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,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.
Tao Te Ching was written 2500 years ago and there are many versions of it, just like the bible. This copy is from Stephen Mitchell's new English version and my favorite. Like all poetic style writing it can speak to different people in different ways. That is the beauty of all art forms. I am not sure why this ch 10 has been part of my study over the past couple of days but as I write I will learn. This blog is part of my personal learning process. If you happen to find this blog, and read it, you are the observer of a personal learning process that I am undergoing. Read it with an open mind . I am not intending it as a teaching for someone else. If you get something from it, great. We are all on our own spirit journey wither we recognize that or not. Through writing I learn. I will write and tweak and study and ponder these words for awhile.
Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
This opening statement is non-duality at its best.
"Non-duality is the philosophical, spiritual, and scientific understanding of non-separation and fundamental intrinsic oneness." https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/about/nonduality/
I like Mitchell's choice of the word coax here. To coax means to gently persuade. You do not want to set up your mind as an enemy, that creates duality, it just needs to be put into its right relationship to you. The mind makes a great servant but a terrible master. You need to respect the mind, send it a message of loving kindness. It is a tool like a massive computer it can be your greatest friend and helper when brought under control. Its like an out of control dog yapping and yapping until it is put through a process of training. If you observe your mind, you will notice it has one random thought after another and it wanders everywhere. Its thinking about all possible problems, thinking about the past, and the future, analyzing, judging..... Is it possible to coax your mind from wandering? When the verse says the mind, what its really talking about is thoughts. Can thoughts be brought under control? Try it! Sit quietly somewhere with no interference from outside yourself. Just you and your thoughts. I know , that is scary for some. You have never examined your thoughts. When in a comfortable position ,close your eyes and ask what will be my next thought? For a brief few second there will be no thought. The mind is not used to being observed. Then when you are not concentrating the stream of thought will start. Quickly go back to watching for the next thought. Again, there is a pause in thought when you observe it. As you continue this process you will quickly observe that the minds thoughts are out of control. This may be both very revealing or just plain boring observation for some. But through this process, if continued, you will slowly quiet the mind down. Don't try to stop thought, just observe it. The simple observation of thought brings it under control. When you watch thought without being identified with it, it seems to come under control. The key is to not be identified with thought as being who you are at your deepest level. Thought is not the real you, it is a product of the mind, you are the being, the spirit, beyond the mind. It may take some practice to do this, but it is possible to coax your mind from wandering and keep to the original oneness. This original oneness may be referring to the connection with Spirit you were born with. This Spirit, the one universal presence, has no substance, no form , yet, it is the essence of all existence and therefore we are all part of it.
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child's?
It is no coincidence the next verse talks about a new born baby. The baby's body is very flexible . It has no tension, no stored stress in its body. It is capable of bending or of being bent easily. If we could develop a process, a technique, to release all tension in our bodies, mind, heart and soul , then we would be like the baby. Can we unclench the heart and be born new?. This suppleness is not just talking about the baby's body. It could be metaphor for being flexible in the attitude of our heart more then just our bodies. If we are bendable when the storms and winds of life come we will not break but we will flex and adjust, bending with the flow of force not fighting against it.
Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
What is inner vision?. This can be thought of as insight, being able to perceive the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively. Intuition is not intellect. Its more like what has traditionally been called the heart. Modern science is beginning to prove that the heart is a “little brain” and has an intuitive intelligence of it's own, independent of the mind. This intelligence may be linked to what is called cosmic intelligence which is pure in nature. So, can you cleanse your intuitive heart so that it is linked to the greater universal intelligence? It is possible, but the heart will have to be unclenched from tension caused from negative emotions and lifestyle. This is where the term hardened heart comes from. Only the Spirit can cleanse the heart so it will see the inner light.. The gentle Spirit all around us, can flow and penetrate into our hardened hearts if we can open up a little space for new perceptions. The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world, the closed human heart. That which has no form/no substance, can enter where there was previously no space and it can transform our whole life.
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?
Leading other's is not so much what you say its how you live. If you love people, others will know that. Love does not control it allows others to be who they are without judgement.
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Allowing nature to take it course is hard to do if your ego is running the show. It means you have to trust in unseen forces to determine outcome. Do you believe the universal intelligence is for you or against you? Would you taking control produce a better outcome then this intelligence . Are you smarter then this unseen force. Most events work its way out in time. Waiting is better then acting in a hurry. Let intuition lead you, not the thinking mind.
Can you step back from you own mind
and thus understand all things?
Stepping back from your mind means allowing the observer or witnessing self to watch the thoughts as they come up. If you are able to do that, this deeper part of you, the heart, which is more intelligent and intuitive then the intellect will understand things much better. The mind and intellect has only knowledge , the heart which may be connected to the observer/witness self has greater wisdom, and can understand things without knowledge. The heart and gut feeling as it is sometimes called knows more then the reasoning intellect.
Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
Having the mothering nature, loving and providing all that is needed to bring to fruition without concern for outcome and expecting nothing in return. This is natures way.
"After all this time the sun has never said to the earth you owe me......"- Rumi
. Yet, it has provided life's energy for millions of generations.
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.
This leading without the need to control is a behavior showing the highest moral , universal standards and principles. This is the way of the Spirit that powers and leads gently all of life without forcing its will onto creation.
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