Verse 22 - Living with Flexibility

[Eva Libre]

22nd Verse

 

The flexible are preserved unbroken.

The bent become straight.

The empty are filled.

The exhausted become renewed.

The poor are enriched.

The rich are confounded.

 

 Therefore the sage embraces the one.

Because he doesn't display himself,

people can see his light.

Because he has nothing to prove,

people can trust his words.

Because he doesn't know who he is,

people recognize themselves in him.

Because he has no goal in mind,

everything he does succeeds.

 

The old saying that the flexible are preserved unbroken is surely right !

If you have truly attained wholeness,

everything will flock to you.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

I resist any brokenness,

          By being flexible and bending,

When storms appear.

  

              

Do The Tao Now

Listen to someone express an opinion that's the opposite of yours today.  It could be on any of a variety of topics, such as politics, the environment, religion, drugs, war, the death penalty, or what have you.  Refuse to impose your position, and instead remark, "I've never considered that point of view.  Thank you for sharing your ideas with me."  By allowing a contrary position to be heard, you'll dismiss ego's attitude and welcome the flexibility of the Tao.

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer –

 

Change the way you see the storms of your life.

 

Work at removing ego as the dominant influence over you.  Release the need for the attention of others and witness how people become drawn to you naturally.  Let go of having to win an argument and being right by changing the atmosphere with a statement such as "You're very likely correct.  Thanks for giving me a new perspective".  This kind of proclamation gives everyone permission to relax their rigidity because you have no need to prove yourself or make others wrong.  If you change the way you think, the life you're living will change, so be willing to say, "I don't know" or "I'm uncertain as to why I even did what I did".  As Lao-tzu reminds you, when you suspend your pomposity and rigidity, others recognize themselves in your flexible nature, and they'll trust you.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer –

 

Imagine yourself as a tall, stately palm tree.

 

Be an organism without goals and objectives -- instead, stand strong and successful, capable of adjusting to the forces of nature.  Be willing to adapt to whatever may come your way by initially allowing yourself to experience that energy, much like the bending tree in hurricane-force winds.  When criticism comes, listen.  When powerful forces push you in any direction, bow rather than fight, lean rather than break, and allow yourself to be free from a rigid set of rules -- in so doing, you'll be preserved and unbroken.  Keep an inner vision of the wind symbolizing difficult situations as you affirm: I have no rigidity within me.  I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken.  I will use the strength of the wind to make me even stronger and better preserved.

 

This simple  teaching is so pleasant that you'll wonder why you didn't realize it before.  In the Tao time, acknowledge the "storm" and then allow it to be felt in your body -- observe it without judgment, just like the tree bends in the wind.  As rigidity reappears, notice that as well, allowing the winds to blow as you exercise the Tao in place of ego !  Seek to uncover the root of your stiffness and achieve greater flexibility in the storms of life.  When seen as this kind of opportunity to open to the Tao energy, storminess can be transformed into exhilarating events that uncover more of your true nature of love.

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight;

The empty, full; the worn-out, new.

He whose desires are few gets them;

He whose desires are many goes astray.

 

Therefore the sage holds in his embrace

          the one thing, humility,

          and manifests it to all the world.

He is free from self-display, and therefore he shines;

From self-assertion, and therefore he is distinguished;

From self-boasting, and therefore

          his merit is acknowledged;

From self-complacency, and therefore

          he acquires superiority.

It is because he is thus free from striving

         that therefore no one in the world

         is able to strive with him.

 

That saying of the ancients

         that "the partial becomes complete"

         was not vainly spoken --

All real completion is comprehended under it.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "The Over-Soul"

Those who are capable of humility,

         of justice, of love, of aspiration,

Stand already on a platform that commands

         action and grace.

This energy did not descend into individual life

         on any other condition

         than entire possession.

 

It comes to the lowly and the simple;

It comes to whomsoever will put off

         what is foreign and proud;

It comes as insight, it comes as

         serenity and grandeur.

[Eva Libre]

 

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

22

SURRENDER

 

Truth is in paradox:

 

Surrender and you get

everything.  Bend and be strong.

 

When you reach your limit and

are exhausted, new energy rises

in you.  When you release

others, they come to you.

The wise know this:  Let go

in order to preserve.

 

Be empty and fulfilled.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

"Surrender brings perfection"

The crooked become straight

The empty become full

The worn become new

          Have little and gain much

          Have much and be confused

 

So the Sage embraces the One

          and becomes a model for the world

Without showing himself, he shines forth

Without promoting himself, he is distinguished

Without claiming reward, he gains endless merit

Without seeking glory, his glory endures

 

The Sage knows how to follow

          so he comes to command

He does not compete

          so no one under Heaven can compete with him

 

The ancient saying,

          "Surrender brings perfection",

          is not just empty words

Truly, surrender brings perfection

          and perfection brings the whole universe

[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

 

22 (67)

If it

          is bent,

                    it will be preserved intact;

          is crooked,

                    it will be straightened;

          is sunken,

                    it will be filled;

          is worn-out,

                    it will be renewed;

          has little,

                    it will gain;

          has much,

                    it will be confused.

 

For these reasons,

          The sage holds on to unity

                    and serves as the shepherd of all under heaven.

           He is not self-absorbed,

                    therefore he shines forth;

           He is not self-revealing,

                    therefore he is distinguished;

           He is not self-assertive,

                    therefore he has merit;

           He does not praise himself,

                    therefore he is long-lasting.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

Stepping aside (1) keeps one's wholeness intact.

      

Avoid flaunting yourself, and your brilliance will remain unimpaired. (2)

 

Bending makes one straight.

 

Avoid insisting that you are right, and your rightness will commend itself.

 

Being empty makes one full.

 

Avoid boasting about yourself, and your merit will be acknowledged.

 

Being worn out keeps one new.

 

Avoid self-importance, (3) and your virtue will long endure.

 

Having little gives one access.  Having much leads one astray.

 

This is the Dao of nature [ziran], just like a tree.  the more [duo] a tree has, the farther it is from its roots; the less [shao] it has, the closer it is to its roots.  The more one has, the farther he is from his authenticity [zhen].  This is why the text uses the express, "leads one astray".  The less one has, the better the access to his roots [de qiben]. (4)  This is why the text refers to "access" [de]. (5)

 

In this way, the sage embraces the One and becomes a model for all under Heaven.

One [yi] is the ultimate degree of "little".  Shi [model] means the same thing as ze [model].

 

He does not flaunt himself, thus he shines. (6)  He does not insist that he is right, thus his rightness is manifest.  He does not boast about himself, thus he long endures.  It is because he does not contend that none among all under Heaven can contend with him. (7)  As the ancient saying has it, "Stepping aside keeps one's wholeness intact".  How could this ever be an empty saying !  Truly, such a one will revert to it [nonexistence] (8) with his wholeness intact.

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)  "Stepping aside" translates qu (literally, "curved"), a sense suggested by Momoi Hakuroku's reading of this passage:  "According to Wang's commentary, what is kept whole is one's brilliance, so qu must be the qu of pianqu [out of the way], and if one is out of the way, he is sure to be obscure [an].  If a person himself steps aside [ie, out of the way], his whole being will fully shine forth" (Quoted in Harano, Roshi Dotokukyu, 161).  This is slightly different from the usual gloss of qu as "yielding", which seems to derive originally from Guo Xiang's (d. 312) commentary to the Zhuangzi: [Laozi said] ... others all seek good fortune, but he [the sage] alone keeps his wholeness intact [quan] by yielding [qu]".  Guo's commentary reads: "By yielding [weishun] to perfect truth, he always keeps his wholeness intact.  Thus he has no good fortune to seek, as he always has all the good fortune he needs" (Zhuangzi zhu [Commentary to Zhuangzi], 10:86b).  Most later commentators, however, gloss qu in this section of the Laozi as "yield to others", which is how Wing-tsit Chan, among others, has it in The Way of Lao Tzu, 139.

 

(2)  This and the next three passages of commentary are identical with the second, third, fourth, and fifth passages of Wang's commentary to section 24.  Yi Shunding (1858-1920) notes how much closer these four lines fit the second to fifth passages of section 24 and concludes that they must have been copied from there to section 22 by some later hand.  See Yi Shunding, Du Lao zhaji (Reading notes on Laozi), A:18a-18b; see also Hatano, Roshi Dotokukyo kenkyu, 161 and 170.

 

(3)  "Worn out" translates bi, which Wang seems to understand in its figurative sense, as a term of self-deprecation: "worn out/exhausted one", "humble I".  That is, if one behaves with humility, he will never be worn out (humbled) and will remain forever "new", which, keeping with the metaphor, would mean "respected", "regarded as capable/important".

 

(4)  Cf. section 48.

 

(5)  "Access to one's roots" implies "success" (de) and the possession and exercise of "virtue" (de), while "being led astray" implies "failure" (shi) and the loss of "virtue".  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 23, passages 4 and 5.

 

(6)  Cf. section 24, second passage.

 

(7)  Cf. section 66 and section 73, fifth passage.

 

(8)  Cf. section 14, second passage, where, instead of "reverting to it", the text reads "reverting to wuwu [nothingness]".  That is, such a one will live out his life with his wholeness intact.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

If you want to become whole,

let yourself by partial.

If you want to become straight,

let yourself be crooked.

If you want to become full,

let yourself be empty.

If you want to be reborn,

let yourself die.

If you want to be given everything,

give everything up.

 

The Master, by residing in the Tao,

sets an example for all beings.

Because he doesn't display himself,

people can see his light.

Because he has nothing to prove,

people can trust his words.

Because he doesn't know who he is,

people recognize themselves in him.

Because he has no goal in mind,

everything he does succeeds.

 

When the ancient Masters said,

"If you want to be given everything,

give everything up",

they weren't using empty phrases.

Only in being lived by the Tao

can you be truly yourself.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

If you want to become full,

let yourself be empty.

To be empty, to surrender, to be lived by the Tao -- this isn't a lofty goal that can be attained only after years of spiritual practice.  When you really go inside yourself, for the love of truth, and question even one stressful concept, the mind becomes a little saner, a little more open.  And you begin to see that there is no objective world out there.  It's all projected.  You've been living in your story of the world.

 

We want to be wonderful, generous people, but when we don't get our way, we turn into something else -- in the name of goodness, of course.  When we work with mind, the projector, eventually we begin to live in a state of clarity and kindness.  It's possible to be kind all the time, not just when we get our way.  This leaves us with a lot of energy to serve people.

 

As long as you believe any negative concept about one person ("He's selfish", "She's arrogant", "He shouldn't do this", "She should be that"), you're going to project it onto everyone -- your husband, your wife, your parents, your children.  Sooner or later, when you don't get what you want from them, or when they threaten your sacred beliefs, you're going to impose the concept onto them, until you meet it with some understanding.  This is not a guess.  It's what we do.  We're not attached to people; we're attached to concepts about people.

 

When you truly love yourself, it's not possible to project that other people don't love you.  I like to say, "When I walk into a room, I know that everyone in it loves me.  I just don't expect them to realize it yet".  This gets a big laugh from audiences.  People are delighted at how easy it is to feel completely loved, and they see, if only for a moment, that it doesn't depend on anyone outside.

 

If you say that you love your husband, what does that have to do with him ?  You're just telling him who you are.  You tell the story of how he's handsome and fascinating and sexy, and you love your story about him.  You're projecting that he's your story.  And then when he doesn't give you what you want, you may tell the story of how he's mean, he's controlling, he's selfish -- and what does that have to do with him ?  If my husband says, "I adore you", I think, Good.  I love that he thinks I'm his sweet dream.  How happy he must feel about that !  If he were ever to come to me and say, "The sorriest day of my life was when I married you", still, what would that have to do with me ?  He'd just be in a sad dream this time, and I might think, Oh, poor baby, he's having a nightmare.  I hope he wakes up soon.  It's not personal.  How can it have anything to do with me ?  I love him, and if what he says about me isn't true in my experience, I'll ask him if there's anything I can do for him.  If I can do it, I will, and if it's not honest for me, I won't.  He is left with his story.

 

No one will ever understand you.  Realizing this is freedom.  No one will ever understand you -- not once, not ever.  Even at our most understanding, we can only understand our story of who you are.  There's no understanding here except your own.

 

If you don't love another person, it hurts, because love is your very self.  You can't make yourself do it.  But when you come to love yourself, you automatically love the other person.  Just as you can't make yourself love us, you can't make yourself not love us.  It's all your projection.

 

When you truly love someone, a thought like "You should love me" just brings laughter to your heart.  Can you hear the arrogance of that thought ?  "I don't care whom you want to love.  You should love me, and I'll even trick you into it."  It's the opposite of love.  If I think my husband should love me, I'm insane.  Whose business is it whom he loves ?  His, of course.  The turnarounds are all I need to know: I should love me, and I should love him.  Let him love whomever he loves -- he's going to anyway.  The story of whom someone should love keeps me from the awareness that I am what I'm seeking.  It's not his job to love me -- it's mine.

 

There's nothing you can do with love.  All you can do is experience it.  That's as intimate as you can ever be with another human being.  You can hug him, you can kiss him, you can pack him up, take him home, cuddle him, feed him, give him your money, give him your life -- and that's not it.  Love is nothing you can demonstrate or prove.  It's what you are.  It's not a doing, it can't be "done", it's too vast to do anything with.  As you open to the experience of love, it will kill who you think you are.  It will have no other.  It will kill anything in its way. 

 

Once you give yourself to love, you lose your whole world as you perceived it.  Love leaves nothing but itself.  It's totally greedy; it has to include it all; it will not leave out even a shadow of itself.  And everything else falls away, and you're like a tree losing its leaves in autumn, so beautifully.  Our pain is in denying love.  A boundary is an act of selfishness.  There's nothing you wouldn't give to anyone if you weren't afraid.  Of course, you can't be generous ahead of your time.  But when you meet your thoughts with understanding, you discover that there's nothing to lose.  So eventually there's no attempt at protection.  Giving everything you have becomes a privilege.

 

The only true love affair is the one with yourself.  I am married to me, and that's what I project onto everyone.  I love you with all my heart; you don't even have to participate, so there's no motive in "I love you".  Isn't that fine ?  I can love you completely, and you have nothing to do with it.  There's nothing you can do to keep me from the intimacy that I experience with you.

 

When I say "I love you", it's self-love.  There's no personality talking: I'm only talking to myself.  Love is so self-absorbed that it leaves no room for any other.  It's self-consuming, always.  There's not a molecule separate from itself.  In the apparent world of duality, people are going to see it as a you and a me, but in reality there is only one.  And even that isn't true.

 

The voice within is what I'm married to.  All marriage is a metaphor for that marriage.  When I make a commitment, it's to my own truth, and there's no higher or lower.  "Will you have this man to be your husband ?"  "I will.  And I may change my mind."  That's as good as it gets.  I'm married only to God -- reality.  That's where my commitment is.  It can't be to a particular person.  And my husband wouldn't want it any other way.

 

Unless you marry the truth, there is no real marriage.  Marry yourself and you have married us.  We are you.  That's the cosmic joke.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 22 -

 

Having lived by the ocean for many years, I've observed the beauty and majesty of the tall palm trees that grow at the water's edge, often measuring 30 or 40 feet in height.  These stately giants are able to withstand the enormous pressure that hurricane-force winds bring as they blow at speeds up to 200 miles per hour.  Thousands of other trees in the huge storms' paths are uprooted and destroyed, while the stately palms remain fixed in their rooted selves, proudly holding sway over their otherwise decimated domain.  So what is the palm trees' secret to staying in one place ?  The answer is flexibility.  They bend almost down to the ground at times, and it's that very ability that allows them to remain unbroken.

 

In this 22nd verse of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu invites you to embrace a similar quality of elasticity.  Begin to sense the oneness that is the Tao supplying your resiliency and grounding, helping you withstand the storms of your life as pliantly as the supple palm tree.  When destructive energy comes along, allow yourself to resist brokenness by bending.  Look for times you can make the choice to weather a storm by allowing it to blow through without resistance.  By not fighting, but instead relaxing and going with all that confronts you, your enter "the Tao time".

 

This verse implies an added benefit of wholeness, which attracts everything to you.  That is, if you want abundance, knowledge, health, love, and all the other attributes that personify the Tao, you need to be receptive to them.  Lao-tzu instructs that you must be empty in order to become filled, for attachments keep you so restricted that nothing can enter your already-filled self.  Being empty in this sense means not being full of beliefs, possessions, or ego-driven ideas, but rather remaining open to all possibilities.  This is in keeping with the nameless Tao: It doesn't restrict itself to a particular point of view or a singular way of doing things; it animates all.  Similarly, the flexible person is open to all possibilities -- there's nothing for him or her to prove because the Tao, not ego, is in charge.

 

Awareness of the Tao nurtures flexibility, and removing your rigidity creates an atmosphere of trust.  When you live from the perspective of being able to say, "I don't know for certain, but I'm willing to listen", you become a person whom others identify with.  Why ?  Because your flexibility lets them see that their point of view is welcome.  By being open to all possibilities, everyone who encounters you feels their ideas are valuable and there's no need for conflict.

 

As you connect more and more to your Tao natue, you begin noticing that this principle is perpetually present, available in every moment.  In other words, the Tao isn't trying to get someplace other than where it is.  It has no goals, no desire, no judgments; it flows everywhere because it is the energy of creation.  To be in harmony with the Tao is to be free of goals, immersed in all that you're doing without concern about the outcome -- just noticing in each moment and allowing yourself to flow with the creative Source that's energizing everything and everyone in the universe.  When you live in this way, failure becomes an impossibility.  How can you fail at being yourself and trusting completely in the wisdom of the Source of everything ?  With failure removed from your life, you understand what Lao-tzu means when he says that "everything he does succeeds".