Number Fifty Four Rooted in the Tao

54
deeply rooted
the tree selflessly serves
the entire world.

Lesson # 54

What you choose to plant
deep in the ground
cannot be uprooted.
What you choose to fully embrace
cannot be lost.
Acting with integrity and commitment
impacts generations to come.
Teach what you have learned:
unconditional kindness to every person,
every family, every enterprise,
every community, every nation,
and to yourself most of all.
.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching


Number 54 Seeing clearly

What you choose to plant deep in the ground
cannot be uprooted
What you choose to fully embrace
cannot be lost
Acting with integrity and commitment
impacts generations to come
Seek to discover your true nature and you will become it
Seek to treat your parents children and family from your true nature
and it may begin to grow in them
Seek to bring your true nature to your work church temple or community
and watch the impact of it flourish and nurture those around you
Seek to bring your true nature to your role as a citizen in your nation
and your country may begin to make a shift
Bring that true nature to everything you do
and the Universe will celebrate you

But this requires you to begin to detach with heart from
your personal subjective egoic way of seeing you and your world
Can you view your body as just a body
Can you view your family without judgement
Can you view your community objectively
Can you view all the citizens of your nation with unconditional regard
Can you walk the world and just see it as it is
This is the work of Walking the Path


NUMBER FIFTY FOUR

He who is established in goodness shall not be uprooted.
He who cherishes goodness shall not be cast out.
His children to all generations shall be blessed unceasingly.
Cultivate it in the body, your Teh shall become true.
Cultivate it in the family, your Teh shall superabound.
Cultivate it in the village, your Teh shall endure.
Cultivate it in the kingdom, your Teh shall flourish.
Cultivate it in the world, your Teh shall be universal.
Therefore, according to the body, judge the body.
According to the family, judge the family.
According to the village, judge the village.
According to the kingdom, judge the kingdom.
According to the world, judge the world.
How shall I know that there is some faith in the world?
The witness is in itself.

Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.


Number 54 (commentary) What do you mean, ‘Walking the Path’?

It begins with the first step, which is discovering within yourself a deep commitment.
You do not take that step from a desire to be a “good” or a “spiritual” person. But rather the motivation comes from a deep curiosity and passion to know the truth at any cost.
Attractions, distractions, crises, addictions, tragedies and compelling needs, all try to kick you off this Path. “Look at me!” “Fix this!” “Watch out for that!” “Help me!” “Look out!”
Sometimes you will get knocked off. No blame. Life happens. Just return to the deeper journey when you can.
Let what you discover about the light and about your own imperfect shadow guide your interactions with your family, your work, your community, your nation and with all of Creation, without your ego and your opinions getting in the way.
This is the work of walking the Path.


Tangent and Tool #54, Eight Breaths (Reflective exercise) We all get knocked off the path, often. We react! We completely forget that we are not a hero, not a victim, not a fixer and not responsible for the woes and ills around and within us. It hurts when we realize how far we have fallen. We are not unfeeling. These things impact us. Then, we do what we can at the moment to alleviate suffering if that is possible.
Our true nature is none of these things. We are so much more than these constrictive roles. Once you get a faint inkling of that, here is a simple exercise you can use to recenter and re-connect with something deeper than your current reaction. Take 8 deep breaths (not more, not less) through your nose, filling up your lungs and then exhaling. You can make a mental statement of gratitude with each breath. You can bring up a mental image of someone, somewhere, or something you love. Or you can just do the breaths. It doesn’t matter. Often this act can shift your mindset and remind you that you are more than just your twisted story of the moment.