MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

authenticity
who are you
where do you reside
what sustains you
where do you go

I am the original bodymind
I live in the folds of essence, energy, and spirit
the tao source of life sustains me

I move about in the vast undifferentiated realm
and the field of all that is possible

inhale and make the sound
exhale and make the sound
and write

life                   live                  grow
full                  abundance      fulfillment
divine              potent              spiritual
rest                  repose              serene
pure                 clear                water

since ancient times these have been the keys
living and growing to an abundance of spiritual force and
energized serenity acquired through tranquility

the pivot is a bowl of water left alone and undisturbed
so the surface becomes as clear as glass
able to reflect

illumination
balance, poise, and equilibrium

thee are the secrets of wholeness
with the tao way of life

without the tao way of life
heaven, earth, and man are divided

life
fullness
divinity
tranquility
clarity

would all be forfeit

—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey

Who are you really? It is a question that ought to be immediately answerable by every man, and yet both you and I suspect that very few would be able to respond without asking for clarity—as if someone else can tell a man who he truly is, as if the obscurity was a weather event like a morning fog and not the result of a denial of self. But fine, then. I will ask again.

Who are you, really, apart from what you do to earn your living, apart from whom others believe you to be, apart from your own beliefs and the beliefs imparted on you by your culture? When you strip away everything learned and everything taught, what is left of you that you can call your person?

That which remains is your most authentic self. It is that part you from which all desires spring forth. It is your motive force and temperament. It is the voice of conscience embedded in the biology which you inherited from generations of ancestors, each of them impacted, shaped, or destroyed by the Tao source of life—the objective universe in its guise as the highly selective Mother Nature.

The keys to reaching the authentic self are found within the breath and they are found within the water. Breathing is inspiration; inspiration is animating force; to animate is to motivate; and motivation means to have purpose to motion—means meaning as such. And as for water, it is the very life sustaining substance which is simultaneously formless and yet can take any form given the proper vessel. Water, upon attaining equilibrium, becomes clear and reflective—just as we can only truly self reflect when our inner turmoil is quieted and we turn our listening inward.

Lao-tzu implores us to write these keys as words we might be able to understand:

life
fullness
divinity
tranquility
clarity

Become life-affirming; live as to feel fulfilled; move closer and closer toward your ideal self and you will find peace; and through peace, the Tao will become clear.

These are the secrets hidden inside yourself. With them, you can bring your ego in accord with your higher potential, your lower nature, and the Nature of the world—a being united. Without them, you are but a being divided, constantly undermining yourself. Only the opposite awaits you then:

death
emptiness
damned
turmoil
confusion

Lao-tzu. “Chapter Thirty-Nine”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. pp.79-80