Verse 9 - Living Humility

[Eva Libre]

9th Verse

 

To keep on filling,

is not as good as stopping.

Overfilled, the cupped hands drip,

better to stop pouring.

 

Sharpen a blade too much

and its edge will soon be lost.

Fill your house with jade and gold

and it brings insecurity.

Puff yourself with honor and pride

and no one can save you from a fall.

 

Retire when the work is done;

this is the way of heaven.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

When my cup is full

          I will stop pouring.

Do The Tao Now

 

At your next meal, practice portion control by asking yourself after several bites if you're still famished.  If not, just stop and wait.  If no hunger appears, call it complete.  At this one meal, you'll have practiced the last sentence of the 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching: "Retire when the [eating] is done; this is the way of heaven".

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Come to grips with the radical concept of 

"enough is enough" !

 

Make this commitment even though you live in a world addicted to the idea that one can never have enough of anything.  To paraphrase Lao-tzu, do your work and then step back.  Practice humility rather than ostentation and uncontrolled consumption.  The obesity crisis in the Western world, particularly in America, is a direct result of not understanding (and living) the simple wisdom of the 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching.  Eat, but stop when you're full -- to continue stuffing food into a satiated body is to be trapped in believing that more of something is the cause of your happiness.  And  this is true of overly filling yourself with any artificial symbol of success.  Think instead of the infinite wisdom of the Tao, which says, "To keep on filling is not as good as stopping".  Enough is not only enough, it is in alignment with the perfection of the eternal Tao. 

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Seek the joy in your activities rather 

than focusing on ego's agenda.

 

Ego wants you to gather more and more rewards for your actions.  If you're in a state of loving appreciation in each of your present moments, you're letting go of the absurd idea that you're here to accumulate rewards and merit badges for your efforts.  Seek the pleasure in what you're doing, rather than in how it might ultimately benefit you.  Begin to trust in that infinite wisdom that birthed you into this material world.  After all, it knew the exact timing of your arrival here.  It didn't say, "If nine months will create such a beautiful baby, I'll extend the gestation period to five years.  Now we'll have an even more perfect creation !"  Nope, the Tao says that nine months is perfect -- that's what you get, and you don't need any more time.

 

The next time you're mired in a desire for more, stop and think of the Tao.  This creation principle fully grasps the idea that when the work is done, then for God's sake, it's time to stop !  As Lao-tzu advises, "This is the way of heaven".  Why ever choose to be in conflict with that ?

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

Grabbing and stuffing --

there is no end to it

Sharpen a blade too much

and its edge will soon be lost

Fill a house with gold and jade

and no one can protect it

Puff yourself with honor and pride

and no one can save you from a fall

Complete the task at hand

Be selfless in your actions

This is the way of Heaven

This is the way TO Heaven

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

It is better to leave a vessel unfilled

     than to attempt to carry it when it is full.

If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened.

     the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

 

When gold and jade fill the hall,

     their possessor cannot keep them safe.

When wealth and honors lead to arrogance,

     this brings its evil on itself.

When the work is done, and one's name

     is becoming distinguished,

               to withdraw into obscurity

               is the way of Heaven.

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Fate", "Worship", "Wealth", "The Scholar"

 

All the toys that infatuate men --

     houses, land, money, luxury,

     power, fame --

are the self-same thing.

 

The man whose eyes are nailed,

     not on the nature of his act,

But on the wages, whether it be

     money or office or fame,

     is equally low.

 

Nature arms each man with some faculty

     which enables him to do easily

     some feat impossible to any other,

And this makes him necessary to society.

 

The peril of every fine faculty

     is the delight of playing with it for pride. 

 

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

9

POWER

 

There is great power in being a 

mother.  It is easy to think you

control your child and his destiny;

that you can mold him into

your ideal; that his imperfections

are yours to correct.

 

The power of a mother's love

is like gold in a temple.

Used for personal aggrandizement

it brings pain and suffering.

Hoarded, it benefits no one.

Used rightly, with benevolence,

in time of great need, it serves.

 

When you are about to use

your power in your relationship

with your child, think again.

Is there another way to

accomplish your goal ?

 

Retreat and be still.  Contemplate

your choices.  When you choose to

use your power, use it justly, with

great calm, and do not waiver.

[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

9
(53)

 

Instead of keeping a bow taut while holding it straight,

          better to relax.

You may temper a sword until it is razor sharp,

          but you cannot preserve the edge for long.

When gold and jade fill your rooms,

          no one will be able to guard them for you.

If wealth and honor make you haughty,

          you bequeath misfortune upon yourself.

To withdraw when your work is finished,

          that is the Way of heaven.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

With it firmly in hand, he goes on to fill it up, but it would be better to quit.

 

"Firmly in hand" means not to let virtue [de] go.  Not only does he not let his virtue go, he goes further and fills it up [ying]. (1)  the power [shi] of such a one will surely be toppled.  Thus "it would be better to quit", which means that it would be even better if one had no virtue or sense of achievement at all.

 

If, having forged it, one goes on to sharpen it, it could not last long.

 

If one forges the end of a sword to a point but goes further and grinds it sharper, it snaps off, its characteristic property [shi] destroyed.  Thus "it could not last long".

 

Gold and jade fill the hall, but none can keep them safe.

 

It would be better to put an end to them.

 

If one is arrogant because of wealth and rank, he will give himself a blameworthy fate.

 

Such a one could not last long

 

Once achievement has occurred, one retires, for such is the Dao of Heaven.

 

The four seasons move on in turn: once one achieves what it should, it gives way to the next.

 

 

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)  Like the Dao itself, virtue should remain "empty" (cf section 4), that is, free of conscious value, motive, procedure, or goal.  Instead of grasping the cup of virtue and attempting to fill it with one's subjective, self-conscious sense of what virtue should be (and the self-satisfaction that one has it), better to abandon it completely.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

Fill your bowl to the brim

and it will spill.

Keep sharpening your knife

and it will blunt.

Chase after money and security

and your heart will never unclench.

Care about people's approval

and you will be their prisoner.

 

Do your work, then step back.

The only path to serenity.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy 

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

 

Do your work, then step back.

The only path to serenity.

 

There's a natural balance in things.  If you go too far to one extreme, life kindly brings you back toward the center.  What goes up must come down, and what comes down must go up.  Up and down are different aspects of the the same thing.

 

So are inside and outside.  Most people think that the world is outside them.  They live life backward, running after security and approval, as if by making enough money or getting enough praise they could be happy once and for all.  But nothing outside us can give us what we're really looking for.

 

I do my work and don't even need to step back from it, because it never belonged to me in the first place.  Nothing belongs to me.  Everything comes and goes.  Serenity is an open door.

 

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay on Verse 9 -

 

As the eternal Tao is in a continuous state of creating, it knows precisely when enough is enough.  Deep within ourselves, we sense that this organizing principle of unconditional supply knows when to stop, so we don't need to question the quantities that the Tao brings forth.  The creative Source is beautifully balanced in the principle of humility elucidated in this 9th verse of the Tao Te Ching.

 

The Tao has the capability to generate everything in amounts that would stupefy an observer, yet its gentle humility seems to know when there are enough trees, flowers, bees, hippos, and every other living thing.  Excess is eschewed by the Tao.  It doesn't need to show off its unlimited capacity for creating -- it knows exactly when to stop.  This verse invites us to be in spiritual rapport with this characteristic of the Tao.

 

Cramming life with possessions, pleasures, pride, and activities when we've obviously reached a point where more is less indicates being in harmony with ego, not the Tao !  Living humility knows when to just stop, let go, and enjoy the fruits of our labor.  This verse clearly analogizes that the pursuit of more status, more money, more power, more approval, more stuff, is as foolish as honing a carving knife after it has reached its zenith of sharpness.  Obviously, to continue would just create dullness, and it is obvious that a keen edge represents perfection.

 

Lao-tzu advises us to be careful about amassing great wealth and storing it away.  This practice contributes to a life spent keeping our fortune safe and insured, while at the same time always feeling the need to pursue more.  He counsels us to be satisfied at a level that fosters living with humility.  If wealth and fame are desired, we must know when to retire from the treadmill and be like the Tao.  This is the way of heaven, as opposed to the world that we live in, which is addicted to more.

 

We can heighten our awareness that advertising is primarily designed to sell products and services by convincing us that we need something in order to be happy.  Analysts might tell us that the economy is failing if it isn't continuously growing, but we can realize that excessive growth, like cancer, will ultimately destroy itself.  We can witness the results of overproduction in the gridlock on most highways:  It now takes longer to go from one side of London to the other than it did before the invention of the automobile !  We also see this principle at work whenever we shop.  I call it "choice overload" -- pain pills for backaches, menstrual cramps, headaches, joint pains, in the morning or at night, in a capsule or liquid or powder ?  And this is true whether we're purchasing toilet paper, orange juice, or anything else.