Verse 29 - Living by Natural Law

[Eva Libre]

29th Verse

 

Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it ?

I do not believe it can be done.

 

Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel

and cannot be controlled.

Trying to control leads to ruin.

Trying to grasp, we lose.

 

Allow your life to unfold naturally.

Know that it too is a vessel of perfection.

Just as you breathe in and breathe out,

there is a time for being ahead

and a time for being behind;

a time for being in motion

and a time for being at rest;

 a time for being vigorous

and a time for being exhausted;

a time for being safe

and a time for being in danger.

 

To the sage

all of life is a movement toward perfection,

so what need has he

for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme ?

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

I allow my life to unfold naturally.

         There is a time for being ahead.

There is a time for being behind.

         There is a time for being in motion.

There is a time for being at rest.

         There is a time for being vigorous.

There is a time for being exhausted.

 

 

Do The Tao Now

 

Find a place where control is all-consuming and relinquish it today.  Stifle your inclination to interfere, reminding yourself as you do so that there's a time for everything and you're becoming more adept at observing peacefully rather than taking over.

 

Post this poem by Naomi Long Madgett where you can read it, and be constantly reminded of your desire to live naturally:

 

 

Woman with Flower

I wouldn't coax the plant if I were you.

Such watchful nurturing may do it harm.

Let the soil rest from so much digging

And wait until it's dry before you water it.

The leaf's inclined to find its own direction;

Give it a change to seek the sunlight for itself.

 

Much growth is stunted by too much prodding,

Too eager tenderness.

The things we love we have to learn to leave alone.

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Give up needing to control.

 

Begin a conscious program of surrendering, and allowing your world and everyone in it to do as they are ordained to do.  Surrendering is a mental process: It involves taking a split second to stop yourself in your mode of judgment or frustration and have a brief talk with yourself on the spot.  Just remind yourself to step back and be a witness rather than a protagonist, which you can do by providing a sanctuary for the feeling you're judging.  Invite Divine natural order in by simply allowing what you're experiencing to go forward without criticism or control; in this way, you move to the center.  Think of the need to control as a signal to allow the Tao to flow freely through your life.  At first your ego-mind may loudly scoff at the idea of the Tao being responsible for the perfect unfolding of everything.  It's up to you to recognize that your belief that ego can control life is an illusion.

 

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Practice recognizing that there's a time for everything.

 

When you're in the middle of a tough moment, repeat the lines given to you by Lao-tzu.  I do this in yoga practice when I feel exhausted holding a position for what seems like a too-lengthy period.  I remind myself, There's a time for being exhausted, and there's a time for being vigorous.  This frees me immediately from my demanding ego, which is saying, You shouldn't be feeling this tired.  You can do the same in any moment in your life.  Experiences of pain, loss, fear, anger, and even hatred seem to vanish when you remember that this is a part of the perfect blossoming of natural law; and there will soon be a time for comfort, peace, and love.

 

Apply this verse of the Tao Te Ching by creating your personalized statement when you observe things such  as crime, AIDS, hunger, and war.  Try something like, Yes, there seems to be a time for such things, and I choose not to remain in extremes of resentment and anger.  But there is also my desire to do something about these circumstances -- that feeling is also a part of the natural law unfolding.  I choose to act on any inner desire to rectify these conditions.  By remaining internally peaceful and avoiding the extremes, I will impact the world in the same loving way that the Tao eternally manifests from love and kindness.

 

It's not what you see around you that keeps you connected to the Tao; it's understanding how this eternal flow works.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "By atoms, by trifles, by sots, heaven operates.  The needles are nothing, the magnetism is all."

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

29

INTERVENTION

 

Avoid pushing too hard.  Your

children are full of spirit and

will find their way.  Their true

parent resides within them;

you are only a reflection.

 

Mothers who constantly interfere

-- who push and challenge,

who lecture and berate --

think they are molding their

children into good citizens.

In fact, they are destroying

confidence and inviting scorn.

 

Know when to intervene and how.

Do it with gentleness, firmness,

swiftness, and respect.  And then

release the child to the Way.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

Those who look down upon this world

          will surely take hold and try to change things

But this is a plan

          I've always seen fail

The world is Tao's own vessel

It is perfection manifest

It cannot be changed

It cannot be improved

For those who go on tampering, it's ruined

For those who try to grasp, it's gone

 

Allow your life to unfold naturally

Know that it too is a vessel of perfection

Just as you breathe in and breathe out

          Sometimes you're ahead and other times behind

          Sometimes you're strong and other times weak

          Sometimes you're with people and other times alone

 

To the Sage

          all of life is a movement toward perfection

So what need has he

         for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme ?

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

If anyone should wish to get the kingdom for himself,

          and to effect this by what he does,

I see that he will not succeed.

The kingdom is a spirit-like thing,

          and cannot be got by active doing.

He who would so win it destroys it;

He who would hold it in his grasp loses it.

 

The course and nature of things is such that

          What was in front is now behind;

          What warmed anon we freezing find.

          Strength is of weakness oft the spoil;

          The store  in ruins mocks our toil.

 

Hence the sage puts away excessive effort,

          extravagance, and easy indulgence.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Worship", "Fate", "Nature" (poem),"Nominalist and Realist" and "Nature" (essay)

 

Nature has self-poise in all her works;

Certain proportions in which oxygen and azote combine,

And not less a harmony in faculties,

          a fitness in the spring and the regulator.

 

So let man be,

Let him empty his breast of his windy conceits

And show his lordship by manners and deeds

          on the scale of nature.

 

Nature, hating art and pains,

Balks and baffles plotting brains.

The divine circulations never rest nor linger;

We are encamped in nature, not domesticated.

 

It is firm water, it is cold flame.

[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

 

29 (73)

 

          Of those who wish to take hold of all-under-heaven

                              and act upon it,

               I have seen that they do not succeed.

 

Now,

          All-under-heaven is a sacred vessel,

          Not something that can be acted upon;

          Who acts upon it will be defeated,

          Who grasps it will lose it.

 

          Of creatures,

               some march forward, others follow behind;

               some are shiveringly silent, others are all puffed up'

               some are strong, others are meek;

               some pile up, others collapse.

 

For these reasons,

          The sage

               rejects extremes,

               rejects excess,

               rejects extravagance.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

As for those who would like to take all under Heaven and act on it, the way I see it, such action would never end, because all under Heaven is the numinous vessel,

 

"Numinous" [shen] is that which is formless [wuxing] and infinite [wufang].  A vessel [qi] is something formed by being combined together [hecheng].  But because it [all under Heaven] is composed without form, we refer to it as "the numinous vessel".

 

Which cannot be acted on.  One who acts on it will destroy it; one who tries to grasp it will lose it.

 

The myriad folk follow nature [ziran] in forming their natures [xing].  This is why one can act in accordance with them but not act on them, can identify with them but not interfere with them.  People have their constant nature, so if one tries to create something artificial out of them, he is sure to destroy them.  People have their own comings and goings, so if one tries to grasp them, he is sure to lose them.

 

Thus some people tend to lead and some follow; some breathe in through the nose and some blow out through the mouth; (1) some are strong and some weak; and some are energetic and some lazy.  As this is so, the sage rids them of extremism, extravagance, and complaisance.

 

All these examples of "some", because people alternate between cooperation and obstinacy, advocate that one should not take action against or interfere with them.  The sage thoroughly understands what human nature [xing] is by nature and allows the innate tendencies [qing] of all the myriad folk full expression.  Therefore he follows and does not act, complies and does not interfere.  He eliminates what leads people astray and gets rid of what confuses them.  Therefore, hearts/minds freed from disorder, human nature is allowed to fulfill itself.

 

 

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)  Whereas those who "breathe in through the nose" are surely the sedate, the cool, and the calm, those who "blow out through the mouth" are the impetuous, the passionate, and the excitable.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

Do you want to improve the world ?

I don't think it can be done.

 

The world is sacred.

It can't be improved.

If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.

If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

 

There is a time for being ahead,

a time for being behind;

a time for being in motion,

a time for being at rest;

a time for being vigorous,

a time for being exhausted;

a time for being safe,

a time for being in danger.

 

The Master sees tings as they are,

without trying to control them.

She lets them go their own way,

and resides at the center of the circle.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

The world is sacred.

It can't be improved.

If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.

If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

 

The world is perfect.  As you question your mind, this becomes more and more obvious.  Mind changes, and as a result, the world changes.  A clear mind heals everything that needs to be healed.  It can never be fooled into believing that there is one speck out of order.

 

But some people take the insight that the world is perfect and make it into a concept, and then they conclude that there's no need to get involved in politics or social action.  That's separation.  If someone came to you and said, "I'm suffering.  Please help me", would you answer, "You're perfect just the way you are", and turn away ?  Our heart naturally responds to people and animals in need.

 

Realization has no value until it's lived.  I would travel to the ends of the earth for the sake of one person who is suffering.  The desperate, the hopeless, are unenlightened cells of my own body.  It's my own body I'm talking about -- the body of the world is my body.  Would I let myself drown in water that doesn't exist ?  Would I let myself die in an imagined torture chamber ?  My God, I think, there's someone out there who really believes there's a problem.  I remember when I used to think there was a problem.  How can I say no when that person asks for help ?  that would be saying no to myself.  So I say yes and I go, if I can.  It's a privilege.  It's more than that: it's self-love.

 

People are perfect just the way they are, however deeply they're suffering, but they don't realize that yet.  So when I meet someone who's suffering, I don't say, "Oh, there's no problem, everything is perfect".  Though I can see that there's never a problem, and I'm available to help him see that, telling him what I see would be unkind.  That part of my body is suffering, everything is not perfect for him, because he believes it's not.  I, too, have been trapped in the torture chamber of the mind, I hear what he thinks he needs, I hear his sadness or despair, and I'm available.  That's full-blown activism.  In the presence of someone who doesn't see a problem, the problem falls away -- which shows you that there isn't a problem.

 

People ask me, "How can you listen to all these problems, day after day, year after year ?  Doesn't it drain your energy ?:  Well, it doesn't.  I've questioned my stressful thoughts, and I've seen that every single one of them is untrue.  Every thought that used to look like a poisonous snake is actually a rope, I could stand over that rope for a thousand years, and never be frightened of it again.  I see clearly what some people don't yet see for themselves.  Everyone in the world might come upon that rope and run screaming the other way, and I wouldn't be afraid for them, feel sorry for them, or worry about them at all, because I realize that they're not in danger, they're absolutely not in harm's way.  As they cry snake, I see only rope.

 

If you have a problem with people or with the state of the world, I invite you to put your stressful thoughts on paper and question them, and to do it for the love of truth, not in order to save the world.  Turn it around: save your own world.  Isn't that why you want to save the world in the first place ?  So that you can be happy ?  Well, skip the middleman, and be happy from here !  You're it.  You're the one.  In this turnaround you remain active, but there's no fear in it, no internal war.  So it ceases to be war trying to teach peace.  War can't teach peace.  Only peace can.

 

I don't try to change the world - not ever.  The world changes by itself, and I'm part of that change.  I'm absolutely, totally, a lover of what is.  When people ask me for help, I say yes.  We inquire, and they begin to end their suffering, and in that they begin to end the suffering of the world.

 

I stand in my own truth and don't presume to know what's best of the planet.  Knowing that the world is perfect doesn't mean that you withdraw or stop doing what you know is right for you to do.  If, for example, you're concerned about the environment, please give us all the facts.  Do a whole study of it, go to graduate school if you have to, help us out here.  And if you talk to us clearly, without an agenda or any investment in the results, we can hear you, because you're on our level.  You're not talking to us from a superior, I-know position.  If you know that we're all equal, that we're all doing the best we can, you can be the most powerful activist on the planet.

 

Love is the power.  I know only one way to be an activist who can really penetrate the human race, and that is to give the facts, to tell your experience honestly, and to love without condition.  You can't convince the world of anything, even if it's for the world's own good, because eventually your righteousness will be seen through, and then you're on a stage debating a corporate polluter, and you start pointing your finger in outrage.  That's what you've been hiding when you believe "I know what's best for the planet".

 

When you attack a corporate official for destroying the atmosphere, however valid your information, do you think that he'll be open to what you're saying ?  You're threatening him with your attitude, and the facts can get lost, because you're coming from fear and righteous anger.  All he'll hear is that you think he's doing it wrong, it's his fault, and he'll go into denial and resistance.  But if you speak to him without stress, in total confidence and everything is just the way it should be in this very moment,  you'll be able to express yourself kindly, effectively, and with no fear about the future.

 

Violence teaches only violence.  Stress teaches stress.  If you clean up your mental environment, we'll clean up our physical one much more quickly.  That's how it works.  And if you do that genuinely, without violence in our heart, without anger, without pointing at corporations as the enemy, then people begin to notice.  We begin to listen and notice that change through peace is possible.  It has to begin with one person.  If you're not the one, who is ?

 

The world will test you in every way, so that you can realize that last little piece that's unfinished inside you.  It's a perfect setup.  Checkmate. 

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 29 -

 

This verse speaks of a natural law that's unaffected by ego.  The message ?  You're not in charge -- you never have been, and you never will be.  So you're advised to let go of any ideas you have about controlling anything or anyone, including yourself.  It's a difficult lesson for most of us to learn.  As Lao-tzu puts it in the beginning of this verse, "I do not believe it can be done".

 

Nevertheless, here's on of the world's most famous scientific minds, Albert Einstein, commenting on this law:

 

[The scientist's] religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.  This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work . . .

 

It is to this feeling that I urge you to turn as you put into practice the wisdom of the 29th verse of the Tao Te Ching.  Tuning in to this rapturous feeling of amazement at the sacred perfection of the world helps you release your desire to control anything or anyone.  Doing so will allow you to live in the "harmony of natural law", as Einstein describes it.

 

Lao-Tzu reminds you that "everything under heaven is a sacred vessel", needing no input from you.  Since you're also a part of everything, you may need to change the way you look at your life and all that has transpired in it, as well as your vision of the future.  Whether you agree or disagree, whether you like it or not, all of it is outside of your ego's domain.  It's all unfolding according to the same natural law that causes the seasons to follow one another, the moon to look as if it rises and falls, the whales to traverse oceans, and the birds to migrate and return without benefit of a map or human-made guidance system.  When you look at your life in this way, you'll begin to see it unfolding organically.

 

The Tao is a natural law, not some controlling force that's manipulating you.  In "The Tao of Philosophy", Alan Watts reminds us that Lao-tzu once said, "The Great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right.  It loves and nourishes all things but does not lord it over them".  The Tao is the informing principle of God, not nature's lord and master.  A power-hungry and ego-dominated control freak it's not !  Feeling superior is a human creation.  The Tao doesn't act as boss, forcing itself on you or anyone.  It simply allows all of creation to reveal itself with perfect timing . . . and all that is revealed is sacred because it's a piece of the ego-free Tao.

 

I suggest that you create some quiet time to reread this verse and reflect on the sacred nature of everything in your life.  Include past experiences that you've blamed for preventing you from having the abundance, health, or happiness that you've wanted and even expected.  Ponder the advice that there's a time for it all:  Just as you must breathe in to breathe out, you may experience what it is to be ahead by also having a "being-behind experience".  All of those times that you felt betrayed, abandoned, abused, frightened, anxious, or incomplete -- they all came about according to a natural law that also led you to feel cared for, protected, loved, comforted, and whole.  There's a time for everything, including what you're experiencing today.

 

Begin recognizing that every moment of your life is in accordance with the Divine Tao.  By doing so, you'll shift from judgment (and perhaps anger) to gratefulness for being able to feel both exhausted and rested, sacred and safe, unloved and cared for.  All of it is a part of the natural law.  Your "ego-mind" tries to protect you from pain by insisting that you can learn to eliminate some aspects of your life.  However, the sage within you desires to be more harmonious with the perfection of the Tao.  How do you allow this ?  Lao-tzu urges you to avoid the extremes, the excesses, and the extravagant, and know that all if unfolding perfectly, even if your thoughts tell you that it's imperfect.  Those thoughts must also have their own time, and in the natural flow, they'll be replaced by new ones . . . which will show up on time as well.