Taoism and Lao Tzu
To be likened to the sage of antiquity, to the sage of old. To look inward to self-preservation of actions depicted by others as you are seen only as embracing simplicity, stilling your mind, and dissolving desires. Looking to the origin of all things that will illuminate things to weed out what is not in keeping with the Tao. We are to help to bring clarity that defines purpose and to restore his original intent.
Still, you look to remedies that uncover those things that nature abhors that lights the Way. To keep alive the continuity between spirit, nature, and the human experience. That what moves through a lifetime is not the whole of who we are. That we are always home as spirit.
Lao Tzu tells us that “The Way of Heaven is like stringing a bow pulling down the high as the sage is seen lifting the low. Shortening the long and lengthening the short. The high it presses down and the low it raises up. From those with a surplus it takes away; to those without enough it adds on.”
Often, we find that because the words of Lao Tzu are so profound it’s easy to say that such greatness can’t reside in just one person. Many so called scholars have dismissed the eternal teachings to be too profound to be credited to one person. That too much remains unknown to give such credit, but that remains the strength of it. Clarity and vision come with the times.
What was unknown yesterday becomes known today and can be revised and seen more clearly tomorrow. The ultimate strength of Lao Tzu’s writing is the clarity of his own vision that we can see now that this writing was not the compilation of a number of people, but the wisdom of one man – Lao Tzu.
History is not singular events that happen on their own, but the meshing of events that hold up over time. Events can be recounted differently numerous times over hundreds if not thousands of years depending solely on who is telling the story.
The Tao Te Ching chapter/verse seventy-seven Lao Tzu is talking about the Way of Heaven verses the Way of Man. Heaven’s role is to reduce the excessive and increase the insufficient, i.e., take from the long and to supplement the short. Unlike the Way of Man taking from the short to give to the long. When the question should be that we should take from the long and give to the world.
I like the commentary of Lu Hui-ch’ing whose commentary was presented to the emperor who says, “The Way of Heaven does not intentionally pull down the high and lift up the low. It does nothing and relies instead on the nature of things. Things that are high and long cannot avoid being pulled down and shortened. Things that are low and short cannot avoid being lifted up and lengthened. The full suffer loss. The humble experience gain.”
Verse 77 – Letting your enthusiasm open every door
Fortunate again to be born into weakness, we are soon caught up in what may be perceived as making us strong.
Confused into thinking that our strength is needed to help us find our way when just the opposite, our weakness, will bring us victory.
Lieh Tzu, my friend and mentor, tells the world that the path to victory is weakness. As the hard and strong lead people away from the Tao, they do so with great effort.
They refuse to remain still letting events come to them. Convinced that controlling what occurs they will find their direction. Remaining oblivious to what remains effortless may just appear as weakness.
Observing the simple, letting everything play out to its own conclusion, the sage appears soft and seemingly weak. When things become hard and stiff they can only be close to their end. Remaining supple and bending with the wind the soft and weak can stay in tune with life.
Staying within the confines of his own virtue, the sage easily converses with his mentors bringing nothing hard and fast to the table. He confines himself to his humble beginnings letting the Tao lead the way. Letting his enthusiasm remain his signature that softens every encounter he is not bound by things seemingly apparent in the world as he opens every door that finds him.
第77节 让你的热情打开所有的门
幸运的是，我们生下来时非常孱弱，但我们很快就强壮起来。我们错误地认为，我们需要力量来帮助我们发现道。其实恰恰相反，柔弱将给我们带来胜利。
我的朋友和导师列子告诉世人，柔弱是通向胜利之道。因为坚硬和刚强使我们偏离道。
他们拒绝宁静，爱惹事生非。他们深信控制事物的发生能够帮助他们找到方向。他们经常忘记，恪守无为即是柔弱。
认识简朴，让万物自己走向终结。圣人看上去非常柔软和孱弱。万物坚硬之时，正是万物死亡之日。在风中，应保持易弯易曲。柔软和孱弱可与生命共鸣和。
圣人与他的导师轻松地探讨大德，谈话在友善和缓慢中进行。圣人以谦恭为开始，让道在前面开路，让他的热情软化每一个人。圣人不被世间之表象所约束，他打开所有的能够找到他的大门。
Leave a Reply