Taoism and Lao Tzu
I think one of the things we’re here to learn is to stay within the talents we’re meant to perfect and pursue what truly fits us. It’s about not trying to be someone we’re not meant to be or forcing ourselves into roles that don’t match our abilities until they somehow feel right.
Imagine those who went to college or university, only to leave with huge debt and a degree that doesn’t suit them. I often told my students in China that most people have no idea who they really are or what their true talents naturally lean toward until they’re thirty… if ever. By then many feel it’s too late to change.
Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching teach us that above all, we need to embrace change. We often see people boasting about things they’re not particularly good at or showing off in ways that don’t match their true talents, where their skills don’t really stand out. In the end, those who spend too much time praising their own work usually don’t stick around for long.
The Taoist sage, Li Hsi-chai who was a Taoist master and practitioner of Taoist yoga and scholar in 1167 whose commentary extended Lao Tzu’s teachings to both the state and individuals, says:
“Those who cultivate the Tao yet still think about themselves are like people who overeat or overwork. Food should satisfy hunger. Work should suit the task. Those who keep to the Way do only what is natural.”
Lao Tzu tells us that in the Way, such things are called “surplus food and redundant action.” We learn that we should avoid what we dislike. Another example is Sung Ch’ang-Hsing (1662-1722), who was a Taoist master and seventh patriarch of the Dragon Gate sect of the Golden Lotus lineage. Over the centuries his commentary of the Tao Te Ching became essential to its interpretation. Sometimes when I am beginning meditation, I remember his words:
“Selfless and free of desire is the mind of the sage. Conniving and clever is the mind of the common man. Watching himself, displaying himself, flattering himself, parading himself, he thus hastens his end, like someone who eats too much.” The sage strives to perfect within who he has always been and goes gladly with the results.
Before we go on with Verse number 24 of 81, it’s worth noting that the title of the book we’re adding commentary to—Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching—is my own version, titled “Thoughts on Becoming a Sage: The Guidebook to Leading a Virtuous Life”. It’s important to note that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching in the sixth century BC, while I wrote mine in May and June of 2000 and published it in China in 2006.
Verse 24 – Staying within my own Gait
Learning to shun those things not in keeping with the proper way. Oh, the challenges and paradox life comes forth to greet me each day. As if life’s indulgences and excesses are extremely happy to continually get in my way and obscure my true path and identity.
Staying within the confines of who I am yet to become. Not standing on tiptoes to see over others or walking faster than my own natural gait. To act as if life’s reflections are translucent and bringing attention to your actions is alien from what motivates you.
“He who watches himself does not appear, he who displays himself does not flourish, he who flatters himself achieves nothing and he who parades himself does not lead”.
As you recall that the mind of the sage remains free of desire and selfless, you are reminded that those who cultivate the Tao yet think about themselves are like people who overeat or over work.
Food is to satisfy hunger; work should suit the task. Ultimately the way of heaven does not depend on offerings or prayers. It is simply who follows the Tao will live long Remember it is as Lao Tzu says and those who lose their way do not.
第2４节 与女神同在
学会回避那些违背道的事。呵，每天的生活充满挑战和矛盾。生活的耽溺和奢华不断挡我的路，
堵塞我的真道和蒙蔽我的真实自身。
坚守在我既定的目标范围内，不可踮着脚来看人，不可走在我的自然女神前面。你的言行仿如生命的影像那样清澈透明，招人注目的行为举止与道的精神是格格不入的。
老子说， “不自见，故明；不自是，故彰；不自伐，故有功；不自矜，故长”。
正如你所知道的，圣人没有欲望和私利。要牢记，修道的人如果光想着自己的话，就如同吃的太饱或劳累过度的人。
食物是用来充饥的，工作为了完成任务。天道最终不依赖它的子孙和祈祷者。信道的人会长寿，迷失了道的人则不然。
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