Tao Tuesday – Chapter 29

Every Tuesday on www.taotechingdaily.com Amy Putkonin invites bloggers to comment on a different chapter of her version (in my opinion one of the best versions going) of the Tao Te Ching. Many thanks to Amy for sharing this project with the world. This week:

Chapter 29

One who wishes to control the world

and act with force upon it will not succeed.

The world is a sacred vessel

and cannot be controlled.

For trying to control it, one destroys it.

For trying to hold it, one loses it.

There is a time for leading,

and a time to follow.

There is a time to breath in,

and a time to breath out.

A time to be strong,

and a time to be weak.

A time to overcome,

and a time to fail.

The sage abandons all excess,

avoids extravagance,

and rejects indulgence.

- See more at: http://taotechingdaily.com/tao-tuesdays-chapter-29/#sthash.xzrCoCyG.dpuf

This reminds me of a couple of things. One is the old adage “go with the flow”. There are times to take a stand, but those seem less frequent than times to “allow” things to unfold naturally. If you take Nature’s lead, then you get farther with a better end result. Think of wading in a stream with a current…you get farther, faster, easier walking downstream with the current than you do fighting your way upstream.

Diane Morgan associates this idea of “actionless action” (it takes no extra action to get the extra distance…it happens naturally by choosing to go with the flow instead of against it) and the Tarot card 2 of Wands.

Still, we have free choice. It is a choice whether to flow or to fight. There are times for both, although flowing is frequently the better choice, sometimes the tough walk upstream is necessary, the right thing to do. There is a time for both, the trick is knowing when to do what.

Actionless action is a good place to start in that knowing. Observing still gets something done: learning. Learning, though outwardly actionless, still gets something done. With that learning we know when to act, and when to allow. Then all is done with least damage to ourselves and others…the “sacred vessel” in this chapter doesn’t get accidentally damaged by thrashing around and needless doing.