Reflections on the Tao

I’ve been studying the Tao for a few years. What follows are some of my clearest and most communicable lessons extracted from that effort. AND YOU THOUGHT I ONLY WROTE FICTION, DIDN’T YOU?!

I’ve studied the Stephen Mitchell and Ursula K. Le Guin translations. Ursula’s is my favorite.

Ponder. Do not seek to understand these things. Ponder.

Still the Deep Waters in Order to Know not Know

From #10. “Can you keep the deep water still and clear, // so it reflects without blurring?”

• This act of keeping the deep water of our soul clear so that it may reflect clearly is what gives rise to the knowing not knowing, that in turn creates doing not doing. The question then becomes, what disturbs the Deep Water? That answer is deceptively simple: the rejection of what is. Accepting what is allows the water to remain undisturbed. Easy to say, hard to do. Raging against what is causes the deep water to muddy, contaminating whatever the cosmic organ is that allows us to know not know. Many of us would call this our “gut” or even “moral compass”, but I fear both of those labels do not capture the fullness of this extraordinary phenomenon.

The Relinquishing of Definitions

From #76. “So hardness and stiffness // go with death; // tenderness, softness, // go with life.”

From #1. “The name you can say // isn’t the real name. // Heaven and earth // begin in the unnamed”

• There is something lost when we define a thing. We place boundaries around what it can and cannot be. These boundaries are both conscious and unconscious. Think of who gave you the definitions you’ve placed on yourself. On your goals. On your dreams. Each definition ascribed stiffens the possibilities of what a thing can become. I’ve inherited and created definitions about what it means to be black, a man, an artist, etc. I’ve put definitions on what forms my creative expression can take. All of these operations have stiffened the possibilities and muddied my deep water. Release the definitions. Describe rather than label or define. If we stiffen our dreams, they die. If we stiffen our identity, we kill our ability to accept or pursue change. This is a kind of quiet death that can go unnoticed. To avoid this death is to be able to let go of the self. To allow the self to flow, and change, and be changed, without losing its shape.

Useful Emptiness

From #5. “Heaven and earth // act as a bellows: // Empty, yet structured, // it moves, inexhaustibly giving.”

From #7. “So wise souls // leaving self behind // move forward, // and setting self aside // stay centered. // Why let the self go? // To keep what the soul needs.”

From #11. “Hollowed out, // clay makes a pot. // Where the pot’s not // is where it’s useful.”

• How completely against the prevailing sentiment of western society! Where the pursuit of the self is one of the highest goods. The self is placed at the tippy top of the value pyramid, and everything else must be subservient to the comfort and security of the self. Emptiness comes with a feeling of despair, of loss, of apathy. However, only when we clear out the conception of what the self must be, or how the self must be perceived by others, can we firmly ground ourselves in the present. Total presence of mind in the current moment is only possible when we set down the self. When we get out of our own way. It is also the path to clear deep water. Hear me now, this is not an assertion that you are not valuable, unique, or precious. For you are all of those things. This is an encouragement to devote your time, effort, and attention to other pursuits besides asserting your identity. Let yourself change and grow. Observe your feelings rather than be held captive by them. Allow them to peak and fade, then set them down. Validate them, cherish them, but do not agonize over them. Useful emptiness is not the same as being empty. It is the difference between a hollow channel that brings lifeblood to the heart, and a dead mall that brings only melancholy.

A useful emptiness creates the conditions for clear deep water that can reflect clearly. This gives rise to our ability to parse true knowing not knowing from the clutter that ill-fitting, stiff definitions bring. This true, glorious kind of knowing not knowing gives rise to action without action; to achieving our ends without the means; to leading without ruling; to bearing and nourishing without owning. This is the portrait of a wise soul. The blueprint for a fortress of unassailable peace.

Ponder. Do not seek to understand these things. Ponder.