Number Twenty Two Yielding
22
no going upstream
the river far too swift
for a leaf
Lesson # 22
Surrender, and you will win.
Give, and you will receive.
Embrace aging,
and you feel freer and younger.
Let go of control,
and it all falls into place.
Just stop working at life so hard.
From: 81 Lessons from the Tao Te Ching
Number 22: Yielding
Yield and you will overcome
What does that mean
Let go
and you will receive the unexpected
Stop controlling yourself
and you will relax into alignment
with the unfolding of the Universe
Give freely and you receive happiness
Embrace aging and you will feel younger
Stop grasping and your hungry needs start to loosen their hold on you
When we take on these paradoxes there is an impact in our lives
because we are not busy defending ourselves people start to trust us
because we stop trying to impress others people start to respect us
because we stop competing opposition to us fades away
Is this theory of Yield and You Will Overcome just hogwash
Only one way to find out.
NUMBER TWENTY TWO
That which is incomplete becomes complete.
The crooked becomes straight,
The empty becomes full,
The worn-out becomes new.
He who obtains has little,
He who scatters has much.
That is why the self-controlled man holds to Unity and brings it into manifestation for men.
He looks not at self, therefore he sees clearly;
He asserts not himself, therefore he shines;
He boasts not of self, therefore he has merit;
He glorifies not himself, therefore he endures.
The Master indeed does not strive, yet no one in the world can strive against him.
The words of the Ancients were not empty words:
“That which is incomplete becomes complete.”
Acquire completeness by returning it.
Its Name remains unchanged.
Through its Doorway comes the Universe into existence.
How do I know that the Universe is coming to full perfection through Life?
The witness is in Life itself.
Isabella Mears, The Tao Teh King, A Tentative Translation from the Chinese, William McLellan, Glascow, 1916.
Number 22 (commentary) Whose life is it, anyway?
Trying to live your life, you can miss the whole show. Let it go. Whatever the “it” is.
Your ego is just a ball of contractions trapped in an ongoing conversation with itself. Relax and remember that you are more than that.
Stop grasping and hoarding, like Scrooge McDuck and amazing things start happening around you.
Stop fighting and resisting the inevitable (like old age, sickness and death) and learn to welcome them as the ante you pay to get to play the game.
Practice watching yourself without judgment, especially during those times right after you boast, put someone down, compete, or sell yourself short.
Being imperfect is part of “the human condition.”
Remember, in three generations, no one will know you ever existed.
So, let yourself smile a little. You are naturally good and whole. Sure, you’re a little unskillful at times, but you are naturally good and whole. How could you be anything else?
Stop working on yourself and everyone else, so hard.
It’s not about you. Let life live you.
Tangent and Tool #22, Time Out: (Reflective exercise) You are going to need to learn how to have fun. That seems a high bar to attain if we look at the extinction of entire species, starving climate refugees, increasing nationalism and saber- rattling and the depth of universal suffering that is all around us. All this is true, but if you want to address it as a lifetime calling, that awareness can cripple you with depression and despair unless you can include in your life more than tragedy. You need to know when enough is enough. Be fully present in your work, whether it is species preservation or reeducation about the perils of unrestrained capitalism. But then stop! Have a part of your day that is crisis-free. Set up your calendar right now to block in time that is reserved for enjoyment, relaxation, amusement, good food, good sex and good times. You don’t have to suffer 24/7 in order to care. During your time-outs, don’t look at your newsfeed, email, texts, Linked in, and don’t go to online sites that you know will drag you back into it.
Instead, you do deserve recess. Take it, if you want to survive very long in this battle. We don’t need you if you are burned out to a crisp.