70
it breaks my heart
freedom from greed and hatred
so easy yet ignored
Lesson # 70
My words are easy to understand.
My work is easy to perform.
Yet, no one seems to understand me,
and no one wants to do the work.
This teaching came
from the beginning of Creation.
These practices rule the unfolding
of the Universe.
If you follow this path,
you will let go of your station,
your rich robes and your wealth.
You will wear simple clothing,
and you will hold
the greatest treasure
close to your heart
always.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 70 My words are easy to understand
My words are easy to understand
My work is easy to perform
Yet no one seems to understand me
and no one wants to do the work.
This teaching came from the beginning of Creation
These practices rule the unfolding of the Universe
If you follow this path
be prepared to be misunderstood left and even mocked
for you will let go of your station your rich robes and your wealth
you will wear simple cloth
and you will hold the greatest treasure
close to your heart always
NUMBER SEVENTY
My words are very easily known.
They are very easily practiced.
No one in the world can fully know them,
No one in the world can fully practice them.
My words come from one Source,
My service is to one Ruler.
The Master indeed knows the Inner Kingdom,
That is why he knows the negation of self.
Few there are who know the self.
Because they know it not, they prize the self.
That is why the self-controlled man wears wool.
But in his bosom are jewels.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 70 (commentary) What is he talking about, “My words are easy to understand”?
This book on the Tao embraces a paradox. You are not going to be able to figure Lao Tsu out. No matter how hard you try, how many books you read, you are not going to get to the place where you can hold on to a piece of the teaching and say, “Ah, now I got it!”
That part of you that figures things out and that part that grasps on to moments of understanding, those are your problems. Understanding leads to expertise which leads to arrogance.
This book can take you to the shore, but you have to launch out onto the ocean by yourself. And words won’t take you there.
A tree never has to figure things out.
A flower has no need to grasp, to understand, to know and to possess.
Once you have nothing, you might start to get it. Once you are finally still then these words will be easy to understand.
Tangent and Tool #70, Paradox (Reflective exercise) A lot of humans in this world act as though they are batshit crazy. They deny that climate change exists and think that any effort to remediate it is wasteful and stupid. They exploit an already compromised environment without a moment of regret. They act like they are the only ones who are correct in their thinking. And you can begin to wonder if it is you who is crazy or them. You start to notice that the more you fight them tooth and nail, the more you begin to sound like them; fierce, righteous, angry, frustrated and committed to your beliefs no matter what. They are fighting for the power to lead according to their truth, and you are fighting for the power to lead according to your truth. And we’re both just screaming away into the wind.