Verse 12 - Living with Inner Conviction

[Eva Libre]

12th Verse

 

The five colors blind the eye.

The five tones deafen the ear.

The five flavors dull the taste.

The chase and the hunt craze people's minds.

 

Wasting energy to obtain rare objects

only impedes one's growth.

 

The master observes the world

but trusts his inner vision.

He allows things to come and go.

He prefers what is within to what is without.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

I choose to ignore the seductive lure

          of acquisition and fame.

Do The Tao Now

 

Plant a seed and cultivate it, observing its inner nature throughout its lifetime.  Journal what's within the bud, and gaze in awe at what's in that seed that will one day create a flower.  Then extend the same awe to yourself and the seed that had you contained inside as well.  Use this as a reminder of your invisible inner self, which is the Tao at work.

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Extend your perspective beyond the sensory level.

 

You inner conviction knows that a rose is more than a flower, as it offers a pleasant fragrance and velvety petals.  Use that knowing to perceive the creative, invisible force that brings an intricate blooming miracle from nowhere to now here.  Experience the essence of the creator who allowed this blossoming masterpiece to emerge from a tiny seed.  Note that the seed arrived from what we can only refer to as the world of formless nothingness or spirit.  See that spirit animating the colors, scents, and textures; and look at all of life from a transcendent perspective.  You'll be less inclined to join the chase and more inclined to live from the inner conviction that your true essence is not of this world. 

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Discontinue pressuring yourself to perpetually accumulate more.

 

Let others be consumed with the chase if they choose to, while you learn to relax.  Rather than focusing outward, turn inward.  Cultivate awe and appreciation as inner touchstones, rather than an outer determination for more adoration and accumulation.  When you see a beautiful sight, hear an enchanting sound, or taste a mouthwatering delicacy, allow yourself to think of the miracle within these sensory pleasures.  Be like the master who "prefers what is within to what is without".  Allow things to come and go without any urgency to become attached to this ephemeral world of comings and goings.

[Eva Libre]

This quote came to my mind today, in thinking about the title Dr Dyer gave this verse-

From William Shakespeare's play - Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78–82

Polonius:

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

Laertes:
Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.

"To thine own self be true" is Polonius's last piece of advice to his son Laertes, who is in a hurry to get on the next boat to Paris, where he'll be safe from his father's long-winded speeches.

[see NEITHER A BORROWER NOR A LENDER BE]

Polonius has in mind something much more Elizabethan than the New Age self-knowledge that the phrase now suggests. As Polonius sees it, borrowing money, loaning money, carousing with women of dubious character, and other intemperate pursuits are "false" to the self. By "false" Polonius seems to mean "disadvantageous" or "detrimental to your image"; by "true" he means "loyal to your own best interests." Take care of yourself first, he counsels, and that way you'll be in a position to take care of others. There is wisdom in the old man's warnings, of course; but he repeats orthodox platitudes with unwonted self-satisfaction. Polonius, who is deeply impressed with his wordliness, has perfected the arts of protecting his interests and of projecting seeming virtues, his method of being "true" to others. Never mind that this includes spying on Hamlet for King Claudius. Never mind, as well, that many of Polonius's haughty, if not trite, kernels of wisdom are now taken as Shakespeare's own wise pronouncements on living a proper life.

I also found a blog - Dr Irene's Verbal Abuse (Site) ! - which has some expanded thinking about the quote.

To thine own self be true…..how profound.  How many of us have a hard time being true to ourselves?  Those of us that gave our life to another at the cost of loosing who we are in the process will have a hard time being true to ourselves.  Allowing someone else to define who we are, we lose our ability to discover and grow inwardly.  We no longer are able to discern a truth from a lie.  For many of us, we have accepted lies for so long, that finding out what is true takes time. Having done this very thing, I know how difficult the journey to self-discovery can be.  (more at the link above)

Recently, I have found myself participating in a challenging discussion.  As my beliefs and experiences were challenged, while wanting to remain open-minded and perhaps, learn an expanded perception as a result of exploring one's ideas in contrast with other people's ideas, I felt it was extremely important to remain confident in what I can only call an "inner conviction".  I live from that conviction and while remaining respectful of differing opinions, to my own self, I felt, I must remain true.  Not that my own self isn't very capable to changing and morphing along the way.  GOL

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

The five colors blind the eye

The five tones deafen the ear

The five flavors dull the palate

Racing, hunting, and galloping about

          only disturb the mind

Wasting energy to obtain rare objects

          only impedes one's growth

So the Sage is led by his inner truth

          and not his outer eye

He holds to what is deep

          and not what lies on the surface 

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

Color's five hues form th' eyes their sight

     will take;

Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make;

The flavors five deprive the mouth of taste;

The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste

Make mad the mind, and objects rare and strange,

Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change.

 

Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy the craving

     of the belly,

And not the insatiable longing of the eyes.

He puts from him the latter,

and prefers to seek the former.

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Poetry and Imagination"

 

As soon as leisure plays with resemblances

     for amusement,

We call its action Fancy.

Fancy relates to surfaces,

     is willful, superficial,

A play as with dolls and puppets.

Fancy surprises and amuses the idle,

     but is silent in the presence of great passion.

 

We must learn the homely laws of fire and water.

We must feed, wash, plant, build.

These are the ends of necessity,

     and first in the order of nature,

     the house of health and life.

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

12

PEACE

 

Life with children is naturally

noisy.  Can you find the silence

within the noise?  Can you feel

the peace within the turmoil ?

If you cannot reflect in the chaos

of the moment, withdraw.

Make time for yourself to turn

inward and digest your life.

Whether you realize it or not,

Mother is the pivot of the family.

Not you, but the eternal Mother

expressing Itself through

your choices.

To allow the Mother principle to

work to center your family,

take time for yourself.  Otherwise,

the self will be constantly

grasping for its share.  This 

grasping obscures the Mother

principle from within you and

from your family, and leaves

everyone alone and lost.

[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

12
(56)

The five colors

     make a man's eyes blind;

Horseracing and hunting

     make a man's mind go mad;

Goods that are hard to obtain

     make a man's progress falter;

The five flavors

     make a man's palate dull;

The five tones

     make a man's ears deaf.

For these reasons,

     In ruling, the sage

          attends to the stomach, not to the eye.

Therefore,

     He rejects the one and adopts the other.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

The five colors make one's eyes blind; the five notes make one's ears deaf; the five flavors make one's mouth fail; and sport hunting on horseback makes one's heart/mind go crazy.

 

Shuang [err/lose] means fail.  One loses the function of the mouth [to taste].  Thus the text says of it that it "fails".  The ear, the eye, the mouth, and the heart/mind [xin] all should comply [shun] each with its own character [xing].  When one does not use them in compliance with their character and individual capacity [ming], (1) he thus perversely harms what they are by nature [ziran], and this is why the text characterizes them as "blind", "deaf", "failed", and "crazy".

 

Goods hard to get cause one to travel the road to harm. (2)

 

Goods hard to get block the correct path [zhenglu].  Thus the text says that they "cause one to travel the road to harm".

 

This is why the sage provides for the belly but not for the eye.  Thus he rejects the one and keeps the other. (3)

To provide for the belly is to use things to nourish oneself.  To provide for the yes is to use things to enslave oneself.  Therefore the sage does not provide for the eye. 

 

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) Cf. Tuanzhuan (Commentary on the Judgments) of Hexagram I, Qian (Pure Yang), in the Yijing (Classic of changes): "The change and transformation [bianhua] of the Dao of Qian in each instance keep the nature [xing] and destiny [ming] of things correct" (Lynn, The Classic of Changes, 129).  Kong Yingda's (574-648) commentary here reads: " 'Nature' is the character [zhi] that is innate in a thing, such as whether it is hard of soft, slow or quick.  'Destiny' is the individual capacity with which one is endowed, such as whether one is noble or base, short- or long-lived" (Zhouyi zhengyi [Correct meaning of the Changes of theZhou], I:6a).

 

(2) Cf. Section 3, first passage; section 27, fifth passage; section 49, fifth passage, paragraph I; and section 64, seventh passage.

 

(3)  Section 3 makes the same argument.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

Colors blind the eye.

Sounds deafen the ear.

Flavors numb the taste.

Thoughts weaken the mind.

Desires wither the heart.

The Master observes the world

but trusts his inner vision.

He allows things to come and go.

His heart is open as the sky.

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy 

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

The Master observes the world

but trusts her inner vision.

 

The Master observes the colors of the world, its sounds, flavors, and thoughts.  Since they are all reflections of mind and her realization of that is precise and indisputable, she is never fooled.  What has no beginning can't have an end.  She understands that what is unfathomably good gives birth to it all.  That's what she trusts.  There is no inside or outside.  It's all appearing in the delighted eternity of her own mind.

She watches things as they come and go.  The nature of things is to come and go, with or without her permission, so why not enjoy the show ?  It's all so beautiful.  Without something, what fun is it to be nothing ?

 

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay on Verse 12 -

 

In this passage of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu reminds us that far too much attention is given to the pleasures and experiences of the senses at the expense of our inner vision.  Focusing exclusively on sensory data creates a world of appearances, which are ultimately illusions.  Since everything comes and goes, the nature of the material world is obviously restricted to transitory status.  When our eyes see only the colors before them, they're destined to become blind to what lies beyond the world of appearances.  We cannot know the creator if we're focused exclusively on what's been created.  In the same way, we lose our own creativity when we're unaware of what's behind all acts of creation.

 

Sight, scent, sound, touch, and taste are the domains of the senses.  If you're locked into a belief that the pursuit of sensory satisfaction is the focus of life, you'll be consumed by what Lao-tzu calls "the chase".  This quest for adoration, money, and power is a waste of energy because there's never enough, so striving for more defines your daily regimen.  You can't arrive at a place of peace and inner satisfaction when your entire existence is motivated by not having enough.  In fact, Lao-tzu states that the relentless chase is a formula for craziness.

 

The person who lives according to the way of the Tao is referred to as a sage or a master, an enlightened being observing the world but not identifying exclusively with what's visible; being in the world, while simultaneously aware of not being of this world.  The master goes within, where inner convictions replace the chase.  In silence, sustenance is enjoyed beyond the dictates of the palate.  From an inner perspective, nothing more is needed.  Aware of his or her infinite nature, the sage has the realization that this is a temporary world of physical appearances, which includes the body that he or she arrived in and will leave in.  The master sees the folly of appearances and avoids the seductive lure of acquisitions and fame.