Here are suggestions offered to you by Lao-tzu as I gaze at the great master’s picture before me and feel as if we were one:
Practice feeling safe and protected.
Live each day trusting in the hidden virtue that’s both within you and that caused you. Keep in mind that the feeling of being secure, shielded, and nurtured won’t come from anything you might possess. Instead, it will arise when you know that you’re in constant contact with a virtuous power that lies within every cell of your being. This hidden force is responsible for your very presence.
You sprang into existence by virtue of Tao; and while your every breath and action aren’t commanded to do so, they nevertheless pay homage to the inner virtue that is your life. That power is in my hand as I write these words, and it’s in your eyes as they read this page. Trust in it. Worship it. Feel safe in the force that remains hidden. This is all you need to feel complete.
Remember that the Tao produces—it doesn’t possess.
Do the same and you’ll achieve the wisdom of this verse. Be a caretaker, not an owner. Don’t attempt to control anyone; instead, foster growth without dominating or ruling. When you’re in a supervisory role, allow others to activate their hidden virtue as much as possible. Just as you wish to feel protected and trust in that invisible force that animates you, so does everyone you encounter. I emphasize this word because there are no exceptions.
Witter Bynner’s translation of this 51st verse of the Tao Te Ching states:
All created things render, to the existence and fitness they depend on . . .
Do you likewise:
Be parent, not possessor,
Attendant, not master.
Be concerned not with obedience but with benefit, And you are at the core of living.
I urge you to remember the phrase “Do you likewise,” and live by hidden virtue.
Do the Tao Now
Plan a day of letting go: Let go of thinking, and discover the all-embracing nature of the mind. Let go of preconceptions and ideas, and experience how things really are. Let go of needing to control others, and discover how capable they really are. Take time to find your answers to the question What might really happen if I let go? As you do this exercise, you may be surprised to discover that you find more of the hidden virtue in your life, which then changes the way you see yourself.
52nd Verse
All under heaven have a common beginning.
This beginning is the Mother of the world.
Having known the Mother,
we may proceed to know her children.
Having known the children,
we should go back and hold on to the Mother.
Keep your mouth shut,
guard the senses,
and life is ever full.
Open your mouth,
always be busy,
and life is beyond hope.
Seeing the small is called clarity;
keeping flexible is called strength.
Using the shining radiance,
you return again to the light
and save yourself misfortune.
This is called
the practice of eternal light.
Living by Returning
to the Mother
This verse tells you that it’s valuable and important to realize that your life is more than just a linear experience happening in time and space. That is, you more or less currently view your time on Earth as a straight line from conception to birth—you’ll move through predictable stages of development, concluding with death, where you’ll meet up with the mystery that awaits you on the Other Side. Lao-tzu is inviting you to see that your existence is a return trip to the place where all the planets’ creations emerge. He wants you to realize that you have the ability to enjoy this mysterious beginning before your physical ending. This mystery, which is in each and every one of the 10,000 things, is referred to by Lao-tzu as the “Mother,” or the symbol of what lies beyond all that seems to begin and end.
Start your journey back to the Mother by contemplating the first two lines of this verse of the Tao Te Ching: “All under heaven have a common beginning. This beginning is the Mother of the world.” Let this thought filter into your physical being and create a state of awe about your existence, which emerged out of no-thing-ness. Know that this unseen Source that births every single thing also birthed you. Like electricity streaming through a conduit, the mysterious nothingness flows through and sustains all of life, including you. It’s a constant invisible, soundless, odorless force, which isn’t immediately available to your sensory self.
It’s vital that you spend a few moments each day getting to know your (and my) eternal Mother, which you can do by simply acknowledging her presence and silently communicating with her. Once you decide to know and honor her, you’ll begin to change the way you look at all of her children, including yourself. You’ll view all of the 10,000 things as offspring of the Mother, and you’ll look beyond the temporariness of their appearances to see the Tao unfolding. This is what Lao-tzu means when he asks you to know the children not as separate from their Mother, but as the Mother herself. So see all of creation as originating in the Mother, and then “go back and hold on to” her.
How do you embark on this return trip to your eternal Mother? Lao-tzu advises that you close your mouth and seal your ears to ensure that your spirit isn’t frittered away on worldly activities. In other words, spend time
