MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
do not be reckless with your life
blind courage and blind passion can kill you
however
courage and passion informed by revealed knowledge
can fill you with abundant life
one is for life
one is for death
the force of heaven flowing with ease
through a bodymind cultivating the tao way of life
overcomes any obstacle and sustains that bodymind
the force of heaven flowing with ease
speaks without words and answers questions
before they are complete
the force of heaven flowing with ease
can be summoned by only a gentle invitation
and a door left open
the force of heaven flowing with ease
appears spontaneous while
acting according to a divine plan
the force of heaven flowing with ease
through a bodymind cultivating the tao way of life
appears unhurried and unworried
peaceful and delicate
its comings and goings are blessings
that are beyond your control
heaven’s net is a gossamer web covering the world
connecting every single thing under it
to every other single thing under it
think of things in this way
and you will become
the force of heaven flowing with ease
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey
What is “the force of heaven,” and what does it mean for it to flow with ease? Force is power when it is applied over time and space; power is energy applied; and energy applied is work (i.e. productivity). And what is heaven but the highest place one can hope to achieve? Return these two concepts together and the “force of heaven” can be said to be “motive energy that moves us toward the highest creativity and productivity”—a mouthful to be sure, but perhaps it puts Chapter Seventy-Three into context.
For if it is true that “blindness”—a lack of insight—is a thing for death (that which turns us against fate), and that “revealed knowledge”—intuitive wisdom of how to act—is a thing for life (that which helps us to affirm and even love fate), then it might be said that the “abundant life” said to fill us up is exactly the later mentioned “force of heaven.”
The rest explains itself. Cultivation of our character—being open, looking inward, listening carefully, and letting go of the illusion of control—reveals the wisdom necessary for each of us to see our unique place in the world. And seeing those places, we can each fill our niche. We can achieve a sense of meaning from the actions we undertake, and that sense of meaning can fill us until we expand who we are as to become who we could be. What was impossible for us before becomes an everyday task done with ease. We have conquered a paradox: we have become spontaneous and free through the acceptance of our limitations. Our potentials become unbound through acknowledging our proper place.
Lao-tzu. “Chapter Seventy-Three”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. pp.134-35
