Verse 35 - Living Beyond Worldly Pleasures

[Eva Libre]

35th Verse

 

All men will come to him

who keeps to the one.

They flock to him and receive no harm,

 for in him they find peace, security, and happiness.

 

Music and dining are passing pleasures, 

yet they cause people to stop.

 How bland and insipid are the things of this world

when one compares them to the Tao !

 

When you look for it, there is nothing to see.

When you listen for it, there is nothing to hear.

When you use it, it cannot be exhausted.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

When you look for it,

         there is nothing to see.

When you listen for it,

             there is nothing to hear.

When you use it,

             it cannot be exhausted.

This is the Great Dao.

 

 

Do The Tao Now

 

Go on a 24-hour fast.  When you feel hunger pangs, switch your thoughts to gratitude for the eternal force that's always with you.  Warmly let your physical self know that it will be fed when the fast is over, then switch to the Tao self that's unaware of hunger.  Enjoy the different nature of the Tao self by concentrating on locating its energy flowing through your body.  It will reveal itself -- perhaps as contented, exhilarated, or blissful.  Note the difference between how this feels compared with worldly pleasures.

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Notice the eternal bliss that's always with you --

even when the delicacies are out of sight !

 

Change your way of thinking of yourself as a totally physical being.  Instead, recognize that worldly pleasures that tend to be overdone are attempts to transcend the physical, which isn't going to happen without tapping into your natural connection to the Tao.  Stop equating sensory delight with the Tao-inspired bliss that's available to you.  Enjoy all that you experience through the senses: Love your fine dining, bask in the melodies of your favorite music, and be appreciative of the excitement of sexual energy.  But notice that this is all coming from your sensory self, which is happily adaptable to this world.  Then seek your "Tao self", which transcends the physical, and explore its pleasures.

 

Reexamine what true, lasting, enjoyment is.  Even though the effects of the Tao may initially have no appeal to your seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling faculties, they'll fulfill the longing you're trying to sate with worldly pursuits.  When you're chasing any passing fancy, begin recognizing its value in the here and now, but stop trying to get it to satisfy a greater longing.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Introduce transcendent thankfulness to your everyday life.

 

Make it a daily practice to give thanks for the presence of the eternal Tao that's always with you.  From an appreciative viewpoint, the world that you formerly desired will begin to look different.  In the grateful Tao awareness, feelings of being incomplete when worldly pleasures are unavailable are replaced with a transcendent thankfulness.  What used to be a need for a worldly delight is replaced with gratitude and contentment for being aware of the aspect of you that is the Tao, free of physical and earthly limitations and confinement.  Living with conscious appreciation of the Tao will attract more people and experiences, enriching your balance of mortal and eternal awareness.  Open yourself to the unlimited love and abundance of the Tao and you'll attract more of that same love and abundance to you.  Your world has changed because you see the Tao where you previously only noticed your mortal self-needing worldly pleasures.

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

35

VALUES

 

If you hold to the Eternal

in thought, word, and action,

your children will return

again and again to you.

 

Your children may not

understand the depth of your

parenting until later.  They may

question your values and say

you are "weird" or not like other

kid's parents.

 

They may say your life is boring

or strange.  Never mind.  The wise

are not caught up in appearances.

 

The Way is at times boring in

its simplicity.  Hold to it.  The

superficial eventually repels.

 

That which is real attracts every

good thing to it.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

Hold fast to the Great Form within

          and let the world pass as it may

Then the changes of life will not bring pain

          but contentment, joy, and well-being

 

Music and sweets are passing pleasures

          yet they cause people to stop

How bland and insipid are the things of this world

          when one compares them with Tao !

One tastes, but the sweetness turns bitter

One sees, but the colors grow faint

One hears, but the sound fades into silence

 

One may look for fulfillment in this world

          but his longings will never be exhausted

The only thing he ever finds

          is that he himself is exhausted

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

To him who holds in his hand the Great Image

           of the Invisible Tao,

The whole world repairs.

Men resort to him, and receive no hurt,

But find rest, peace, and the feeling of ease.

 

Music and dainties will make the passing guest

          stop for a time.

But though the Tao, as it comes from the mouth,

          seems insipid and has no flavor,

Though it seems not worth being looked at

          or listened to,

The use of it is inexhaustible.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "The Uses of Great Men" and "Worship"

 

He is great who is what he is from nature,

          and never reminds us of this.

The world is upheld by the veracity of good men.

They make the earth wholesome.

 

We value total powers and effects,

          as the spirit or quality of the man.

We have another sight, and a new standard,

An insight which disregards what is done for the eye;

An ear which hears not what men say

          but what they do not say.

[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

 

35 (79)

 

     Hold fast to the great image

               and all under heaven will come;

     They will

               come but not be harmed,

               rest in safety and peace;

      Music and fine food

               will make the passerby halt.

 

Therefore,

     When the Way is expressed verbally,

     We say such things as

              "how bland and tasteless it is !"

     "We look for it,

              but there is not enough to be seen."

     "We listen for it,

              but there is not enough to be heard."

     Yet, when put to use,

              it is inexhaustible !

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

Grasp the great image, and all under Heaven will turn to you.

 

The "great image" is the mother of the images of Heaven. (1)  It is neither hot nor cold, neither warm nor cool, (2) thus is can perfectly embrace the myriad things, and none suffers any harm.  If a ruler grasps it, all under Heaven would turn to him.

 

Turning to you means not harm but safety and peace in great measure. 

 

Such a one is formless and without consciousness, has neither predilections [pian] nor outer signs [zhang], (3) thus the myriad folk can turn to him and stay free of harm.

 

Music and fine food make the passing visitor stay.  When the Dao is spoken of, how bland: it has no flavor at all !  We look for it, but not enough is there to see anything.  We listen for it, but not enough is there to hear anything. (4)  We try to use it, but no enough is there to use up.

 

This speaks to the profundity and greatness of the Dao.  When one hears the words of the Dao, he does not find them at all like music and fine food, which, when one responds to them, cause a reaction of heartfelt pleasure.  With music and fine food, one can detain a passing visitor, but the words that come out of the Dao are so bland they are utterly without flavor.  We look for it, but not enough is there to see anything, so not enough is there either to please the eye.  We listen for it, but not enough is there to hear anything, so not enough is there either to delight the ear.  It is as if it has nothing at all inside it, and this is why in using it one finds that it is inexhaustible. (5)

 

 

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)  Section 11 of the Xci zhuan (Commentary on the Appended Phrases), Part One, in the Yijing (Classic of changes), reads in part: "Heaven hung images [xiang] in the sky and revealed good fortune and bad, and the sages regarded these as meaningful signs" (Lynn, The Classic of Changes, 66; see Zhouyi zhengyi [Correct meaning of the Changes of the Zhou], 7:29b).  The "images of Heaven" are the sun, moon, planets, and constellations.  The "great image" is another way to refer to the Dao.

 

(2)  Section 41, fourteenth passage: "The great image is formless", about which Wang comments: "As soon as there is a form, distinctions exist, and, with distinctions, if something is not warm, it must be cool; if not hot, it must be cold, Thus an image that has a form is not the great image."  Cf. also Wang's commentary to section 16, sixth passage; section 55, sixth passage; and section 1 of his Outline Introduction, which reads: "The formless and the nameless [the Dao] is the progenitor of the myriad things.  It is neither warm nor cool . . . Try to capture it as an image, and it will be utterly formless. . . .  If it were warm, it could not be cold. . . .  Thus an image that takes an actual form is not the great image."

 

(3)  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 16, sixth passage.

 

(4)  Cf. section 14.

 

(5)  Cf.  Wang's commentary to section 4 and section 1 of his Outline Introduction, which reads: "You might listen for it, but it is impossible to get a sense of its sound; you might look for it, but it is impossible to get a sense of its appearance; you might try to understand what it is like, but it is impossible to get it in terms of understanding; or you might taste it, but it is impossible to get it in terms of flavor." 

[Eva Libre]

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

 

She who is centered in the Tao

can go where she wishes, without danger.

She perceives the universal harmony,

even amid great pain,

because she has found peace in her heart.

 

Music or the smell of good cooking

may make people stop and enjoy.

But words that point to the Tao

seem monotonous and without flavor.

When you look for it, there is nothing to see.

When you listen for it, there is nothing to hear.

When you use it, it is inexhaustible.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

She who is centered in the Tao

can go where she wishes, without danger.

She perceives the universal harmony,

even amid great pain,

because she has found peace in her heart.

 

 

You don't have to think in order to be okay.  We're not doing the thinking; we're being thought.  There's nothing to know, so you don't have to pretend that you know anything.  You're absolutely safe.  There's nothing you can do to live, and nothing you can do to die.

 

If you're centered in reality, you can go where you wish without danger.  It's not an act of courage.  There's no risk involved, because danger happens only in the future, and the future can never come.  Nothing is ultimately real, so when people talk about violence, I notice the violence that they're using, right now, against reality.  Why would you be afraid of reality ?  Reality is benign for those who can see clearly.

 

Once, not long after I woke up in 1986, a Christian minister said to me, "You're too open.  You don't have any boundaries or resistance, and that's dangerous.  Evil entities could walk in and take you over, because all your doors are open, and they could do you and the rest of us terrible harm."  I was like a baby in those days:  I almost always believed people.  But when this man spoke about evil, I knew that what he was saying wasn't possible.  I believed him when he said there were such things as entities, because at that point I had no reason not to.  But to me, "evil" meant "confused".  Anyone who thinks that evil exists is frightened and therefore confused.  And I knew that everything is welcome here -- everything.  This body isn't mine, and anything that needs to enter is welcome.  I delight in that.  What could possibly enter that could survive the truth ?  Truth is the power that sets us free, and there is nothing anyone can do about that.  There is nothing terrible in the world.  Evil is just one more story to keep us from opening to love.  What I know is that God is everything and God is good.

 

I can go anywhere, because everything is a metaphor to me; it's all internal.  The external is my internal.  There's no way I couldn't live a fearless life.  I'm rooted in reality.  I love it, and I can't project anything but love.

 

Jerusalem:  I get an invitation to Gaza from a Palestinian man who has just attended one of my events.  Yes, of course I'll go, I don't know why not.  My Orthodox Jewish Israeli friends say, "No, no, you can't, it's very dangerous, the poverty is appalling, they're desperate, violent people, they won't like it that you teach Jews, you might not be allowed back into Israel".  They are very attached to their stories, and they think they're trying to rescue me.  They don't realize that their stories are all about a non-existent future.  None of them is valid for me.  I listen with an open mind, and because I can't believe what they believe, I continue to make arrangements to meet my new Arab friend on the other side of the wall.

 

And, oh, what a wall and a checkpoint it is !  I enter Gaza, and the sewers are running open in the streets, there are twenty or thirty people living in a two-room apartment, some of the buildings have huge, gaping holes in them, and it's all good.  I walk everywhere.  Barefoot children come out to greet me with big smiles, I'm welcomed into homes, I have wonderful meals in the street, I talk to people as my friend translates, we do The Work.  One man says he has seven bullet holes in his body; he shows me some of them and says he was shot for throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers.  When he talks politics, he seethes with confusion and despair.  He still believes that throwing rocks is the way to bring about change.  Bullets haven't convinced him otherwise.  That's the power of believing our insane thoughts.

 

I am free to walk anywhere in the world, with anyone, at any time.  I can't project danger.  There are no limitations to where I go.  I love going, because I love what I travel with.  Sanity doesn't suffer, ever.  A clear mind is beautiful and sees only its own reflection.  It bows in humility to itself; it falls at its own feet.  It doesn't add anything or subtract anything; it simply knows the difference between what's real and what's not.  And because of this, danger isn't a possibility.

 

A lover of what is looks forward to everything: life, death, disease, loss, earthquakes, bombs, anything the mind might be tempted to call "bad".  Life will bring us everything we need, to show us what we haven't undone yet.  Nothing outside ourselves can make us suffer.  Except for our unquestioned thoughts, every place is paradise. 

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 35 -

 

Take a few moments before reading this chapter and ask yourself the following questions: 

 

When I think of pleasure,

what activities readily come to mind ?

How do I distinguish between

what I find enjoyable and what I don't ?

 

Generally, pleasure is described as something experienced by the senses and available here in the world of form.  Perhaps you experience it in a sumptuous meal, in your favorite music, or on the golf course, but it's most certainly a welcome motivating force for you.  Problems can occur, however, when such pursuits become the primary focus of life.  In other words, an emphasis on worldly pleasures can quiet easily create an imbalance in your system, leading to upset and disease.  Obesity, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, addictions of every description, and preoccupations with plastic surgery are just a few of the undesirable results.

 

Most everything defined as pleasurable is temporary, so if you need more and more of it, then it has a grip on you.  What you desire so strongly has become your jailer, trapping you into believing that it will bring you peace, security, or happiness . . . but it never does.  Worldly pleasures only seduce you into becoming dependent on them, and they leave you always wanting more.  It's a craving that can never be satisfied:  You need another great meal in order to have that pleasure again because it vanished almost immediately upon the completion of our dessert.  You need to keep the music playing because when it stops, your enjoyment stops, too.  All addictions scream out this depressing message: "You'll never, ever get enough of what you don't want".

 

Contrast this bleak picture of pleasure, which Lao-tzu calls "bland and insipid", with the ecstasy of the Tao.  Just for a moment, imagine having the perspective of the Tao as you read this verse, and see if you can change the way you look at this idea of pleasure.  The benefits of having a concept that harmonizes with the Tao are outlined in the opening lines: All people will flock to you, and they'll find peace, security, and happiness when they do.  The reason why they'll discover these three jewels is because you exude such qualities.  Your emphasis is on the Tao -- it's who you are and therefore what you have to give away.

 

You are now changing the way you look at things, so your idea of pleasure shifts beyond the worldly nudges of your senses.  You taste your food, but you're in awe of the magic that produced the delectable you're eating, as well as the perfection of this incredible cycle that continues in the elimination and reuse of what you've consumed.  The constant behind this ever-changing world becomes your new Source of pleasure, expressed in the wonder and bewilderment you feel.  Yes, of course you continue to enjoy your meals, but your pleasure is in being at one with what allows it all to transpire.

 

You know that you can't find, hear, see, or touch the  Source, yet it's always available and can never be depleted.  The music that you hear isn't the Tao; the Tao is the invisible energy that fills the empty spaces that give you so much joy.  And that happiness you feel is the eternally available and longed-for pleasure of transcending the physical limitations of a human body.  Touching the Tao is way beyond any of the sensory pleasures that we somehow believe will satisfy that longing for transcendence.

 

Addictions become impossible because you no longer try to get worldly pursuits to satisfy you.  It's like realizing that you can fly when you've been walking faster and faster, but never getting enough speed or altitude -- you kept trying to satisfy a natural longing to be aloft through the pleasure of rapid walking.  Now you observe the way nature flows:  You clearly see it never asking for more, never using up more, and absolutely never demanding that if be provided with more than is necessary to maintain a perfect balance.  The realm of passing pleasures is no longer your central place of self-identification.  You're at peace, feeling secure and happy because you've changed your worldview to include the infinite Tao . . . how could addictions ever compare ?

 

Imagine a heroin addict believing that peace, security, and happiness are available with an inexhaustible supply of opiates.  That scenario is impossible because the pleasure that drugs bring lasts but a few seconds, and then the opposite of peace, security, and happiness clicks in.  The addict keeps trying to fly by running faster -- ultimately he comes to despise his life and destroy himself in the process.  Such is the destiny of those who seek the pleasures of the world of the senses to fulfill their longing and natural ability to transcend the physical plane.