Verse 2 | Tao Te Ching | Relativity

in , ,

“The concept of something or someone being beautiful is grounded in a belief system that promotes duality and judgment. This way of thinking is prevalent and commonplace for just about everybody in our culture, perhaps even having some value in society. I encourage you to explore the concept of paradoxical unity in this 2nd verse of the Tao Te Ching. By changing your thoughts, you can change your life and truly live the bliss of oneness.

Has it ever occurred to you that beauty depends on something being identified as ugly? Therefore, the idea of beauty produces the idea of ugliness, and vice versa. Just think of how many concepts in this “duality belief system” depend on opposites: A person isn’t tall unless there’s a belief system that includes short. Our idea of life couldn’t exist without that of death. Day is the opposite of night. Male is the antithesis of female.

What if you instead perceived all as a piece (or a glimpse) of the perfection of oneness? I think this is what Lao-tzu is suggesting with his description of the sage who “lives openly with apparent duality and paradoxical unity.” Imagine the perfect oneness coexisting in “the apparent duality, where opposites are simply judgments made by human minds in the world of 10,000 things. Surely the daffodil doesn’t think that the daisy is prettier or uglier than it is, and the eagle and the mouse have no sense of the opposites we call life and death. The trees, flowers, and animals know not of ugliness or beauty; they simply are . . . in harmony with the eternal Tao, devoid of judgment.”

“As the sage lives openly with apparent duality, he synthesizes the origin with the manifestation without forming an opinion about it. Living without judgment and in perfect oneness is what Lao-tzu invites his readers to do. He invites our wisdom to combine perceived opposites and live a unified life. The perfection of the Tao is allowing apparent duality while seeing the unity that is reality. Life and death are identical. Virtue and sin are judgments, needing both to identify either. These are the paradoxes of a unified life; this is living within the eternal Tao. Once the dichotomies or pairs of opposites are transcended, or at least seen for what they are, they flow in and out of life like the tides.

Practice being a living, breathing paradox every moment of your life. The body has physical boundaries—it begins and ends and has material substance. Yet it also contains something that defies boundaries, has no substance, and is infinite and formless. You are both the Tao and the 10,000 things simultaneously. Let the contrasting and opposite ideas be within you at the same time. Allow yourself to hold those opposite thoughts without them canceling each other out “. Believe strongly in your free will and ability to influence your surroundings, and simultaneously surrender to the energy within you. Know that good and evil are two aspects of a union. In other words, accept the duality of the material world while still remaining in constant contact with the oneness of the eternal Tao. The debilitating necessity to be right and make others wrong will diminish.

I believe that Lao-tzu would apply the Tao Te Ching to today’s world by suggesting the following:

Live a unified life.

Enter the world of oneness with an awareness of the propensity to compartmentalize everything as good or bad, right or wrong. Beautiful or ugly are standards of the physical world, not the Tao. Contemplate the insight that duality is a mind game. In other words, people look the way they look, period—criticism is not always necessary or helpful. See the unfolding of the Tao inside everyone, including yourself, and be at peace with what you observe.

Be a good animal and move freely, unencumbered with thoughts about where you should be and how you should be acting. For instance, imagine yourself as an otter just living your “otterness.” You’re not “good or bad, beautiful or ugly, a hard worker or a slacker . . . you’re simply an otter, moving through the water or on the land freely, peacefully, playfully, “and without judgments. When it’s time to leave your body, you do so, reclaiming your place in the pure mystery of oneness. This is what Lao-tzu means when he says, “When the work is done, it is forgotten. That is why it lasts forever.”

In other words, you don’t have to leave your body to experience forever; it’s possible to know your eternal self even in the embodied condition. When duality and judgment crop up, allow them to be a part of the perfect unity. When other people create dichotomies, you can always know oneness by practicing the Tao.

Accomplish much by trying less.

Effort is one piece of the whole; another piece is non-effort. Fuse these dichotomies, and the result is effortless action without attachment to outcome. This is precisely how you dance with someone: You make an attempt, assume a position, listen to the music, and let go all at the same time, allowing yourself to easily move with your partner. Combine the so-called opposites into the oneness of being without judgment or fear. Labeling action as “a fine effort” implies a belief that trying hard is better than not trying. But trying itself “only exists because of beliefs about not trying. Attempting to pick up a piece of trash is really just not picking up the trash. Once you’ve picked it up, then trying and not trying are irrelevant.

Understand that you can act without the implied judgment of words such as effort and trying. You can compete without being focused on outcome. Eliminating opposites paradoxically unifies them so that it is unnecessary to identify with one position. I imagine that in today’s language, Lao-tzu would sum up this 2nd verse of the Tao Te Ching in these two simple words: Just be.”

Excerpt From: Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/change-your-thoughts-change-your-life/id1435253551

Verse 2

Dale Translation


We know beauty because there is ugly.

We know good because there is evil.

Being and not being,

having and not having,

create each other


Difficult and easy,

long and short,

high and low,

define each other,

just as before and after follow each other.


The dialectic of sound gives voice to music,

always transforming "is" from "was"

as the ancestors of "to be".


The wise

teaching without telling,

allow without commanding,

have without possessing,

care without claiming.


In this way we harvest eternal importance

because we never announce it.


Verse 46

Lau Translation


The whole world knows the beautiful as the beautiful, and

this is only the ugly; it knows the good as the good and this

is, indeed, the bad.

Something and Nothing producing each other;

The difficult and the easy complementing each other;

The long and there short off-setting each other;

The high and the low filling out each other;

Note and sound harmonizing with each other;

Before and after following each other—

These are in accordance with what is constant.

Hence the sage dwells in the deed that consists in taking no

action and practices the teaching that uses no words.

It makes the myriad creatures without being their

  initiator,

It benefits them without exacting any gratitude for this;

It accomplishes its task without claiming any merit for

  this.

It is because it lays no claim to merit

That its merit never deserts it.


Verse 2

Ames and Hall Translation


As soon as everyone in the world knows that the beautiful are

beautiful,

There is already ugliness.

As soon as everyone knows the able,

There is ineptness.


Determinacy (you) and indeterminacy (wu) give rise to each other,

Difficult and easy complement each other,

Long and short set each other off,

High and low complete each other,

Refined notes and raw sounds harmonize (he) with each other,

And before and after lend sequence to each other—

This is really how it all works.


It is for this reason that sages keep to service that does not entail

coercion (wuwei)

And disseminate teachings that go beyond what can be said.


In all that happen (wanwu),

The sages develop things but do not initiate them,

They act on behalf of things but do not lay any claim to them,

They see things through to fruition but do not take credit for them.

It is only because they do not take credit for them that things do not

take their leave.


Verse 2

Walker Translation


When people find one things beautiful,

another consequently becomes ugly.

When one man is help up as good,

another is judged deficient.


Similarly, being and nonbeing balance each other;

difficult and east define each other;

long and short illustrate each other;

high and low rest upon each one another;

voice and song meld into harmony;

what is to come follows upon what has been.


The wise person acts without effort

and peached by quiet example.

He accepts things as they come,

creates without possessing,

nourishes without demanding,

accomplishes without taking credit.


Because he constantly forgets himself,

he is never forgotten.


Verse 2

Kwok, Palmer, Ramsay Translation


Beauty and mercy are only recognized by people

Because they know the opposite, which is ugly and mean.


If the people think they know goodness

Then all they really know is what evil is like!


Nothing, and Heaven

share the same root —

Difficulty and ease are a part of all work.


The long and the short are in your hands,

Above and below exist because they each do,

What you want and what you say should be the same…

Neither future not past can exist alone.


The sage has no attachment to anything,

And he therefore does what is right without speaking

By simply being

in the Tao.


Verse 2

Mitchell Translation


When people see somethings as beautiful,

other things become ugly.

When peoples 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.


Verse 2

Wilson Translation


Everybody understand the beautiful to be "beautiful,"

But this only creates the concept of "ugly" ;

Everybody understands the good to be "good,"

But this only creates the concept of "bad."


There can be no existence without nonexistence;

No difficult without easy;

No long without short;

No high without low;

And without the sound of musical instruments and

human voice, where would

their harmony—and cacophony—be?


Before and after only depend on which one follows first.

Therefore the sage resides in non-fabrication, and

conducts himself according to wordless teachings.

All objects in the world come into existence, but he does not judge them;

They are born, but he does not possess them.

The sage acts, but relies on nothing;

He accomplishes and moves on.

By moving on, he never has to leave.


Verse 2

Dyer Translation


Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,

only because there is ugliness.

All can know good as good only because there is evil.


Being and nonbeing produce each other

The difficult is born in the easy

Long is defined by short, and high by the low.

Before and after go along with each other.


So the sage lives openly with apparent duality

and paradoxical unity.

The sage can act without effort

and teach without words.

Nurturing things without possessing them,

he works, but not for rewards;

he competes, but not for results.


When the work is done, it is forgotten.

That is why it lasts forever.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Verse 26 | Tao Te Ching | Tranquility and Seductions

in ,

You will see many discrepancies with the translation of this verse. THIS is why I have so many copies of the Tao Te Ching, translated by various people. Translation—it's a strange strange beast. It's everything to truly understanding what is being conveyed.

Wow, this verse kicked my ass. I am very much guilty of losing sight of my tranquility. I could say that I let others take it from me—but that is not true.

I take it from myself. It does not matter what a person does or says: the response should be... nothing. Kindness. A smile.

I was just in a situation recently with an individual who pulled my ego out of me. Jung would refer to this, as an integrated shadow most likely. My shadow stood up for me. However, there are arguments to other courses of action. Choose-my-own adventure. That is life.

No matter what a person does or says to me: I need to be in control of my emotions. I need to draw my own boundaries when I feel that I am being pushed around or taken advantage of, or any number of other attributes or situations where my tranquility is being upended. My tranquility is my responsibility.

I have much to learn. I am also proud of myself for drawing boundaries with people. When someone says something to me that I don't agree with. Let them know, politely. Truth, my own truth, can be delicately laid. We do not need to be friends with every single person we meet in life. They deserve our respect, so long as they also respect us. If they do not, then there is no further conversation needed. Move on. There are 7.888 Billion people on this planet. Enjoy the company of another one of those from that lot.

What does Wayne Dyer have to say about this Verse? Let me skim and find out. Hold on. Well fancy that. He says much of what I just said:

LIVING CALMLY

"In this chapter of the Tao Te Ching, you’re being advised to maintain a sense of serenity regardless of what you may see taking place around you. Moreover, you’re being told that the true master knows that the ability to stay calm is always located within. From this perspective, there’s no need to assign responsibility to others for how you feel. Even though you may live in a world where blame and faultfinding are endemic, you will own your feelings and actions. You will know that circumstances don’t determine your state of mind, for that power rests with you. When you maintain a peaceful inner posture, even in the midst of chaos, you change your life.

The wisdom of this verse of the Tao Te Ching prompts you to know that you have a choice. Do you want to be in a state of confusion or to have a tranquil inner landscape? It’s up to you! Armed with this insight, the Tao master doesn’t allow an external event to be a disturbance. Lao-tzu tells you that assigning blame for your lack of calmness will never bring you to the state of being that you’re striving to attain. Self-mastery only blossoms when you practice being aware of, and responsible for, what you’re feeling.

This particular part of the Tao Te Ching is one that you’ll probably want to immerse yourself in repeatedly. After all, what could be better than the freedom of going through life without feeling that people and circumstances control you without your permission? Are you depressed? Irritated? Frustrated? Exhilarated? Ecstatically in love? Whatever your current state, if you believe that a changing economic picture or a tapestry of events taking place around you is responsible—and you then use these external factors to explain your inner state of mind—you’ve lost touch with your root. Why? Because you’re allowing yourself to be “blown to and fro” by the shifting winds of circumstance.

The solution for a life of unrest is choosing stillness. The quiet of the Tao is oblivious to any turmoil in the world of the 10,000 things. Be like the Tao, advises Lao-tzu: “The still is the master of unrest.” You have a choice in every moment, so you can decide to be a host to God and carry around with you the calmness that is the Tao, or you can be a hostage to your ego, which insists that you can’t really help feeling disorderly when you’re in circumstances that resemble pandemonium.

Here’s what Lao-tzu offers to you in this profoundly simple passage, from the profoundly simple life he chose 2,500 years before yours:

Vow to seek a calm inner response to the circumstances of your life.

In the midst of any kind of unrest—be it an argument, a traffic jam, a monetary crisis, or anything at all—make the immediate decision that you will find the calm center of yourself. By not thinking of what is taking place, and instead taking a few deep breaths in which you opt to empty your mind of judgments, it becomes impossible to mentally “flit about like a fool.” You have the innate ability to choose calmness in the face of situations that drive others to madness. Your willingness to do so, especially when chaos and anger have been your previous choices, puts you in touch with “the master of unrest.” There was a time when I thought this was impossible. Now I know that even in the most troublesome of times, my reaction is to choose stillness . . . the way of the Tao.

Don’t lose touch with your root.

With a written declaration or picture placed strategically in your home and workplace, remind yourself that no one can make you 26th Verse lose touch with your root without your consent. Affirm the following often: I have the ability to stay poised and centered, regardless of what goes before me. Then vow to put this new way of being into practice the next time a situation of unrest crops up. Do the mental work in advance and you’ll achieve the self-mastery that Lao-tzu refers to in this verse. More significantly, you’ll be in harmony with the Tao, which is your ultimate calling.

Verse 26

Dale translation

Inner strength is the master

of all frivolities.

Tranquility is the master

of all agitated emotions.

Those who succumb to frivolities

have lost their inner strength

Those who succumb to agitated emotions

have lost their tranquility.

The wise cultivate

inner strength and tranquility.

That is why they are not seduced

by addictive temptations.

Verse 26

Dyer Translation

The heavy is the root of the light.

The still is the master of unrest.

Realizing this,

the successful person is

poised and centered

in the midst of all activities;

although surrounded by opulence,

he is not swayed.

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

Verse 26

Mitchell Translation

The heavy is the root of the light

The unmoved is the source of all movement

Thus the master travels all day

without leaving home

However splendid the view

she stays serenely in herself.

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

If you let restlessness move you,

you lose touch with who you are.

Verse 26

Wilson Translation

The heavy fabricates the root of the light

The tranquil fabricates command of the flurried.

Therefore the sage puts one foot

in front of the other the entire day

But never leaves his heavy pack behind.

Though there may be glorious sights at hand,

His course remains high and detached,

as smooth as the flight of a swallow.

How will a lord of ten thousand chariots fool

with his empire as though

he himself has nothing to lose?

Act lightly and you lose your rootedness.

Act in a flurried way and you lose your command.

Verse 26

Walker Translation

Heaviness is the root of lightness

Tranquility is the master of agitation.

That is why the sage travels all day

without ever losing sight of her baggage

She may live in a glorious palace, but

she isn't attached to its pleasures.

Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots

behave lightly in the world?

One who acts lightly loses her foundation.

One who becomes agitated sacrifices her mastery.

Verse 26

Kwak, Palmer, Ramsay Translation

What holds, what you can trust

Is the same as this quietness—

and it is lighthearted.

This quiet light-hearted silence

Is the key to being free from emotion

The sage never abandons the Tao,

he never lets its weight out of sight.

He may live in a fabulous house

But he never gets caught up wanting to—

And through there are always temptations,

He stays unswayed, and smiles.

So why is it that our rulers

Seem so bright, but are

Glib and unsubstantial?

Losing the weight of the Tao

Means you lose your root;

And when you can't sit still

you lose

The source.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Verse 25 | Tao Te Ching | Naming the Nameless

in

I've been told that this is one of the most widely known and popular verses from the Tao Te Ching. It is no exaggeration to say that it has me tearing up a bit reading it. Life is very good, when we let it be good—when we get out of our own way.

Verse 25

Dyer Translation

There was something formless and perfect

before the universe was born.

It is serene. Empty.

Solitary. Unchanging.

Infinite. Eternally present.

It is the Mother of the universe.

For lack of a better name,

I call it the Tao.

I call it great.

Great is boundless;

boundless is eternally flowing;

ever flowing, it is constantly returning.

Therefore, the Way is great,

heaven is great,

earth is great,

people are great.

Thus, to know humanity,

understand earth.

To know earth,

understand heaven.

To know heaven,

understand the Way.

To know the Way,

understand the great within yourself.

Verse 25

Kwok, Palmer, Ramsay Translation

Before the world was

And the sky was filled with stars...

There was a strange, unfathomable Body.

This Being, this Body is silent

and beyond all substance and sensing.

It stretches beyond everything

spanning the empyrean.

It has always been here, and it always will be.

Everything comes from it, and then

it is the Mother of Everything.

I do not know its name. So I call it TAO

I am loath to call it greater than everything',

but it is.

And being greater, it infuses all things

moving far out and returning to the Source.

Tao is great.

Tao, the Great!

It is greater than Heaven,

Greater than the Earth —

Greater than the king.

These are the four great things,

and the ruler is the least of them.

Humanity is schooled by Earth;

Earth is taught by Heaven,

And Heaven is guided by the Tao.

And the Tao

goes with what is absolutely natural.

Verse 25

Dale Translation

What preceded life? The earth.

What preceded the earth? The universe.

What preceded the universe?

The soundless and shapeless, origin of origins,

ever transforming and having no beginning nor end.

This mother off the universe is boundless, and nameless.

But if we wanted to share with you anything

about this remarkable non-executing executor,

we must invent a name for it.

We will call it the  Tao because Tao means great.

Incredibly great because it occupies infinite space,

being fully present in the whole universe, and in

every infinitesimal particle.

Because this Great Integrity created the universe,

and the universe created the earth,

and the earth created us, we are all incredibly great.

Life derives from the nature of the earth.

The earth derives from the nature of the universe.

The  universe derives from the nature of the great integrity.

And the great integrity is the omnipresent, omnigenous omniform,

the universal material and spiritual substance

and the holoversal interlinkage and coition of existence.

Dyer's thoughts on this verse:

Many of the scholars who have written about the Tao Te Ching over the centuries consider this 25th verse to be one of the most significant lessons in the entire manuscript. In my research, all the translations of this passage actually include the word great to describe it.

This verse tells the story that even before the beginning there existed “something formless and perfect.” It goes on to say that this formless perfection is the “Mother of the universe.” Even though it’s nameless, it’s called the “Tao,” and it’s synonymous with what is great. That is, there’s nothing within the Tao that is the opposite of great—there’s nothing that’s puny, insignificant, weak, unimportant, or even average.

The story appears to want the reader to realize there’s a pure, timeless energy that’s within everything on the planet and that remains uncontaminated by the solid appearance of form. The conclusion is a directive to the student, who is you, the reader. To know this formless perfection, you must “understand the great within yourself.” You’re the central character in this wonderful saga!

Since you’re animated by the eternal Tao, this tale’s message of greatness invites you to change the way you live and to see the life you’re living change. You can begin to do so by examining thoughts and ideas that are inconsistent with this phenomenal observation made by Lao-tzu, which has been echoed by others throughout history. In her book The Journey, which was published in 1954, Lillian Smith describes it like this:

The need that one feels every day of one’s life, even though one does not acknowledge it. To be related to something bigger than one’s self, something more alive than one’s self, something older and something not yet born, that will endure through time.

That enduring “something” confirms your greatness, your absolute connection to the infinite. There’s a sense of being permanently aligned with a sort of senior partner that is greatness itself.

Lao-tzu advises you to notice the planet, its people, and the heavens and see greatness. Next, look at yourself and see that you’re a component of them all. That is, befriend what appears to be the great mystery of creation by discovering the greatness within you, then bask in the joy of noting the greatness you share with heaven, Earth, and all of its people. By persistently hanging on to your own “greatness heritage,” you ensure that the always-present Tao is consciously available. From a perspective of greatness, only greatness can emerge from you; from an inner perspective of inferiority, you only attract events that align with those beliefs.

Your greatness won’t be found in a classroom; an apprenticeship; a teacher; or flattering comments from well-meaning family members, friends, or lovers. It is within you. It’s crucial for you to become conscious of the greatness that constantly flows through you—to do so, meet it in meditative moments of gratitude, and cease to be influenced by contrary points of view.

In particular, watch and listen for the critical comments that originate from your own inner dialogue. When such thoughts emerge in your mind, let them tell you what they want. If you allow those not-so-great notions to speak, you’ll always discover that what they really want is to feel good. Give them the time they need to trust that there’s no payoff for their existence, and they will happily merge into the greatness within you. Accessing this quality allows you to participate in the greater whole, where the power of the Tao flows unimpeded by fearful self-judgment. Change the way you live by tapping into this greatness, and the life you’re living will literally change.

Following are the thoughts that Lao-tzu would have you adopt as he wrote out this verse of the Tao Te Ching some 25 centuries ago:

Trust in your own greatness.

You are not this body you occupy, which is temporary and on its way back to the nowhere from which it came. You are pure greatness . . . precisely the very same greatness that creates all of life. Keep this thought uppermost in your mind and you’ll attract to yourself these same powers of creation: The right people will appear. The exact events that you desire will transpire. The financing will show up. That’s because greatness attracts more of its own self to itself, just as thoughts of inadequacy act upon a belief that ensures that deficiency will become your reality. Affirm the following to yourself over and over until it becomes your automatic inner response to the world: I come from greatness. I attract greatness. I am greatness.

Look for beliefs that contradict your status as a being of greatness.

Catch yourself in the midst of any utterance that reflects your belief that you’re average. Silently speak warmly to that belief and ask it what it wants. It may think it has to protect you from disappointment or pain, as it probably did earlier in your existence. But with continued accepting attention, the feeling will always eventually admit that it wants to feel great. So let it! You’re good enough to withstand the passing disappointments and pain that afflict life on this planet—but trying to protect yourself by believing that you don’t embody greatness is overkill.

Look for these misbeliefs and give them the chance to transform to what they (and you) really want. Whatever you desire to become or to attract to yourself, make the internal shift from It probably won’t happen for me to It is on its way! Then begin the process of looking for even minute evidence that what you desire is indeed on its way. It’s crucial to keep this ancient axiom in mind: I get what I think about, whether I want it or not. So think about how fortunate you are to have greatness located within yourself. Now you can live the ultimate paradox: You can be greatness and be nobody, simultaneously.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Verse 24 | Tao Te Ching | Excess and The Ego

in

I have been lost.

I have also been found.

I have asked myself on occasion: what is my ego?

While I may not have a clear answer on this question—it would appear that this analogy seems to do a better job of displaying my feelings on the idea of an ego. Excess Ego.

I imagine a teeter totter.

On one side there is pride and ego—and on the other side, there is selflessness and charity.

Perhaps the ego protects us to some small degree—our fortitude—our resolve... it is a boundary that we occasionally draw in the sand to protect us from being taken advantage of by others. If it were to have a purpose... perhaps that is what it is there for.

Additionally, perhaps we find a firm foundation in the balancing of this teeter-totter.

What I can say, is that my ego, my vanity, my self-worth... it can make me ugly.

There is a line in a song that I admire; I feel it displays this notion beautifully.

"Vanity is a tiger that you raise from a cub, that'll one day, split your face."

Wild. No matter the amount of effort to tame or domesticate—it is still wild.



Verse 24 | Tao Te Ching | Avoiding Voids

Dale Translation

Standing on tiptoe will only make you tipsy,

Walking with long strides will not allow a long walk

Shining the light of yourself will never enlighten you

Being self-righteous precludes you from being right

Boasting about yourself will never boost your eminence

Parading yourself parodies leadership


Tao Consciousness avoids

the cultivation of all these ego-bloated voids


Verse 24 |Tao Te Ching

Mitchell Translation


He who stands on tiptoe

doesn't stand firm

He who rushes ahead

doesn't go far

He who tries to shine

dims his own light

He who defines himself

can't know who he really is

He who has power over others

can't empower himself

He who clings to his work

will create nothing that endures


If you want to accord with the Tao

just do your job, and then let go.


Verse 24 |Tao Te Ching

Ames and Hall Translation


Blowhards have no standing

The self-promoting are not distinguished

Show-offs do not shine

Braggarts have nothing to show

The self-important are here and gone


As these attitudes pertain to way-making (Dao)

They are called indulgences and unseemliness

Such excess is so generally despised

That even those who want things

Cannot abide it.


Verse 24 |Tao Te Ching

Dyer Translation

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.


Verse 24 |Tao Te Ching

Walker Translation

A man who tiptoes can't stand

A man who straddles can't walk

A man who shows off can't shine


A man who justifies his actions isn't respected

A man who boasts of his achievements has no merit

A man who brags will not endure


To a person of Tao, these things are

excess food and superfluous behavior

Because nothing good can come of them

he doesn't indulge in them


Verse 24 |Tao Te Ching

Scott Translation

If you are up on tiptoes, you will not stand with confidence

If you move along straddling a road, you will be unable to put one foot in front of the other

If you make yourself seen, you will not be illustrious

If you consider yourself right, you will not be taken as a model

If you denigrate others, you will get no credit

If you consider yourself the grip of a spear, you will never become a staff of support


Those who abide in the way

call such things

"leftover food" or "warts of your behavior"

Thus, those who possess the way will be found elsewhere


Wayne Dyer, in his book, "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life" offers these thoughts on Verse 24.

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 like that,

It lights the

Whole

Sky.

The sun symbolizes the Tao at work: It offers its warmth, light, and life-giving energy to all, illuminating the globe without any demand for recognition. Imagine if the sun needed attention and demanded accolades for its efforts—it would shine only where it felt most appreciated or when it received payment for that life-giving energy! Soon the world would be partially shut off from the sun’s magnificence, and ultimately the entire planet would be covered in darkness as wars erupted over ways of appeasing the “sun god.” It’s easy to see why Lao-tzu refers to such inclinations to be boastful and self-righteous as “odious” and akin to “a tumor in the body.”

Walk the path of the Tao by being a giver rather than a taker, providing for others and asking nothing in return. Then view your desires to brag and seek approval as weeds appearing on your journey. Seeing yourself as important and special because of your artistic talent, for instance, is walking the path of ego. Walking the path of the Tao means that you express appreciation for the hands that allow you to create a sculpture.

This is how Lao-tzu advises you to walk the path of the Tao, free of your ego-driven desires to be recognized for all of your efforts and accomplishments:

Change your life by consciously choosing to be in a state of gratitude.

The journey of your life will change when you emphasize gratitude for all that you are, all that you accomplish, and all that you receive. Practice silently repeating I thank You throughout your waking hours, and as you fall asleep and awaken. It really doesn’t matter whether you’re thanking God, Spirit, Allah, the Tao, Krishna, Buddha, the Source, or self, because all those names represent the great wisdom traditions. Give thanks for the sunshine, the rain, and your body, including all of its components. Have a brain-, heart-, liver, and even a toenail-appreciation day! Your practice of gratitude helps 24th Verse you focus on the real Source of everything, as well as notice when you’re letting ego dominate. Make this a silent daily practice: Give thanks for the bed, the sheets, the pillows, and the room you sleep in at night; and in the morning, say I thank You for what lies ahead. Then begin the beautiful day doing something kind for another human being someplace on the planet.

Change your life by examining your urge to boast and be self-righteous.

When you’re about to brag to others about your credentials or accomplishments, momentarily sense the urge and recall Lao-tzu’s advice that “this is the very stuff that must be uprooted, thrown out, and left behind.” On the Tao path, inner approval is healthy and pure, while self-righteous boasting is simply superfluous. When you notice your gloating habit, you can choose to get back on the Tao path by remembering this 24th verse of the Tao Te Ching. Pomposity and self-inflating comments can then be seen as weeds you really have no need for. By returning to radical humility and seeing the greatness within everyone, you’ve then cleared your life of excessive self-importance . . . and this is the way of the Tao.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Verse 23 | Tao Te Ching | Sincerity

in

Dale Translation

Speak few words, but say them with quietude and sincerity,

and they will be long-lasting,

for a raging wind cannot blow all morning,

nor a sudden rainstorm last throughout the day.


Why is this so?

Because it is the nature of the sky and the earth to be frugal.

Even human beings can not alter this nature

without suffering the consequences.


When we sincerely follow the ethical path,

we become one with it.

When we become one with the ethical path, it embraces us.


When we completely lose our way, we become one with loss.

When we become one with loss, loss embraces us.


When we sincerely follow the great integrity, we become one with it.

When are one with the great integrity, it embraces us.


But when nothing is done sincerely,

nothing and on-one embraces us.


Walker Translation

Nature is sparing with speech

a whirlwind doesn't last all morning

a rain shower doesn't last all day


What causes these? Heaven and earth.

If heaven and earth can't make something

furious endure, how could man?


Concentrate on Tao and you'll experience Tao.

Concentrate on power, and you'll experience power.

Concentrate on loss and you'll experience loss.


If you won't trust, you won't be trusted.


Mitchell Translation

Express yourself completely,

then keep quiet.

Be like the forces of nature:

when it blows, there is only wind;

when it rains, there is only rain;

when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.


If you open yourself to the Tao,

you are one with the Tao

and you can embody it completely.

If you open yourself to insight,

you are at one with insight

and you can use it completely.

If you open yourself to loss,

you are at one with loss

and you can accept it completely.


Open yourself to the Tao,

then trust your natural response;

and everything will fall into place.


Dyer Translation

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.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE?

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

Tao Te Ching

in
Tao-Te-Ching.jpg

I remember being around 20 years old, in the town I grew up in: Visalia, CA.  It's not a very big place.  It's not very small either.  It's between those two things: small enough for rumors to bother you and big enough for it to take 25 minutes to get from one end to the other—I'm sure information was faster than the car there, even before the advent of the internet.

I fell in love for the first time in Visalia.  It was love at first sight for me—but ended up not working out.  I think back on it, and I know all the places where I made errors.  This is important to me, because I feel I have room to learn from my mistakes.  Lauren is happily married now and has children, and I am thrilled for her, deeply and truly.  She is a good person.

What's really painful is making mistakes and realizing you have made them shortly after making them.  This was the case between Lauren and I.  However, we are not defined by another person.  

While we may be defined by our decisions, partially—ultimately, I feel that we just are.  We exist I mean.  Nothing beyond that.  To put it a better way, we all come in and out of each others lives, changing one another, so that we may continue on: all the additional perceptions attached to it, are human notions.  

If we look at ourselves as purely animals, we just exist, accumulating life experience in the form of memories.  We own our past.  It is involuntary in so much as it pertains to it being deposited in the banks of chaos that are our minds.  Beyond that, we can chose to own it as a verb, which is more along the lines of accepting it, and not perceiving it as a burden.  Perhaps like cargo floating on a rive in tandem with us: effortless.

I am fascinated by the thought of how much more malleable I was in my younger years.  I could love, fall out of love, and love again rather quickly.  If I were to be honest with myself, I have become far more guarded with my heart over the years.

19 year-old me fell in and out of love with Lauren, was at the forefront of his love of music, had parents who did not encourage the pursuit of music as a career, so he felt as if he needed to find his own footing and encouragement in other places—even if that was just in the daydreams of his own head.

He worked two jobs: one during the day and one during the night.  He practiced guitar in between.  He kept trying to write songs, but found it extremely difficult to like what he wrote—to genuinely love what was being made by his own creativity.

The first song I ever tried to write was about a young girl who tried to commit suicide off of a freeway overpass.  It was a good song—I couldn't see that though, at the time.  So I hid it away, and never shared it.

tao-of-pooh.png

I remember discovering Dave Matthews Band for the first time, and learning all of his songs.  I remember meeting a young girl named Robin that same summer.  We loved each other in a window of time, before she moved away.  In that window of time, I began reading a book that I very much enjoyed called " The Tao of Pooh".  I was 20 years old.

It was a very beautiful interpretation of Taoism, in so far as Winnie the Pooh being a prime example of an individual who lives the Tao.  I gave it to Robin when she moved to San Jose, along with a few Calvin and Hobbs comic strip books.

In hindsight, I was more malleable in those days—which isn't to say that I am not that way now—I'm just beginning to wonder if I was living more "the way" at that time, than I am now.  

Robin was no possession to me.  She enriched my life.  Hopefully, I enriched hers as well.  We keep contact with one another, and I am friends with her whole family.  I love them all dearly.

I continued to play guitar.  I was also very fascinated with Chess.  I played a gentleman named Jason McKaughan at his house in downtown Visalia.  He was an amazing musician himself.  He was also studying philosophy at California State University Fresno.  We would play chess together.  He would introduce me to movies and new music that I had never heard of such as Michael Hedges or Charlie Hunter or "The Matrix" or "Deconstructing Harry"—to be honest they are too numerous to name.  

I began to learn how to play Michael Hedges and became obsessed with him, much as I did Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan before that.  However, I remember showing up to his house to play chess on one day in particular and he had something fun to share with me.

He popped on a song called "Comfortable".  He asked me to name who it was.  I listened.  "Comfortable" displayed amazing songwriting.  The lyrics were incredible.  His voice had a masculine baritone quality that was very beautiful and entrancing to listen to.  I listened the whole way through without saying a word.  

When the song was completed, I said "Jacob Dylan?"  I knew this wasn't the answer, but it was the closest thing I could think of that matched the timber of his voice.  His answer was, "this is Matt Mangano's roommate at Berklee School of Music.  His name is John Mayer."  I was hooked.

Matt Mangano was also a Visalia native who had just moved to Boston to attend Berklee School of Music.  He was there to study recording and sound engineering.  He recorded John in the dorm room they shared together.  The recordings I was listening to, were those recordings.  Matt brought them back with him on summer break and told Jason, this is my roommate John Mayer.  Remember his name.  He's going to be a big star.  Jason was skeptical that this was the case, but there was no denying his talent.

IMG_8529 2.jpg

He shared numerous stories with me regarding Matt and John.  I began to follow John on my parents old AOL dial up computer.  The World Wide Web had just started.  John was present on a website he created at johnmayer.com and posted music he wrote to another website called MP3.com.  He had left Berklee School of Music after one year there, and moved down to Georgia.  I enthusiastically watched and supported his very quick rise to fame.

There were no crowd sourcing platforms at this time.  This was all between the years of 1999-2000.  Jason McKaughan would go and visit Matt and John at their place in Atlanta, Georgia.  John took Jason out to go sight seeing around the South, historical landmarks and so forth.  He brought back stories.  They were fun to listen to.  I shared John's music with people I thought would like it.

When he started to be able to afford to tour, I went out and supported his first tour solo acoustic.  He opened for Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket.  He played a wonderful set over a bunch of people screaming over the top of his music, talking loudly, waiting for Glen to take the stage.  He didn't appear bothered by it, but having been there myself, I'm sure it was no fun to have only a quarter of the room listening to you.

Shortly there after, he was signed to Aware Records, which is what that CD up yonder is.  He went on tour with a band.  I caught him three times during that tour.  Once in San Francisco, once in Los Angeles at The Roxy, and lastly at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.  He came out after every show and would chat with all of us that attended.  John is a very funny guy, and was always a pleasure to talk to.  I emailed him once to ask him how to play one of his songs, and he was kind enough to provide the info I was after.

I look back on my life, and I see that around the years of 19 to 21 is when I woke up to art and how much I loved it.  I have tried to avidly support local and independent music as I find it.  I suppose John was the first musician to not be spoon fed to me by a major label?  I had never thought of this before in plain terms, but I suppose that is the truth.

My whole life, I have been living the way.  I am sure you can say the same.  That's what "Tao" translates to: "The Way."  We are all living the mystery is what I mean.  Allow me to explain myself a little better—I don't want this to be a Chinese Finger Trap.

I started reading "Change You Thoughts, Change Your Life" by Wayne Dyer.  In a nut shell, it is the "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu, but with his interpretation of each concise chapter of "Tao Te Ching" which often reads a bit like poetry.  I'll give you an example:

第一章

道可道

非常道

名可名

非常名

無名天地之始

有名萬物之母

故常無欲

以觀其妙

常有欲

以觀其徼

此兩者

同出而異名

同謂之玄

玄之又玄

眾妙之門


Pretty interesting, right?  I kid.


Chapter 1

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao

The name that can be named is not the eternal name

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth

The named is the mother of myriad things

Thus, constantly with

out desire, one observes its essence

Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations

These two emerge together but differ in name

The unity is said to be the mystery

Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders


OR alternately it could be translated to this, as we are working from Chinese characters that are no longer in use.  This alone is fascinating to me as language allows for so many different interpretations, especially when it has been translated from a translation.  This text is nearly 2,500 years old.  As far as I know, these both have been translated directly from the original Chinese characters listed above.


The Tao that can be told

is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named

is not the eternal name.


The Tao is both named and nameless.

As nameless it is the origin of all things;

as named it is the mother of 10,000 things.


Ever desire less, one can see the mystery;

ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.

And the mystery itself is the doorway

to all understanding.


This is paradoxical thinking—and very thick.  It has the viscosity of maple syrup.  Yet, it is also simple.  We just are.  That is Tao, yet by my reducing things in simplicity of those words of explanation to you, another human being, that is not Tao.  But I digress.  This is what I was getting at in the words of Wayne Dyer:

.".. enjoy the mystery."

"Let the world unfold without always trying to figure it all out.  Let relationships just be, for example, since everything is just going to stretch out in Divine Order.  Don't try so hard to make something work—simply allow.  Don't always toil at trying to understand your mate, your children, your parents, your boss, or anyone else, because the Tao is working at all times.  When expectations are shattered, practicing allowing that to be the way it is.  Relax, let go, allow, and recognize that some of your desires are about how you think your world should be, rather than how it is in the moment.  Become an astute observer... judge less and listen more.  Take time to open your mind to the fascinating mystery and uncertainty that we all experience."

"Practice letting go of always naming and labeling."

There are many things to be interpreted from these very concise lines from the first chapter of "Tao Te Ching."  Similarly, there are many things to be interpreted from a lifetime already lived.  Beyond that, is living.  It's the present moment.  

I've enjoyed sharing a bit of my past with you.  I've also enjoyed thinking back to a version of myself that is 20 years old.  I find it fascinating that I have ran along a twenty year cycle, a continuum, in which it has begun with me reading an interpretation of Tao Te Ching (but with Winnie the Pooh bonus round), and led me back to me reading an interpretation once again, and me arriving at my own paradoxical understanding.  In the process of writing that last sentence, I also just realized that putting exclamation points on things can be construed as shouting.  However, most of the time, it just means enthusiasm, nowadays.

What a mystery!

- Mike