13
transfixed by a bottle of Irish Mist
a ghost hand touches me
one day at a time
Lesson # 13
Seek praise and glory
and you will find
shame and loss.
You are the kingdom you seek.
You are enough.
Start here.
Lead from here.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number Thirteen: Inner and Outer
Favor or disgrace
the way of peace is to accept them both
without attachment or judgement
Pleasure or pain
the way of peace is to accept them
without grasping or contracting
The world will try to confer upon you
favor or disgrace
Do not buy in
Your body will try to steer you
away from pain and towards pleasure
Be more than your body
The leader knows that what is inside of you is also outside of you
The leader knows that what is outside of you is also inside of you
Love yourself and love the world
and you will earn the world’s trust
NUMBER THIRTEEN
Dread glory as you dread shame.
Prize great calamity as you prize your body.
What does this mean:
“Dread glory as you dread shame”?
Glory comes from below.
Obtain it, you are afraid of shame;
Lose it, you are still afraid of shame.
That is why it is said;
“Dread glory as you dread shame.”
What does this mean:
“Prize great calamity as you prize your own body”?
We who meet with great calamities, meet them because we have a body.
If we had not a body what calamity could reach us?
Therefore he who honours the kingdom as his body can govern the kingdom.
He who loves the kingdom as his own body can be trusted with the kingdom.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number Thirteen (commentary) How do we stop torturing ourselves?
For me, it is damn hard not to grab on to any praise and then swell up with pride. It is even harder not to beat myself mercilessly in the face of criticism, especially if that judgement comes from those I love or care about.
If you can stay calm and centered when receiving either praise or criticism, you are free from the reward/punishment tyranny of the ego.
If you can receive gently both the pleasure and the pain from your body and grasp, or shove away, not let either knock you off center, you are free from the reactive tyranny of the body.
Turning to noticing the breath in these moments develops a conscious space within you that can be free from reactions, fear and craving.
Love everything. Hold on to nothing.
That is a high bar, one that you will often fail to attain.
But even in the effort, you become someone the world can trust.
Tangent and Tool # 13 Love everything: A question and a reflection. “What is the limit to my ability to love?” Love everything. What a tall order! When I took my vision quest last year, this was one of the ‘commandments’ I received. It seemed impossible and it still seems quite a tall order! Do you mean I have to love climate change deniers or billionaires who seem hell-bent on exploiting the environment and depleting our resources with no thought of the future catastrophes they are contributing to?
Yes, in a way. I first need to see that my natural reaction of anger, resentment and fear are actually causing me contraction, pain and suffering. It is like wanting someone else dead but drinking the poison yourself. So, with effort and on a good day, I can pull myself out of that pit I dug for myself and feel compassion for those I previously resented and abhorred. Even though they do unskillful things, I can see everyone as a fellow traveler on this often-painful road called life. It is a hard life for all of us. And that way, I can disapprove of their unskillful actions without hating them and without becoming angry, resentful and hateful.