Twenty-Second Chapter: Tao-te Ching
Twenty-Second Chapter:
Tao-te Ching
To yield is to be preserved whole.
To be bent is to become straight.
To be empty is to be full.
To be worn out is to be renewed.
To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.
Therefore the sage embraces Tao within
And becomes the model of the world.
He does not display himself; people see his light.
He does not justify himself; people trust him.
He is not full; people see themselves in him
He does not brag; people see themselves in him.
The ancient saying, “To yield is to be preserved whole,” are not empty words?
He does not demand and desire; things are attracted to him
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As I understand it:
The supreme quality of a sage is flexibility. When destructive energy comes his way he feels it and allows it to pass through him. He does not resist. He is resilient. When people push him, he leans.
The sage lives in silence. His mind is clear, his vessel empty. Therefore he remains open to all possibilities. Not his ego but his Self is in charge. He never feels conflicted with new ideas even when they are in opposition to his own.
If we let go of our need to seek people’s attention, people are magnetized to us.
Why do we have to prove yourselves to others? Why be rigid about our point of view? If we suspend our pomposity and bragging people start to trust us.
Let’s seek to uncover the root of our rigidity and parochialism. Let’s be flexible, bend, adjust, change. Let’s open up to the universal Tao energy and feel transformed.
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Suggested Readings:
The Way of Lao Tzu, tr. Wing-Tsit Chan, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1963.
Dyer, Wayne W., Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of Tao. Hay House, Inc. 2007.