MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

the tao source of life as a
ceaseless and everlasting universal force
is oblique

and never does any single thing
yet always does every single thing

hold this idea firmly in your mind
and your body will naturally align
with the universal force

senses and consciousness will turn inward
and your whole being will rest peacefully
while
your pure and elegant nature spontaneously
fills you up
denying purchase to all confusion and unnaturalness

this is how you transform yourself
by anchoring yourself amidst the flow
of a sea of life force

by tranquilly sitting between
heaven and earth

by turning around and listening
to your soul

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

Though we have no choice but to use religious and even mystic or superstitious language when describing the Tao way and source of life, it is important to remember that we are not discussing some ætherial, magical, or supernatural force. The Tao source is merely how things are, have been, and will continue to be objectively (meaning beyond the perception of any conscious being). It is the consequence of our human limitations that we cannot perceive it (because, by definition, that which a human can conceive or perceive of does not include everything beyond that).

This is why the Tao source of life is oblique, indirect—to us, acting only through the filter of our perceptions. This is how the Tao source of life does everything yet nothing simultaneously. To us, it never enters the world but through us. Understanding this, it becomes less esoteric, the notion of opening oneself to the Natural world and allowing one’s projected illusions to fall. It is akin to being willing to look upon the self and to tell the truth about what is found. Free of self-denial, one is no longer torn by internal struggle. New ways to approach life will become apparent, because one is not the same person that he thought he was. These new paths, Paths in the sense of the Tao, allow the ego and the unconscious to act in great harmony. That is the spontaneity born from the instincts which by its nature denies purchase of unnaturalness or confusion.

Perhaps the Path to self transformation is a bit clearer now. It is not magic. It is not some transcendental force coming down out of the clouds. It is merely telling the truth about oneself, thereby solidifying one’s identity so that the changes necessary are not overwhelming. It is the making of oneself into a ship sturdy enough to survive the tides of fate. The building materials are already present; they are the yet recognized aspects inside oneself. One only needs to look to find them.

Lao-tzu. “Chapter Thirty-Seven”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. p.76