Verse 13 - Living with an Independent Mind

[Eva Libre]

13th Verse

 

Favor and disgrace seem alarming.

High status greatly afflicts your person.

 

Why are favor and disgrace alarming ?

Seeking favor is degrading:

alarming when it is gotten,

alarming when it is lost.

 

Why does high status greatly afflict your person ?

The reason we have a lot of trouble

is that we have selves.

If we had no selves,

what trouble would we have ?

 

Man's true self is eternal,

yet he thinks, I am this body and will soon die.

If we have no body, what calamities can we have ?

One who sees himself as everything

is fit to be guardian of the world.

One who loves himself as everyone

is fit to be teacher of the world.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

I see myself as everything,

          I love myself as everyone.

Do The Tao Now

 

Ask yourself right now, What's my own nature if I have no outside forces telling me who or what I should be ?  Then work at living one day in complete harmony with your own nature, ignoring pressures to be otherwise.  If your inner nature is one of peace, love, and harmony as a musical genius, for instance, then act on just that today.

 

Source - Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life (Living the Wisdom of the Tao)

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Practice trusting your own inner nature.

 

Every passionate thought that you have regarding how you want to conduct your life is evidence that you're in harmony with your own unique nature -- your fervent belief is all you need.  If you're tempted to feel insecure because others disagree with you, recall that Lao-tzu counseled that "seeking favor is degrading" and will lead you out of touch with your true self.

Give yourself permission to remember that you're not only your body, and that other's opinions about what you should or shouldn't be doing probably aren't taking into account your true, eternal being.  Those other people are also not only their bodies, so seeking their approval doubles the illusion that the physical is all we are.

Your worldly self isn't your true identity, so trust your eternal self to communicate with you.  It will do so through your inner nature, where you'll honor it through an independent mind.  Respect your vision and trust your natural, passionate thoughts that are aligned with the loving essence of the Tao.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Practice being the person Lao-tzu

describes in this 13th verse.

 

Affirm the following:

 

I am a guardian of the world

and I am fit to be the teacher of the world.

 

Why ?  Because you recognize your connection to everyone and everything through an independent mind whose Source is love.  By living from your eternal self, you'll become a mystical teacher and guardian.  The approval that your worldly self sought will be felt as what it was -- the dependent mind's struggle to engage life as if it depended on external approval. 

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson -

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared;

Honor and great calamity;

     to be regarded as personal conditions of the same kind.

 

What is meant by speaking thus of favor and disgrace ?

Disgrace is being in a low position

          after the enjoyment of favor.

Getting that favor leads to the apprehension of losing it,

     and losing it leads to the fear of still greater calamity --

This is what is meant by saying that favor and disgrace

     would seem equally to be feared.

 

And what is meant by saying that honor

and great calamity

     are to be regarded as personal conditions ?

What makes me liable to great calamity is

my having the body,

     which I call myself;

If I had not the body,

          what great calamity would come to me ?

 

Therefore, he who would administer the kingdom,

Honoring it as he honors his own person,

     may be employed to govern it.

And he who would administer it with the love

     which he bears to his own person

                                may be entrusted with it.

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Self-Reliance", "Compensation"

 

Blame is safer than praise.

Every sweet hath its sour, every evil its good.

 

Do men desire the more substantial

     and permanent grandeur of genius ?

Neither has this an immunity.

He who by force of will or of thought is great

     has the charges of that eminence.

With every influx of light comes new danger.

Has he light ?  He must bear witness

     to that light

And always outrun that sympathy

     which gives him such keen satisfaction.

 

Welcome evermore to gods and men

     is the self-helping man.

For him, all doors are flung wide:

Him all tongues greet, all honors crown,

     all eyes follow with desire.

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

13

SELF-CARE

 

It is said, "She who values her

body more than dominion over 

the empire can be given custody

of the empire".  Taking care of

yourself is your right and

your responsibility.

If a mother values herself, her

children value her.  She teaches

self-esteem by her example.

Her peaceful demeanor

communicates love to all who

come in contact with her.

Knowing when to sacrifice the self

and when to nurture the self

comes with daily mindfulness.

Pay attention to your body's

signals.  Observing your feelings

each day, eventually you will be

able to take time for yourself

before it becomes an angry

demand.  This enables you to give

of yourself appropriately, without

resentment.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

"Be wary of both honor and disgrace"

"Endless affliction is bound to the body"

What does it mean,

          "Be wary of both honor and disgrace" ?

Honor is founded on disgrace

          and disgrace is rooted in honor

Both should be avoided

Both bind a man to this world

That's why it says,

          "Be wary of both honor and disgrace"

What does it mean,

          "Endless affliction is bound to the body" ?

Man's true self is eternal,

          yet he thinks, "I am this body, I will soon die"

This false sense of self

          is the cause of all his sorrow

When a person does not identify himself with the body

         tell me, what trouble could touch him ?

One who sees himself as everything

          is fit to be guardian of the world

One who loves himself as everyone

          is fit to be teacher of the world

[Eva Libre]

Tao Te Ching - The Classic Book of Integrity and The Way by Lao-Tzu

A New Translation by Victor H Mair
based on the recently discovered Ma-Wang-Tui Manuscripts

13
(57)

"Being favored is so disgraceful that it startles,

Being honored is an affliction as great as one's body."

What is the meaning of

          "Being favored is so disgraceful that it startles" ?

          Favor is debasing;

          To find it is startling,

          To lose it is startling.

This is the meaning of 

          "Being favored is so disgraceful that it startles."

What is the meaning of

          "Being honored is an affliction as great as one's body" ?

          The reason I suffer great afflictions is

                                           because I have a body;

          If I had no body, what affliction could I suffer ?

Therefore,

          When a man puts more emphasis on caring for his body

               than on caring for all under heaven,

               then all under heaven can be entrusted to him.

          When a man is sparing of his body in caring

                             for all under heaven,

               then all under heaven can be delivered to him.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

Favor and disgrace are enough cause for alarm, and self-importance (1) is a great calamity that can cost one his person.  What is meant by "favor and disgrace are enough cause for alarm" ?  Favor, when it is had by an inferior, is as alarming as when it is lost by him.  This is what is meant by "favor and disgrace are enough cause for alarm."

 

If one enjoys favor, he inevitably suffers disgrace.  If one enjoys honor, he inevitably suffers calamity.  Favor and disgrace are equivalent, and honor and calamity mean the same thing.  If, when subject to favor or disgrace, honor or calamity, a inferior finds them enough cause for alarm, such a one does not have it in him to govern all under Heaven successfully.

 

What is meant by self-importance being "a great calamity that can cost one his person" ?

 

"Great calamity" is associated with "honor" and "favor".  To place great emphasis on life is certainly to enter the land of death. (2)  This is why the text refers to it [self-importance(gui)] as a "great calamity".  When one confuses his person [shen, ie, his individual existence] with honor and favor, it means he exchanges it for them.  Thus the text says of this that it is "a great calamity that can cost one his person".

 

The reason I suffer such a great calamity is that I am bound by my own person.

It stems from one being bound by his own person.

When I am no longer bound by my own person,

That is, when one reverts to what is natural [ziran]. 

  

What calamity could befall me ?  Therefore, because such a one values his own person as much as anything under Heaven, he may be entrusted with all under Heaven.

Because there is nothing that he would exchange his person for, the text says that he "values" it.  Such a one thus may be entrusted with all under Heaven.

 

Because such a one cherishes his own person as much as anything under Heaven, he may have all under Heaven rendered to his care.

Because there is nothing that he would damage his person for, the text says that he "cherishes" it.  It is such a one that may have all under Heaven rendered to his care.  It is only someone who refrains from harming his own person because of favor, disgrace, honor, or calamity and who would not exchange it for these things who may have all under Heaven handed over to him.

 

Text, in Italics above, is Wang Bi's commentary.

The notes below, are from the translator, Richard John Lynn -

(deb's note - "section" is used for verse in these notes.)

 

(1)  "Self-importance" translates gui, which, as a noun can mean "high rank/status/value" or "esteem/prestige/honor" and refer to anything or anyone of value or importance.  Wang's commentary immediately below, however, suggests that it should be understood here as "self-importance" or perhaps "self-esteem", as he explains it in terms of sheng zhi hou(great emphasis on one's own life).

(2)  Cf. section 50, first passage.

[Eva Libre]

From Stephen Mitchell - tao te ching - A New English Version

 

Success is as dangerous as failure.

Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure ?

Whether you go up the ladder or down it,

your position is shaky.

When you stand with your two feet on the ground,

you will always keep your balance.

What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear ?

Hope and fear are both phantoms

that arise from thinking of the self.

When we don't see the self as self,

what do we have to fear ?

See the world as your self.

Have faith in the way things are.

Love the world as your self;

then you can care for all things.

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy 

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

 

Love the world as your self;

then you can care for all things.

 

When you're a love of what is, it's obvious that the world is your own face in the mirror.  But how do you become a lover of what is ?  The "how" has been a mystery till now.  Now it's clear that all you need to do is investigate your stressful thoughts.  The four questions and turnaround of The Work will take you as deep as you want to go.

People think that they need to get "enlightened" in order to be free, and nobody knows what enlightenment is.  Yes, it's in the sacred texts, and yes, this guru or that lama says he has attained it, but that's just a concept; it's the story of a past.  The truth is that there's no such thing as enlightenment.  No one is permanently enlightened; that would be the story of a future.  There's only enlightenment in the moment.  Do you believe a stressful thought ?  Then you're confused.  Do you realize that the thought isn't true ?  Then you're enlightened to it.  It's as simply as that.  And then the next thought comes, and maybe you're enlightened to it as well, and maybe not.

I have found that there are no new stressful thoughts, they're all recycled.  People try to "let go" of their thoughts.  That's like telling your child you don't want her and kicking her out onto the street.  I used to go out into the desert to get away from the world, and I took the whole world with me in my head -- every concept that had ever been experienced.  I was undoing the thoughts that run through the mind of every human being.  Thoughts are no more individual than the TV program that everyone watches.  I have found that all over the world, in every language and culture, people suffer because they believe the same stressful thoughts: "My mother doesn't love me."  "I'm not good enough."  "I'm fat."  "I need more money."  "My husband should understand me."  "My wife shouldn't have left me."  "The world needs to be saved."  Of course, I would never ask people not to believe their thoughts.  Not only would that be unkind; it isn't possible for people not to believe what they believe.  We can't help believing our thoughts until we question them.  That's the way of it.

People used to ask me if I was enlightened, and I would say, "I don't know anything about that.  I'm just someone who knows the difference between what hurts and what doesn't."  I am someone who wants only what is.  To meet as a friend each concept that arose turned out to be my freedom.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 13 -

 

The essential message of this 13th verse of the Tao Te Ching seems to be that it's crucial to remain independent of both the positive and negative opinions of other people.  Regardless of whether they love or despise us, if we make their assessments more important than our own, we'll be greatly afflicted.

 

Seeking the favor of others isn't the way of the Tao.  Pursuing status stops the natural flow of Divine energy to your independent mind.  You have a basic nature that is uniquely yours -- learn to trust that Tao nature and be free of other people's opinions.  Allow yourself to be guided by your essential beingness, the "natural you" that nourishes your independent mind.  By contrast, chasing after favored status or lofty titles to display self-importance are examples of living from a mind that depends on external signals rather than the natural inner voice.

 

The Tao doesn't force or interfere with things; it lets them work in their own way to produce results naturally.  Whatever approval is supposed to come your way will do so in perfect alignment.  Whatever disfavor shows up is also a part of this perfect alignment.  Lao-tzu wryly points out that pursuing favor is alarming, regardless of the outcome.  If you gain approval, you'll become a slave to outside messages of praise -- someone else's opinion will be directing your life.  If you gain disfavor, you'll push even harder to change their minds, and you'll still be directed by forces outside of yourself.  Both outcomes result in the dependent mind dominating, as opposed to the way of the Tao, in which the independent mind flows freely.

 

This 13th verse insists that ego and the need for importance are troublemakers that are energized by your in-the-world self.  The way of the Tao is to be aware of your eternal nature and step outside of your self or body. No ego means no trouble; big ego equals big trouble.  The Tao Te Ching rhetorically inquires, "If we have no body, what calamities can we have ?"  If you ask yourself this question, you'll discover a Divine, invisible soul that's independent of the opinions of all the afflicted seekers populating the world.  In the spirit of the Tao, your true nature will replace the pursuit of external favor with the awareness that what others think of you is really none of your business !