64
the sage takes the glass
away from the edge of the table
before it shatters
Lesson # 64
Act immediately, when problems
first emerge, before your troubles multiply.
Simple small actions
taken early can create great results.
Don’t underestimate the small.
The tallest tree starts from a tiny shoot.
The tallest tower began as
a pile of dirt. The journey of
a thousand miles began with that
first step. Just take that step.
Do what is necessary.
Don’t interfere with
what everyone else is doing.
Just keep your attention
on where you are headed,
and on why you are
taking action now
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 64 Proactivity
Act immediately
when problems first emerge
before your troubles multiply
It’s too late once the glass hits the floor
once the wind hits the pile of dust
Create order before disorder strikes
Simple small actions taken early can create great results
Don’t underestimate the small
The tree starts from a tiny shoot
The tallest tower began as a pile of dirt
The journey of a thousand miles
began with that first step
Just take that step
Do what is necessary
Don’t run around fussing about everything
Don’t interfere with what everyone else is doing
Just keep your attention on now and on where you are headed
Make sure you will have enough energy to complete the task to finish the journey
People usually fail right before possible success
Don’t let that be you
NUMBER SIXTY FOUR
His Restfulness is easily maintained.
Events foreseen by him are easily arranged for.
By him weak things are easily bent,
And small things are easily scattered.
He can stop an evil before it comes into existence.
He can keep a twig straight before it becomes crooked.
Behold the girth of this tree!
It grew from a small filament of a stalk.
This tower of nine stories has its base upon a small space on the earth.
The journey of a thousand miles began with a footstep on the ground.
He who makes, unmakes.
He who grasps, lets go.
That is why the self-controlled man by Inner Life can make and by Inner life unmake, by Inner Life can grasp and by Inner Life let go.
Men in business affairs come near perfection, then fail.
If they were as attentive at the end as at the beginning their business would succeed.
That is why the self-controlled man
desires to have no wishes; he sets no value upon rare objects;
he learns without study; he helps all beings by the outflow of his personality;
and he does this without planning to do it.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 64 (Commentary) Why do we keep making ecological messes?
The right solution, applied early, can forestall so many later ancillary problems. Solutions like, “Don’t put lead in gasoline.” “Solar panels on every rooftop could dramatically reduce energy needs.” “Trees naturally reduce the carbon in the atmosphere. Maybe stop cutting them down to raise hay for cattle.”
But, unfortunately, the greed for short-term profits and the lack of concern for long-term consequences, puts us on a global highway heading right towards ecological collapse.
Nothing will change until it becomes more profitable to serve the common good than it is to feed individual bank accounts of the very wealthy.
This will require extensive governmental regulation and effective international monitoring of those regulations.
That may take a while.
Tangent and Tool #64, One thing you can do (Reflective exercise) I was a bit too freewheeling in translating this chapter. In it, Lao Tsu made three key points: 1- Small actions when a problem first emerges are more effective than large actions once the problem has become huge. 2- Maintain your focus and energy all the way through a project and don’t let it flag when you are nearing the end. And 3- The Sage chooses not to act. It is that last one that I gave short shrift to. Lao Tsu writes, “Those who take action will fail, so the Sage chooses not to act and therefore cannot fail.” For us Westerners that is a tough one to wrap our heads around. What I take away from it is that I am imperfect and my solutions to the problems I face and the problems that we all will face, are going to be imperfect as well. Most of the time my magnificent solution will end up creating a bigger mess. In most situations, rather than tossing my brilliant, imperfect solutions out there, it might serve us all for me to wait, learn and watch for the natural pattern that is unfolding, the pattern which will point us all to a more skillful solution.