CHANGE Your THOUGHTS – Change YOUR Life
Living the Wisdom of the Tao
94-98
20th Verse
Bynner translation
Leave off fine learning! End the nuisance
Of saying yes to this and perhaps to that.
Distinctions of how little difference!
Categorical this, categorical that,
What slightest use are they!
If one mans leads another must follow,
How silly that is and how false!
Yet conventional men lead an easy life
With all their days feast days,
A constant spring visit to the Tall Tower,
While I am a simpleton, a do- nothing,
Not big enough to raise a hand,
Not grown enough to smile,
A homeless worthless waif.
Men of the world have a surplus of goods,
While I am left out owning nothing.
What a booby I must be
Not to know my way around,
What a fool!
The average man is so crisp and confident
That I ought to be miserable
Going on and on like the sea,
Drifting nowhere.
All these people are making their mark in the world,
While I, pig-headed, awkward,
Different from the rest,
Am only a glorious infant still nursing at the breast
Living Without Striving
In this verse you’re encouraged to experience life free of striving.
-Slow down demands for more, relax efforts to be somewhere else.
-As Ram Dass said, Be Here Now.
Be in your mind and body, with appreciation, not longing.
-Let go of wondering about doing the right thing, release what-ifs.
-Replace your goals for the future with being immersed in the “now.”
Accomplish being here now by surrendering to the all creating , nourishing Mother, Tao.
-Give up beliefs in lacks and shortages, trust the Tao to provide all you need.
Lao-Tzu emphasized that this wasn’t a socially acceptable standard even 2500 years ago, as he refers to himself as an outsider unlike most people.
-Striving was considered proper as it is today
-He admits he is drifting with an ironic tone that says “no one really knows where they are in this universe, why not admit it and move with the Tao?”
Simplify life by not seeking another thing, even though others may judge you as unmotivated and call you ignoramus.
-Your reward is a sense of peace from knowing that you are always provided for.
-You trade striving for arriving.
The narrator is saying, “I accept what is offered.”
-You can change how you look at striving & have contentment without anxiety & fear.
Your mind urges you to strive in spite of the all-providing Tao.
-Lao-Tzu urges the opposite: stay outside the rat race and let your mindbe at peace, instead of worrying and fighting.
Take sustenance from the great Mother, the Tao.
Practice letting go of thoughts about what’s not here now.
Here is a mind exercise to put you I touch with the Tao. Affirm:
It is all perfect. God’s love is everywhere and forgets no one. I trust in this force to guide me, and I am not allowing ego to enter now.
“ Don’t worry, be happy!”
Take time to “let go and let God,” every single day.
Letting go is a markedly distinct physical and psychological experience than striving.
-Let go of your demands, along with your beliefs that you can’t be happy because of what is supposedly missing from your life
-The change you want to see is being okay without what you think you need.
Do the Tao Now
Begin to notice when you’re not in the moment because you’re striving to complete or attain something for future benefit, when you will have time to do what you really want to do.
-This is one of the ways we prevent a life free from striving.
Do the Tao now by accepting what is offered - know that this situation, in some way that your striving ego rejects, is actually sustenance from the great Mother, the Tao.