Jan 29- Feb 1 Verse 8

The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.

The location makes the dwelling good.
Depth of understanding makes the mind good.
A kind heart makes the giving good.
Integrity makes the government good.
Accomplishment makes your labors good.
Proper timing makes a decision good.

Only when there is no competition
will we all live in peace.

I love water. Drinking it, watching it, swimming in it. Bodies of water are always changing and moving. Water flows, it goes around rocks, over blockages. It doesn’t cling, attach, or fight. When you find yourself feeling “rigid” or “blocked”, bring the image of water to your mind and explore options that would allow you to flow through the situation rather than pushing or pulling.

The verse also talks about ways to live a good life. Be gentle and kind, to speak the truth, to be just, to be competent, and to understand the timing of all our actions. Begin to sense the timing of events in your life, trusting life to flow with you at the perfect time and place for all your good to manifest. Once again letting go and trusting, a common theme in the Tao.

I found these ideas online - Reflect on the following questions:

1.     Where is your life flowing? Where is it stuck? How can you keep flowing?

2.     How could you handle daily activities more like water?

 

Jan 25-28 Verse 7

The Tao of Heaven is eternal,
and the earth is long enduring.
Why are they long enduring?
They do not live for themselves;
thus they are present for all beings.

The Master puts herself last;
And finds herself in the place of authority.
She detaches herself from all things;
Therefore she is united with all things.
She gives no thought to self.
She is perfectly fulfilled. 

Many of the books I read talk about putting yourself at the service of others. It makes you humble, releases your ego and helps you to begin to understand who you really are. If you aren't free of yourself then how will you ever become yourself?

To be detached from all things is an amazing feat. I like my clothes and my house and my car. Yesterday I was listening to interviews with families from Haiti and there was a 40 year old man who had waited for hours for a plate of food and water. He had not eaten in 3 days. He did not eat the food because he was saving it for his son. I am 40, I have a son. It really impacted me. When disaster strikes, your world is destroyed what becomes important? Not a sale at Talbots. What do you really need to live? to be happy? I know I would feed Conor before myself, but as I write that I am not hungry or homeless. 

I am always working on releasing my ego. If you have a fear of losing something that is your ego being attached to that item. If you fear losing your job - you are not your job, you are still you whether you have that job or not. It is the same for everything you fear losing. If you release the fear, you release your ego and you can just enjoy the experience.

Jan 21-24 Verse 6

The Tao is called the Great Mother:

empty yet inexhaustible.

It gives birth to infinite worlds,

yet its immaculate purity is never lost.

It assumes countless forms,

yet its true identity remains intact.

Listen to its voice,

hear it echo through creation.

Although invisible, it endures;

it will never end.

Without fail, it brings us to our own perfection.

The first paragraph is very similar to verse 4. The infinite power is always there, never running out. Constant love. I do like this verse portraying it as a mother. I can relate to it. 
As a mother I gave birth to Conor - he was part of my creation yet he is his own creation as well. My creative gifts are in him as are Kens as are parts of our partents as are his own unique gifts. That is how I understand giving birth to infinite worlds in countless forms.


The listening to its voice. I think we can all hear it when we are quiet, breathe and become aware. Each of us is creative in some way, a way that is uniquely us. Art, music, business, home, food, speech, words, etc. And when we are living our creative gift - everything seems to flow. It might be hard work or take a long time but it seems easy and the time flies. You are energized, excited. You can feel this in your life: events take on a perfect kind of momentum, a glorious cadence. You feel it in your body. When it happens I say hang on for the ride. As long as the song lasts, dance along.

Jan 17-20 Verse 5

The Tao doesn't take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn't take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

I go back to The Shack and that good or bad is relative, therefore there is no good or bad only choices. There is no judgment. I believe that God/Universe is constantly opening opportunities based on choices we make that will bring about the greatest good.

There are horrible choices, the killing of anyone is terrible. In these situations I think that paths may be opened for the people affected by the choice. Maybe strength is found or opportunities are given to head in a different direction.


We all have those life changing instances that have made us into someone else. Having Conor was one of those. I will never be the 25 year old that spent an hour and half to get ready or the woman who was so opinionated about child rearing. I am a mom that is happy when she remembers to brush her teeth. If something happened to Conor, I would still be a mom I would not revert to who I was.

The line about saints and sinners makes me think of the opposites verse. A sinner is a saints job and a saint is the sinners goal. We are one or the other at any given time, our choices bring us there and bring us out again.

The Universe is like a bellows (tool that blows a strong current of air, used to make a fire burn more fiercely or to sound a musical instrument). While the bellows is empty, it is forever able for use. It never runs out and is ready to help us live more joyously we just have to use it.

Jan 13-16 Verse 4

The Tao is empty but inexhaustible.

It is like the eternal void:

filled with infinite possibilities.

Infinitely deep, it is the source of all things.

Within it, the sharp edges become smooth;

the twisted knots loosen;

the sun is softened by a cloud;

the dust settles into place.

It is hidden but always present.

I do not know who gave birth to it.

It is older than the concept of God.

He is speaking of the energy of the universe. If we could be aware and tap into that energy our edges would smooth. If I take a deep breathe and just relax that is what it feels like to me. Everything is calmer I am more aware of my surroundings and I slow down.

Authors talk about infinite possibilities and how we can ask for/manifest our desires. I always had guilt over this because what if I took the last million and someone else really needed more than I did? I finally realize that there is no 'last' it is always there. You are not taking the last piece of the pie because there is no last piece.

Similar to the loaves and fishes story. They had 5 loaves and 2 fish to begin with and yet 5000 people were fed and there were baskets of leftovers. There was no last loaf. There was more than enough for everyone. Just like the universe/God there is no running out. We can be guilt free in our requests.

The line "it is older than the concept of God", I think means this energy was always around it was just given the name of God at some point. When you start to think about that - this huge, complex and yet simple force that has always been available and will be available long after I am gone - it makes me want to tap into it and be in a relaxed state. It has seen it all and the earth has survived. Whether Conor cleans up his room or not suddenly doesn't seem worth the fight. I'd rather spend the time with him enjoying each other, knowing soon enough he'll be grown and gone. What would I rather a messy room lived in or a clean room empty? I choose messy. Of course his door is closed right now and I can't see the mess so it is easy for me to write that.

If you view yourself as this infinite power and your kids as us, think about how fast they have grown. 10 years is nothing. 10 more and he will be out of the house. Think of the drama and issues of their first 10 years. Our love was constant and we all survived. So our love is like the universal energy - constant, unchanging, big enough for 20 kids, small enough for 1. It fits the situation. It will never run out regardless of what they do or how old they are. If they leave this world before us, our love is still there. If they live in another state, or have chosen not to speak to us - our live is still there. It never, ever goes away.

Oh I am really getting this now. How wonderful to have access to that energy all the time. Makes me sad that I don't take more time to tap into it. Hopefully trying to live the Tao will make me more aware.

Deep breathe and..... smoothing.

Jan 9-12 Verse 3

If the chosen are not exalted, no one envies them. 

If material treasures are not praised, no one steals them.

In other words, if the objects of passions are not shown off, there are no temptations.

The wise ruler does not create such temptations to people but takes care that people have enough food.  This eliminates passions and strengthens people’s health.

The wise ruler always strives to prevent temptations and passions and does not let evil people act.

The absence of these problems brings calm.

 

This one is great. I read The Shack and there is a whole chapter about good and bad. The main character is told he has to judge the world and he starts flipping out because he doesn't want to and doesn't have the ability to. But all through his life he has judged others based on looks, money, smell, behavior etc. So he obviously can judge and does all the time. He is forced to look at what his basis is for judging and he realizes that someone is 'good' when their behavior, looks, etc confirm the mans own personal ideas. Someone is 'bad' when those ideas are challenged. HOWEVER examples are brought up that show his ideas are fluid, what might be bad one day may become good another given different circumstances and knowledge.

God explains that there is no good or bad, right or wrong, there are only choices that either bring you closer to your better self or away from it. 

Deepak talks about how we spend almost 90% of time trying to convince others that we are right or defending our ideas. Think about what could be done with that energy if we just accepted that others have different opinions and behaviors and that we are free to be who we are.

This verse is about removing value and judgment. If I judge money to be important I place a very high value you on it. Then my energy is spent trying to get it , keep it, get more of it. If instead I appreciate what I have, believe that what I need will always be given, then I spend my energy in the now instead of judging others - she has more money than I but I have more than him - I can live in the now. 

 

As an aside - Who even decides that a Monet has tremendous value and a Murphy doesn't? How as a group have we all bought into this? Is Prada purse worth hundreds more than one from JC Pennys? Has all this been created to fuel the retail industry? I am curious about how such high monetary value is placed on somethings and not others. I understand rarity and original, but still. I have the same thoughts on curse words - who decided that certain words were bad?

Back to the verse - Think about what was important to you as a child, teenager, young adult, first married. What I spent energy on, cried over, HAD to have. All those things are inconsequential now and most of the material things I have throw out over the years. When I have to have something now I try to give it time. 

 

I try to focus on being and enjoying. Not that it is a piece of cake. I have friends with great bodies, houses, high status jobs, amazing talents, lots of money, etc and it is easy to want what they have but I try to be very happy for them and myself. I'm working on it.

Jan 5-8 Verse 2

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

This is a deep one. What I get from this is that we need opposites. If we were never sad how would we know happiness. And with the cold weather we have been having, I have never appreciated warm so much! If I wasn't so cold I would probably still enjoy warm, but not really LOVE it as I do now or be so aware of it.

The work lasting forever trips me up, I guess if you were ever done you would leave this world. I would love to hear your comments on this.

My friend, Libby, sent this email to me and I thought is was appropriate to this verse:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger...

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

Basically having enough positive to handle the negative. When I think about it some of my greatest moments came from succeeding after struggling, overcoming a hurdle, figuring out the answer, pushing the flipping kid all the way out.

There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'
A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, 'Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?'
Then, when the farmer's son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'
Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

I love this story but skew it a little. When I am having a negative/bad luck I think of the story and assume it is actually good luck hiding. When I am having a positive/good luck I try to enjoy it and disregard the chance that bad luck could be hiding.  

I found some exercises to do:

1.     List everything you have in your life that you don’t want, and then next to each item, list its opposite.

2.     List everything you want in your life that you don’t have, and then next to each item, list its opposite.

3.     Look at your two lists and “see” the dance of opposites that are now occurring in your life. Put your attention on the opposite you desire.

Try do the following in the next 4 days:

4.     Sit quietly and feel your breath, going in and out of your nostrils. Just feel the breath. From this point of feeling, observe the constant change going on in our mind. Just observe, without judgment. Practice this mindfulness technique for 5 minutes a day.

5.     Spend one day moving from project to project without thinking back on what you just did, or thinking forward to what the results of what you did will be. Move forward with each thing you do like a baby, first playing with his toes, then moving to fingers while toes are forgotten. Spend your day in innocence and peace.