Under an Indiana Sky
 

why can't you hear it...

the beautiful symphony of sound

being played just for you

under this perfect Indiana sky?

 

close your eyes

and listen to the music

that lies like white noise

beneath  your hard working bodies

and  your busy minds.

 

get beyond your toil,

 your  thinking,

and feel the vibration of Life

buzzing in the branches

of the majestic  trees

that stand so protectively around you

 

 

rest  your sleepy heads back

and breathe in 

the chords of living

that are so eloquently strummed

by  the instruments of cicadas

as the  katydids and crickets

 sing in perfect unison

 

hear the wind

whistling so sweetly

 through the

happy tussled heads of corn

that dance and sway

in the endless fields behind you

 

rest in this

like you so deserve to do

 as your envious eastern cousins
hold their breath in awe.

Dale-Lyn August 2019

Calm Abiding

Calm abiding is predominantly stabilizing meditation, in which the mind is kept on a single object...since the mind that is scattered to external objects is relatively powerless, the mind needs to be concentrated in order to be powerful.
-Dalai Lama


I'm back!!! I have so missed coming here everyday but I suppose the break did us all good.

Had a great trip! Met some beautiful people and seen many different things. 

And as we were driving along the many miles/kilometers  we drove along...I was able to bring my mind back again and again to the moment, to the scenery, to the feel of my body in the seat.  I really enjoyed the trip more because we could do that.

Though there was no one single object to settle on...there was so much to see in the beautiful landscape...I did find myself abiding calmly in the here and now of Life....in the moment  (Even when the traffic got real crazy!!!)  I could bring myself back out of thinking and into being in the moment.

Hoping that is getting easier for you to do as well.


It is all good.

Everyone cannot renounce the world and meditate in the mountains.  This is not practical.
Dalai Lama


We all can't go off to the mountains no matter how uncomfortable this transition can  be.  Settle in to the  discomfort, accept it, embrace it and know that like all things it doesn't last forever. We will get there.

Going away for a week...(and no...not to the mountains lol) ...may or may not be able to write but I will try.

All is well

I didn't hear a click with that one. lol. Nor did I expect to after thirty minutes of writing and spending most of that thirty finding words that rhyme with the  last word of the line above it lol.  (That is the trouble with rhyme schemes....unless one is an expert at the craft...which I am not...rhyming can become the priority over meter, rhythm and poetic description.  The poem can lose a lot of its flow if one is not careful.)

The message, however, was inspired and meant to be placed upon the page.  There was truth to that...including the fact that I feel so darned vulnerable and confused especially in social situations.  Without my roles and this false sense of "me" I really do not know how to maneuver around the crowds and the circumstances in front of me.  It is a little nerve wracking. And , at the same time, it is all okay. I am finding what I truly need and want.

All good.

Off the Stage

I stand here shivering, alone  and at the brink of tears,
my flimsy defenses crumbling under all my many  fears.
I look about the world  ahead and feel so very much afraid.
I glimpse  back at ego's world and wish that I had staid.

I don't know what to do here without my heavy shield
of pretend, of illusion, of images of me that were never real.
Part of me longs to slip back into the dream state of illusion;
to put my "me" mask back on and hide somewhere in that delusion.

I long for armour. Though exhausting, painful and heavy to carry....
it seemed to   protect me from something that I could never bury
beneath the many layers of make belief ego put into my mind
in hope that truth would be something I would never find.

Yet determined to be heard, Truth called out to me in the way it always does,
 with a soft  whisper, a compelling  song, a warm and happy buzz.
But   I didn't listen, so content was I, to strut for glory upon the stage.
Lost in my role of "heroine", of "villain" and of "victim" , I ignored Life's only sage.

So  Truth  called out again,  removing from me the things I thought were "mine":
 props, applause, and the starring role by which my character was defined.
As the curtains close behind me and the costumes of dream  carried away,
I stand naked and exposed as the person, not the actor, to the light of day.

Here I am with weepy eyes and trembling limbs, looking out at all of you
who sit in chairs of judgment, watching, and  doing what people do.
And  you become my mirror.  I see my reflection in your eyes.
I am you.  You are me. There is no more need for our habit of disguise.

Suddenly I see how lost  I was, how asleep I was, for so very long
in my ego's need for your approval and its desperate need to belong.
 I put away my script and story, my  roles and my crazy thinking mind
and I step off the stage into the peace  Truth was wanting us to find.

Dale-Lyn August 2019

Great poems end with a click of a well made box.
William Butler Yeats (Well it is debated if he said that exactly like that :))

Hmmm! Sometimes I hear a click...and many times I don't. 

The word "great" in writing is a very subjective thing and it doesn't mean that what was created was"publishable" or loved by the masses.  I believe it is more about resonating a certain truth...telling a story about what is "real" beyond the obvious.....touching a core inside, even if that thing touched is only inside the writer itself.  It touches the core of humanity ...somehow....reminding us of who we are.

I am not saying my poems are "great".  I am not saying my poems are "awful".  I am okay with "mediocre"...especially in the poetry.  I have learned not to judge them because I really, really do not think I have much to do with it at all. 

When it comes to poetry, I just sit with an urge and allow whatever is meant to come out... come out. It is not mine...so if it "sucks" according to others, I am okay with it.  I will feel "good" about it when I read it back after it was written and say, "Yes! that does speak a certain truth I was not completely aware of."  That's all.

So I do not put my poems up here, as imperfect as they are, to be critiqued or exalted...I put them up because this blog is about truth and so is poetry. I hear a click maybe that others will never hear and that is okay.

All is well

[Writing is]waiting on the edge of attention for a voice to appear...it is one continuous non-stop meditation.
Stephen Mitchell

Time, this morning

Good morning world

 

Good morning melody....
being swept so softly
across my awakening gray matter

Soothing,
coaching me to wake up
to beauty and life’s lovely
and simple offerings

Like laughter form a child
or the purring of a kitten
it makes me smile

And my day begins
with lips that tease of a light heart
as I sway back and forth

To the magic of your guitar

 

Good morning solitude
that wraps its arm around me
and leads me here to this

Quiet place
of soulful reflection and stillness

That sits me down
and perches on the end of my chair

Gesturing me forward
as I close my eyes and move my fingers

across the key board
in rhythm with the music
being played around me

and I play
my own music
in honour of you.

 

Good morning earth
that grows
and dances
and sings
outside my little window

Entertaining,
displaying,
 teaching
and healing me
in ways I can not yet understand

Stitching up the holes
in my heart
as I smile along to the life

That jumps and skips
out there …
pulling me into t
he emerging beauty

Telling me
I am a part of it…
that we are one

And I reach out to You

 

Dale-Lyn

 

Man...I wrote that awhile ago.  I  forget exactly when...though I do have my original somewhere.  I am afraid to find it because I am afraid it is going to show that I wrote it like ten years ago.   It always shocks me to see how much time I am missing. I  find that big gaps of time are slipping from me.  I think I wrote something like last year and find out it was years ago.  People say this is normal as you age...time seems to go by fast.

 

Time is not doing anything, is it,  because time is just something our minds have made up?  Does it really matter if I wrote it a year ago or maybe ten? The passage of time is just a belief I have that takes me from this morning and this now.

 

The only aspect of time that is eternal is now. ACIM-T-5:III:6:5

 

You have elected to be in time rather than eternity, and therefore believe you are in time. ACIM-T-5:VI:1:4

 

All is well.



Flashlight

In a sense we are enlightened from the very beginning, endowed with a completely good basic mind.
Dalai Lama

So we have a pretty good mind?  The problem, I suppose, is what we do with that good mind. 

I imagine being given a wonderful flashlight  by which we can see everything clearly.  We lift it up to the world around us and we see all that we are meant to see. We turn it inward and we  see even more.  Everything is so bright, so warm, so beautiful!

The Flashlight

This flashlight  is simply a tool  we have been given to make our  way through this world. It works perfectly at the time of issue!  We are  told if we hold it in the right way, if we clean it off when we are supposed to and if we take good care of it...it will serve us very well throughout our time here.  We will constantly be able to see the joy and beauty that exists around us. We will see all, including Self, as it  truly is.

Hmmm!  The problem is many of us have not followed those instructions and have not cared for our amazing flashlights. 

Lazy Hold

We get lazy and allow our arms to drop to the earth so we only see the "earth" or earthly things.   The effort to lift this light  up so it shines inside or up into the heavens becomes too much...so we happily focus on the bit of earth this lazy grasp provides. The amount of distance we can see ahead  and around us is very limited with this hold.  We tend to see only what is immediately around our bodies and we begin to believe that is all there is to this world, this Life.

Dim View

We also do not clean it off like we are supposed to...Most of our flashlights are covered with a thin or thick veil of worldly dust and grim so it does not shine brightly.  In fact , the view it provides becomes so dim  the world around us begins to look a bit dark and scary.  When we  do look at something with this dim light it is distorted and we cannot see clearly what it is. We are often so sure it is something that will harm us. 

We do what we can to protect ourselves from whatever lurks up ahead beyond our limited perspective. .  We look to something "out there" that  we can't see to save us. Ego, liking this dim view we have,  hides up in the shadows and it keeps calling out to us. It  keeps guiding us into something better that it promises is up ahead.  We follow blindly, never finding what it says we will find.

A Lack of Care

We also don't take care of this light, this tool that was meant to serve us.    It stops working the way it was meant to because we didn't maintain it.  It short wires at times or even burns out. It becomes temperamental and we become  afraid. we  will lose the little light it offers.  We put all of our energy into protecting and preserving this small amount of unpredictable light our flashlights now offer.  We in a sense...become slaves to it,  used by it,  instead of using it as the instrument it was meant to be.

The Mind is Our Flashlight

Hmm! Isn't that what we do with these minds? We don't point them in the right direction and become limited by our perceptions.  We allow our "mental modifications" to form a veil over them so everything becomes distorted.  Our views are distorted and limited and we become afraid.  We don't take care of them.  We are not careful with what we put in them filling them with junk that will harm them and they appear to short wire and burn out.  We become even more afraid of losing the bit of light they offer us. We allow our "monkey minds" to eventually run the show.

Not Too Late!

It's not too late.  We can  reclaim, clean up and recharge these minds.  We can make them the wonderful tools they are meant to be. We just need to  hold  them...gently... in stillness and quiet while we point them inward.  We just need to recognize the veil of ego over them and smoothly  wipe it off.  We just need to plug them back into the right charger...the right energy Source...the Source of all Life.

We need to see once again that our minds are simply tools meant to serve us and we need not become servants to them or to ego.

It's all good.

Making Decisions

Life will give you everything you need to go deeper.  A decision will be made. If you act, the worst that can happen is a story.  If you don't, the worst that can happen is a story.    It makes its own decisions-when to eat, when to sleep, when to act.  It just moves along on its own.  And it's very calm and entirely successful.
 Byron Katie( Loving What Is , page 196)

Hmmm! What do you think about that?  Do you think it is you or Life that makes all the decisions for you?

I believe that most of us believe that our lives are all about making decisions and that we are responsible for them.  Heck...that is what I teach...be responsible for your choices. Decisions are important, right?  We need to make decisions and we need to choose correctly?  Right?

Byron Katie, in Loving What Is, would ask "Is that true?  Do you know for sure that is true?" 

Do we really always have to make decisions?  Do we really have to choose?

"Have to" and "should" are words that would get worked to death through this "inquiry" she teaches. The point is...there is nothing we "should" do and there is nothing we "have" to do. So even the  decision to brush our teeth or not ...is something we don't have to make.  We do not have decide?  We just act or we don't.

Hmmm... according to Katie...we just have to brush our teeth or not brush our teeth without thinking about it.  The decision about brushing my teeth is not the problem.    The problem is the story we tell ourselves about it.

I may have this inner urge  to   brush my teeth.  That urge is not a problem in itself nor is a decision required.  I could simply follow that inner urge and go brush my teeth.  Yet, if I stopped and put my finger to my chin and said, "Hmmm! Do I really need to brush my teeth?  I just brushed them this morning. If I decide to brush them I will have to go all the way inside the house and into the bathroom.  That will take another five minutes and I am already late.  If I am late again, my boss is going to get so mad.  Things are crazy at the office and people are getting fired left and right. I can't afford to get fired!!" 

So I don't brush my teeth and go off to work.   Then on my way to work, I remember my last dentist appointment and the warning I received from the hygienist about a cavity that is starting.  I imagine the cavity growing...and me losing that tooth and  all my other teeth falling out of alignment with the removal of that tooth. I wonder what people will say and my lack of attractiveness. I fear I will never attract a mate and be alone for the rest of my life.

The decision to brush the teeth was not the problem. It was made...Life gave me an urge to brush them. I either acted or I didn't; I either brushed them or I didn't.  The problem arises not in the decision but in  the story we create around it...in the thinking about it .  We get lost in mind stuff rather than in  simply acting in the moment.  We get stressed out before we make the decision and stressed out after wards.  It is all so unnecessary. I could have simply responded to the urge(Life making a decision)  and brushed them. 

Life doesn't get hung up on decisions...it just does.  It just flows and goes along its merry old way inside these bodies we are in and these minds we are using.  No big deal. Whether or not we act on the decisions or urges it offers us, is none of its concern.  The only problem with it ...is what we create in our minds.

And it doesn't matter if we are making decisions about brushing our teeth or getting married....about investing in the stock market or whether or not to continue with life saving measures.   Life just does and flows along.  Our stories are the problem...not decisions.  We really do not need to decide...Life will decide for us.   And we will hear it...if we are not so lost in our stories that we lose contact with it. From there we will act or not act...and it doesn't matter to life if we do or don't.  It just keeps chugging along.

That simple.  Hmmm...something to think about.

All is well in my world.


Byron Katie (2002) Loving What Is. New York: Three Rivers Press

Verse 64 of the Tao

Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Lao Tzu (according to Stephen Mitchell's translation)


I am going to go back to verse 64 of the Tao.  It seems to be speaking to me now though some Life circumstances. I will  compare Legge's translation with another's...maybe Stephen Mitchell (being that I am rereading his wife's book right now.  :)

Legge's translation:

64

That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing
has given indications of its presence, it is easy to take measures
against it; that which is brittle is easily broken; that which is very
small is easily dispersed. Action should be taken before a thing has
made its appearance; order should be secured before disorder has
begun.

The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the
tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey
of a thousand li commenced with a single step.

He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes hold
of a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not act
(so), and therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and
therefore does not lose his bold. (But) people in their conduct of
affairs are constantly ruining them when they are on the eve of
success. If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the
beginning, they would not so ruin them.

Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does
not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not
learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by.
Thus he helps the natural development of all things, 

and does not dareto act (with an ulterior purpose of his own).

 

from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm

 

 

 

Stephen Mitchell's Translation

 

64 
What is rooted is easy to nourish. 
What is recent is easy to correct. 
What is brittle is easy to break. 
What is small is easy to scatter.
Prevent trouble before it arises.
 Put things in order before they exist. 
The giant pine tree grows from a tiny sprout. 
The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet.
Rushing into action, you fail. 
Trying to grasp things, you lose them. 
Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course. 
He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. 
He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose. 
What he desires is non-desire; what he learns is to unlearn. 
He simply reminds people of who they have always been. 
He cares about nothing but the Tao. Thus he can care for all things.

 

from:  https://terebess.hu/english/tao/mitchell.html#Kap64







 

 



The second translation is much easier to grasp but how will we ever know which one is most accurate unless we can read the original text and understand the language and cultural connotation it was written in? I can't do that...can you? This is an example of how translations differ and can imply different things unintentionally to readers. So though I spent the last few months reading Legge's translation I think I prefer the latter.  So much easier to understand. I will try to find the common ground between the two.

 

So what was Lao Tzu getting at, according to these translations?

 

• It is much easier to grasp something, feed something and allow it to grow if it is rooted, grounded and stable.  That makes sense doesn't it?  If something like a young child is moving all around how would you even hold it, let alone nourish it?  Our minds are hard to control, feed when they are scattered and constantly moving (monkey minds).  If they are rooted and grounded and at rest...dealing with them will be so much easier.
• Before a "problem" becomes too big it should be fixed and dealt with.  We should be proactive rather than reactive.  We should deal with things "right away" and not let them build up into bigger issues.
• "That which is brittle is easily broken" and " What is brittle is easy to break"....so be mindful of the fragile, the "weaker" points within ourselves and others  and do not put unnecessary stress or weight  upon them.
•  What is small is easy to scatter...the less we have the easier it will be to spread in this world?  I am not sure if Lao Tzu is saying that it is best to keep things small so we can get rid of them easier or to reduce what we have so we have less problems to deal with in the long run?
• We should be proactive according to Mitchell's translation  and prevent trouble before trouble even arises...and Legge speaks of taking action  before a thing makes its appearance...same thing, I guess.
• Both say to put things in order but Legge says "before disorder has begun" and Mitchell says "before it exists".  We could be talking two different things here.  Legge is referring specifically to the prevention of disorder in the physical realm  and Mitchell may be speaking to the idea that we need to keep order in our minds so that disorder doesn't manifest into form around us.?
• All great and "wide trunked" trees come from the smallest sprout.  Large and great things grow from small things...Remember...we start small in order to be great. Legge adds that a large tower begins with the foundation of "a heap of earth."
• The famous line: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step which is more accurately expressed in Legge's translation can be compared to Mitchell's...starts from beneath your feet.  This could have a different type of meaning: It is necessary to be rooted to the earth before we move forward?  It is something greater than us that helps us to move forward...something beyond us ( heaven and earth) moves us?
• The next bit confuses me.  According to Legge's translation, Lao Tzu says that to act does harm...Legge adds in parenthesis...(meaning that it was his interpretation and not actually said by Lao Tzu) ...that action with ulterior motives is what causes harm.  Mitchell says that someone who rushes into action will fail.  Totally different meanings.  What I see is that maybe Lao Tzu was simply saying be careful about action...it is not always necessary and can do more harm than good.  
• He who takes hold of a thing, tries to grasp them and cling will lose them.  Again Legge refers to ulterior purpose which Legge doesn't.  Again...I simply see the spiritual principle of not striving and not clinging and non attachment reflected in this passage.
• Mitchell speaks of "forcing a project to completion" and states that doing so  will lead us to ruin what was almost ripe.  We cannot force things to be anything but what they are...nature, life, circumstance will grow, develop and evolve in their own time, own rate and  own way.  Struggling against this fact...and using force and control will only ruin and harm.
• The Master and the Sage then do not force or control...they do not act even or attempt to grasp and cling...they let things "be" as they are and in so doing they do not harm and they do not lose.
• People,  according to Legge's translation, are constantly "failing" and ruining what they set out to achieve before completion because they are not as careful at the end of their endeavor as they were at the beginning.  Maybe they are rushing to finish? Mitchell says that a successful master remains as calm at the end as he did in the beginning.
• The truly wise person is different from others...from most. He desires different things.  He does not desire material wealth and success.  He has nothing and therefore has nothing to lose. He does not seek after prizes that are difficult to get. What he desires is "non-desire," according to Mitchell...referring unintentionally  to the Buddhist teachings of non-desire?
• He learns what other men do not learn.  Mitchell explains that what he learns is to unlearn.  He steps away from learning "concepts" and puts aside old established learning to truly discover  what is real and important.
• He goes back to what most men overlook and pass by...the truth of who we really are. He reminds people of who they have always been.
• By doing this...he acts in the way of the Tao...of Spirit and of Self...and not for the motivations of the ego or little "me." The way is everything and by that spiritual vision he cares about everything and is able to truly help in the development of all things...in the evolution of consciousness maybe?

Well that is how I see it in my own life anyway.  All is well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Balanced and Skillful Approach to Life

A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday existence.
-Dalai Lama

Hmm!  Do you believe Life is serendipitous...presenting things that appear to be mere coincidence again and again for a greater reason we may never understand? 

 My days have been so weird lately...I go from getting a lot done in a day to doing absolutely nothing.  My surroundings at one moment seem to be very well controlled and completely chaotic the next. There seems to be extreme peace some moments ...followed by extreme stress.  I seem to be completely oblivious to anything but the happiness in others one day followed by becoming acutely aware of how "everyone" around me  seems to be depressed, anxious, addicted the next. Circumstances seem to be very much in my favour one week...and then  I seem to be punished by the universe the next.  Up and down I go from one extreme to the other.  It feels weird. So...I was pondering what my role in all this was and what "extreme" changes I may need to make yesterday.

I didn't get a chance because of that  to read my calendar's quote for yesterday.  So I read it this morning and thought, "Well isn't that serendipity?"

You see yesterday I felt  so compelled to do eight more verses of the Tao. As I was reading through them  I got a little hung up on Verse 59...see for yourself.  I wasn't sure if I got it?  Then today I read the above quote and am awed by the fact that the Dalai Lama's words coincide with Lao Tzu's at the exact time I am pondering this very thing in my own life.

I truly do not know how to live this life now that I am awakening.  I thought I knew how to do it before...I thought I had it all planned and mapped out for me and my loved ones...and now I haven't a clue.  I do know Life is going to do the changing for me...I just have to learn to walk between these extremes both mentally and physically. I don't need to make changes...I just need to change the way I think about what I see and believe to be true.  I got this!!!

All is well in my world.

 A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao Tzu

 

More Tao Te Ching

Chapter/Verse 59

 

Moderation is an important factor in regulating our human tendencies and in doing spiritual things: “rendering the (proper) service to the heavenly” . It is only by moderation that man can return to a normal state of being.  Every return is what Lao Tzu calls “the repeated accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao)”.  To me this means…that the more we return home to the spiritual state which is our natural state of being and the sooner we can do it “early” …the more Tao like…the more true we become.

 

The more Tao like we become…the more “spiritually centered” …the better we are able to control the obstacles that get in our way.  Though it is not mentioned as such here…I immediately think that these obstacles are our “mental modifications…our “mind stuff”…our thinking that creates a veil between us and true awareness. We have no idea what the limits are to the way we can control our minds? …these obstacles…but not knowing makes us “ruler of a state”.  That state, I assume, is our own human condition.

 

He who possesses the “mother of the state”, which I assume is the way,  will continue long. This Tao like nature makes him like the plant which has deep roots and a strong stalk…and this assures that “its enduring life”…its eternal nature will long be seen.

My Take: Do everything in moderation including our human tendencies and our spiritual ones. Avoid extremes, especially in our striving, doing, wanting, preferring and our "Seeking"...even if it is spiritual seeking.  Just be present and in the way. The obstacles that stand in the way of our being spiritual will slip away.

---

Chapter/Verse 60

Governing a great state is like cooking small fish.

For good energy (that which doesn’t hurt others)…even that that is left behind by the departed…the kingdom has to be governed by the Tao. When neither this energy nor the energy of ruling sage provokes injury on others…the two energies converge in the goodness of the Tao.

My Take: The energy of the other realm and the energy of the leaders in the world , if benevolent, will come together in the Tao to make the world a better place.

 

---

Chapter/Verse 61

What makes a great state is its being (like) a low-lying, down-
flowing (stream);--it becomes the centre to which tend (all the small
states) under heaven.

As an example to further illustrate this point Lao Tzu uses the stillness of the female to explain how that stillness overcomes the male.  Stillness is like a basement which gains adherents and gains favors at the same time. A great state only wishes to unite men together and nourish them. And a smaller state only wishes to be welcomed and to serve the other. Both the lower and the higher get what they want but the great state must learn to “abase itself”…concede to the little state.

 

My Take: Don't try to be greater than or to overpower...it is the less threatening, still presence that nourishes people and draws them to it.

Chapter/Verse 62

Tao has of all things the most honoured place.
No treasures give good men so rich a grace;
Bad men it guards, and doth their ill efface.

 

The Tao is the greatest thing men can have.  It is the greatest gift for good men and it wishes no ill on bad men. It can make men honorable and above others.  Even bad men are not left out of its grace.

One lesson of the Tao is greater than any high ranking position a leader can receive.  It is the most valuable thing under heaven because it can be attained merely by seeking it and it removes the stain of guilt from the guilty.


My Take: Presence, spirituality...even a step towards it through a lesson,  is the greatest gift and the greatest success a person can achieve.

---

Chapter/Verse 63

(It is the way of the Tao) to act without (thinking of) acting;
to conduct affairs without (feeling the) trouble of them; to taste
without discerning any flavour; to consider what is small as great,
and a few as many; and to recompense injury with kindness.

It is the way of the Tao to act without needing to narrate and think through the action; to conduct all affairs with ease; to avoid judging or discerning , or deciding on preferences; and to  kindly forgive all wrong doings.

The one who can master the Tao does the greatest of things even through the smallest acts because he realizes that great things come from small and difficult things were once easy.  The sage sees difficulty in what is easy and therefore has no difficulty.  (Does not expect or assume things should be a certain way?)


My Take: The way, the Tao, the spiritual path, presence... is a natural state of being and doing that exists beneath thinking about it, getting caught up in emotional drama, judging, preferring, creating opposites in our mind etc.  One can do amazing things once they return to this level of being.

 

Chapter/Verse 64

Problems should be solved before they become problems.  Don’t wait for things to get bad before you act.

Each thing begins with one small step.  This is where the big line from Lao Tzu comes in …”A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
 We should be like the sage and not act or attempt to cling and hold onto something with an ulterior purpose because it causes harm and we will lose what we attempt to hold if we do.

Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does
not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not
learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by.

The wise man does not want things other men want.  He wants different things and does not get lost in competition for these prizes normal men seek.  He does not act for “selfish” or greedy purposes.

My Take: Don't procrastinate and put off things.  They will just get big....and even when the task before you seems too large...begin anyway...with one step.  A spiritually wise person wants different things than others do.  He does not compete for egoic prizes and does not do good for ulterior ego reasons. He is guided by Spirit or the Tao.

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Chapter/Verse 65

The ancient masters of the Tao did not seek to teach others to enlighten them but to make them simple and ignorant.

It is difficult to lead others who have “much knowledge”.  It is best to have little “knowledge”…it is a blessing.

“The mysterious excellence of a governor “ arises from knowing this truth.

My Take: The best way to lead, the best way to be is without "knowledge" which belongs to the conceptual mind.  A true spiritual teacher does not seek to provide more knowledge but attempts to remove what one thinks they know. Ignorance is bliss.

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Chapter/Verse 66

A true sage, in order to lead and be above men, will put himself below men and in order to be before them puts himself behind them.  He is like the sea below the level of valleys and streams.  This way men do not feel over powered by their leader or harmed.

He does not “strive” so others under him do not feel the need to “strive”.
Therefore all in the world delight to exalt him and do not weary of
him. Because he does not strive, no one finds it possible to strive
with him.

My Take: A true leader and/or wise master will not seek to be "superior" to others but will put themselves below men.  He does not strive so others are not "threatened" and are  drawn to the leader's peaceful, nourishing presence.

NOTE: Take what I write here with a grain of salt.  I read the chosen translation ( which I am not all that fond of by the way :)) quickly and jot down my interpretation of that.  I could be missing the point. so it is best that you read these wise words yourself from your own chosen translation.  I am no expert ...just a learner.

All is well

 

James Legge (1895) Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm

 

Don't Close!

Wisdom...Yoga...spirituality is about going deeper...it is about taking down the blinds and being open to what is...being filled of joy inside and sharing it outside. It is not about getting what you want. It is about learning to find out that what you really want is to stay open and not have conditions on that openness.

Michael Singer (from "What do you Really Want?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73-2PggJJW0

Basically what we need to learn is to "not close" so we stay open to the peace, joy and love within. Instead of trying to determine what it is that we want...and seeking only that...closing our minds and hearts to anything else...we stay open...we are at the core of spirituality. 

"I am not going to let the outside world close me."

We just practice not listening to ego and resist  going after all it says to go after; or fighting off what it tells us we don't want...we just accept all that is at is. We honor what is, appreciate it...enjoy it.  That is spirituality!

All is well in my world.