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Tao Te Ching Verse 19:

translated by Lin Yutang

Banish wisdom, discard knowledge,
   And the people shall profit a hundredfold;
Banish "humanity," discard "justice,"
   And the people shall recover love of their kin;
Banish cunning, discard "utility,"
   And the thieves and brigands shall disappear.
As these three touch the externals and are inadequate,
   The people have need of what they can depend upon:

   Reveal thy simple self,
   Embrace thy original nature,
   Check thy selfishness,
   Curtail thy desires.

Photo by Sarah Dorweiler on Unsplash

Simplify yourself, embrace your original nature, check your selfishness, and abandon desires.

This isn't really the first place we've seen those who talk about this. Verse 3 talks about right-sizing our Ambitions, verse 7 talks about abandoning our identities and verses 11 and 13 discuss being useful and serving others. So what he prescribes here is a recurring theme that we will continue to see an upcoming versus as well.

Simplifying ourselves seems pretty easy to do since we're simplifying. But we're being encouraged to begin this long process Of deconstruction. Deconstruction of our senses of self, in my interpretation. And how do I start doing this? Where do I start? What's the process?

I feel like this takes more work for some than others - and I'm one of those people who need more work. I needed to go through a lengthy process just to be convinced I needed to do this. Suffice to say that everyone's method looks different, though I did notice some similarities I can pass on.

• It never stops and I never ‘arrive.’
• Growth is really just this long process of shedding or letting go.
• Many people have come before me.

There are so many things to listen to, watch, stream, read, go to, Etc. Personally, I have looked for and connected with a group of friends with whom I can discuss spiritual matters. I'll use Reddit and Facebook to connect with others when I can't see them face to face. I do enjoy reading spiritual books as well as self-help books - just 15 or 30 minutes a day is all I need. I’ve developed a spiritual practice that allows me to dismantle that sense of self.

That practice has helped me to carry out the advice Lao Tzu gives us at the end of Verse 19.

It helps me practice embracing my original nature.  Put another way, it helps me develop and nurture self-love which is so important for leading a meaningful life.

It helps me curb my selfishness - I've found my selfishness to be the primary cause of my own suffering and a practice helps me to be less selfish and therefore suffer less.

It helps me to abandon my desires - desires for the Fulfillment of my perceived corporeal needs. I'm so much more efficient when I'm not going around and wanting things. People are more enjoyable, and more creative, and I experienced flow a lot more.

Verse 17 18 and 19 have been this great and wonderful look at how to use the Tao to improve our leadership styles. Remembering that we are leaders in everything we do, we can keep in mind that we have choices.

Lao Tzu urges us to lead with the Tao and abandon the things that cause disharmony. And he advises us to simplify ourselves, embrace are original Natures, check our selfishness, and abandon our desires. So in a short three verses he outlines a basic treatise for what we call enlightened, or servant leadership.