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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.