13th Verse
Favor and disgrace seem alarming.
High status greatly afflicts your person.
Why are favor and disgrace alarming?
Seeking favor is degrading:
alarming when it is gotten,
alarming when it is lost.
Why does high status greatly afflict your person?
The reason we have a lot of trouble
is that we have selves.
If we had no selves,
what trouble would we have?
Man’s true self is eternal,
yet he thinks, I am this body and will soon die.
If we have no body, what calamities can we have?
One who sees himself as everything
is fit to be guardian of the world.
One who loves himself as everyone
is fit to be teacher of the world.
Living with an
Independent Mind
The essential message of this 13th verse of the Tao Te Ching seems to be that it’s crucial to remain independent of both the positive and negative opinions of other people. Regardless of whether they love or despise us, if we make their assessments more important than our own, we’ll be greatly afflicted.
Seeking the favor of others isn’t the way of the Tao. Pursuing status stops the natural flow of Divine energy to your independent mind. You have a basic nature that is uniquely yours—learn to trust that Tao nature and be free of other people’s opinions. Allow yourself to be guided by your essential beingness, the “natural you” that nourishes your independent mind. By contrast, chasing after favored status or lofty titles to display self-importance are examples of living from a mind that depends on external signals rather than the natural inner voice.
The Tao doesn’t force or interfere with things; it lets them work in their own way to produce results naturally. Whatever approval is supposed to come your way will do so in perfect alignment. Whatever disfavor shows up is also a part of this perfect alignment. Lao-tzu wryly points out that pursuing favor is alarming, regardless of the outcome. If you gain approval, you’ll become a slave to outside messages of praise—someone else’s opinion will be directing your life. If you gain disfavor, you’ll push even harder to change their minds, and you’ll still be directed by forces outside of yourself. Both outcomes result in the dependent mind dominating, as opposed to the way of the Tao, in which the independent mind flows freely.
This 13th verse insists that ego and the need for importance are troublemakers that are energized by your in-the-world self. The way of the Tao is to be aware of your eternal nature and step outside of your self or body. No ego means no trouble; big ego equals big trouble. The Tao Te Ching rhetorically inquires, “If we have no body, what calamities can we have?” If you ask yourself this question, you’ll discover a Divine, invisible soul that’s independent of the opinions of all the afflicted seekers populating the world. In the spirit of the Tao, your true nature will replace the pursuit of external favor with the awareness that what others think of you is really none of your business!
Practice the following principles in Lao-tzu’s message and gain immeasurable inner peace. You’ll be in balance with the natural law of the universe, living with an independent mind in the spirit of the Tao:
Practice trusting your own inner nature.
Every passionate thought that you have regarding how you want to conduct your life is evidence that you’re in harmony with your own unique nature—your fervent belief is all you need. If you’re tempted to feel insecure because others disagree with you, recall that Lao-tzu counseled that “seeking favor is degrading” and will lead you out of touch with your true self.
Give yourself permission to remember that you’re not only your body, and that others’ opinions about what you should or shouldn’t be doing probably aren’t taking into account your true, eternal being. Those other people are also not only their bodies, so seeking their approval doubles the illusion that the physical is all we are.
Your worldly self isn’t your true identity, so trust your eternal self to communicate with you. It will do so through your inner nature, where you’ll honor it through an independent mind. Respect your vision and trust your natural, passionate thoughts that are aligned with the loving essence of the Tao.
Practice being the person Lao-tzu describes in this 13th verse.
Affirm the following: I am a guardian of the world and I am fit to be the teacher of the world. Why? Because you recognize your connection to everyone and everything through an independent mind whose Source is love. By living from your eternal self, you’ll become a mystical teacher and guardian. The approval that your worldly self sought will be felt as what it was—the dependent mind’s struggle to engage life as if it depended on external approval.
Do the Tao Now
Ask yourself right now, What’s my own nature if I have no outside forces telling me who or what I should be? Then work at living one day in complete harmony with your own nature, ignoring pressures to be otherwise. If your inner nature is one of peace, love, and harmony as a musical genius, for instance, then act on just that today.
14th Verse
That which cannot be seen is called invisible.
That which cannot be heard is called inaudible.
That which cannot be held is called intangible.
These three cannot be defined;
therefore, they are merged as
