Mine is indeed the mind of an ignoramus
in its unadulterated simplicity.
I am but a guest in this world.
While others rush about to get things done,
I accept what is offered.
I alone seem foolish,
earning little, spending less.
Other people strive for fame;
I avoid the limelight,
preferring to be left alone.
Indeed, I seem like an idiot:
no mind, no worries.
I drift like a wave on the ocean.
I blow as aimless as the wind.
All men settle down in their grooves;
I alone am stubborn and remain outside.
But wherein I am most different from others is
in knowing to take sustenance from the great Mother!
Living
Without Striving
In this verse of the Tao Te Ching, you’re encouraged to experience your life free of worldly striving. Lao-tzu advises you to slow down your incessant demands for more, and to relax your efforts to fill up every moment in anticipation of being somewhere else. You’re invited to experience life in a way that can be summarized in the title of Ram Dass’s book Be Here Now.
Be here in your mind as well as in your body, in a state of appreciation and an absence of longing. Let go of wondering about doing the right thing. Release the what-ifs and all of your goals for the future, replacing them with the power of this instant. Be here, and remember to do it now, for thinking about being someplace else uses up your precious present moments. The enlightened sage makes a practice of immersing himself completely in the current “nowness” of his life.
Being here now is accomplished by adopting an acceptance of life as it is presented by the great Mother, or the Tao. It’s a surrendering process, if you will—simply allowing this great all-creating, all-nourishing Source to take you where it will. You give up the idea of having to get more or to be in another place in the future, and instead see yourself as whole and complete just as you are. This surrendering process allows you to bear witness to the unlimited abundance and eternal light that is always present. You retrain yourself to give up your beliefs about lacks and shortages; you instead trust in the great Source to provide what you need, as it has always done for all beings.
Lao-tzu emphasizes that this wasn’t a socially accepted standard even 2,500 years ago, as he refers to himself as an outsider who is unlike most people. Striving for satisfaction was viewed at that time as a proper role in life, just as it is today. The narrator of this verse admits that he is drifting, not knowing where he is, yet his tone is ironic. It’s as if he’s saying, “No one really knows where they are in this endless universe with no beginning and no ending, so why not admit it and allow yourself to be moved by the Tao that brought you here from nowhere?”
You’re being encouraged to simplify your life by not seeking another thing. Yes, others might judge you as unmotivated and call you an ignoramus, but your reward will be the strong sense of inner peace that comes from a direct knowing that you’re here as a guest who’s always being provided for. Yes, you may seem to be missing something, but the something is really only an illusion. You’re no longer living inside of yourself with a desire to be someone else or to gain something that seems to be omnipresent in all of those around you—you’ve traded in striving for arriving.
“I accept what is offered,” says the narrator of this provocative verse in the Tao Te Ching. He continues to express that this may seem foolish, perhaps echoing your thoughts as you contemplate letting go of striving. Lao-tzu is telling you to change how you see what’s here now in your life, for then it will become exactly what you need in order to be happy. In other words, you can change how you look at striving and have contentment without anxiety and fear.
When you live by the tenets explained in this verse, you begin to have a worry-free existence. Imagine that! No concerns or fears—only a sense of being connected to the Source of all, knowing that all will be handled for you by the same force that’s always handling everything. Lao-tzu is teaching you to free your mind from its persistent nagging. The world and everything in it are already taken care of by the Tao . . . it has always done so and always will.
Your mind continually urges you to strive in spite of the all-providing perfection of the Tao; it prompts you to pursue fame, to look for a groove or purpose. Lao-tzu encourages you to do precisely the opposite: Stay outside the rat race and let your mind be in peaceful harmony with the Tao rather than worrying and fighting. The concluding line of this passage of the Tao Te Ching says it all, instructing you to change how you look at your life by “knowing to take sustenance from the great Mother!”
The following are suggestions coming from Lao-tzu to you in the 20th verse of the Tao:
Practice letting go of thoughts about what’s not here now.
Just allow yourself to meld into the perfection of the universe you live in. You don’t need another thing to be happy; it’s all being provided for you right here, right now. Be in this moment, and free yourself of striving for something more or someone else. This is a mind exercise that will put you in touch with the peace of the Tao. Affirm: It is all perfect. God’s love is everywhere and forgets no
