Number Seventy Six: Suppleness
#76 in death all is stiff
at birth it’s soft and gentle
soft will overcome
From 81 Lessons from the Tao
Lesson # 76
At birth, we are soft and tender.
At our death, we become rigid and hard.
In life, plants and trees are soft and pliant.
In death, they are withered and tough.
Thus, rigidity and hardness
are companions of death.
Softness and tenderness
are companions of life.
An army that becomes inflexible
is likely to lose the battle.
A tree that is unbending
cracks and topples in the high wind.
The rigid and unyielding
will eventually fall.
The tender, open, and flexible
will ultimately prevail.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 76 Suppleness
At birth
everyone is tender supple and weak
At our death
our corpses are hard rigid and stiff
All living things begin their life
as moist soft and tender
and at the end of their life
they are withered dry and desiccated
Therefore, the soft supple and tender are the companions of life
and the unyielding rigid and inflexible are the companions of death
An army that becomes inflexible is likely to lose the battle
A tree that is unbending cracks and topples in the high wind
The rigid and unyielding will eventually fall
The tender, open and flexible will eventually come out on top
NUMBER SEVENTY SIX
In life, man is soft and tender,
In death, he is rigid and hard.
In life, plants and trees are soft and pliant,
In death, they are withered and tough.
Thus, rigidity and hardness are the companions of death.
Softness and tenderness are the companions of life.
That is why the soldier who trusts only in strength
does not conquer,
The tree that relies on its strength invites the axe.
Great strength dwells below,
Softness and tenderness dwell above.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 76 (commentary) Is there hope?
We’re in for a rough patch.
The inflexible laws of capitalism drive money to corporate owners and stockholders, often at the expense of the workers, the customers and the health of the planet.
The rigid economic caste system of modern society keeps pushing the middle class down towards poverty.
Resources dwindle as greed escalates.
But young people see more clearly what is in store for them and are not starting to not play by the rules of their elders. They are not accepting the scripture of, “Obey quietly until you retire and then die quickly, please.”
And, along with greed, compassion also seems to be on the march.
So, who knows? It ain’t over yet.
Tool #76, Non-specificity A Question and a reflection: “How can I know what the right path is?” You can’t. The way the mind works is that it proceeds from what it has learned and from the beliefs it has formed out of what it has learned. It then goes out and sorts through data in its environment to confirm its beliefs. That is a very economical way of surviving.
Unfortunately, when the environment radically changes, traditional and fixed beliefs no longer succeed. Following that process, we can become “unyielding, rigid and inflexible.” What is needed is the maximum flexibility to adapt. Protein molecules in simple organisms are fairly rigidly constructed to meet specific needs for specific cells. But protein molecules in highly complex organisms are all stringy and chaotic looking. That is so they can change in the moment to meet the differing needs of many different cells. This principle of non-specificity helps us stay “tender, open and flexible” and helps us adapt on many levels.
If you choose to walk this path, to know yourself and the nature of reality at its deepest level, to make this world a little better for those who come next, then you will have to constantly trim away those parts of you which are becoming hard and inflexible. You will have to let them go. Stay supple. Let yourself hang out in the Land of Not Knowing. It’s more fun.
How would you answer the question, “How can I know what the right path is?”