When I was young, my passion for needing certainty burned brightly. Unlike what is often said I never actually believed I had all the answers, but I did believe I knew the overall direction things should go and small actions I could take to affect them.

Sometimes it feels like our identity has become about these small actions, which can be as large as a protest to as small as a tweet. It’s not even that this is incorrect: clearly almost all large actions are made up of smaller ones. It’s just that there is now a seeming consensus that we should be more intentional about which actions are taken and that they aligns to a specific worldview.

I’ve been reading the Tao De Ching (Stephen Mitchel translation) a lot lately, and not reading social media or the news. Several important realizations have come up for me which I wanted to share. For those who don’t know, the Tao De Ching is an ancient work unlike any other. It is, as Stephen Mitchell put it “the classic manual on the art of living, written in the style of gemlike lucidity, radiant with humor and grace and largeheartedness and deep wisdom: one of the wonders of the world.” If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so soon. It is only a few thousand words. If you read it slowly, as it is meant to be read, it should not take up more than a few hours of your time.

When I first encoutered the Tao as a child, I had thought it to be cryptic and self-contradictory. This may have been a result of the translation (I would like to eventually study multiple translations), but it is also because I have significantly dulled my certainty. I am now 34, but as a teenager and in my early 20’s I strongly believed that holding contradictory opinions simultaniously was impossible. I now believe it is the first sign of a healthy intellect.

20
Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you value what others value,
avoid what others avoid?

3
If you overesteem great men,
people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.

The Master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.

Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.

One of the things that surprised me the most about the Tao De Ching was it’s focus on governance. I would guess that at least 10% of the pages mention government or have advice specifically for a leader. Some important context here is that probaly all government in Lao Tzu’s time was monarchical, so addressing a single “leader” makes more sense. Regardless, there is a lot here that applies to the present day perhaps even more than it applied then.

17
When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.

If you don't trust the people,
you make them untrustworthy.

The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"

“When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.” This is perhaps the essential wisdom of action though non-action. I think there is a reflective desire to take this statement defensively, as an attack against one’s very being. How does one not take the right action when one knows it to be required? No. It is much simpler than this. So much simpler it can be difficult to see.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

Lao Tzu is not suggesting you take no action, just that you relax into it. You are the Tao. Society is the Tao. “The great Tao is everywhere. All things are born from it”. You are action, whether you try to force it or not. Do you want to know how to make the world a better place? First accept it as it is.

23
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 at 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 responses;
and everything will fall into place.

Lao Tzu has more to say about government than I would have thought possible for a religious work. It has something for everyone: left and right wing, communists and libertarians, and everything in-between. Seeing so many seemingly contradictory and modern opinions from a work written 2600 years was fairly shocking and made me realize that my reaction has more to do with my own preconceived notions than anything rooted in reality.

59
For governing a country well
there is nothing better than moderation.

The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.

Nothing is impossible for him.
Because he has let go,
he can care for the people's welfare
as a mother cares for her child.

32
If powerful men and women
could remain centered in the Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
and the law would be written in their hearts.

When you have names and forms,
know that they are provisional.
When you have institutions,
know where their functions should end.
Knowing when to stop,
you can avoid any danger.

All things end in the Tao
as rivers flow into the sea.

46
When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,

warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.
There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.

53
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered within the Tao.

When rich speculators prosper
While farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turnall this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.

For more chapters concerning politics see 30, 53, 57, 58, 60, 61, 65, 66, 75, 77.

However, the Tao De Ching is not a coherent political philosophy. Lao Tzu will not give you answers, all he can do is take them away. This is because there are no answers, at least not ones that can be spoken. “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”

Beliefs are built of concepts. Concepts are built of language. Language is a tool which separates the world by segmenting things from other things. The meaning of words like “mountain”, “human” and “life” are dependent on them having a background – the mountain is part of a landscape, a human is part of an ecosystem. Words have meaning because they point at something and also don’t point at other things. An actual mountain has no meaning. You cannot point at a mountain and ask “what is its meaning?”. Words have meaning because they point to something beyond themselves. An actual mountain or individual life has no “meaning” outside of itself.

71
Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health.

14
Approach it and there is no beginning;
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
at ease in your own life.
Just realize where you come from:
this is the essence of wisdom.

When we use langauge to craft a purpose or meaning it is attempting to point to something other than what we are. This isn’t to say that words are not useful. Sometimes they point to something fundamental. But as the saying goes, “Zen is a finger pointing at the moon, do not confuse the finger for the moon.” Never confuse the words for the things they point to. The things are real. The words, concepts and ideals are not.

67
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

Can we learn (or unlearn) these lessons while consuming social media? I believe that only someone who is already enlightened would stand a chance. To relax in this way we must first find solitude. This doesn’t need to be in a cave with zero contact with friends. It doesn’t need to be meditating for hours a day. But it does have to be while microwaving our coffee. It does have to be while laying in bed. Our minds have to have room to breathe, to not be stimulated and have some of our own thoughts and opinions – and then let go of them.

All quotes unless otherwise stated are taken from the Tao Te Ching written by Lao-tzu, Translation by Stephen. Mitchell Last updated 20 July 1995

http://albanycomplementaryhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/TaoTeChing-LaoTzu-StephenMitchellTranslation-33p.pdf