Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

[Eva Libre]

48th Verse

 

Learning consists of daily accumulating.

The practice of the Tao consists of daily diminishing;

decreasing and decreasing, until doing nothing.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

 

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It cannot be gained by interfering.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

In order to enliven my experience

         of the Dao and live by its principles,

I practice decreasing my reliance on things.

         

 

Do The Tao Now

 

Right this minute, let go of five items that you have in your possession, putting them in circulation so that others might find them.  Next, pick something that has some particular value to you and give it away.  It's important that it be something you really like, for the more attachment you have to an item, the greater the joy you'll feel as you let it go.  This can become a practice of living a life of daily diminishing.

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

 

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

See the value in subtraction, or "daily diminishing".

 

Begin to consciously decrease your need to purchase more things.  Keep in mind that the advertising world is designed to convince you that your happiness is tied to whatever it's promoting - so instead of buying more, see how many of your accumulated possessions you can recirculate.  I guarantee that you'll notice a refreshing feeling of freedom as your desire diminishes and you let go of your obsession with the material objects you've amassed.  As Lao-tzu might say, you came here with no-thing and you leave with no-thing, so take great pleasure in all that has arrived in your life.  There's even greater pleasure to be had in knowing that your ability to live peacefully and happily isn't dependent on how much stuff you add to your life.  Living by decreasing is the way of the Tao.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Practice seeing joy in the natural world, rather

than seeking fulfillment in ownership.

 

See the folly of ownership in a universe that's eternally composing and decomposing . . . just like you are.  In essence, Lao-tzu is saying that what's real never changes because it has no form.  So the more you can let things unfold naturally, the more harmoniously you're living the Tao.  Enjoy the flowers, clouds, sunsets, storms, stars, mountains, and all the people you encounter.  Be with the world, in it and adoring it, but not needing to possess it.  This is the way of peace.  This is the way of the Tao.

 

For more than 500 years, Kabir has been one of India's revered poets.  One of his most popular observations sums up this 48th verse of the Tao Te Ching:

 

The fish in the water that is thirsty needs

serious professional counseling.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

To become learned, gain daily

To obtain Tao, reduce daily

Reduce and reduce again

               until all action is reduced to non-action

Then no one is left

Nothing is done

               yet nothing is left undone

 

One who gives freely and without attachment

               gets a full life in return

One who gives with the secret hope of getting

               is merely engaged in business

Truly, they neither give nor receive

               any of the treasure from this world below Heaven

 

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

He who devotes himself to learning seeks

               from day to day to increase his knowledge;

He who devotes himself to the Tao seeks

               from day to day to diminish his doing.

He diminishes it and again diminishes it,

               till he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose).

Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is

               nothing which he does not do.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Spiritual Laws"

 

Let us unlearn our wisdom of the world.

Let us take our bloated nothingness out of

               the path of divine circuits.

Let us lie low and learn that truth alone

               makes rich and great.

The rich mind lies in the sun and sleeps,

               and is nature.

To think is to act.

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

48

RELAX

 

First time mothers read all the

books and cling to theories and

gadgets.

 

Fifth time mothers have taken it

all in and let it sink into the

unconscious.  Equipment has worn

out and the child is given wooden

spoons and the easy company of

present-focused people.

 

The youngest child is usually the

most relaxed !

[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

 

48 (11)

 

     The pursuit of learning results in daily increase,

     Hearing the Way leads to daily decrease.

     Decrease and again decrease,

               until you reach nonaction.

     Through nonaction,

               no action is left undone.

 

      Should one desire to gain all under heaven,

      One should remain ever free of involvements.

For,

      Just as surely as one becomes involved,

      One is unfit for gaining all under heaven.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

The pursuit of learning means having more each day,

 

Such a one earnestly wishes to advance what he can do and increase what he has learned.

 

But the pursuit of the Dao means having less each day.

 

Such a one earnestly wishes to revert to emptiness [xuwu]. (1)

 

Having less upon having less, eventually one reaches the point where one engages in no conscious action, yet nothing remains undone. (2)

 

Because conscious action [youwei] results in occasions of failure, no conscious action [wuwei] will result in nothing remaining undone. (3)

 

One who takes all under Heaven as his charge always tends to matters without deliberate action.

 

Such a one always acts in accordance with things.

 

But when it comes to one who does take conscious action,

 

Such a one tries to implement things of his own making.

 

Such a one is not worthy to take all under Heaven as his charge. (4)

 

Such a one has lost the roots of rulership.

 

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)  Concerning this and the previous passage, see Wang's commentary to section 20, first passage.

 

(2)  CF. section 17, first and second passages.

 

(3)  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 38, paragraph 2.

 

(4)  For this and the previous two passages, see Wang's commentary to section 57, first passage.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

In the pursuit of knowledge,

every day something is added.

In the practice of the Tao,

every day something is dropped.

Less and less do you need to force things,

until finally you arrive at non-action.

When nothing is done,

nothing is left undone.

 

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It can't be gained by interfering.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

 

The more closely I look at something, the more I begin to notice that I really don't know what it is.  A name arises, and with it the silent Is it true ?, surrounded by and emanating the laughter that comes from not knowing.  " 'I am Byron Katie' - is it true ?"  And as the question dissolves each proof, I am left as nothing - in other words, as the woman sitting here.  I was born now, on this couch in a hotel room, with no past other than imagination.  How charming !  How absurd !

 

Whatever I see is infused with the light of mind.  And that light illuminates the one sitting on the couch now, awake and everywhere and timeless.  It dissolves everything in its brilliance, until there is no one on the couch.  What can live but the everlasting laughter ?  Let there be light, let there be world, since the world, as I understand it to be, is always born now, and now is where it always ends.

 

Things go their own sweet way, whether you let them or not.  The rose blooms without your approval and dies without your consent.  Even though you haven't issued directions, the streetcar rings its bell, the taxi stops to pick up a man in a gray suit.  The world runs perfectly.  It's all done without you.  It's all done for you, whether or not you interfere.  Even your interference is life living itself out through you.  Life continually pours forth its gifts and lives itself out in its own sweet way.  All you need to do is notice.  That's true mastery.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 48 -

 

We live in a society that seems to say, "The more you amass, the more value you possess as a human being."  Here, in the 48th verse of the Tao Te Ching, you're asked to change the way you look at this notion.  Rather than validating yourself by acquiring more, you can reverse this embedded idea of increasing as the criteria for mastering life.  The benefit of living by decreasing is seeing your world in a different light - one in which, believe it or not, you'll experience a greater sense of completeness.

 

Throughout the years of your formal schooling, you were encouraged to accumulate more of everything being made available to you: more mathematical formulas; rules of grammar; knowledge of ancient and modern history; information about the human body, the inner and outer galaxies, religion, chemical compounds, and so forth - on and on.  You amassed a series of transcripts, diplomas, and degrees that summarized your voyage of collecting, gathering, and hoarding evidence of your learning.  Lao-tzu suggests re-examining this legacy, for then you can base your level of success on something that appears to be the exact opposite of what you've pursued so far.

 

The Tao asks you to release the external indicators and symbols of your educational status.  While learning is about accumulating information and knowledge, the Tao is about wisdom, which involves letting go of information and knowledge and living in harmony with your Source.  In order to enliven your experience of the Tao and live by its principles, you're being asked to practice decreasing your reliance upon things.

 

As I've already mentioned in these pages, everything that you add to your life brings with it an element of imprisonment: Your stuff requires you to insure it and protect it from potential thieves or natural disasters; furthermore, you need to polish, paint, clean, store, and pack it, as well as move it from place to place.  There's infinite wisdom in the ideas that Lao-tzu outlines in this verse of the Tao Te Ching, especially in his view that true mastery can only be gained by freeing yourself of attachment to things and, in fact, downsizing what you already have.

 

When you seriously think about this idea and change the way you look at accumulation, you'll realize that you can never truly own anything.  Native Americans once had no term for owning land; today, the modern individual's purchase of a piece of property involves an endless cascade of legal maneuvers including title searches, liens, attorney fees, mortgages, tax stamps, and so on.  We've created gargantuan hurdles for the purchase and ownership of a piece of land that we only really occupy temporarily.  Lao-tzu urges you to think of yourself as a guest here, rather than a proprietor.  Cease interfering with the natural world by doing as much as you can to decrease your impact on the environment.  That is, live in harmony with the no-thing-ness state from which you emerges and to which you are destined to ultimately return.