Number Ninteen Stop Working On It
19
the old man has forgotten
the day that the crowds cheered
his victory
Lesson # 19
Early on, we want what we want
when we want it.
Then, with age
we begin to care about others.
Loyalty and simple service
are the best we can do.
Later we understand
how much we cling
to the image of being good.
Finally, we just get empty,
and let the universe serve
through us.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number Nineteen: Stop working at it
The day we let go of our attachment
for being seen as spiritual or all-knowing
it is 100% better for everyone around us
When we stop working hard
at just acting right or appearing kind
at being a brilliant or spiritual leader
then we free those around us
to choose to be who they want to be
instead of them trying to be person they think that you want them to be
When we stop grasping to make a buck
then no one can take our true wealth away from us
All this is true but they are just the outer trappings of the truth
To walk the Way keep yourself simple
decomplexify your mind and turn down the volume
Know that nothing outside of you can completely fill or satisfy you
All you need is within
NUMBER NINTEEN
If the people renounce self-control and reject wisdom,
Let them gain simplicity and purity
If the people renounce duty to man and reject right conduct,
Let them return to filial piety deep, deep in the heart.
If they renounce skill and leave off search for profit,
Let them rob and by violence take possession of spiritual life.
These three things do not help our progress.
Therefore now let us seek
To perceive simplicity,
To conserve beauty in the heart,
To curb selfishness and to have few desires.
There came loyal Ministers.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number Nineteen (commentary) How do you go deeper?
Our false will tries to be good. Our conniving ego comes up with rules for how to be kind, smart, spiritual or right. It attaches itself to the word, “Should”.
Our frightened, hungry ego wants us to focus our attention on preventing what it fears or on gobbling up what it wants. It loves the word, “Mine!”
All this mental activity takes away from us what is truly important, which is every precious, irreplaceable minute of our life.
We are so much more than that twisted cyclone of greed or that trembling ball of fear that we call our identity.
Pema Chodron, a Buddhist monk, once wrote, “You are the sky. Everything else is just weather.”
Breathe, look around and gently, softly let everything in. Contain everything. You are the sky.
Just be…
Tangent and Tool #19, This Life: A question and a reflection: “What is truly important to me?” In his work, Lao Tsu included no teaching about reincarnation, Heaven/Hell, or some form of Eternal Life after death. His book was titled, Tao Te Ching, the Book of the Way and of Virtue. It concerns itself with how to live a skillful life that can lead to enlightenment. His focus is on this life, how to live it in a way that does not cause further suffering and how to live it in a way that can serve as an inspiration to others. His work is about attaining an inner state of equanimity, so that you no longer care about what impression you make on others. The overriding message is to pay attention and show up with intention and to focus on this moment and not on some past memory or future dread.
something nice for someone. It can be face-to-face or just an anonymous act of kindness. Do that all day. Now note and write about your mood and how (or if) it has shifted. This is a good experiment to repeat on a regular basis.