3rd Verse
Putting a value on status
will create contentiousness.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.
By not displaying what is desirable, you will
cause the people’s hearts to remain undisturbed.
The sage governs
by emptying minds and hearts,
by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
Practice not doing. . . .
When action is pure and selfless,
everything settles into its own perfect place.
Living Contentment
This 3rd verse of the Tao Te Ching advises rearranging priorities to ensure contentment. Focusing on obtaining more objects of desire encourages external factors to have control over us. Pursuit of status, be it monetary or a position of power, blinds us to our relationship to the eternal Tao, along with the contented life that is available. Overvaluing possessions and accomplishments stems from our ego’s fixation on getting more—wealth, belongings, status, power, or the like. The Tao recommends refraining from this kind of discontented way of life, which leads to thievery, contentiousness, and confusion. Rather than seeking more, the Tao practice of gratitude is what leads us to the contented life. We must replace personal desires with the Tao-centered question: How may I serve? By simply changing these kinds of thoughts, we will begin to see major changes taking place in our lives.
The advice to practice “not doing” and trusting that all will settle into a perfect place may sound like a prescription for laziness and a failed society, yet I don’t think that’s what Lao-tzu is offering here. He isn’t saying to be slothful or inactive; rather, he’s suggesting that trusting in the Tao is the way to be directed by the Source of your creation and to be guided by a higher principle than your ego-driven desires.
Ego-fixated wants can get in the way of Divine essence, so practice getting ego out of the way and be guided by the Tao in all that you do. In a state of frenzy? Trust in the Tao. Listen for what urges you onward, free from ego domination, and you’ll paradoxically be more productive. Allow what’s within to come forward by suspending worldly determination. In this way, it will no longer be just you who is conducting this orchestration that you call your life.
Much of this 3rd verse contains advice on how to govern. I view this not as political or administrative advice, but as it pertains to our own personal lives and those we’re entrusted to guide—that is, our immediate family, and in a larger sense, the human family that comprises all of those with whom we’re in contact on a daily basis.
Encourage your relatives to empty their minds of thoughts about status and acquisitions, and think instead about serving others and contributing to the health and strength of all. Model the harmony of this attitude; after all, everyone has a calling to be inspired. The Source of creation is not interested in material possessions or status. It will provide what is needed—it will guide, motivate, and influence you and everyone else. Ego (and its incessant inventory of desires) probably needs to be weakened so that the beauty of the Tao can be sensed. Demonstrate this to others by being a leader who removes the egocentric temptations that foster envy, anger, and competition.
If Lao-tzu were able to view our contemporary world from his 2,500-year-old perspective, I believe that he’d offer the following advice based upon this 3rd verse of the Tao Te Ching:
Remind yourself daily that there is no way to happiness; rather, happiness is the way.
You may have a long list of goals that you believe will provide you with contentment when they’re achieved, yet if you examine your state of happiness in this moment, you’ll notice that the fulfillment of some previous ambitions didn’t create an enduring sense of joy. Desires can produce anxiety, stress, and competitiveness, and you need to recognize those that do. Bring happiness to every encounter in life, instead of expecting external events to produce joy. By staying in harmony on the path of the Tao, all the contentment you could ever dream of will begin to flow into your life—the right people, the means to finance where you’re headed, and the necessary factors will come together. “Stop pushing yourself,” Lao-tzu would say, “and feel gratitude and awe for what is. Your life is controlled by something far bigger and more significant than the petty details of your lofty aspirations.”
Trust the perfection of the eternal Tao, for it is the ultimate Source of the 10,000 things.
The Tao is working for and with you, so you needn’t remind it of what you crave or what you think it has forgotten on your behalf. Trust the harmony of the Tao. It took care of everything that you needed in your creation as well as your first nine months of life without any assistance from you, and totally independent of any desires you may have had. The Tao will continue to do so if you just trust it and practice not doing.
Inventory your desires and then turn them over to the unnameable. Yes, turn them over and do nothing but trust. At the same time, listen and watch for guidance, and then connect yourself to the perfect energy that sends whatever is necessary into your life. You (meaning your ego) don’t need to do anything. Instead, allow the eternal perfection of the Tao to work through you. This is Laotzu’s message for our world now.
Henry David Thoreau made the following observation in the middle of the 19th century as he wrote at Walden Pond, and I feel that it personifies this 3rd verse of the Tao Te Ching:
Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails. . . . If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run? . . . I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.
Trust in your essential sageness. Don’t let desires obscure your eternal connection to the Tao.
Do the Tao Now
Watch for an opportunity today to notice that you’re planning on buying something. Choose to do the Tao and listen for guidance. Be grateful that you have the choice to make the purchase, then practice listening to yourself and not doing. Through your feelings, the Tao will reveal the way for you in that moment. Trust it. You might be guided to buy the item and savor it with gratitude, donate it, procure one for you and one for someone else, give the money to a charity instead of getting the item, or refrain from obtaining it altogether.
Practice doing the Tao in everyday situations and you’ll know contentment in a deeper sense. As this verse says, “When action is pure and selfless, everything settles into its own perfect place.” Now that’s my definition of contentment!
4th Verse
The Tao is empty
but inexhaustible,
bottomless,
the ancestor of it all.
Within it, the sharp edges become smooth;
the twisted knots loosen;
the sun is softened by a cloud;
the dust settles into place.
It is hidden but always present.
I do not know who gave birth to it.
It seems to be the common ancestor of all, the father of things.
Living Infinitely
The Tao is the Source of all life, yet it is empty and limitless and cannot be constrained, quantified, or measured. This life-giving energy of creation provides a profound Source of joy that’s accessible at all times. If you live from an infinite perspective, you’ll relinquish the idea that your only identity is the physical body in which you progress from birth to death. In your totality, you’re an infinite being disguised as a person existing in the world of “sharp edges” and “twisted knots” that this verse refers to. Coalescing within and around you at all times is the invisible life-giving force of the Tao. It is inexhaustible. It is bottomless. It cannot be depleted.
This 4th verse of the Tao invites you to consider rearranging your thoughts about who you are. It seems to be saying that cultivating an awareness of the infinite aspect of yourself is the way to tap into the limitless Source of
creative energy that flows through you. For example, you may want to help less fortunate people improve their day-to-day existence, but you don’t believe that you have the time or energy to do so because of who you are and what you presently do. As you relax your hold on the idea of yourself as the job you do or the life you’re living and seek to acquaint yourself with the limitless creative energy that’s a part of you, the time and energy you require will appear.
Imagining yourself helping others, guided by the infinite aspect of yourself, will generate behavior and actions that complement your vision through the “common ancestor” of the Tao. Ultimately, you’ll cultivate an absolute knowing that whatever assistance you need is right here and right now—in front of, in back of, above, and below you. It is empty, yet very much present. It is, as Lao-tzu reminds you, “inexhaustible, bottomless, the ancestor of it all.”
Awareness of the omnipresence of the Tao means that thoughts of shortages or lack aren’t prevalent. Beliefs such as “There’s no way this will happen,” “It’s not my destiny,” or “With my luck, things could never work out,” cease to be entertained. Instead, you begin to expect that what you imagine for yourself is not only on its way—it’s already here! This new self-portrait based on the cooperative presence of the invisible Tao elevates you to living an inspired life—that is, one of being “in spirit” or in unending touch with the Tao. When you live infinitely, the rewards are a sense of peaceful joy because you know that all is in order.
This is what I imagine Lao-tzu’s ancient words mean in our modern era:
Consider all things that seem to be a problem
from the perspective of the eternal Tao.
Believing that there’s a shortage of prosperity is a signal to think in terms of the inexhaustible Source: the Tao. Just like everything else on our planet, money is available in limitless quantities. Know this and connect to the bottomless supply. Do it first in your thoughts by affirming: Everything I need now is here. Prosperity thoughts are energetic instructions to access your infinite self, so actions will follow them.
Take this same approach—staying in harmony with the Tao—to all of your problems, for there’s an all-encompassing supply of well-being to partner with. So rather than giving energy to illness and perceived misfortunes, stay with the Tao. Stay with what can never be used up. Stay with that which is the father of all things, the creative Source of all. It will work with and for you, as you have it in your thoughts, then in your feelings, and finally in your actions.
Be an infinite observer.
When acknowledged as a sign of change, worry is transitory—it’s simply part of the world of the changing. If you view your life from the vantage point of an infinite observer, concerns, anxieties, and struggles blend into the eternal mix. From this ageless perspective, picture how important the things you feel depressed about now will be in a hundred, a thousand, a million, or an uncountable number of years. Remember that you, like the infinite Tao from which you originated, are part of an eternal reality.
Rearrange your thoughts to practice thinking in alignment with the Tao. With the assistance of the eternal Tao, all of the sharp edges of life smooth out, the knots loosen, and the dust settles. Try it!
Do the Tao Now
Pick a situation today (any situation will work), and instead of verbally responding, be silent and listen to your thoughts. For example, in a social gathering or business meeting, choose to seek the emptiness found in silence in order to be aware of your infinite self. Invite it to let you know when or whether to respond. If you find your worldly ego interpreting or judging, then just observe that without criticizing or changing it. You’ll begin to find more and more situations where it feels peaceful and joyful to be without response . . . just to be in the infinity that’s hidden but always present.
You might want to duplicate this advice of my teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj and post it conspicuously so that you can read it daily:
Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves.
And while you’re living, stay as close to love as you can.
5th Verse
Heaven and earth are impartial;
they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs.
The sage is not sentimental;
he treats all his people as straw dogs.
The sage is like heaven and earth:
To him none are especially dear,
nor is there anyone he disfavors.
He gives and gives, without condition,
offering his treasures to everyone.
Between heaven and earth
is a space like a bellows;
empty and inexhaustible,
the more it is used, the more it produces.
Hold on to the center.
Man was made to sit quietly and find
the truth within.
Living Impartially
The Tao does not discriminate—period! Like heaven and earth, it is impartial. The Tao is the Source of all, the great invisible provider. It doesn’t show preference by giving energy to some while depriving others; rather, the basic life-sustaining components of air, sunshine, atmosphere, and rain are provided for all on our planet. By choosing to harmonize our inner and outer consciousness with this powerful feature of the Tao, we can realize the true self that we are. The true self is our unsentimental sage aspect that lives harmoniously with the Tao. This aspect doesn’t view life in one form as more deserving than another, and it refuses to play favorites. Or, as Lao-tzu states, “He treats all his people as straw dogs.”
Lao-tzu uses this term to describe how the Tao (as well as the enlightened ones) treats the 10,000 things that comprise the world of the manifest. In Stephen Mitchell’s translation of the Tao Te Ching, he explains that “straw dogs were ritual objects, venerated before the ceremony but afterward abandoned and trampled underfoot.” In other words, Taoism reveres and respects existence impartially, as an ebb and flow that is to be revered and then released. With impartial awareness, the sage genuinely sees the sacredness within all the straw dogs in this ceremony we call life.
The 5th verse encourages us to be aware of this unbiased Source and, as a bonus, to enjoy the paradoxical nature of the Tao. The more rapport we have with the energy of the Tao and the more we’re living from its all-creating perspective, the more it is available to us. It’s impossible to use it up—if we consume more, we simply receive more. But if we attempt to hoard it, we’ll experience shortages ourselves, along with the failure of having even a wisp of understanding. The Tao and its inexhaustible powers paradoxically disappear when we attempt to exclude anyone from its unprejudiced nature.
The varied forms of life are illusory as far as the Tao is concerned, so no one is special or better than anyone else. This sentiment is echoed in the Christian scriptures: “[God] sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45).
Practicing impartiality is a way to incorporate the 5th verse of the Tao Te Ching into your life, and to practice its wisdom in today’s world. To that end, this is what I believe Lao-tzu was trying to impart to us from his 2,500-year-old vantage point:
Stay in harmony with the impartial essence of the Tao in all of your thoughts and all of your behaviors.
When you have a thought that excludes others, you’ve elected to see yourself as “special” and therefore deserving of exceptional favor from your Source of being. The moment you’ve promoted yourself to this category, you’ve elevated your self-importance above those whom you’ve decided are less deserving. Thinking this way will cause you to lose the all-encompassing power of the Tao. Organizations—including religious groups—that designate some members as “favored” aren’t centered in the Tao. No matter how much they attempt to convince themselves and others of their spiritual connection, the act of exclusion and partiality eliminates their functioning from their true self. In other words, if a thought or behavior divides us, it is
not of God; if it unites us, it is of God. Stay centered on this Tao that resides within you, Lao-tzu advises, and you’ll never have a thought that isn’t in harmony with spirit.
Offer your treasures to everyone.
This is what the Tao is doing at every moment—offering to all, the entire spectrum of creation. Think of this as a simple three-step process:
1. Eliminate as many judgments of others in your thoughts as possible. The simplest, most natural way to accomplish this is to see yourself in everyone. Remember that you and those you judge share one thing in common—the Tao! So rather than viewing appearances, which are really nothing more than straw dogs, see the unfolding of the Tao in those you encounter, and your criticisms and labels will dissolve.
2. Remove the word special from your vocabulary when you refer to yourself or others. If anyone is special, then we all are. And if we’re all exceptional, then we don’t need a word like that to define us, since it clearly implies that some are more favored than others!
3. Finally, implement the third step of this process by extending generosity through living the Tao impartially and connecting with the inner space of being the Tao. In this space you’ll be able to be unbiased about your possessions, recognizing that they’re not exclusively yours but are rather a part of the entirety. By unconditionally sharing and giving, you’ll thrill at the experience of living the Tao and being unprejudiced. The Tao is your truth; it resides within you. Quietly be in the peace and joy of connecting with the inexhaustible Tao.
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life Page 3
