MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
bend the waist as pliable yellow gold
flex the joints in the shape of metal
twist the limbs as a tree
integral growth
make yourself an empty vessel
and receive the life force of the universal
make yourself as deep and vast
yet softly muted to the ordinary world
standing alone under the sky
this firmament over your accepted perceptions
is perpetual renewal in which the smallest piece of wealth
is a vast natural fortune
unnoticed
unless the heavens are above your head
this message is so utterly simple
that it is easily confused by over-thinking
when heaven is in your head
rather than above it
you will be scattered into space
without a home
but when heaven is in its place in the sky
real comprehension and
conscious comprehension
remain fixed to the core center in balance
then
you have returned home
an insightful person embraces and holds the absolute
singularity reflected as the original mind
consuming the consummate
and becomes a limitless model
of plenary usage
containing all the possibilities
of all that is possible
remain esoteric and invite wisdom
deny light to ordinary eyes
and sound to ordinary ears
in order to balance the mind and clear perception
though this ongoing quest is a personal endeavor
refrain from forcing life to be about yourself
do not force the hearts and spirits of others
in self-gratification
for this damages your vitality and essence
denial of accolades from yourself and others
to yourself
is a way the ordinary world
will be at peace with you
and you with it
all of this requires you remain adaptable
to the ever-changing present
bend flex twist
pliable gold shaping metal living tree
yes
surely these are watchwords
that preserve the integral gifts of human existence
in that
they belong to all
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey
Integrity is consistency of belief and behavior; it is a balance between what is professed inside and what is actualized without. Therefore, integral growth is a development either as a result of or toward a greater manifestation of integrity—moral balancing between thought and action.
How might this balance be achieved?
It is acquired through adaptability to change.
The empty cup is vacant to be filled with whatever wisdom is necessary at the time, while the cup already full cannot receive anything more or new. The familiar Zen Buddhists imperative, “Empty your cup,” is perhaps derived from this idea. Yet in seeming contradiction, Lao-tzu says to make oneself, “softly muted to the ordinary world.” How can this paradox be resolved? Simply by noticing the difference between the “ordinary world” and that which is extraordinary. Framed to fit with the familiar aphorism, the lesson would read, “Empty your cup to make yourself open to heavenly wisdom and not worldly trifles like what you just dumped onto the ground.”
Thus, a dividing line has been drawn between the heavens and the earth—the higher and lower—the Dionysiac and the Apolline—the transcendent and the illusion of Maya. This division allows one to observe and thus to aim. Using the metaphor of Dr. Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning, one’s guiding model of the world is revised as the view of the landscape changes with one’s vantage point. New pathways to arriving at one’s destination open as others close, or else the destination itself becomes somewhere totally different than the original map suggested. Opportunities become obstacles and obstacles become opportunities so that, “the smallest piece of wealth / is a vast natural fortune,” a fortune that has until then gone unnoticed because ones focus was on what he imagined the path and destination to be rather than seeing them as they are above and beyond his presupposition. That is what is meant when Lao-tzu says, “when heaven is in your head / rather than above it / you will be scattered into space / without a home.”
It is worth repeating: “scattered into space / without a home.” One cannot adapt if he cannot locate himself on his map as to reorient himself and learn which way he needs to go.
On the other hand, there is the insightful man—he who plants his feet firmly in the soil, balanced and receptive, because he has accepted that where he presently seems to be, where he’s going, and how he will reach his destination are all illusory—read: subject to change and revealed through wisdom rather than priorly calculated formulae. One sacrifices the prideful pleasure of arrogance for learning-loving humility. Herein lies a danger. He must beware mistaking one illusion for another, as it is tempting to lie and define one’s ultimate destination as some self-aggrandized center of the universe. Making this mistake will only result in one moving further and further away from his potential.
Instead, it is better to remain humble and adaptable. One ought not worship himself, nor should he allow others to do the same. Such will invite envy, bitterness, and betrayal—by the self and others.
Lao-tzu. “Chapter Twenty-Two”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. p.41-3
