When we live with contentment, we are at home wherever we are…
Taoism and Lao Tzu
I’ve often talked about adding new words or exploring their meanings in fresh ways. In many ways, the way we use our vocabulary shapes how we see ourselves and how others see us.
I’m reminded of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching, and how, more than twenty-five hundred years ago, language and words were used to share thoughts and ideas in ways that truly captured their meaning through popular culture.
To write in such a way that others are made to think and say… what does this mean and why does it make me see things differently than before?
It makes sense that those who appreciated his writings would use their own knowledge and insight to offer updated interpretations of accounts once held in awe. In Lao Tzu’s time, the sixth century BC, writing was rudimentary and few people could read.
Stories were shared by commentators and storytellers, who often wondered, “What did he really say, and what did he mean?” Why his writing was often inscribed on stone tablets or bamboo slips so they would be eternal or buried with kings and emperors. Could my own life experiences add a layer of context that honors its origins and Lao Tzu? To offer something that refreshes the words so these ideas can live in the present sense today. I hope so.
For each of us, how do we cultivate a sense of contentment that shapes who we are, leading us toward what Chuang Tzu called “the perfected man or to the pivot that takes us there”. What can we do so that others look to us and say,
“Yes, he knows himself well enough to live as he should. Content with life, he stays home, refusing to let his weaknesses define him and instead turning them into strengths”.
I love the way Lao Tzu expresses the desire for the world to live in such a way that horses are retired to fertile fields, verses when war is in the air the horses are kept at the ready close by so we can quickly defend ourselves. (Remember he lived in the six century BC)
Chapter/Verse forty-six of the Tao Te Ching talks about how the greatest wrong we can commit is chasing after things we desire. Desire often pulls us away from ourselves and feeds a needless ego. Many disasters are self-inflicted simply because we feel that we, or what we have or own, are not enough—often it’s both.
I really enjoy Lu Tung-pin’s commentary, where he suggests that with true understanding and contentment, we can simply leave our horse at home.
He was a leader of the legendary Eight Immortals and authored several Taoist works. The Eight Immortals are considered to be signs of prosperity and longevity, so they are popular themes in ancient and medieval art. Much more on the Eight Immortals later on…
Lu Tung-pin also said, “To know contentment means the Tao prevails. Not to know contentment means the Tao fails. What we know comes from our mind, which Lao Tzu represents as a horse. When we don’t know contentment, it guards the border. When the Tao prevails, we put the whip away”.
This urge to needlessly attain comes from our flaws, from looking outward at how we think the world sees us. Instead of knowing the peace that comes from being content with what already exists within us.
Verse 46 – Prevailing contentment
How can we live within what the Tao teaches us, if we are never content with what the world brings to our doorstep and why should it matter? If we are busy cultivating things instead of ourselves, how can we find our true place in the ten thousand things?
What can the seeds of contentment bring unless controlling our desires comes to the forefront and contentment decides to stay? If we do not remain still, how will we know when the Way comes to find us?
Cultivating the Tao through meditation, thought, appearance, action and deed is the key to the sage’s security. By not seeking things outside himself, he becomes an extension of the Tao.
He is internally guided by the knowledge that no crime is worse than yielding to our desire, no wrong is greater than discontent and no curse greater than getting what you want when you are unprepared for the consequences.
Before showing the Way, the sage must truly know contentment and remain confident with what the Tao teaches and exude that confidence by showing the contentment of being content. When he can do this, others can see the folly of what external desires bring and can begin to find contentment for themselves.
Finding that the Tao has come full circle and begun to prevail in the world, the sage can be on his way.
第46节 知足
如果我们不满足大自然的恩赐，我们如何能够按道的教导那样生活呢？为什么这个问题如此重要？如果我们注重物质生活而不注重自身修养，我们又如何在万物之中找到自己的真正地位呢？除非我们能够节制欲求，心满意足，知足的种子又能够给我们带来什么呢？如果我们不恪守宁
通过沉思，冥想，参与和行动来修炼道是圣人取得安宁的关键所在。恒守内在，不受外界干扰，圣人成为道的延续。对欲求的让步就是最大的犯罪；不知足就是最大的过错；不顾后果的索取就是最大的祸因。他以这些真知灼见作为心灵的指导。
在向众人展示道的真谛之前，圣人必须明白知足的含义，坚信道的教诲和树立知足的信念。当能够做到这一点时，众人就可以看见欲求的愚蠢，并且开始为自己寻找满足。
圣人发现道已经在宇宙漫游了一周，开始闻名于世，他就可以上路了。
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