The TAO TE CHING - VERSE 14

From the translation of Stephen Mitchell’s version, the Tao Te Ching states,

Look, and it can’t be seen. Listen, and it can’t be heard. Reach, and it can’t be grasped. Above, it isn’t bright. Below, it isn’t dark. Seamless, unnamable, it returns to the realm of nothing. Form that includes all forms, image without an image, subtle, beyond all conception. Approach it and there is no beginning; it and there is no end. You can’t know it, but you can be it, at ease in your own life. Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.

Take a tree and trace it back to its origins.  Go back to the sprout, then to the seed and the dirt and the rain.  Now trace back each of these.  The seed comes from another tree, the dirt is decomposed material, and the rain comes from the cloud.  I hope you’ve gotten my drift so that we don’t have to go all the way back to the quarks but I can.  The point I trying to make is that our minds like to simplify our world to the point where we look at the bark and the limbs and the leaves we see tree…but it is so much more than a tree, including all the pieces that make up the tree.  This is what Lao Tzu is talking about in the 14^th verse of the Tao Te Ching.  Nothing is as our mind says it is.  It’s all an illusion.  And it is important to always remember the illusion…especially when we are feeling anxious or fearful or limiting the fullest experience of life.  Remembering that the concept or belief that our mind says is scaring us is actually an illusion too. Sift through the illusion and come to the essence and the wisdom of the universe.

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 13

In this 13th verse of the Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu explores the concept of staying balanced, not getting caught up in hopes and fears, or successes and failures.  In Stephen Mitchell’s translation he states,

Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance. What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things.

In other words be a lover of what is.  If you are feeling good, enjoy it.  If you are feeling bad, find out why.  If I’m having a stressful moment then it is important for me to find out what is going on that is causing me stress. That is what is meant by loving what is, for what is can help us move back to peace and joy. 

On occasion my stress comes from the outside environment, but the majority of the time it has something to do with my internal dialogue.  Thoughts come and thoughts go and often the ones that are not productive to me will hang around, swirl through my head, and cause me to feel a negative emotion which is usually a response to a fear that has sets off my body’s automatic fight or flight system.  And almost invariably the thought is an old one; a pattern I’ve been dealing with for decades. 

One of my most persistent patterns is my pride.  I tell myself I have to do things “right” or people will think I’m weak or incompetent and won’t want to be around me.  That’s why my inner critic used to have so much power over me.  I would listen to her incessant whining about how I was being stupid, or clumsy, or I was ugly or incompetent which would then cause me to be hyper-vigilant and anxious with anything I was about to do that was not rote or familiar.  Crazy huh, yet exactly what Lao Tzu is talking about in this 13th verse, when he says going up the ladder of success or hope and down the ladder of failure or despair are one and the same. 

If I keep my feet planted on the ground and love what is, I allow these thoughts to come and go in my head and learn from them without attaching an emotion to them.  This in turn this action allows me to enjoy the fruits of life with a peaceful heart and a peaceful mind.   

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 12

I have taken this 12th verse of the Tao Te Ching from Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation.
Colors blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ear. Flavors numb the taste. Thoughts weaken the mind. Desires wither the heart. The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.

Again this verse is an affirmation of what Lao Tzu speaks about over and over again.  Don’t get attached to the outer world, it is not the source of our happiness and over time, if we follow only the senses, we will be overcome by them.  It is in the inner world, from our connection to our Creator, where we will find the purest of joy. 

 When Lao Tzu speaks of “His heart is open as the sky” what he is saying is to imagine the empty sky.  In its vastness it allows the stars, the planets, the suns, the comets, and the tiniest of particles to move through it.  Yet it does not make any of these substances permanent fixtures.  Everything moves. Everything changes.  The sky appreciates what enters its space then allows the substances to move on.

As one who has experienced the death of my parents at a fairly early age (22) I think I began learning this lesson very early in my adult life.  Nothing is permanent.  People come, people go.  Jobs come and jobs go. Houses come and houses go.  Friends come and friends go…and even the ones who stay change and grow and transform into different people over time.

 I think of the child I used to be.  Although there are aspects of her still inside of me I am no longer her.  Thank God!  The child of long ago was filled with so many fears and insecurities.  She was very self-centered and quick to judge and point fingers…both at herself and others.  She had preconceived ideas of the people, both close and distant, she encountered and never gave anyone a chance to prove to her that they were different than who her perspective made them out to be.  But as the years have passed and I have grown and changed and become the person I am today I know that others have grown and changed also and that both they and I will continue to grow and change until the day we die.  So I must pay attention as them come and go so as to understand these new people every time we meet.

I now know that everything outside me is impermanent and even the thoughts and feelings inside me are impermanent.  What is permanent, what I have held onto as my anchor and strength throughout the years, is my Source, the Spirit of God within me, the one who knows my very soul and the truth in my heart.  This Holiest of Spirits guides and strengthens me and keeps me reassured to the fact that no matter what happens around me I will always be safe.  It is through this belief in my anchor that I know, without a doubt, that I am eternal. 

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.
 
Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 11

This week I focus on Wayne Dyer’s interpretation of the 11th verse of the Tao Te Ching.

Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub; it is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.  Shape clay into a vessel; it is the space within that makes it useful.  Carve fine doors and windows, but the room is useful in its emptiness.  The usefulness of what is depends on what is not.


According to Dr. Dyer this verse is about the value of emptiness.  Lao Tzu is asking us to live from the core of who we are, from the void. I interpret the void to be that part of me that is beyond my body.  The part of me that is aware of everything.

In order for me to wrap my arms around what is being said here I have to divide myself into parts.  I am made up of the body, the mind and the spirit.  The body is all the different physical manifestations, as well as the 5 senses and all my emotions (which are actually chemical reactions set in motion by thoughts).  The mind is made up of pure knowledge and the thoughts that categorize that knowledge.  The ego is the part of the mind that has the inner dialogues (sometimes I call it the committee in my head).  It’s the part of me that likes to stir the pot and make things more difficult than they need to be. 

The best part of me is the spirit.  This is the core of me; the part of who I am that is connected to Source.  It is this invisible life force that is eternal.  When I die, people will not look at my inanimate body and say that is me...they will say that I have gone.  But what is it that is gone?  It is that essence, that life force that animated the parts you see as me.  Or as spoken in this 11th verse it is that part of me that fills the center of the hub, that fills the space inside the clay vessel, that makes the room no longer empty.

When I meditate I breathe in and out, concentrating on the motion so that I can touch that center that can’t be seen.  When I am able to step beyond the body and mind, only then can I feel the real me, that which is not the body and mind.  The real me has been hidden deep inside the whole, from years of feeling separate from Source, but it is that which fills the void.


I am reminded of a time when I was in my teens and twenties, when something bad would happened, like a breakup with a boyfriend, or the death of my parents, and that void inside me would ache, so intensely I often thought there was a hole going straight through me.  The pain back then was so intense because I did not realize that inside that void was Source and that if I concentrated on that hole long enough I could touch Source and feel it filling the void. Now, as I have grown older and wiser I no longer feel that hole, nor do I feel the depth of pain I felt back then.  That is because I know that Source is always here inside me, supporting me, filling that void deep within so that I never have to feel that pain of aloneness ever again.

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 10

In week ten of my journey through the Tao I am using Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation. 

Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness? Can you let your body become supple as a newborn child’s? Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light? Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will? Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? Giving birth and nourishing, without possessing, acting with no expectations, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.

What I glean from this message is how, when we come into this world as babies, we are pure love, straight from the Creator. But as we stay in this world we begin to feel the separation from where we came and soon we are no longer supple, our vision is clouded, and judgment rears its ugly head.  Yet the ultimate truth of what we are doing here is to accept the duality of humanity and try to become like the new born baby again.  We must learn to transcend the body and touch the soul, to make peace with both our feminine and masculine natures, to acknowledge the ego then move beyond it to the Tao.  For the Tao is the unconditional love we all long for while the ego is nothing but judgment.  Unfortunately from the moment we are born we are taught to label and then judge...labeling everything as either good or bad.  Yet in reality nothing is good or bad until we put a label on it and judge it. 

So my journey through the Tao this week is to take note of my judgments.  Where do I label something good and something else bad?   Can I move through this world without wanting to possess anything or have an expectation of others?  Wow, no judgment is a heavy order. Wish me luck!

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 9

This week I’m using Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation of the 9th Verse of the Tao Te Ching as the basis of my blog.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

I interpret this verse to mean that if I live in the Tao I know when to stop.  First of all if I am connected to Source I am satisfied no matter how much I have or don’t have.  But even if I’m an expert manifester...which I believe I am...if I stay tuned to my higher Source I know when enough is enough.  I know when to step back and enjoy the serenity of my manifestations.  This concept has always been true for me, whether it be eating, drinking, working, shopping, whatever it is that is going on with me, if I stay aware and connected at the time of the actions I know what is best for me.  A perfect example was last night as I was sitting on my lanai and decided to have a glass of one of my favorite liqueurs.  As I watched the lights and the water below me, I moved into an unintentional meditation, really feeling a strong sense of the Now and a magnificent connection to Source.  All of a sudden I realized I really didn’t want any more liquor, that enough was enough.  So I stopped drinking long before the glass was finished and felt satisfied with where I was at that moment. 

Byron Katie writes about this verse in terms of how “...nothing outside us can give us what we’re really looking for....everything comes and goes.”  I identified with those words because that’s exactly what is going on when I over eat or drink, or I push myself to make more money or buy more things, I’m looking for something outside of me to make me feel better.  Yet nothing outside of me will ever satisfy me nor can everything outside of me be used all at once.  And everything will be gone someday because it will either disintegrate or I’ll die and can’t take it with me. 

I’ve had cravings for food, like ice cream—or anything fried--that when I finally ate it, I realized it really wasn’t as good as my craving for it convinced me it would be.  That is why my most successful attempts to lose weight are always when I stay aware of what I’m eating and how hungry I am.  Then when I get a craving, I ask myself why I want this food, versus mindlessly eating whatever is in front of me.

I have learned over time that it is the ego that wants more and more, not the Tao that is inside me.  So this is a good lesson for me to utilize this week as I have houseguests arriving today, which means we’ll be eating out more, drinking more and imbibing treats I don’t normally eat.  If I stay in awareness and listen to what the Tao wants for me, I can still enjoy the meals, alcohol and treats but will also be aware of when enough is enough.

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 2)

The TAO TE CHING - VERSE 8

Stephen Mitchell's interpretation of the 8th verse of the Tao states, The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

I resonate with this verse because I love water (the name traveling mermaid might give me away). I am more at home in, on, or around water than anywhere else on this planet. So using water as an analogy for the best way to live life makes perfect sense. I like to swim laps several times a week and when I do I find I can clear my head of all the muck my mind & more specifically my ego tries to get me to think about. So in that way, as in many others, water cleanses me. So how appropriate for me when Byron Katie while discussing this verse states, "When the mind is clear, life becomes very simple." A true statement by my book yet how hard it is to clear the mind.

So this week my plan is to let my life flow like water heading downstream. If I should meet any blocks as I flow along my way I shall take the path of least resistence just like water. Doesn't that sound peaceful?

I think I'll even imagine the sound of water as I flow through this week. I don't know anyone who thinks of a flowing stream and doesn't feel like sighing. Maybe I can illicit that same feeling from everyone I come in contact with this week also. What a wonderful service I would be providing everyone I meet if I could make them sigh. Wow, now I'm excited to see if flowing like water can help bring a feeling if peace to all.

Happy sailing everyone.

References:
Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 1)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 7

The public domain book I found out on Kindle about the Tao interprets the 7th verse as:  Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. 2. Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?

Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation is similar.  The Tao is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.

When reading through all the material on the 7th verse the idea that the Tao endures because it puts its own person last caused me a bit of heartburn at first, reminding me of the martyrdom ideas I had listened to as a child growing up in the Catholic religion.  But as I delved deeper I heard another word resonate with me as it did the first time I heard it at an Alanon meeting.  Detachment.

In Alanon, the support group created to help friends and families of alcoholics, they speak of the concept of detachment with love.  They teach the family members of alcoholics to let go of the responsibility for another person’s actions.  When someone grows up with or lives with an alcoholic he or she gets caught up in the notion that they can help the alcoholic get better.  Thus they blur the boundary between themselves and the other person and are constantly trying to change the exterior environment to keep the alcoholic from drinking again.  What I learned as a member of Alanon was how to love my alcoholic but not be responsible for him.  Then I became a counselor and realized this is not a phenomenon earmarked for just the alcoholic family.  So many people have been erroneously taught as children that they are responsible for everyone else’s happiness.   It’s a cultural concept of socialization to be nice and not make waves but in our society we seem to take it further to mean that we have to sacrifice our own happiness in order to help someone become happy.   Yet another truth I learned as a counselor is that I cannot “make” another person happy.  Only they can.  So if I spend all my time and energy trying to figure out what I must do in order to make someone feel better, I’m actually just spinning my wheels.  It was as I grasped the concept of each person having to choose their happiness for themselves that I began to grasp the concept of detachment, not just detachment from other people but from everything outside me.  For it is only by changing my own attitude about everything and everyone that I can truly be happy. 

This is what I believe the Tao is saying here.   In Byron Katie’s interpretation of this verse she wrote, “She is detached from all things in the sense that when they come, that’s what she wants, and when they go, that’s what she wants. It’s all fine with her. She is in love with it as it comes and goes.”  What an incredible concept this is.  Instead of me trying to figure out what I want, I just wait to see what comes and change my attitude to be grateful and happy for what is.  That is true detachment.  It reminds me of how Jesus kept saying he was not “of the world.”  That is what true detachment with love is all about.  In this time space reality we have learned to attach to people and things as if who we are is the most important thing in life.  Yet true happiness, at least for me, has come when I realized that nothing in this world is more important than my connection to Source, who is not “of this world.”  I know this sounds circular and yet in a way it’s not.  The truth for me is that when I step outside this illusion and remember that I am a spiritual being having a human experience then the only way to happiness is to live in the illusion yet be detached from the illusion.

So here is my quest for the week.  To step outside the illusion as much as my awareness allows me and remember that although I can enjoy everything and everyone in my life I don’t have to become defined by it, nor will I be destroyed if the possessions or the persons disappear tomorrow.  This task is much easier said than done.  But as with the Tao, if I can master just being a “witness to life,” I will endure.

Happy detachment everyone!

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching. Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics. Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are. Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 1)

THE TAO TE CHING - VERSE 6

“The spirit that never dies is called the mysterious feminine.  Although she becomes the whole universe, her immaculate purity is never lost.  Although she assumes countless forms, her true identity remains intact.  The gateway to the mysterious female is called the root of creation.  Listen to her voice, hear it echo through creation.  Without fail, she reveals her presence.  Without fail, she brings us to our own perfection.  Although it is invisible, it endures; it will never end.”

            This sixth verse for me is a reminder of the Divine Feminine which flows through all of us.  Through Her we are always “birthing,” whether we are conscious of it or not.  I’ve been sick the past few days with a cold, so I’ve been creating all kinds of yucky things in my body to try to kill the virus that has invaded me.  The yuckiness is working.  But beyond the snot in my nose, the Divine Feminine in partnership with me is always creating this uniqueness known as Sarah’s body.  Every second of every day new cells split and multiply and die off.  According to science, we create a new body every 7 years.  It is the Divine Feminine spoken in the Tao that allows us to co-create these new bodies.   And beyond the physical this Divine Spirit within is in constant creative mode.  And in the many, many years I have been alive I have created, with Her help, a uniqueness known as Sarah. 

            So just what is this uniqueness She and I have created?  Well, off the top of my head I would say Sarah is a free spirit, an outside-the-box thinker, an adventurer, a lover, and a giver (sounds like the beginning of a great song doesn’t it).  But what do all those characteristics really mean?  Up until a few years ago, before my husband died, I’d have said I was trying to create a unique me who others would look at and think, “Wow, she’s got her shit together.”  But when someone dies too soon it reminds us that life as we know it here in this body, on this earth, is short and if we spend all our time trying to look like we have “our shit together” as defined by someone else, we miss the best part of who we are and why we’re here.  That’s why for me, Gary’s death was a wakeup call, reminding me to reach beyond what I thought others would call “shit together” and create my own definition.  So I went in search of the real me, the unique girl/woman named Sarah Elizabeth Doyle, who was more than that tiny baby born the youngest of seven children to a couple named Louise and Jim Doyle in a small town in southern Indiana. 

            Now, 6.5 years after Gary’s death, the “real me” is what you see...most of the time.  Oh my ego still tries to get in my way by criticizing me for not being what she thinks I should be or what she thinks society wants me to be. Yet luckily the “true” me has grown stronger than my judgmental ego and is more often than not the co-creation you see projecting out into the world.  How do I stay true to the genuine article?  By forgiving myself every day for being human.  By meditating every morning to touch the Source who inspires my very being.  By reading spiritual books and hanging out with spiritual people who remind me to look beyond the illusions to what is important in this world.  By setting reminders throughout the day to come back into the moment so I can reach through the silence, beyond my emotions and thoughts, and touch the Spirit of Truth. 

            This Divine Feminine that Lao Tzu called the Tao allows me to be in touch with the uniqueness called Sarah.  It is through this Divine Feminine that I can daydream, imagine, create and be whoever my heart and soul want me to be.  She is the creative arm of Source, or God, or whatever you want to call the wholeness of creation.  She is the Divine Mother of all and I am forever grateful that She is the spirit inside of me.  For in each moment I can go inside and I will Her there “without fail.”

            So as Wayne Dyer says, “Do the Tao now.”  As I live each moment with fullness I tap into this Divine Feminine energy and co-create this uniqueness called me.  And I love who me is becoming.  Ain’t life grand!

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching. Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics. Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are. Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 1)

The TAO TE CHING - VERSE 5

Stephen Mitchell's interpretation of the Tao Te Ching: Tao doesn’t take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil. The Master doesn’t take sides; she welcomes both saints and sinners. The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand. Hold on to the center.

Lao-tsu: 5. 1. Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with. 2. May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a bellows?

Wayne Dyer's interpretation: Heaven and earth are impartial; they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs. The sage is not sentimental; he treats all his people as straw dogs. The sage is like heaven and earth: to him none are especially dear, nor is there anyone he disfavors. He gives and gives, without condition, offering his treasures to everyone. Between heaven and earth is a space like a bellows; empty and inexhaustible, the more it is used, the more it produces. Hold on to the center, Man was made to sit quietly and find the truth within.

Byron Katie's interpretation: The Tao doesn’t take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil.

This week I thought for sure I'd have some serious discussion about judgment and not taking sides, about unconditional love & how important it is to accept everyone as they are. Then I sat down on the airplane today with a very loud man behind me who was getting on my nerves. My internal critics were working overtime as he grew louder and louder. And to make matters worse I couldn't drown him out with music because the flight attendant had just told us to put all electronic devices away. Talk about some serious issue with judgment, I thought. Then I read this passage from Byron Katie's interpretation of the Tao, "The Master can't take sides. She's in love with reality and reality includes everything." All at once I realized this verse of the Tao, for me anyway, really had nothing to do with judging a person or an object or even a situation, it has to do with being present, in the moment, no matter what comes my way.

I get it!

Just letting things be, going with the flow, finding the vibrational match to the moment is about something far greater than letting go of the critic, it’s about finding joy in EVERYTHING…even the loud man behind me. Not because he is pleasant or unpleasant, or because I have to love everyone or everything, or even to show unconditional love, but because every moment in time is a precious gift from the Creator and will never come this way again. So after I read the verse from Byran Katie, I chuckled, looked out the window at the magnificent clouds passing beneath us and relished that specific moment, loud man and all, until I was able to pop my earbuds into my ears and relish Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

So my goal for this week is to keep enjoying every moment in time, no matter what is happening in that moment, for there's only one unique moment like this coming our way and it's just too, too precious to intentionally miss. Thank you Source! 

See you next week.

References:

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr. 1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 1)

THE TAO TE CHING – VERSE 4

Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation of the Tao:  Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities. It is hidden but always present. I don’t know who gave birth to it. It is older than God. 

The next interpretation comes from a book called The Tao and its Character which is in public domain on The Kindle.  1. The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fullness. How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things! 2. We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attempt our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, as if it would ever to continue! 3. I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God.

From Byron Katie’s interpretation comes:  It is like the eternal void: filled with infinite possibilities.

She states, “it is like a bottomless well: you can always draw from it, and it will always give you the water of life. Because it is completely open and sees that nothing is true, it is filled with more possibilities than we can ever imagine.”

Wayne Dyer’s interpretation:  The Tao is empty but inexhaustible, bottomless, the ancestor of all.  Within it, the sharp edges become smooth; the twisted knots loosen; the sun is softened by a cloud; the dust settles into place.  It is hidden but always present.  I do not know who gave birth to it.  It seems to be the common ancestor of all, the father of things.

Dr. Dyer wants us to live in the concept of infiniteness because the Tao is the source of all things and is infinite and that we should look at ourselves from the perspective that we also are infinite being living in a world of sharp edges and knots.  He advises us to tap into the bottomless Tao and find the energy we need to do whatever it is we want.  When we are struggling with problems we can tap into this bottomless and infinite Tao to find the answers.    And at all times we should strive to be in the infinity that is hidden.

I love, love, love this verse.  I have been trying for the last week to remember to ask the question “what should I do next?” instead of just knee-jerking my next actions out of habit.  Some moments I have remembered and some moments I have not.  Earlier in the week I was actually asking that question with everything I did.  From what do I eat, to which yoga poses will I practice, to what shall I work on now.  As the week progressed and I found myself in the weekend, I asked less and less because it was all about having fun and not thinking.  But I did find myself remembering to let go and relax in the moments which is always a plus for me. 

I can’t say that asking the question, “what should I do next?” made a profound difference in my life as I do not know whether, when I took one route home versus another I avoided an accident or not, or if I would have eaten any differently than I did. But I do know that I was more productive.  I’m working on getting organized after a year of being very disorganized and I’m working on finding receipts for some tax work I need to get done.  I’ve been putting these two actions off for weeks and after doing the Tao and asking “what next?” I have, as of today, found most of the receipts I need and I’ve cleared out a huge pile of papers that have been staring me in the face.  Plus I feel better, more calm.  Why?  Because I know that if I ask the question, “What next?” and I trust that this infinite bottomless Tao exists, then I’m always tapping into that higher perspective of infinite possibilities and I’m always moving in the best possible direction for me.

So my goal this week?  To continue my practice of asking the question, “What next?”  so that I can train my brain not to react out of habit but to actually tap into this bottomlessness that Lao Tzu called the Tao and “to be” in the Infiniteness at all times.  Happy tapping!

References: 

Mitchell, Stephen (2009-10-13). Tao Te Ching (p. 6). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Laozi (2009-10-04). The Tao Teh King, or the Tao and its Characteristics (Kindle Locations 29-30). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Mitchell, Stephen; Katie, Byron (2007-02-06). A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (p. 13). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Dyer, Wayne Dr.  1 Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Audio Version, (Disc 1)

THE TAO TE CHING – VERSE 3

Wayne Dyer’s interpretation:  Putting a value on status will create contentiousness.  If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal.  By not displaying what is desirable, you will cause the people’s hearts to remain undisturbed.  The sage governs by emptying minds and hearts, by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.  Practice not doing....When action is pure and selfless, everything settles into its own perfect place.

According to Dr. Dyer this verse of the Tao is about living contentment instead of being led by the ego’s fixation on getting more.  Rather than seeking more, practice gratitude.  It’s also about not seeking to do but seeking to be.  This verse is about practicing not doing and then trusting that all will settle into a perfect place.  Some might say this is lazy but Lao-tzu was not talking about being slothful or inactive but about being guided by a higher principle and getting the ego out of the way.  Dr. Dyer asks us to allow what’s within to come forward. To remind ourselves daily that there is no way to happiness, rather happiness is the way.  We need to bring happiness to every encounter instead of thinking outer events will bring joy.  Stop pushing to get things done or obtain objects but feel gratitude and awe for what is right here in this moment.  Remember that the Tao took care of everything in our creations and first 9 months of life and that it will do the same today.  What we’re being asked is why not do the Tao in every situation? 

Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation:   If you over esteem great men, people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal. The Master leads by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think that they know. Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.

Byron Katie’s interpretation:  Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.

Ms. Katie suggests that the Master leads simply by being.  That if we allow reality to unfold it will bring with it more beauty, more luxury, more exquisite surprises than the imagination could ever devise.  So that if we allow life to flow like water, we in essence become that water, always giving us what we need.

What comes to mind for me in this third verse of the Tao Te Ching is an area I struggle with constantly.  Trusting in God.  Not just believing that God will provide but trusting God by letting go of the worries, fears and desires in my life and knowing that no matter what may come, all will be well.  Trusting that by listening to the “small still voice” inside of me I will be guided in everything I will ever what or need.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  Oh I’m pretty good at listening to my higher power when I’m feeling troubled.  I’ve learned over my many years here on earth that the best way for me to solve any of my problems is to listen to that “small still voice” for God always has a much higher view of what’s going on than I do.  I’ve even become pretty good at trusting in God when it comes to the big ticket items I desire in my life, like moving to a warmer climate and finding ways to make a living.  But what I’m not so good at is actually stopping to listen before I make any decision, like what to eat for dinner, or whether to buy something at the store or not, or whether to take a particular trip, or even what direction I should go when I’m driving somewhere.  Yet those are also situations where we can call upon our higher power to help us.  For at a higher perspective every action we take or every direction we head can become more enjoyable when we let go and let God.  So this is my goal for the week.  To not make any decisions until I pause and touch the sleeve of God to ask, “Which way is the best way?” and see what happens.  Join me; it should be a fun exercise to try.

Here’s a piece of bible trivia in case you are wondering where the saying “small still voice” come from.  It is in the bible verse 1 Kings 19:12.  And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

THE TAO TE CHING – VERSE 2

Wayne Dyer’s interpretation:  Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty, only because there is ugliness.  All can know good as good only because there is evil.  Being and nonbeing produce each other.  The difficult is born in the easy.  Long is defined by short, the high by the low.  Before and after go along with each other.  So the sage lives openly with apparent duality and paradoxical unity.  The sage can act without effort and teach without words.  Nurturing things without possessing them, he works, but not for rewards; he competes, but not for results.  When the work is done, it is forgotten.  That is why it lasts forever.

According to Dyer what Lao-Tzu is saying is that in order to be a sage one must live the paradox of unity.  Have you ever realized that in order to have beauty we must believe in something called ugly.  That without death we could not have life.  Yet the oneness in the Tao is about living with the apparent duality of everything.  In our humanness we have created these opposites which allow us to judge.  But if we look to the trees, the flowers and the animals, they know nothing of duality.  Unity is reality, life and death are identical.  He asks us to allow ourselves to hold those opposite thoughts without letting them cancel us out. We are both the Tao and the 10,000 things.  In other words we are both the Divine and human.  He asks us to turn within and sense the texture of misunderstanding instead of trying to be right or wrong. 

Stephen Mitchell’s interpretation:  People see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn’t possess, acts but doesn’t expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever.

Byron Katie uses only the first line of the second verse:  When people see some things as good, other things become bad.  Her focus is on how no one has more or less goodness. No one who ever lived is a better or a worse human being than you. Beware of a mind that doesn’t question its judgments.

As part of my interpretation of this verse I decided to pay attention to my judgments this week.  I began my week in Denver where it was cold and snowy.Warm being good and cold being bad are part of my judgment system.  Now yes, I do prefer warm over cold but that does not mean that one is better than the other.  Snowing and clear are definitely opposites.  Last Wednesday morning as the weather turned to snow I was calling it bad in my head, then I reminded myself that if I see the negative I will call more negative to me.  So I thought of all the good benefits of snow.  Good moisture, pretty, good for the ski areas, thus Colorado’s economy.  Another judgment I made was that my commute to work that morning was bad because of the ice on the road and all the accidents and sliding I was witnessing.  Then I remembered that as I have the Divine inside me as well as the human, I called upon my guardian angels to protect me on my drive.  They did a splendid job.  And anytime I am forced to focus on the higher realm I know that I am living with my highest good in mind.  The enlightened masters let things happen without labeling them good or bad.  Wednesday morning was a good indication I am not quite at the enlightened master level…Yet J

As I continued throughout the week to listen to Wayne Dyer’s explanation of this second verse many thoughts came to mind.  The most relevant for me was this concept of duality which in turn creates, in the human mind, a need to judge.  And the person I judge the most is me.  So I told myself to “STOP IT”.  Easier said than done.  My head is filled with the “shoulds” and “should nots” I have learned since the day I was born.   They are all judgments.  Yet if I allow myself to do what is right for me in each moment I am more alive and aware of each experience.  So I allowed myself to exercise when I wanted not because I’m told I should in order to be healthy.  I ate what I wanted when I wanted not because I’m told what I eat is good or bad for me but because I like the taste of it. If I wanted to sit on my couch and watch TV all day then I allowed myself to do so.   After a few days what I noticed was how, when taking the judgment out of every action or non-action I actually accomplished more.  Yes sometimes I didn’t exercise and sometimes I ate popcorn and candy and drank an extra glass of wine, things considered unhealthy.  Some days I spent time in activities that have been judged as lazy or wasteful, other days I was quite productive.  Without judgment I found that in the long run I was balancing my time with a variety of actions and options.  I was less stressed and feeling peace and happiness.   

At a deeper level I realized that it is in our judgments that we create good and bad, right and wrong, should and should not.  And when we have judgment we have this need to make ourselves right and others wrong wanting others to live the way we think they should.  These judgments create the conditions for anger, violence and war.  If I drop the judgments and see the Divine in each human (and yes contrary to what many people think, every living soul is Divine) then I find I can transcend the judgment and unconditionally love. 

I can’t help but think of the words of Jesus Christ to sum up what I’ve learned this week in the Tao.  "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

THE TAO TE CHING – VERSE 1

Verse 1 as interpreted by Stephen Mitchell:

     The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.  The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. 

     The unnamable is the eternally real.  Naming is the origin of all particular things.

     Free from desire, you realize the mystery.  Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

     Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.  This source is called darkness.

     Darkness within darkness.  The gateway to all understanding.

     

      Byron Katie speaks only to the first two sentences.  She states, “Before you name anything, the world has not things in it, no meaning.  There’s nothing but peace in a wordless, questionless world.  It’s the space where everything is already answered, in joyful silence.”  In my interpretation I hear her say that we get in our way by naming/labeling everything.  Ms. Katie also says, “There’s nothing serious about life and death.”  To me that means we have taken the unnamable and given it a name, life and death.  Yet there is no life and no death if we don’t name it that.  Life and death is finite.  The unnamed is infinite.  I think I prefer that there is no life and death, just eternity.  I know when my husband, Gary died he wasn’t really dead, he was just no longer in physical human form.  The entity I knew as Gary continued on.  I believe that to the bottom of my soul.  I know he is still around just in another dimension.  That is why I believe in eternity.  That which can be named is not eternal.  All energy, in whatever form, is eternal.

Verse 1 as interpreted by Wayne Dyer:

    The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.  The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

    The Tao is both named and nameless.  As nameless it is the origin of all things; as named it is the Mother of 10,000 things.

     Ever desireless, one can see the mystery; ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.  And the mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding.

     In my audio version of Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Wayne Dyer states that paradoxical thinking is imbedded in eastern thinking; like Yin & Yang, this and that, good and bad. And in the same vein, desiring and desirelessness are two different things.  What the Tao is asking us to do is cultivate a practice of being in the mystery and allowing it to flow through us.  We must find our own personal way of living the Tao.  Dr. Dyer’s advice to us is to first just enjoy the mystery.  Let the world unfold without trying to figure it all out.  Don’t constantly try to figure others out, just allow them to be.  Then he goes on to ask us to let go of labeling everything.  Nothing in this Universe is what it is named.  The word water is not water and nothing can truly be described by words.  He asks us to bask in the magnificence of what is seen and sensed instead of just experiencing the word.  One exercise is to stop occasionally and ask ourselves where we are on the continuum of desiring and allowing, reminding ourselves that often desires are more about what we “think” should be not what really is.

                I’d like to say that I spent every day of this week thinking about this first verse of the Tao and what it is teaching me.  But the truth is, I had momentary flashes of awareness but most of my week was spent either experiencing my houseguests or catching up on things I had neglected while my houseguests were visiting.  But I did write a couple of observations in my journal and I will share them now. 

                “This verse reminds me of the Quantum Physics concept that a quark has infinite possibilities of where it might be but the minute you focus your attention on it, the quark changes.  Like manifestation.  Everything is in energy form until we focus our attention and our energy on it and then it begins to manifest.  My living in Florida in the winter was just a possibility until I focused my attention on it.  Then it became a reality.  The manifestation is only a piece or possibility of the eternal not the actual eternity of possibilities.”

                Later in the week I wrote, “I long to be the namelessness even though I have no idea what that means.  But some desire pulls at me to come to it.  I have named the nameless God, Creator, Source, and a Power greater than myself, but in naming it I have limited it.  What calls to me (deep in my physical heart and deep in my soul) is more than what we humans have tried to define.  Today I will try to look at everything I have named and see if I can look beyond the name.  Like later this afternoon when I go to the doctor.  Let’s see if I can look beyond the doctor and see the person and look beyond the person and see the nameless eternal.”

                Again, I would like to say that I spent the whole day looking beyond the labels.  At first I did.  I poured my coffee and thought of how the coffee was a combination of water and coffee beans and then progressed backwards to the coffee plant and the grower and the dirt and the air and the rain that helped produce the coffee bean in Africa (I was drinking decaf Sumatra).  I believe I was able to continue that thought with the eggs I ate and the soymilk I added to my coffee.  Then of course I got distracted and my awareness went out the window.  I never even made it to staying aware of the doctor.  I admit that I did see her more than just a doctor, mainly because she was about 20 years younger than me and the younger the professionals are the harder it is for me to see them as anything but youngster :)  But I did not stay in my awareness enough to even ask myself who she was outside of being my doctor other than remembering her comment that when she goes to the beach she goes to Sanibel Island not Fort Myers Beach.

                Today I felt pulled to what Wayne Dyer spoke about desire.  Desire is a paradox to me.  Most of my life I have been taught that desire is bad because I should be happy with what I have not constantly wanting more.  Yet in my metaphysical studies I have learned to look at desire with different eyes.  Since we co-create our reality our process isn’t about not desiring but desiring because it is what I want and what is best for me.  But sometime I need to acknowledge that I desire something because I’m afraid of not having it or I’m feeling miserable bout my present situation.   One of my current desires is to find a gentleman to share my life with.  Sometimes I know that I truly desire this because I want to get to know someone better and because I love the feeling of loving another human being in that close, intimate way.  But sometimes I have this desire because I am lonely or scared of what it will be like to be alone when I am too old to take care of myself.  Just as Dr. Dyer suggests, sometimes our desires come from what we “think” is right for us. Thus desire is not right or wrong it is more about what serves me well and what hinders me.

                The metaphysical beliefs I have learned sometimes confuse me because if I take these beliefs literally, I learn that if I don’t focus on what I desire I might get something I don’t want. Yet in reality, sometime I desire and sometimes I want to just see what is going to happen.   Spiritually I think this is the best course to take.  In my eclectic belief system I know that often I limit myself when I do not sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.  My Higher Power usually has a better view of what’s going on than I do in my limited perspective, so for me it is knowing about when to desire and when to be desireless. 

                I once heard that the word desire comes from the latin, de sire, which means from the father. Somehow this comforted me.  If I listen to "the Father" I know what my true desire is.  Then I went out to Etymonline and here’s what I found to be the origin of this word: Early 13th century from Old French, desirer, from Latin, desiderare, "long for, wish for" with the original sense meaning "await what the stars will bring," from the phrase de sidere "from the stars," which comes from sidris "heavenly body, star or constellation."

                So if I believe the Universe is made up of everything in the heavens (stars) and the earth one might believe the nameless to be the Universe.  In that interpretation then maybe desire does mean “from the Father.”  Whatever desire means, I do know that for me the best place to be is in the middle, balancing my desires with letting go and allowing myself to “go with the flow.”  Maybe if I let go and listen to the nameless I will hear the true desire of the Universe for me and then can flow into that desire effortlessly.

A NEW SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE IN A NEW YEAR

It has been several months since I have written anything in this blog.  Life sometimes gets in the way.  But now I'm back ready to start a new adventure...an adventure of the soul. 

A week ago, I began reading a book by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell titled A Thousand Names for Joy, in which Ms. Katie takes Stephen Mitchell’s English interpretation of the contents of the Tao Te Ching and speaks to them in her own words and her own experiences in order to help explain what she believes were the author’s intentions. The Tao Te Ching is a collection of verses written by Lao-tzu during the 5th century B.C. The title loosely translated means, The Book of the Way. It is theorized that Lao-tzu was the archive keeper in a small kingdom of what is now known as China. Whether this was his true profession or not cannot be verified over so many centuries, but no matter what his profession, what I know in my heart, is that he (or she) was an extremely wise person. Many believe (as do I) that The Tao Te Ching is one of the great wonders of the world.

After reading the first chapter of A Thousand Names for Joy, I sat and meditated on what I had read, which is my usual practice. In this particular meditation I was guided to begin a new spiritual practice in the New Year. I will read the Tao interpretation by Stephen Mitchell and listen to a recording I also possess of Wayne Dyer’s interpretation and explanation of the Tao and then read Byron Katie’s interpretation. I will study and meditate on one verse each week and will then write a blog each Monday (although in my flexibility I won’t hold myself to a strict schedule) in order to describe how each verse pertains to me. I am not writing this blog because I want others to read it. Those who do read it will come to it because they are curious or because their own spiritual guides have brought them here. Instead this is an exercise in spiritual growth for me; a way to channel my thoughts and actions throughout the week in order to help me change or not change, to make me think and analyze whether I agree or not with the Tao and to examine what I may be resisting and why, or what may resonate with me and why.  So on and so on, or as the King of Siam said in movie, The King & I, “etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.”

If by chance a reader feels so inclined, I would love for them to share their thoughts, comments, concerns, etcetera, with me as your agreement or dissention is a great way for me to expand my own perceptions of this illusion we call life. So today I will begin my reading of Verse 1 and start the meditation and growth process. I will see you next week as I expound upon my personal experience with the Tao. With excited anticipation I say to you, let the journey begin………….