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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.