requests of the Tao and observe their realizations later.  I found that indeed, I could!  I have been careful not to make requests for money or specific situations to arise; rather, I sense what I need from the Tao in the moment, ask for it, say thank you, and forget about it.  Most of the time, I ask the Tao to help me remember to seek Harmony with it.  I’ll ask to see a situation differently.  I’ll ask for a service opportunity. 

This is how I receive the gifts of the Tao: Stillness, Intuition, Creativity, Healing, and Oneness.  I simply ask, thank, observe, and receive, knowing that I am not the provider, that the Tao is.

So if you’re down with this, I would encourage you to begin an awareness practice.  Daily meditation in addition to your awareness practice will help immensely.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 34

translated by Anonymous

That which makes everything exist, is present everywhere
It spreads itself throughout the entire Creation
Everything owes its existence to It, everything to its own nature
It gives everything for nothing
It cherishes and guards everything and everyone, but expects nothing in return
Because It does not wish for anything, It seems to be important
It makes everything appear and disappear again
But Itself is eternal
Therefore the one who is wise is modest
And because she is modest,
Her actions are grand

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The Tao is Everywhere

Lao Tzu tells us the Tao is like water - it gets in everything.  Even if water is in its non-liquid form - steam, for example, it can get into places that wouldn’t seem possible.  Like condensation inside two panes of glass, for example.  In fact, Water is one of the recurring devices Lao Tzu uses in the Tao Te Ching to describe the Tao’s properties of pervasiveness, softness, persistence, vitality - the list goes on quite a bit.  I think it’s definitely helpful to observe water and see it as an imitation of Tao.  But how does that apply to us?  Like how do we actually sense the Tao being everywhere?  Water’s a great parallel, absolutely - but you know how in the very first verse we talk about how the Tao can’t be talked about, it must be experienced?  Like dancing?

Do you remember in verse 28, Staying Close to Inner Nature, when we did that mediation?  In short, we became mindful of our senses, then we shifted that focus inward to our breathing and heartbeat.  Then we connected with our life force - that always on, quiet humming in our bodies that started at our core and emanated outward, in all directions.  We said that that feeling was the Tao within us.  Our inner natures.

I’d like you to bring up the image of a loved one or a friend, now.  See them smiling with their eyes in your mind.  I’ll bet they have that same glow inside them that you do.  Let’s sit here for a moment and appreciate them.  Now, imagine that person is looking at you, and we’re just appreciating each other for a moment.  Gently now, imagine what it would feel like if you were inside that person, looking at yourself smiling back.  Does this other person have the same glow inside that you do?  Coming back to ourselves now, can we feel our own glow again?  Can we look at the other person one more time and realize that while their circumstances, points of view, their personal issues are a little different than ours, that they have basically the same set of senses and feelings that we do? 

Perhaps we actually are the same person, only we’re having different experiences in this moment.

Perhaps all the other people with whom you come in contact, either virtually or in person, are just like you in this way.  They all have the same thing inside of them - the Tao.  The Tao is everywhere.  It’s in all of us.  It’s in animals.  It’s in the insects.  In the trees, in the grass - I’ll bet that while it may feel a little different for each thing, that little warm glow is present in each of those things, too.  

Today, I’d like to challenge you to try and find a place where Tao is not.  I’ll bet you can’t.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 33:

translated by Cheng Lin

Those who know others are wise;
  those who know themselves are enlightened.
Those who overcome others are powerful; 
  those who overcome themselves are strong.
Those who feel self-contentment are rich; 
  those who practice self-cultivation are resolute.
Those who abide by their original natures or centers endure; 
  those who follow Truth throughout life enjoy immortality.

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Immortality

Let’s visualize our virtuous attributes.

Wisdom. Inner Strength.  Contentment.  Inner Being

Let’s consider how those attributes relate to this feeling of life we have right now.  I think we can take relate to Lao Tzu and how he puts it in the next two lines: 

Those who abide by their original natures [or centers] endure; those who follow Truth throughout life enjoy immortality.

The center he’s talking about is that center you feel when being present with the things in that circle.  The center is our life force, that thing that never really goes away.  Of course, we cover it up with stuff in the left circle we left in the background, things like perception of others, force, and other make-humans-do-stuff kinds of things.  But when we can reconnect with that inner glow, it turns out, for me at least, that nothing else seems as important in that moment.  My life force is the one thing that keeps me going.  That allows me to endure, just like Lao Tzu says.

Now.  If I can connect with that life force feeling - my center, my bagage wagons, my...essence, I may remember that that feeling is the feeling of the Tao within me.  The Tao is inside me.  And it’s inside of you.  We are expressions of the Tao.  So if the Tao is Infinite, always on, always moving, I would like to ask you:  would that not apply to us, as well?  If we can connect with that feeling of the Tao within us, and remember that we are integral to the infinite, always on, ever changing Tao, aren’t we also Tao?  Aren’t we, dare I say, immortal, in a sense?  In the last line, Lin Yutang translates Lao Tzu suggesting that [those of us who die yet remain have long life].  

What is the death he’s talking about?  It could be corporeal death, sure.  For now, I like to think about it as the death of selfish desires, the death of ambition, the death of the importance of my will inflicted on the world.  If I can pay more attention to the things that create the attributes of the right circle, the left circle fades way into the background and dies a kind of death back there, so that in my presence, the right circle things remain.

I like how this verse serves as a reminder to us - in the last few verses, we’ve been discussing mindsets and practices that help us stay in that right circle.  This verse kind of tells us about how we can start recognizing the fruits of our labor.  If we can stay close to center by practicing what we’ve learned, we can consciously connect with the Tao inside us.  We may concentrate on what’s really important vs what only seems important.  We won’t need to fight anyone or anything - we’ll automatically endure, without suffering, without resistance.  For we will have allowed our selfish desires to fade away so that we can spend more time living in harmony with the Tao.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 32

translated by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura

The Tao remains eternally unnamable.
As undivided simplicity,
If it resides in an ordinary person,
nobody in the world can subjugate him;
If an influential person abides by it,
everybody in the world will be drawn to him.
When heaven and earth come together in harmony,
Showering the world equally with the sweet rain of undivided simplicity,
People cooperate voluntarily without any governing rules.
When simplicity is divided, names come into existence.
When names are already there, the process of further division should stop,
For to know when to stop
is to avoid the danger of complexity.
The Tao is to the world
what the ocean is to the rivers of the earth.

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Learn and move on; don’t spend too much time dissecting

If the first part of this verse says that everything has way more meaning than one immediately perceives, it would almost seem contradictory to what the message is in the second part.  The second part seems to be saying, ‘don’t think too hard about any of it.’  So wait-  I’m supposed to be open minded and take everything in, but not process it?

What’s actually going on here?  I mean I’m not a neuroscientist or anything, but it seems that my subconscious is always running, always processing.  And when the time is right, it moves a particular insight into the forefront and that’s when I have those bright idea moments. 

So I think it’s possible for us to do what Lao Tzu is suggesting.  Remaining open to events occurring around us, not trying to make sense of any of it, just participating as best we can while remaining in Harmony with the Tao, and letting it be.  Our higher selves will let us know when there is something we need to pay attention to.

Of course, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t learn - on the contrary!  I think we ought to consciously learn all we can, all for which we have the capacity!  I also feel it’s important not to overthink things.  

What does overthinking look like?  For me, I’ve got to be careful about this.  There have been times when I’ve been told that I’m overthinking when I’m really just trying to piece things together so I can understand them well.  But there are other times when I’m thinking about things just so I can think about them because I like the way it feels to think.  For me, overthinking events that have happened looks like a continuous rumination, an ongoing obsession about how things are wrong, or how I need to fix things by employing a strategy.  Like when there’s an undesirable situation at the office, and I start thinking about how to play it in the meeting the next day.  Or when, after a “lively discussion” with my wife, I catch myself rationalizing why my point of view was more valid than hers and how she should have listened better.  Or when one friend tells me that so-and-so said this about me and I have to figure out how to set the record straight.  Reputation, right?  

On a Sage, King, and Barron level, Lao Tzu seems to be saying, look, put yourself in harmony with the Tao, allow the Tao to govern.  Then, back off.  Minimize its importance, or attaching meaning to it, and ensure you are leading by example with the Tao.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 31

translated by Ellen Marie Chen

Military weapons are implements (ch'i) of ill omen,
Avoided (o) even by natural creatures (wu).
Hence the Taoist does not indulge (ch'u) in them.
The sage person (chün-tzu) in dwelling honors the left,
In military campaigns honors the right.
Hence military weapons are not implements of a princely person.
Military weapons, being implements of ill omen,
Are to be employed only in dire necessity.
Better to regard them with lack of interest.
Do not admire (mei) them.
If one admires (mei) them,
One would be rejoicing in the killing of people.
But whoever rejoices in the killing of people,
Will not be successful (chih) in the world.
Therefore in joyful affairs the left is honored,
In mournful affairs the right is honored.
The Second-in-Command takes the place of the left,
The Commander-in-Chief takes the place of the right,
Meaning that this is her place in the funeral rite.
When many people have been killed,
Wail them with sorrow and lamentations.
When victorious in battle,
Mark the occasion with the rite (li) of funeral.

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Winning without Losing

In my daily life, I interact with family, with colleagues, and with friends.  I can see that there are two sides to me - the kind, loving and gentle Dan, and then there’s the annoyed, closed off and drama Dan.  

I’ve noticed that when I don’t feel uneasy, scared, or insecure, things seem pretty good.  And during those times, I’m usually happy to see others, interact with them, laugh, and give love.  But when, for whatever reason, maybe I see something or experience something that threatens my sense of security, things don’t look as good.  I’m not as willing to give love to others.  

It is in this moment that the second Dan emerges.  The second Dan takes over in an effort to regain that sense of security.  The second Dan doesn’t really care about anything except feeling more secure, and since he’s had 43 years to figure out how to get it, is pretty crafty about how he goes about it.  The second Dan, when he’s on a mission to feel better, doesn’t have time to care for his spouse, help others at work, and be gentle and loving with friends.  Nope - that guy actually manipulates people into telling him that it’ll be ok, that they feel sorry for him, that he’s a good person.  That guy usually picks the wrong times and interrupts people when they’re doing things important for themselves.  That guy just kind of turns into a bull in an emotional china shop.

If I am to apply this verse to the second Dan, I would say that the second Dan stands on the right.  When he feels insecure about anything - be it finances, his sense of worth, his social status, or his relationships, he will do anything to feel better.  Put another way, when fear is ruling me, I make decisions that are fear based and leave considerations of others...unconsidered.  In a way, I am using violence to achieve my aims by imposing or trying to impose my will on others.

So putting this all together: weapons and arms are designed to do one thing - which is inflict the bearer’s will on others.  Lao Tzu says that this is the least desired thing to do.  But when it can’t be helped, we should treat that imposition as modestly and cautiously as we can, limiting its use.  We should treat each ‘victory’ as a funeral.  

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Tao Te Ching Verse 30

translated by Cheng Lin

Those who use Truth in assisting the ruler do not resort to war for the conquest of an Empire.
War is a most calamitous evil.
Wherever armies are quartered, briars and thorns become rampant.
Famines inevitably follow in the wake of great wars.
The good rulers are satisfied when an attack is stopped, and they do not venture to pursue conquest for supremacy.
Victories do not make them vainglorious, aggressive, arrogant, or anxious to pursue conquest for supremacy.
It is contrary to Truth for the strong to do harm to the weak.
Those who act contrary to Truth are sure to perish early.

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Force begets force

We can see evidence anywhere and anytime we look that supports what Lao Tzu says in the first part of this verse:  that where force is used, it brings scarcity later.  Force causes more force, and it only stops when there is no more energy left to support it.

I think that on a modern, international and even domestic level, we can all observe this.  So the first two lines of the verse resonate: they say that any person who wants to support their leadership does the best job when they strive to support by showing them options that are in harmony with the Tao.  

Given our social systems, our social norms, given the economic strata that separate those with incredible influence from those without, how do we, as humble students of the Tao, propose to help our leaders lead not with force but with the Tao?

Gandhi told us to be the change we would want to see in the world.  Initially, looking at the disparity between what I sense is the current state of things and what I desire is discouraging.  How do I effect great change - like changing an entire world order?  

This may be not so impossible, I think.  

The world has seen many luminaries change things for the better.  And what’s interesting is these folks have made long lasting changes on humanity as opposed to the empires to which they belonged.  To name a few, I’m talking about Lao Tzu, Chuang-tse, The Buddha, Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him).  We have modern day luminaries that gift us with a remembrance of the truth about us: Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Ram Das, Deepak Choprah,  Paramahansa Yogananda, and Eckhardt Tolle.  These are just a small representative handful of people who are encouraging lasting, more powerful changes to humanity.  

So a quick question: Are they heads of governments?  How does their influence compare to the influence of empire of government?  Because it is seemingly benign, these people and their work have largely been left intact, and it continues to shape who we are as humans as we live on Earth, generation after generation.

And the wonderful part of our examples is - all of them needed only a connection to human spirituality and a means to express their experiences to get started in changing things.

It is in the way we live our lives that we create ripple effects across our human family that, while in the moment seem insignificant, affect many more people than we think.  So if we pause for a moment and consider that force begets force, can we also take its opposite and consider that compassion begets compassion?  Love begets love?  Humility begets humility?  If we are the change we want to see in the world, doesn’t that eventually affect people in a way that reflects back a

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Tao Te Ching Verse 29:

translated by Charles Johnston

Who seeks to remake the kingdom, will certainly fail.
The kingdom is divinely planned; humans cannot remake it.
If they seek to remake, they destroy;  If they seek to seize, they lose.

Among beings, some go before, some follow;
Some are hot, some are cold;
Some are strong, some are weak;
Some move, others halt.

Therefore the Sage refrains from excess, luxury, indulgence.

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Practicing Powerlessness

If you were to picture yourself on the beach looking at the waves coming in, would it occur to you to try and stop them from coming in?  

It seems silly to even think about, now that I’m pausing and entertaining this notion.  I suppose we could build something that would flatten the waves or even control the forces out at sea that create them, at least so we would alter the wave appearance when It came in, but again, why?

Sometimes there are big waves, and sometimes there are little ones.  Sometimes they come from different directions.  Sometimes they’re good for riding, other times not so much.  It all depends on what’s going on that day.

I’d like you to think about yesterday.  Imagine any situation in which you found yourself when you were committed to the moment.  Were you looking in another human’s eye?  Were you experiencing a powerful feeling?  Did you help someone?

Imagine those experiences as you being on the wave, riding it while it lasted.  Did that situation eventually pass and move on to a different situation? Was there a time in between situations where you just observed what was going on around you?  Or did you find yourself thinking about that last experience?  Or were you thinking about future experiences that you desired or wanted to have?

Each wave is different - and so is each situation in which we find ourselves.  Could we take a moment to observe how each situation is like a wave that we’re riding?  Some of them are great rides.  Others, it doesn’t turn out so well.  But that’s ok, there are always more waves to ride.  And they don’t come in constantly, either.  Sometimes, it’s a time for rest.  Other times, it’s time to paddle as hard as you can so the wave doesn’t break right on top of you.

So let’s wrap things up today in considering the principle of Practicing Powerlessness.

I’d like you to try and observe the life events you experience today as waves.  When you’re at rest, remember that the waves come automatically without your intervention.  Your part is to choose a wave to ride, align yourself with it, and allow it to do most of the work.  All you need to do is keep your balance, if you can.  If you can’t, know that there will be more times to ride.  In either case, being present with the situation is your ride.

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Tao Te Ching Verse 28

translated by Yi Wu

One keeps weakness while knowing what strength is,
And serves as the humblest brook for the world.
Being the humblest, one can receive best
Until one returns to be the weakest infant.
One keeps to the dark while knowing what the light is,
And serves as a basic model for the world.
Being the basic model, one can receive properly
Until one returns to the oneness without polar opposition.
One keeps disgrace while knowing what glory is,
And serves as the lowest valley for the world.
Being the lowest, one can receive enough
To return to the most original simplicity.

Followed by people, this simplicity can shape the world
The wise use it as the example for the government.
The big system is, therefore, an indivisible simple whole.

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Keeping close to my original, or inner nature

I recently had an experience where, in meditation, I felt this little glow inside of me.  Maybe you’ve felt this before.  It didn’t feel warm, but that’s how I might describe it.  And as I kept my attention on this feeling, I became more aware of it.  I realized that for me, I was experiencing my original nature as I understand it for right now.

Being aware of the Male but keeping to the Female, to me, means something like yes, I can take action, but I don’t always have to take action.  Sometimes, instead of giving, I can receive.  Sometimes, when I feel the need to be aggressive, I can choose to be passive.  Do you remember when we talked about the solid being the master of the light, and stillness being the master of action in verse 26?  I feel like this is the same principle.  Knowing the male but keeping to the female, put into language of verse 26, sounds like non-action is the master of action.  In other words, action is produced from a place of non-action.  So I can know that I have the option to go out and exert myself on the world, but if I abstain from that, I become what Lao Tzu calls the valley of the world.

Uh, ok, so what’s that mean?  Remember in Verse 6 we talked about the Spirit of the Valley?  The Valley is the space of nothing, yet everything flows into it, and therefore it holds all of life.  So if I realize that I can take action and exert myself on the world but don’t, I allow things to come to me instead, and instead of the taker, I am the giver.  I am the Valley.  I am the servant.  I am closer to my personal inner nature, which of course is the Tao within.  The Tao within, in my interpretation, seems to be the ‘purity of the child,’ or the innocence of youth.  It’s that sense I have when I am brand new in the world, before I start crafting my sense of me, mine, my sense of identity, my sense of ambition.

I think the main takeaway for the first part of this verse is this: when I can connect with that inner, original nature that we all have inside us, I start to realize what’s really important.  Yes, paying bills, having a career and family is important - for the external reality - but those things are not the drivers of inner fulfillment like I once thought they were.  It turns out that that inner fulfillment is actually always there - I just have to abstain from thinking that the external world will produce that feeling of contentment, of wholeness.  I can actively practice connecting with that feeling by giving rather than receiving, by accepting, rather than trying to change things, and by actively practicing humil