As you connect more and more to your Tao nature, you begin noticing that this principle is perpetually present, available in every moment. In other words, the Tao isn’t trying to get someplace other than where it is. It has no goals, no desire, no judgments; it flows everywhere because it is the energy of creation. To be in harmony with the Tao is to be free of goals, immersed in all that you’re doing without concern about the outcome—just noticing in each moment and allowing yourself to flow with the creative Source that’s energizing everything and everyone in the universe. When you live in this way, failure becomes an impossibility. How can you fail at being yourself and trusting completely in the wisdom of the Source of everything? With failure removed from your life, you understand what Lao-tzu means when he says that “everything he does succeeds.”
Following are the messages from Lao-tzu as he wrote out this 22nd verse of the Tao Te Ching two-and-a-half millennia ago:
Change the way you see the storms of your life.
Work at removing ego as the dominant influence over you. Release the need for the attention of others and witness how people become drawn to you naturally. Let go of having to win an argument and being right by changing the atmosphere with a statement such as “You’re very likely correct. Thanks for giving me a new 22nd Verse perspective.” This kind of a proclamation gives everyone permission to relax their rigidity because you have no need to prove yourself or make others wrong. If you change the way you think, the life you’re living will change, so be willing to say, “I don’t know” or “I’m uncertain as to why I even did what I did.” As Lao-tzu reminds you, when you suspend your pomposity and rigidity, others recognize themselves in your flexible nature, and they’ll trust you.
Imagine yourself as a tall, stately palm tree.
Be an organism without goals and objectives—instead, stand strong and successful, capable of adjusting to the forces of nature. Be willing to adapt to whatever may come your way by initially allowing yourself to experience that energy, much like the bending tree in hurricane-force winds. When criticism comes, listen. When powerful forces push you in any direction, bow rather than fight, lean rather than break, and allow yourself to be free from a rigid set of rules—in so doing, you’ll be preserved and unbroken. Keep an inner vision of the wind symbolizing difficult situations as you affirm: I have no rigidity within me. I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken. I will use the strength of the wind to make me even stronger and better preserved.
This simple teaching is so pleasant that you’ll wonder why you didn’t realize it before. In the Tao time, acknowledge the “storm” and then allow it to be felt in your body—observe it without judgment, just like the tree bends in the wind. As rigidity reappears, notice that as well, allowing the winds to blow as you exercise the Tao in place of ego! Seek to uncover the root of your stiffness and achieve greater flexibility in the storms of life. When seen as this kind of opportunity to open to the Tao energy, storminess can be transformed into exhilarating events that uncover more of your true nature of love.
Do the Tao Now
Listen to someone express an opinion that’s the opposite of yours today. It could be on any of a variety of topics, such as politics, the environment, religion, drugs, war, the death penalty, or what have you. Refuse to impose your position, and instead remark, “I’ve never considered that point of view. Thank you for sharing your ideas with me.” By allowing a contrary position to be heard, you’ll dismiss ego’s attitude and welcome the flexibility of the Tao.
23rd Verse
To talk little is natural:
Fierce winds do not blow all morning;
a downpour of rain does not last the day.
Who does this? Heaven and earth.
But these are exaggerated, forced effects,
and that is why they cannot be sustained.
If heaven and earth cannot sustain a forced action,
how much less is man able to do?
Those who follow the Way
become one with the Way.
Those who follow goodness
become one with goodness.
Those who stray from the Way and goodness
become one with failure.
If you conform to the Way,
its power flows through you.
Your actions become those of nature,
your ways those of heaven.
Open yourself to the Tao
and trust your natural responses . . .
then everything will fall into place.
Living Naturally
Every thing that composes ultimately decomposes. Notice that I put the emphasis on the word thing—that’s because all things on Earth are temporary and in a constant state of change. Since you’re on this planet, you too are a part of this always-changing and always-decomposing principle. In this 23rd verse of the Tao Te Ching, you’re asked to observe the ways of nature and then make the choice to live harmoniously with them.
Nature doesn’t have to insist, push, or force anything; after all, storms don’t last forever. Winds blow hard, but then they subside. The Tao creates from an eternal perspective, but everything is on its return trip home the moment it comes into being. So Lao-tzu instructs that if you live harmoniously with this simple principle, you’ll be in tune with nature. Let go of a desire to force anyone or anything, and choose instead to consciously be part of the cyclical pattern of nature.
