The teachings of this passage invite you to pause in the midst of strife or tension and remember that serenity and peace are on the way. This verse emphatically points out that you always have a choice! In every single situation, you can choose to observe exaggerated and forced energy. It might be verbally attempting to control a situation or cursing how life’s events are unfolding; regardless, these moments can be invitations to open to the Tao even while in the midst of chaos and angst. This is how to “follow the Way”: Remember how nature blows hard and then returns to calm. Follow the goodness of the Tao and you become goodness. Stray from goodness and you become one with failure.
You are part of the law of form in time and space, composing and decomposing. Everything in nature is returning to its Source. . . . The question is, do you wish to participate consciously with this natural goodness, or would you rather spend your moments in anxiety and failure? The Tao response to this crucial question isn’t within your ego, for it strongly believes in your ability to force things, to make things happen, or to be the person in charge. The Tao points out that the Way is responsible for everything, with a naturalness about it that isn’t forced. It reminds you that what seems so devastating in the moment is benevolent perfection in another moment. When you conform to the naturalness of the universe, you cooperate with this all-creating power that flows through you. Suspend ego-driven plans and instead participate in the power that created you—allow it to be the guiding force in your life.
Here’s what Lao-tzu says to you, through me, from his 2,500year-old perspective in this verse of the Tao Te Ching:
Change your life by actively observing nature’s way.
See how thunderstorms or fierce winds are temporary conditions that pass, instead of thinking of them as destructive or inconvenient events. When what seems like a forceful, uncomfortable situation arises, seek the natural cycle. Affirm: This is a temporary setback. I am going to release myself from having to be the person in control. Then observe what you’re feeling, with openness to what is, in this moment. Remember that this is nature’s method. Center your mind in a natural way, in perfect rapport with the patience of the universal Tao.
Change your life by trusting your ability to respond naturally to the circumstances in your life.
At first this may involve observing yourself in a friendly way instead of responding immediately. When you feel your inclination to make your opinion known, let this urge silently tell you what it truly wants. Your body knows how to be at peace and wait out the storms of life, but you need to allow it to feel that you’re welcoming its signals. Be still and allow yourself to be in harmony with the creative Tao, opening yourself to its power.
T. S. Eliot evokes the natural cycle in his poem “Ash-Wednesday”:
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are . . .
That’s the idea: Rejoice in the stillness of the Tao.
Do the Tao Now
Spend an entire day noticing nature and the countless instances that it cycles organically. Seek at least three ways that you’d like to be more natural in your response to life. The cat curling languidly in the sun might symbolize how you’d like to be. Or perhaps it’s the dawn slowly illuminating the dark without rushing. Maybe you prefer to focus on the tide comfortably coming in and out, apparently without judgment. Find your symbolic images, whatever they may be, and invite their counterparts in the Tao to blossom within you.
24th Verse
If you stand on tiptoe, you cannot stand firmly.
If you take long steps, you cannot walk far.
Showing off does not reveal enlightenment.
Boasting will not produce accomplishment.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who brags will not endure.
All these ways of acting are odious, distasteful.
They are superfluous excesses.
They are like a pain in the stomach,
a tumor in the body.
When walking the path of the Tao,
this is the very stuff that must be
uprooted, thrown out, and left behind.
Living
Without Excess
In this verse, Lao-tzu advises that the path of the Tao needs to be cleared of any weeds of excessive personal importance. After all, accomplishments derive from the all-creating Source that Lao-tzu calls “the Tao.” Everything that you see, touch, or own is a gift from the Tao; thus, it is your duty to suspend your ego and seek an attitude of gratitude and generosity for the Tao’s creativity. In this way, you walk the path of the Tao by becoming like it is, which is always existing in a state of unlimited giving. It is to this state that the 24th verse of the Tao Te Ching urges you to return.
Notice how the natural flow of the Tao operates: It asks nothing of you as it provides you and everyone else with unlimited supplies of food, air, water, sunshine, land, and beauty. It is always creating for the benefit of all, and it has no need for prideful boasting or demanding something in return.
This poem by Hafiz bears repeating here to illustrate this point:
Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe
Me.”
Look
What happens
With a love
