If you overestimate great men and women,
People become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
People begin to steal.
The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their core,
By weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
She helps people lose everything they know,
Everything they desire,
And creates confusion in those who think that they know.
Practice Not Doing If you overestimate great men and women,
People become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
People begin to steal.
The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their core,
By weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
She helps people lose everything they know,
Everything they desire,
And creates confusion in those who think that they know.
Practice Not Doing So this verse is the third verse of the Tao Te Ching,
And we'll address all of it,
But I want to focus,
At least at the start,
On the last line.
Practice Not Doing Practice Not Doing This is an interesting concept,
Because,
You know,
Inherently it feels like a contradiction.
How can you practice not doing something?
Because the moment you start,
You're now doing something.
It harks back to the Zen idea of just sitting.
It points,
Or suggests,
Or has a similar feel to mindfulness,
To just being in the here and now.
And I think it's a good guide,
And one we should all potentially consider in our lives.
Taking a breath,
Slowing down,
Being in the here and now.
Our mind wanders,
We bring it back to the breath,
We bring it back to the now,
We bring it back to the practice of not doing.
There is something to be said about that,
And sentences and phrases like this,
From books like the Tao Te Ching,
Can be easily overlooked as obscure mysticism.
But a simple sentence,
A simple practice of not doing,
Is fundamental,
And at the core of the practice,
Is at the core of the teaching.
And as many masters,
And those of us who've come before us,
Suggest,
It is one of the ways towards attainment.
Dwelling fully in the present moment,
The present moment,
Lost in a state of flow.
The self,
The I,
Disappears.
We just are,
They're just an is-ness,
Just a flow,
Just an existence.
Once again,
Words fail to encapture this sort of mindful present moment state.
But,
Perhaps,
We can practice not doing,
And see where it leads us.
As for the rest of the verse,
Once again,
Talks about these opposites,
But it talks about it from a little bit of a more practical sort of life and leadership perspective.
The Tao Te Ching seems to be speaking to masters,
To leaders,
To politicians and kings,
But the lessons can be applied in all of our lives.
If you overestimate great men or women,
People become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
People begin to steal.
This concept,
This idea of overvaluing,
Overestimating things and people,
Leading towards societal disruption and duress,
Seems to be quite true.
You put someone up on a pedestal,
You're putting people below them,
You're saying these things are good,
It encourages that desire,
That need,
That lust,
That want for something that can lead some people to steal.
It can lead to greed,
It can lead to hoarding,
It can lead to a whole bunch of stuff.
But if we saw the beauty and the wonder and the grace and the glory and the oneness in all people,
Would we put some above others,
Despite the potential fact that they may have done quote-unquote more for society?
Based on what?
Their status,
Their position,
Their role,
The fact that you've seen them in a movie or on social media?
Similarly,
If we live in a culture,
A society that values certain possessions,
It'll cause a want for them,
A want so strong that will cause people to commit crime,
To steal or worse,
To obtain them.
Now we're not going to change society,
But perhaps we can change ourselves.
We can check ourselves and start noticing when we are overvaluing people or overvaluing possessions,
When we have desire.
This verse continues,
Suggesting that a master leads by helping people to empty their minds and filling their cause,
By weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve,
By helping people to lose everything they know,
Everything they desire,
And creating confusion in those who think they know.
If we can help people to lose everything,
And that's a broad,
Deep construct there,
Lose everything implies losing the personality and all those things,
But perhaps there is some truth or some benefit to stepping back at least from our wants and our desires and just being and accepting where we are.
Obviously there is an aspect that we want to improve,
That's why we're here,
That's why we're listening to this track,
That's why we are on the app,
That's why we are doing all the self-care and self-work and meditation we want to improve our lives,
But we also need to accept where we are.
It's like a dialectic approach,
Accepting two contradictory statements,
The need for self-love and the need for self-improvement.
If we can let go of these external desires,
If we can drop some of the past and some of the things and some of the core things that we think are our truth and just be in the moment,
Perhaps we start to get into this state of flow,
Perhaps we step closer to the truth.
If I think myself separate to you,
Fundamentally different to you,
If I think that person over there is great and those people over here are not so great,
If I value these possessions,
If I am full of all of these internal pullings me everywhere else,
I'm not here in this moment.
I'm torn.
And I think that last statement there,
The master creates confusion in people who think that they know.
This idea is like,
Look at this construct you're so attached to.
Oh,
You believe in this,
This gives you status,
This piece of clothing,
This car,
This house,
This lifestyle,
This job,
This country,
This place,
This religion,
This construct,
This insert any proper noun here,
Right?
Let's create some confusion in that,
That's just a construct.
Does it really bring you what you want?
There's something to consider here.
Let's sit in contemplation of the third verse of the Tao Te Ching.
If you overestimate great men or women,
People become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
People begin to steal.
The master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cause,
By weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
She helps people to lose everything they know,
Everything they desire,
And creates confusion in those who think that they know.
If you overestimate great men or women,
People become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
People begin to steal.
The master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cause,
By weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve.
She helps people lose everything they know,
Everything they desire,
And creates confusion in those who think they know.
Practice not doing.
So,
Well done.
This brings us to the end of the session.
At the bottom of your screen,
You'll see the option to view the classroom or to ask a question.
Before moving on,
I invite you to take a moment to click through and share your interpretations and inner discoveries of today's verse,
As well as read the answers from other students and hear my replies.
Remember to start your responses with verse 3,
So we all know which one you are referring to.
This is an opportunity for deep learning,
Further introspection and insight,
So please don't miss out.
I look forward to seeing you in the next session.
Thank you.
This track was taken from my course,
Wisdom of the Dalte Ching.
It's available now on my InsightTimer profile.
Check it out.
