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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.