MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
anyone who really understands the tao way of life
finds living it easier than talking about it
anyone who really understands the tao way of life
finds that talking about it gets in the way of living it
children become noisy and unruly and they crave attention
requiting dissonance involves diving into the earth
turning your senses inward
protecting your stores
unbinding your bodymind
tempering harsh glare and sharp edges
plunging deeply into the heart of the mystery
generates a wholeness for yourself
that is a wholeness of the world
at that point
the world honors you
because you honor the world
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey
Again, we made aware of the irony of this endeavor to apply words and labels to that which is, by definition, beyond such description. Furthermore, we are forewarned of the folly of such an attempt. We are instructed to prioritize living out our principles over being able to attractively articulate them. Perhaps this is because to spend time and energy on the articulation is to place as more valuable the approval of or comprehension by others—the valuing of externals: the desire for life and self to be as we wish instead of as they are—a turning away from life as it truly is.
Do not be tempted by the need to persuade others (a lesson hard learned for myself). Better that we turn all of our focus inward. We ought to resolve inner conflicts instead of trying to resolve conflicts in the external world, for the former is that one thing under our control (i.e. that we are responsible for), and the latter is all of that which belongs to the world. It is through these means that the world can be made more whole. How so? Because we, as part of the world, possess within us each an individual potential which fits into and mends the hole in the universe shaped just for us.
Honor is living up to our potentials. Whether or not it is acknowledged by others is irrelevant, because honor is something felt within the self—something bestowed on the individual by his relationship to the universe. It is the badge of office granted to him who takes his rightful place and bears his rightful burden voluntarily and with a smile.
If we want to help others, we can do so only through helping bring about our better selves.
Lao-tzu. “Chapter Fifty-Six”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. p.110
