Verse 58 - Living Untroubled by Good or Bad Fortune

[Eva Libre]

58th Verse

  

When the ruler knows his own heart,

the people are simple and pure.

 When he meddles with their lives,

they become restless and disturbed.

 

Bad fortune is what good fortune leans on;

good fortune is what bad fortune hides in.

Who knows the ultimate end of this process ?

Is there no norm of right ?

Yet what is normal soon becomes abnormal;

people's confusion is indeed long-standing.

 

Thus the master is content to serve as an example

 and not to impose his will.

He is pointed but does not pierce;

he straightens but does not disrupt;

he illuminates but does not dazzle.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

Bad fortune has good fortune hiding within it,

        and good fortune is what bad fortune hides in.

 

          

Do The Tao Now

Spend a day noticing what aspects of life fall into the categories of "fortunate" or "unfortunate".  List them under their titles at the end of the day, and then explore each of them when you won't be interrupted.  Allow yourself to either feel each one physically in your body or see it as an image that presents itself to you.  Without trying to change it in any way, allow yourself to observe the subject with your eyes closed.  Just as if it were a kaleidoscope (or life itself), watch it and permit it to flow through you - the way the clouds drift in the sky, night turns into day, rain evaporates . . . and how confusion comes and goes when you're living untroubled by good or bad fortune.

 

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 wholeness in place of good or bad fortune.

 

When anyone is in the midst of an experience you believe is fortunate, such as a blissful relationship, financial success, excellent health, a great joy with a new promotion, or children excelling in school, know that all is subject to change.  Accumulated wealth has poverty hidden in it; popularity has nonrecognition camouflaged in it, too.  And, of course, the same is true during the periods that are generally thought of as unfortunate.

 

Your life itself is the perfect place to personalize your ability to live untroubled by good or bad fortune, for you have the opportunity at every stage to see wholeness.  So rather than calling youth an aspect of "good fortune" and old age a mark of "bad fortune", know that the youth you were is part of the wholeness of your old age.  The elderly individual you may become is part of the wholeness of your development through the levels of change that are your physical existence.  Life has death concealed in it.  So know your own heart and let your conduct be consistent with the Tao by not imposing your will - be pointed, straight, and illuminating without piercing, disrupting, or dazzling.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

When bad fortune feels so troublesome that you

can't get unstuck, see good fortune leaning on it.

 

When you feel overpoweringly discouraged during a trip through the valley of despair, it can feel as it that's all there is.  If you're unable to see a circumstance or situation as part of a larger picture, remind yourself that good fortune is leaning on this bad one, just as morning follows the darkest night.  With wholeness as a backdrop, rely on your knowledge of day following night at these times.  Keep in mind that when you've reached the valley floor, the only direction you can go is upward.  Things definitely will get better; your luck must change; scarcity has to turn into abundance.  This is because good fortune is invisibly there in all moments of despair, and you want to learn to live untroubled by them both.

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

The government that seems the most unwise,

Oft goodness to the people best supplies;

that which is meddling, touching everything,

Will work but ill, and disappointment bring.

 

Misery ! - happiness is to be found by its side !

Happiness ! - misery lurks beneath it !

Who knows what either will come to in the end ?

 

Shall we then dispense with correction ?

The method of correction shall by a turn

          become distortion,

And the good in it shall by a turn become evil.

The delusion of the people on this point

          has indeed subsisted for a long time.

 

Therefore the sage is like a square,

Which cuts no one with its angles;

Like a cornet, which injures no one with its sharpness.

He is straightforward, but allows himself no license;

He is bright, but does not dazzle.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Lecture on the Times", "New England Reformers", "Politics" and "Compensation"

 

Our time is too full of activity and performance.

The world is governed too much;

Things have their laws, as well as man;

          and refuse to be trifled with.

 

The changing moon, in tidal wave,

Glows the feud of Want and Have,

Mountain tall and ocean deep

Trembling balance duly keep.

 

And inevitable dualism bisects nature.

The reaction, so grand in the elements,

          is repeated within small boundaries.

Every excess causes a defect;

Every defect an excess.

Every sweet hath its sour, every evil its good.

 

A wise man will extend this lesson

          in all parts of life;

When he is pushed, tormented, defeated,

He has a chance to learn something,

          is cured of the insanity of conceit,

          has got moderation and real skill.

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

58

HEALTHY PARENTING

 

Healthy parenting can be a 

challenge if your own childhood

wasn't healthy.  It requires energy,

attention, and constant restraint.

These all come naturally from

healthy parent-child bonds.

 

If the parenting you received was

rigid, abandoning, or inconsistent,

you may find yourself exhausted

by your children.  Realize that you

need healing.  Take time out to

nurture yourself.

 

You can make the choice to be a

healthy parent.  You can learn how

to trust what is happening and

behave appropriately.  You can find

a healthy model and follow it.

 

Unhealthy parenting disables

with wounds that are hard to heal.

Right mothering is a potent

healer, readily available to the

natural wounds of life.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

When the ruler knows his own heart

          the people are simple and pure

When he meddles with their lives

          they become restless and disturbed

 

Bad fortune, yes -

          it rests upon good fortune

Good fortune, yes -

          it hides within bad fortune

Oh the things that Heaven sends -

          Who can know their final aim ?

          Who can tell of their endless ways ?

Today the righteous turn to trickery

Tomorrow the good turn to darkness

Oh what delusion abounds

          and every day it grows worse !

 

But the Sage is here upon the Earth

          to gently guide us back

He cuts but does not harm

He straightens but does not disrupt

He illumines but does not dazzle

[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

 

58 (21)

 

          When government is anarchic,

                    the people are honest;

          When government is meddlesome,

                    the state is lacking.

 

          Disaster is that whereon good fortune depends,

          Good fortune is that wherein disaster lurks.

                    Who knows their limits ?

 

          When there is no uprightness,

                    correct reverts to crafty,

                    good reverts to gruesome.

          The delusion of mankind,

          How long have been its days !

 

For this reason, be

          Square but not cutting,

          Angular but not prickly,

          Straight but not arrogant,

          Bright but not dazzling.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

When the government is completely muddled, the common folk become pure and simple.

 

In other words, one who is good at the conduct of government has no identifiable form, name, deliberate purpose, or procedure.  Being completely muddled, he attains great government [dazhi] in the end.  Thus the text refers to "when the government is completely muddled".  The people, having nothing to contend or wrangle about, are pure and simple in their great generosity.  Thus the text refers to when "the common folk become pure and simple".

 

When the government conducts meticulous scrutiny, the common folk become devious and inscrutable.

 

It establishes punishments and names, promulgates rewards and penalties, in order to uncover treachery.  Thus the text refers to when "the government conducts meticulous scrutiny".  It maintains strict distinctions among different classes of people, which causes the common folk to harbor contention and wrangling in their hearts/minds.  Thus the text refers to "the common folk becom[ing] devious and inscrutable". 

 

It is on disaster that good fortune depends; it is in good fortune that disaster lurks.  Who understands what the very best is ?  It is to have no government at all !

 

In other words, who understands good government at its best ?  It is only at its best when it is impossible to identify any act of government or to name any punishment and, though it is completely muddled, all under Heaven effects its own great moral transformation.

 

Correctness turns into perversion.

 

If one uses governance to govern the state, it easily reverts to the perverse [ji] use of the military.  Thus the text says: "Correctness turns into perversion."

 

Goodness turns into deviancy.

 

If one establishes goodness to bring harmony to the myriad folk, it easily reverts to the disastrous advent of deviancy.  Thus the text says: "Correctness turns into perversion".

 

This is why the sage is square but does not cut,

 

Using his squareness [uprightness] to lead the people, he enables them to put aside their evil ways; he does not use his squareness [as a model] to cut people [into shape].  This is what is meant by "the great square has no corners." (1)

 

He is pointed but does not stab.

 

Lian [pointed] means "honest" [qinglian].  Gui [stab] means "wound".  Using his honesty to lead the people, he enables them to put aside their filthy ways; he does not use his honesty to stab at and inflict wounds on them. (2)

 

He is straight but does not align.

 

Using his straightness to lead the people, he enables them to put aside their deviant ways; he does not use his straightness to dam up or strike at them. (3)  This is what is meant by "great straightness seems crooked". (4)

 

He is bright but does not shine.

 

He uses his brightness to illuminate their way out of confusion, he does not use his brightness as a searchlight to expose what the people are trying to keep hidden.  This is what is meant by "the bright Dao seems dark". (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 41, eleventh passage.

 

(2)  Wang reads lian, "pointed" (as an arrow or sword is pointed), as a pun on lian, "honest"; cf. the English expression "stay on the straight and narrow".

 

(3)  Cf. Mengzi (Mencious), 6A:2: "To be sure, water has no propensity to flow east or west, but does it have no propensity to flow up or down ?  The tendency of human nature to goodness is like the tendency of water to flow downward.  None lacks this tendency to goodness, just as no water fails to flow downward.  Now, one may strike at water and make it leap so that it can rise higher than his forehead, and one may dam up water and force it to move so that it is sent up a hill, but what has any of this to do with the nature of water ?"  Both Hatano Taro and Lou Yulie, referring to a range of Japanese and Chinese textual scholarship, suggest various emendations to the text, all of which seem superfluous in the light of this allusion to the Mengzi, which is not taken into account.  See Hatano, Roshi Dotokukyo kenkyu, 170; and Lou, Wang Bi ji jiaoshi, 155 n. 19. 

 

(4)  Section 45, third passage.

 

(5)  Section 41, third passage.  Cf. paragraph 2 of Wang's commentary to section 49, fifth passage; and section 52, seventh and eighth passages.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

If a country is governed with tolerance,

the people are comfortable and honest.

If a country is governed with repression,

the people are depressed and crafty.

 

When the will to power is in charge,

the higher the ideals, the lower the results.

Try to make people happy,

and you lay the groundwork for misery.

Try to make people moral,

and you lay the groundwork for vice.

 

Thus the Master is content

to serve as an example

and not to impose her will.

She is pointed, but doesn't pierce.

Straightforward, but supple.

Radiant, but easy on the eyes.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

Try to make people moral,

and you lay the groundwork for vice.

 

Being present means living without control and always having your needs met.  For people who are tired of the pain, nothing could be worse than trying to control what can't be controlled.  If you want real control, drop the illusion of control.  Let life live you.  It does anyway.  You're just telling the story about how it doesn't, and that's a story that can never be real.  You didn't make the rain or the sun or the moon.  You have no control over your lungs or your heart or your vision or your breath.  One minute you're fine and healthy, and the next minute you're not.  When you try to be safe, you live your life being very, very careful, and you may wind up having no life at all.  Everything is nourishment.  I like to say, "Don't be careful, you could hurt yourself".

 

You can't make people moral.  People are what they are, and they'll do what they do, with or without our laws.  Remember the Prohibition amendment ?  I hear that is was passed by well-intentioned, moral people, who just wanted to save the rest of us from the temptation of alcohol.  Of course it failed, because sobriety can come only from the inside.  You can't force people to be sober or honest or kind.  You can say "Thou shalt not" till you're blue in the face, and they'll do it anyway.

 

The best way, the only effective way, is to serve as an example and not to impose your will.   I used to try and make my children moral by telling them what they should do, what they shouldn't do, what they should like, what they shouldn't like.  In my confusion, I was trying to be a good mother, and I thought that this was the way to make them good people.  When they didn't do what I wanted, I would shame or punish them, believing that it was for their own good.  So in reality what I taught them was to break my laws and be very careful not to get caught.  I taught them that the way to have peace in our home was to sneak and lie.  Many of the things I was teaching them not to do I had done myself and hadn't admitted to them, and some of the things I was still doing even as they watched.  I expected them not to do these things simply because I said so.  It didn't work.  It was a recipe for confusion.

 

I lost my children twenty years ago.  I came to see that they were never mine to begin with.  That was an extreme loss: they truly died to me.  I discovered that who I thought they were had never existed at all.  And my experience of them now is more intimate than I can describe.  Today, when my children ask me what they should do, I say, "I don't know, honey".  Or, "Here's what I did in a similar situation, and it worked for me.  And you can always know that I'm here to listen and that I'm always going to love you, whatever decision you make.  You'll know what to do.  And also, sweetheart, you can't do it wrong.  I promise you that."  I finally learned to tell my children the truth.

 

It's painful to think you know what's best for your children.  It's hopeless.  When you think that you need to protect them, you're teaching anxiety and dependence.  But when you question your mind and learn how not to be mentally in your children's business, finally there's an example in the house: someone who knows how to live a happy life.  They notice that you have your act together and that you're happy, so they start to follow.  You have taught them everything they know about anxiety and dependence, and now they begin to learn something else, something about what freedom looks like.  That's what happened with my children.  They just don't see a lot of problems anymore, because in the presence of someone who doesn't have a problem, they can't hold on to one.  If your happiness depends on your children being happy, that makes them your hostages.  I think I'll just skip them, and be happy from here.  That's a lot saner.  It's called unconditional love.

 

Why would I give my children advice when I can't possible know what's best for them ?  If what they do brings them happiness, that's what I want; if it brings them unhappiness, that's what I want, because they learn from that what I could never teach them.  I celebrate the way of it, and they trust that, and I trust it.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay on Verse 58 –

 

The world of the 10,000 things is also called "the world of the changing".  You see it in your ever-altering life, even as you want everything to be stable and predictable.  However, all things on our planet are in constant motion.  As Albert Einstein once observed, "Nothing happens until something moves".  This 58th verse of the Tao Te Ching stresses that there's another way to see the world, one that virtually guarantees that you'll be untroubled by good or bad fortune.  Instead of only noticing the constantly shifting energy pattern of the material world, this verse invites you to let yourself focus on the unchanging Tao.

 

Like most humans, you probably want your surroundings to be permanent, steady, reliable, secure, and predictable.  However, your reality unequivocally insists that you take into account the opposite and unpredictable that are present in every experience you have.  After all, even the landscape that surrounds you is far from orderly: Mountain ranges go up and then down into valleys.  Trees tower over shrubs, and cloud formations are ominously black at times and fluffy white at others.  In every perfectly sunny day, there's a storm hiding, and in every rainstorm lies a drought waiting its turn.  Up and down and the unexpected are the norm of nature; hills and dales are the way of the 10,000 things.

 

Change your view of the peaks and valleys of all of life to an attitude that allows you to discover what's hidden in both of those experiences.  Begin to see wholeness rather than good or bad fortune.  See opposites as parts of oneness, rather than disrupting surprises.  In a world of pure Taoist unity, there's no good or bad luck; it's indivisible.  What you're calling "bad" fortune has "good" just waiting to emerge because it's the other half.