61
rose bee pollen honey
this is the cycle
of virtuous service
Lesson # 61
What would happen if we
governed countries
according to the Tao?
The large countries would naturally
serve both their own citizens and
also serve the needs of smaller countries.
Smaller countries would naturally
serve their own citizens
and also serve the countries who
gave them aid.
This creates a virtuous
circle of support. Each would serve,
in part, the needs of the Earth
as a whole, and we save this world
currently governed by greed, fear,
hoarding, and conquest.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 61 International service
All countries
look towards the biggest countries
Resources flow
towards those countries
What would happen
if we governed countries according to the Tao
The large countries
would naturally serve both their own citizens and the needs of smaller countries
Smaller countries
would naturally serve their own citizens and serve the countries who gave them aid
This creates a virtuous circle of support
Each serve in part the needs of the Earth as a whole
and we crawl away from a world governed by greed fear hoarding and conquest
NUMBER SIXTY ONE
A great kingdom, lowly like running water, is the Meeting-place of the world.
It is the feminine quality of the world.
The feminine quality always overcomes the masculine by stillness.
In order to be still, we must become lowly.
Therefore, if a great kingdom is lowly towards a little kingdom
it will take possession of the little kingdom.
If a little kingdom is lowly towards a great kingdom
it will take possession of the great kingdom.
So one becomes lowly in order to conquer,
The other is lowly and yet it conquers.
If a great kingdom only desires to unify and nourish men,
If a small kingdom only desires to enter in and serve men,
Then the Master, in each case, shall obtain his desire.
He who is great ought to be lowly.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 61 (Commentary) Why can’t we all get along?
During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, Rodney King, a black man, was beaten by police. Later, while the riots were still going on, he held a press conference and asked, “Why can’t we all get along?”
In the 3,400 years of recorded history, we have not been at war for only 268 of them. The United States has been fighting 228 of its last 248 years of existence.
Is war inevitable?
The COVID pandemic pointed us to what it will take to break this cycle, a global catastrophe or a series of global catastrophes that brings us to our knees.
Assuming we don’t blow ourselves up first.
Climate change, extreme nationalism, the needs of the military industrial complex, unfettered capitalism, growing income disparity and international distrust are driving us right towards such a catastrophic climax.
Perhaps countries that will follow the guidance of the Tao will rise from the ashes.
But it is going to hurt a lot on the way, and we cannot avoid that suffering. Taking action in this tumultuous world and keeping your spiritual center means holding to a vision and moving forward, even when there is no clear road leading in the direction you want to go.
Tangent and Tool #61, How do we live with what we know? (Reflective exercise) People claim that they want enlightenment. I think they hold out the hope that if they were enlightened, then they would be above all the suffering and mental anguish that pervades our world. It is true that one of the states of higher consciousness is an experience in which you are able to look down at the whole dance of karma and circumstance without reacting. But to attempt to stay in that state is to keep yourself defended. For a period of time you might bear The Holy Shield that protects you from feeling the sad, sorry lot of the human condition. But that is just one of the many states that an open, enlightened person experiences. To truly live enlightened means to live open to everything and defending against nothing. That means you will experience profound vulnerability, compassion, compassion fatigue, sadness, grief, hope, love and despair. As Zorba the Greek put it, “The full catastrophe.” One answer to the question that this reflection poses, (How do we live with what we know?) is that we live it imperfectly, minute to minute. Sorry, there are no easy answers to this question. Everybody has to find their own path.