69th Verse
There is a saying among soldiers:
I dare not make the first move
but would rather play the guest;
I dare not advance an inch
but would rather withdraw a foot.
This is called
going forward without advancing,
pushing back without using weapons.
There is no greater misfortune
than feeling “I have an enemy”;
for when “I” and “enemy” exist together,
there is no room left for my treasure.
Thus, when two opponents meet,
the one without an enemy
will surely triumph.
When armies are evenly matched,
the one with compassion wins.
Living
Without Enemies
Imagine a world with a common heritage that bonded all beings on the planet—a world that didn’t know the word enemy, where everyone happily agreed that we’re all one people, originating from the same Source of nonbeing. Picture a world that understood that harming anyone would be analogous to harming oneself. Unfortunately, while there’s never been such a state of affairs among humans during the entire written history of civilization, this is the vision of Lao-tzu in the 69th verse of the Tao Te Ching. And it’s my vision for what’s possible when we work at being Tao-centered people, with Tao-centered leadership.
This grand vision begins right here, right now, with you! Remove the concept of “enemy” from your life, and model this behavior for those around you. Ultimately, the ripple effect will move everyone around the globe toward an “enemy-less” world.
Recently, a deranged man armed with guns and ammunition barricaded himself in an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he proceeded to murder several girls. As the peaceful, Tao-centered, Christian members of this close-knit community grieved over their unspeakably horrific losses, they invited the family of the killer to mourn with them at the mass funeral and prayed for the killer as well.
As the Amish leader said, “We have no enemies; we are all God’s children, and forgiveness is at the very core of our Christian faith. If we can’t forgive those who are lost and would do harm to us, then our faith would be meaningless.” These beautiful words are so similar in feeling to what Lao-tzu wrote in this verse: “There is no greater misfortune than feeling ‘I have an enemy,’” and “when two opponents meet, the one without an enemy will surely triumph.”
So how can you have an opponent without an enemy? In her illuminating book The Tao of Inner Peace, Diane Dreher offers a response to that question. Keep this in mind as you apply the 69th verse of the Tao Te Ching to your life: “The old perception of conflict as combat only narrows our vision, limits our choices, pulls us into endless struggles between competing polarities.” She then adds, “Making enemies gives away our power, keeps us from taking responsibility for our lives. Instead of resolving conflict, we focus our attention on fearing, hating, and lashing out at perceived ‘enemies.’”
The lesson from Diane’s brilliant book, as well as this verse of the Tao Te Ching and the statement of the Amish community leader, is that conflict doesn’t have to mean combat. In other words, someone with a contrary point of view doesn’t have to be the enemy. Imagine if every general took these words of the Tao Te Ching to heart and practiced them: “I dare not make the first move . . .” There’s no way war could exist.
Lao-tzu advised that if war ever does become inevitable, one should practice defense rather than offense. One should never initiate hostilities, but recognize in the heat of battle that the battle itself is something to grieve about. With no concept of “enemy,” and a heart that’s filled with compassion, one stays harmonized with the Tao. The presence of combat, whether verbal or physical, is an indication that contact with the Tao has been lost. There should be no celebration, and every war and battleground conflict should be treated as a funeral, with compassion ruling the day.
As I sit here contemplating the visage of Lao-tzu, he seems to say that a world free from foes isn’t as impossible as you may believe. This is how you can put this wisdom to work for you now: 69th Verse
Refuse to think of anyone as your adversary.
Reread the most important line in this verse: “[W]hen ‘I’ and ‘enemy’ exist together, there is no room left for my treasure.” Your treasure is your peace of mind and your Tao connection, so your competitors in business, your opponents in an athletic match, and the members of a competing political party are not your foes. And those people whom a government declares are your enemies are most assuredly not.
Affirm: I have no enemies. There are people with whom I have strong disagreements. I may even be required to defend myself and my way of life, but I will not think of them as adversaries. Recall Lao-tzu’s statement that the person “without an enemy will surely triumph.” Be that individual right now.
Vow to never start a fight.
Stay on the defensive side of disputes, aligning with Lao-tzu’s advice to “play the guest” rather than make the first move. See colleagues where you once saw combatants by finding yourself in them. Convey compassion and caring toward your perceived adversaries, who are actually representing a part of you. Refuse to start a fight, reminding yourself that you’d be battling with yourself. Find a way to see oneness in a holy encounter, since all of us are of the Tao.
Do the Tao Now
Reproduce these words found in Anne Frank’s diary, written as she was being hunted by the Nazis: “. . . in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. . . . I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right.”
Post this for everyone in your family to see.
70th Verse
My teachings are very easy to understand
and very easy to practice;
yet so few in this world understand,
and so few are able to practice.
My words have an ancestor;
my deeds have a lord.
The people have no knowledge of this,
therefore they have no knowledge of me.
This is why the sage dresses plainly,
even though his interior is filled
with precious gems.
Living a
God-Realized Life
I pondered this 70th verse of the Tao Te Ching for a week, reading and rereading more than 50 interpretations of it. I was particularly drawn to this phrase in The Essential Tao, Thomas Cleary’s translation:
Those who know me are rare;
those who emulate me are noble.
I also asked Lao-tzu for direction, trying to determine what his message is for the 21st century. I knew that the master never would have spoken from a need to have his ego massaged. He was, after all, the original Tao master, enjoying a life centered in the Great Way rather than ego and encouraging everyone to do the same.
Try to imagine what it must have been like for this Divine avatar to walk among his people in ancient China: He’d take incredulous note of their warlike behaviors, all the while having an internal awareness of what was possible for all of his fellow human beings if they would only change the way they looked at their lives. Freedom, peace of mind, contentment, and virtually every other principle that I’ve described in these 81 essays were only a thought away. I can imagine that some 500-plus years later, Jesus of Nazareth might have felt the same sentiment that Lao-tzu expressed here in verse 70, something to the effect of, This is oh-so easy, so simple to understand and to practice, yet so few are willing or able to grasp the essence of heaven on earth.
I can almost feel the frustration that Lao-tzu is expressing in these lines as he urges us to live a Tao-centered existence, rather than an ego-centered one. I’ve titled this brief essay “Living a GodRealized Life” because this is what I believe he’s asking you to do throughout the 81 passages, and particularly here in num
ber 70. “My words have an ancestor; my deeds have a lord,” he says, and then immediately follows with the thought that the people just don’t get it, so they clearly “have no knowledge of me.” Lao-tzu’s ancestor is the Tao, and the lord of his deeds is that very same nameless Source. He seems to be musing, I think like God thinks; I speak as God, the creator of the universe, would speak; and therefore I act in accordance with these God-realized principles.
I urge you to do the same, which is oh-so easy if you just surrender and allow this life-sustaining Tao energy to guide you. Stop fighting, eschew violent thoughts and deeds, and give up trying to control others or the world. Stay humble; don’t interfere; respect your creative genius, as well as that of others; and, above all, return to your invisible Source and shed your troublesome ego while you’re still alive and incarnated as one of the 10,000 things. If you do all of this, you will naturally live a long life in joyful, nonjudgmental peace.
Think of how the great spiritual masters have been portrayed by artists throughout the centuries: Lao-tzu wears a simple robe, Jesus is outfitted in plain clothes and sandals, Saint Francis sports almost tattered rags, Buddha looks like a peasant with a walking stick, and Mohammed is depicted as a simple man. Then look at the how the followers of the greatest spiritual teachers have been portrayed—living in the lap of luxury, opulence, and conspicuous consumption in golden palaces. The great sages dress plainly even though they conceal the most precious commodity within themselves.
And just what is this great treasure hidden within these masters? Verse 67 explained that it is God realization in the form of the three treasures: mercy, frugality, and humility. You don’t need gold-embroidered costumes and temples strewn with riches—both of which were the result of the sweat of countless servants and slaves—to house these treasures. Dressing plainly keeps the sage in harmony with the simplicity of this message.
This is what I hear Lao-tzu saying between the lines of this 70th verse, expressing the bewilderment that he feels as so few people seem to grasp his beautifully simple message:
Know the Tao Te Ching.
Change your mind about being one of the vast majority who doesn’t understand or practice the teachings of the Tao Te Ching. Lao-tzu tells you that there’s so little to do—all you need to remember is that your holiness is a piece of the Tao. According to A Course in Miracles, “Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance, and limits of any kind.”
Declare yourself to be one of those who possesses this knowledge, and be willing to practice God realization every day.
See God everywhere.
Make it your daily practice to seek the invisible force of God in everything you see and hear. In the 14th century, Meister Eckhart offered some advice on how to put this 70th verse of the Tao Te Ching into daily life: “What is the test that you have indeed undergone this holy birth? Listen carefully; if this birth has truly taken place within you, then every single creature points you toward God.” He further advised: “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘Thank You,’ that would suffice.”
Practice saying Thank You, God, for everything. This is the way to God realization.
Do the Tao Now
Plan a day to be like the sage who dresses plainly, without jewelry, makeup, or fancy clothes. In fact, head out for the day in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Wherever you go, stay in this “plain” mode and notice how irrelevant the attention paid to dress and looks seems. Tune in to your feelings as you go about your business unconcerned about how others view your appearance.
71st Verse
Knowing ignorance is strength.
Ignoring knowledge is sickness.
Only when we are sick of our sickness
shall we cease to be sick.
The sage is not sick but is sick of sickness;
this is the secret of health.
Living
Without Sickness
There’s quite a paradox present in this passage, which has been expressed throughout my many readings of the Tao Te Ching as variations on “only when your sickness becomes sick will your sickness disappear.” Lao-tzu seems to be saying that one must actually become ill in order to avoid illness.
Once again I’ve thought long and hard about this short verse. I’ve played with these words over and over in order to grasp their essential meaning for you, and for myself as well. Finally, I’ve meditated with Lao-tzu’s image before me, asking what he meant by this puzzling 71st verse. His answer is what I based the rest of this chapter on.
First of all, what does the word sickness imply? For me, it means that something in the body or mind is out of balance with the well-being from which it originated—that is, it’s not in agreement with the Tao. Conditions such as fevers, aches, wheezing, sniffling, breathlessness, coughing, unusual fatigue, and fainting are indications of the presence of illness; and the equivalent of such symptoms in our thinking could be fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, worry, guilt, stress, impatience, and so on. These are signals that our thoughts are out of balance with our Source, which is pure love, kindness, patience, contentment, and all of the other expressions of Tao-centeredness that appear in these 81 essays on the Tao Te Ching.
The sage in this verse has looked long and hard at illness, and has come to realize that it represents a physical manifestation of non-Tao thinking. A fever, a cold, an ache, or a pain are all identical to the non-Tao expressions of impatience, fear, anger, or any other ego-driven impulse. Since the sage has seen where thoughts like these lead, he refuses to participate in such folly. Thus, he has looked at poor health and vowed: I will not think in ways that bring that about. I’ll stay centered in the natural well-being of the Tao because to think a sick thought is to allow sickness to crop up. Consequently, he’s sick of sickness, and the result is the secret of perfect health.
Allow me to provide you with an example of this. My colleague and friend Radhika Kinger recently returned from a visit to Puttaparthi, India, where she was in the presence of Sathya Sai Baba, a God-realized master who lives and breathes all of the Divine messages presented in the Tao Te Ching. Here’s an excerpt from the letter she sent me afterward:
I just returned from Puttaparthi after spending a week there in Sai Baba’s Divine presence. I was saddened to see Sai Baba in a wheelchair due to multiple fractures in his hipbone. According to the doctors, no normal human body can survive such physical agony. But Sai Baba remains ever so blissful and completely unaffected by his physical condition.
A devotee asked Sai Baba how is it that a God-realized being has to undergo physical suffering. Why doesn’t he cure himself? To this Sai Baba replied, “My life is my message. People today need to learn to give up body attachment and experience their divinity within. Pain is a natural phenomenon. But suffering is a ‘choice.’ I do not suffer, as I am not the body.”
Sai Baba looked at his condition and declared himself to be sick of such a thing being in his life. Suffering with illness just isn’t an option when one lives in harmony with the Tao.
With years of addictive behavior behind me, I can tell you that the wisdom of this verse of the Tao Te Ching was largely responsible for my getting back to the purity and well-being from which I originated. I became sick of my sickness, as I was no longer willing to go through the withdrawals and shame that accompanied it. I saw my affliction not so much in the material world, but in the invisible world of my thoughts, which kept leading me back to the illness. When I finally changed the way I looked at all of this, I was able to bring about the seeming paradox of no longer being ill by getting to the point of being sick of it. And this is truly the secret of health.
Here’s how Lao-tzu would instruct you to put this wisdom to work for you here and now:
Have a happy mind.
An ancient Chinese proverb says that if a man has a happy mind, he will a have a happy body. A happy mind is sick of sickness—it refuses to anticipate that things will get worse.
It sees a sniffle, a stomachache, back or knee discomfort, and fatigue as messages to follow the body’s signals back to a natural state of well-being. A happy mind thinks of the body as capable of healing infirmities because it knows that it isn’t a human creation, but a product of the Tao. A happy mind trusts the capacity of the body to live without sickness or suffering. So use your happy mind to work with you to stay healthy.
Examine your habits.
What daily habits distance you from your natural state of well-being? Any addictions, no matter how serious or minor they might seem, are beckoning you to be totally fed up with them. Get sick of being weakened by destructive pursuits. You know what they are, and you know when you’ve habitually let yourself become ill from food, alcohol, or drugs; or from the guilt and shame that results after a binge. Remember that “ignoring knowledge is sickness” and examine your fixations, vowing not to ignore your awareness of what they are.
Do the Tao Now
Dedicate a day to really listening to and trusting the messages from your body, and then listen to what your mind tells you about those signals. Introduce your mind to the possibility that the body is signaling a request that you can grant, such as a nap or a walk along the beach, for instance. Cultivate the Tao-centered happy mind, which will not entertain sickness thoughts.
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life Page 26
