Verse 61 - Living by Remaining Low

[Eva Libre]

61st Verse

 

A great country is like the lowland,

toward which all streams flow.

It is the reservoir of all under heaven,

the feminine of the world.

The female overcomes the male with stillness,

by lowering herself through her quietness.

 

So if a great country lowers itself before a small one,

it wins friendship and trust.

And if a small country can lower itself before a great one,

it will win over that “great” country.

The one wins by stooping;

the other, by remaining low.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

My loved ones and I cannot, and will not,
            be impacted by the presence of evil,
anywhere in the world.

By staying calm, and under the radar,
            others will ultimately join me in 
friendship and trust.

           
Do The Tao Now

Each day as you grapple with how to be an effective leader in your family, in your country, and in the world, apply the following advice from Sai Baba.  This is what he counsels readers to do whenever they question what action to take or how to think:

When head fast eyes are horrified

by the cruelties of life …

When your mouth is parched

and you can hardly speak,

The first sip of cool water

I am soothing you.

Think of me.

In a moment of crisis, silently say Think of me to your mental image of the person who won you over by stooping and remaining low. You'll immediately find your way, as if that individual were directing you to overcome the struggle, addiction, or ego-dominated thoughts that seem to take you away from your feminine, Tao nature.

Source – Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life (Living the Wisdom of the Tao) 
by Dr Wayne W Dyer 

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

Reassess your personal view of what constitutes strength.

Can you see power in humility, stillness, and remaining low and out of sight? In martial arts, the strongest conqueror is the one who uses the least force and converts the lunges of his opponent into his own might. Look at the story of violence throughout human history: Those obsessed with positions of power ultimately resort to brutality, and then incur the same kind of violence on themselves. And so it is in your personal life.

By staying calm and under the radar, others will ultimately flow to you, joining with you in creating friendship and trust. As you stay in this yin, feminine, Divine-Mother mode, you'll radiate energy and strength and win over others … including those with an aversion to change. Think of yourself as the ocean and stay low enough to allow all others to stream down to you and create a “great country” wherever you elect to settle.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

Emulate those whose greatest impact on humanity
used the least violent methods.

 

There are many examples to be found for living by remaining low, replicating the example of stillness and yin energy. Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Saint Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and others of the highest spiritual persuasion serve as wonderful role models for us. By demonstrating the exact opposite of what has become known as power by force, they changed the course of human history. Furthermore, they are remembered with the highest esteem by all people.

You can become a similar leader of the Tao in your immediate environment, smiling inwardly as you see yourself as that low, patient ocean. All those who wish to tower above you in conquest will ultimately flow down to you.

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

What makes a great state is its being like a low-lying,
down-flowing stream -
It becomes the center to which tend all
the small states under heaven.

To illustrate from the case of all females -
The female always overcomes the male by her stillness.
Stillness may be considered a sort of abasement.

This it is that a great state, by condescending
to small states, gains them for itself;
And that small states, by abasing themselves
to a great state, win it over to them.
In the one case the abasement leads to
gaining adherents,
In the other case to procuring favor.

The great state only wishes to unite men together
and nourish them;
A small state only wishes to be received by, and to serve, the other.
Each gets what it desires,
but the great state must learn to abase itself.

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - ”The Sovereignty of Ethics”, ”The Over-Soul”, ”Education”

The excellence of men consists
in the completeness with which
the lower system is taken up into the higher -
A process of much time and delicacy.

Those who are capable of humility, of justice,
of love, of aspiration,
Stand already on a platform that commands
action and grace.

This is the law of moral and mental gain.
The simplest rise as by specific levity,
not into a particular virtue,
But into the region of all virtues.

Sympathy, the female force, is more subtle, and lasting,
and creative.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

A great state is like a river basin
that receives everything flowing into it
It is the place where all things come to rest
where all the world is welcomed

The low is greater than the high
The still is greater than the restless
The low country wins over its neighbor
The still female wins over the male

The Sage wants to uplift the people
The people want to follow the Sage
only by being low does this come to be
The Sage bows to the people
The people bow to the Sage
And when they lift up their heads
only greatness remains

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

61
INDEPENDENCE

The mother's energy is so
powerful because of her feminine
receptivity. She yields and
conquers through her calm.

The child's energy dominates.
He feels so powerful ! Only the
mother knows it is her strength
upon which he draws to build
himself.

Thus both reach their goal of
independence.

[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

 

61 (24)

 

     A large state is like a low-lying estuary,

          the female of all under heaven.

     In the congress of all under heaven,

          the female always conquers the male through her stillness.

     Because she is still,

          it is fitting for her to lie low.

     By lying beneath a small state,

          a large state can take over a small state.

     By lying beneath a large state,

          a small state can be taken over by a large state.

 

Therefore,

          One may either take over or be taken over by lying low.

 

Therefore,

          The large state wishes only to annex and nurture others;

          The small state wants only to join with and serve others.

 

Now,

     Since both get what they want,

     It is fitting for the large state to lie low.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

A large state is a catchment into which flow occurs. (1)

 

Because the river and the sea occupy large areas and are situated in low positions, all streams and tributaries flow into them.  If a large state dwells in greatness and takes up a low position, all under Heaven will flow into it.  Thus the text says: "A large state is a catchment into which flow occurs."

 

It is where all under Heaven unite.

 

It is that to which all under Heaven gravitate together.

 

It is the female for all under Heaven.

 

It maintains quietude [jing] and does not seek them out, so people gravitate to it of their own accord.

 

The female always conquers the male because of quietude.  She is able to take the low position because of quietude.

 

It is because of her quietude that she can place herself beneath.  Pin [the female of animals] means ci [the female of birds; thus pin refers to the female of species in general].  The male is aggressive and active, covetous and full of desire, but because the female always practices quietude, she is able to conquer the male.  She is also able to place herself beneath because of her quietude.  Thus the other gravitates to her.

 

Thus the large state, by placing itself beneath the small state,

 

"The large state, by placing itself beneath" in other words means "because the large state places itself beneath the small state."

Consequently takes over the small state.

 

The small state attaches itself to it.

The small state, by placing itself beneath the large state, subsequently is taken over by the large state.

 

The large state takes in the small state.

Thus some, by taking a place beneath, take over, and some, by taking a place beneath, are taken over.

 

In other words, it is only by cultivating humility that each [the male and the female, the superior and the subordinate, the large and the small] obtains its proper place.  (2)

The large state should desire nothing more than to bring people together and nurture them, and the small state should desire nothing more than to join in and serve people.  In order that both obtain what they desire, it is fitting that the large one place itself beneath.

 

The small state cultivates lowliness, for it can do nothing more than keep itself whole; it cannot cause all under Heaven to gravitate to it.  If the large state cultivates lowliness, all under Heaven will gravitate to it.  Thus the text says: "In order that both obtain what they desire, it is fitting that the large one place itself beneath."

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) Cf. section 28, first passage; section 32, last passage; section 66; and section 73, seventh passage.

(2)  Tao Hongqing, in light of the next passage, amends the text to read "each obtains what it desires" (Du zhuzi zhaji [Reading notes on the philosophers], 17).  See Hatano, Roshi Datokukyo kenkyu, 384; and Lou, Wang Bi jji jiaoshi, 161 n. 5.  this seems unnecessary, however, and the text makes good sense as it stands.

[Eva Libre]

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

When a country obtains great power,
it becomes like the sea:
all streams run downward into it.
The more powerful it grows,
the greater the need for humility.
Humility means trusting the Tao,
thus never needing to be defensive.

A great nation is like a great man:
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers.
He thinks of his enemy
as the shadow that he himself casts.

If a nation is centered in the Tao,
if it nourishes its own people
and doesn't meddle in the affairs of others,
it will be a light to all nations in the world.

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy - Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

Humility means trusting the Tao.

No one has ever known the answer to Why ?  The only true answer is Because.  Why do the stars shine ?  Because they do.  Why is the glass sitting on the table ?  Because it is.  That's it.  In reality there is no why.  It's hopeless to ask; the question can't go anywhere - haven't you noticed ?  Science may give you an answer, but behind that because there's always another why.  There is no ultimate answer to anything.  There's nothing to know, and no one who wants to know.  Just have fun with the asking, because there are trillions of answers, as many as the stars in the sky, and not one of them is true.  Enjoy the stars, but don't think that there's anything behind them.  And, ultimately, do you even care about an answer ?

The Work is wonderful, because it leaves you with the real thing, beyond all answers.  It leaves you with no concept of who you should be.  There are no models, no ideals; the goal isn't to be wise or spiritual.  You just notice what is.  I like to say, “Don't pretend yourself beyond your own evolution.”  What I mean by that is “Don't be spiritual; be honest instead”.  It's painful to pretend that you're more evolved than you are, to be in the position of a teacher when it's kinder to yourself to be in the position of a student.  Inquiry is about the truth, which doesn't necessarily look the way you think it's supposed to look.  Truth is no respecter of spirituality.  It only respects itself, just as it appears now.  And it's not serious; it's just God laughing at the cosmic joke.

If someone comes toward you with a gun and says he's going to kill you and you're scared, go ahead and run.  That's no less spiritual than any other reaction.  But if you don't have a belief about it, you're free.  You can run or stay - it doesn't matter, because whatever you do, you're at peace.  Oh, you might think, he thinks he's going to kill me.  You could just as well be filing your nails.  That's freedom.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 61 -

Most of us have been taught that it's important to tower over lesser folks in virtually all of life's endeavors. We're told to “get to the top”, “stand out in the crowd”, “be the best”, and “honor champions” who defeat challengers. We're expected to pay homage to those who make the most money, collect the most material objects, and evoke the most fear and obedience because of their positions of power; and those who deign to live among the “commoners” are the least deserving of our respect. This passage of the Tao Te Ching invites us to reevaluate these beliefs.

Look at the ocean: It's the most powerful force on the planet because it stays lower than the streams, which are necessarily and inescapably drawn to it. As the rivers flow downward to become one with it, the sea is able to be the great reservoir of all under heaven. This is what Lao-tzu refers to throughout the Tao Te Ching as the “great Mother” or the “feminine of the world”. That female energy, or yin, is the true receptor of all; by remaining quiet and still, it ultimately overcomes male (yang) efforts to subjugate and conquer.

In the 61st verse of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu speaks of the advantages of leading by remaining low, using entire countries as his examples. He makes the case for nations both large and small to be like the great ocean. As he observed warring territories attempting to vanquish each other by exerting their strength, he saw that peace and harmony could only be possible if the territories behaved in accord with the Tao - that is, by subjugating their egos rather than their neighbors.

Lao-tzu was addressing countries and their political leaders in this chapter, but countries are made up of individual men and women. We need to become a critical mass of individuals who are willing to model the wisdom that the great Chinese master offers us. We all must learn the value of making a dramatic change in the way we think of ourselves and each other. Yes, it may require a complete about-face on our part, but if we begin to lessen ego-dominated thinking, sooner or later the world will get the message that Lao-tzu proposed in ancient times. Nations all over the globe will find that leaders with feminine yin energy are beneficial. After all, this is the way of nature … it is the Tao at work.

You can apply the wisdom of this verse in the business world or with anyone you encounter by updating the notion that towering above others in the yang approach of masculine domination is the way to get ahead. Instead, see the value of living as if you can win trust and friendship through a yin approach of feminine receptivity and stillness.