Thirty-Three
“Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering self needs strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to
perish is to be eternally present.”
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tsu
When I first starting reading the Tao Te Ching it reached out and grabbed
my soul. It touched me in a way not other writing ever has, it inspires a
deep calm that seems transcendent. I found this especially remarkable since
at that point; I recognized I didn't begin to understand what I was reading.
Even more amazing, after studying the Tao for thirty years now and gaining
a much greater understanding, I continue to find new meaning and it still
fills me with a transcendent calm like nothing else.
I will often pick up a copy of the Tao, center my mind on a problem or question in my life and open the book to a random page. The message is there, whatever it is I need to consider will be on the page.
Lao Tsu was a wise man in the ancient Chinese Emperors court. He was a contemporary of Confucius. At that time the custom was for the very old and to leave the country to die in the wilderness. Lao Tsu was doing this when the guard at the gate of the Great Wall recognized him and said that he would not let him leave until he had written down his wisdom, his understanding of the Tao. It is said that recognizing the will of Tao he did just that and so we have the Tao of Lao Tsu.
Forty One
The wise student hears of the Tao and practices it diligently.
The average student hears of the Tao and gives it thought now and again.
The foolish Student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud.
If there were no laughter, the Tao would not be what it is.
The Tao is the one; it is the universal spirit, the one God
While the Tao can take the form of man to interact with us, the Tao is not anthropomorphic created in our image, it is in everything and is everything.
The Tao is moving in a direction, and when we move with it we call that good.
When we move agunist that direction we call that bad and it doesn't feel good.
The Tao and it's direction is obvious in all things to those who can see, to all others it is mysterious, hidden and unknowable,
The wise student opens their eyes and sees early on.
Hence it is Said:
The bright path seems dim;
Going forward seems like retreat;
The easy way seems hard;
The highest Virtue seems empty;
Great purity seems sullied;
A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
The strength of Virtue seems frail;
Real Virtue seems unreal;
The perfect square has no corners;
Great talents ripen late;
The highest notes are hard to hear;
The greatest form has no shape.
The Tao is hidden and without name.
The Tao alone nourishes and brings everything to fulfillment.