The Quiet Strength Of The Tao

The ancient masters had subtle wisdom and depth of understanding.

So profound they could not be understood.

All we can do is describe their appearance.

Cautious as one crossing a wintery stream.

Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.

Courteous or grave.

Like one acting as a guest.

Fluid like ice beginning to melt.

Genuine like a piece of undressed wood.

Open-minded like a valley.

As clear as a glass of water.

Who can find peace in a muddy world?

By lying still,

It becomes clear.

Who can maintain their calm for long?

Until the right action arises on its own accord.

The master does not seek fulfilment.

Beyond seeking,

Desire and expecting,

The master is present and can welcome all things.

The ancient masters had subtle wisdom and depth of understanding.

So profound they could not be understood.

All we can describe is their appearance.

Cautious as one crossing a wintery stream.

Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.

Courteous or grave.

Like one acting as a guest.

Fluid like ice beginning to melt.

Genuine like a piece of undressed wood.

Open-minded like a valley.

Clear as a glass of water.

Who can find peace in a muddy world?

By lying still,

It becomes clear.

Who can maintain their calm for long?

Until the right action arises on its own accord.

The master does not seek fulfilment.

Beyond seeking,

Desire and expecting,

The master is present and can welcome all things.

This verse offers us a clear yet opaque view of a master,

A wise person,

An enlightened person.

You know,

The different translations that I'm looking at use the word master,

Sage,

Enlightened person interchangeably,

But I tend to look at it as,

You know,

The,

Sort of like a guide,

A goal,

A mentor,

Something that we should strive towards.

The ancient master has subtle wisdom and depth of understanding.

So profound that they can't be understood,

But we can only describe their appearance.

Whenever you watch a elite artist,

Athlete,

Entrepreneur,

Creative,

Whatever,

You start to see that they're doing things that is or implies or shows mastery.

But to the lay person's eye,

It becomes sort of a bit unclear.

You see that they're successful.

You see that they are well-versed in what they're doing.

But you can't quite put a finger onto what it is.

So these descriptions,

These ideas,

As most things seem to be in the Dao Te Ching,

Seem to be a finger pointing to the moon.

Before we move further,

I just want to talk about the issues of translation.

The line in here that says a master is as clear as a glass of water has multiple different translations.

One that I saw said as opaque as a glass of muddy water.

Another was implying the idea of the clearness after the mud settling at the bottom.

If there was,

For example,

Muddy water allowed to just rest.

The point is,

Is that all the words in this text,

In this course,

I'm looking at from multiple different translations and trying to offer my interpretation of them based on the sort of cumulative suggestion as they all come.

So I guess there's just a point of wisdom to not be too literal with our words and with our translations when we're looking at the Dao Te Ching,

Or really when we're looking at any sort of discussion.

As we talked about in the first session,

Words are not adequate.

They only point,

They only suggest.

The words that can be described,

The Dao that can be described as words,

Is not the Dao.

And even that's sort of almost a fractal into each word,

Each sentence,

Each verse of the Dao Te Ching and of everything we're looking at,

And of,

So it seems,

The masters themselves.

All we can do is describe and those descriptions themselves are perhaps a bit limited in literal translation.

So I say that to you to suggest that it is the feel,

It is the moving towards,

It's the finger pointing to the moon,

It's the suggestion of that we need to look at.

The master appears cautious,

Alert,

Courteous,

Fluid,

Genuine,

Open-minded,

Clear.

And they give different analogies to this and the sort of feel that I'm getting is someone in a state of flow,

Just being,

Just doing,

Just existing.

You know when you see an animal,

Just observe it from afar and it just is.

There is no cognition,

There's no thought,

There's no thinking of or planning rather towards the future and the past.

It just is,

It's just present,

It's just there.

The master does not seek fulfillment,

The master is progressing forward,

The master just is doing,

The master is just being,

Welcoming all things,

Not seeking,

Not desiring,

Not expecting,

Just present.

I like the analogy here,

Who can find peace in a muddy world,

By lying still it becomes clear.

I like that,

Just taking a breath,

Just accepting the reality and just progressing forward.

You are alert,

You're still cautious,

You're still subtle and careful,

But you're doing that from a place of total immersion in the moment,

Total openness to the moment.

This implies that you're just being,

To the moment.

There seems to be some level of contradiction here,

Sort of some level of maybe two sides of the coin,

Being cautious but also fluid,

Alert but also clear and open,

Courteous but genuine.

There's a duality here.

Who can maintain their calm for long,

Until the right action arises on its own accord.

It's like we're not expecting,

We're not doing,

We're just being.

I imagine being in the presence of a master would be one of,

Maybe confusion,

Maybe social awkwardness,

Perhaps,

On your behalf,

Not at all on their behalf.

They would just be,

Being,

They would just do,

Doing.

They just are,

Just living,

Not seeking.

I'm getting the imagery of a person just content to allow the water to settle,

The refuse to fall to the bottom and the clear flow to continue.

There is no rush,

We're not forcing it.

If you are thirsty,

You take a drink.

If the water is muddy,

You allow it to sit and then take a drink.

There is no rush.

In their words,

They are genuine,

Like a piece of undressed wood.

They are fluid,

They are clear,

They are open-minded.

This idea of maintaining their calm by waiting until the right action arises of its own accord,

It's interesting because I can choose,

I can choose to take an action right now.

Indeed,

The action I'm taking right now is to record this for you.

Is that the right action?

There is something that I'm working on,

Which is going with the flow,

Which is basically this,

Letting actions arise on their own accord.

Yet the trouble I'm facing is how do I balance the actions rising on their own accord with plans for the future,

With these goals and aspirations.

But then I look forward further and just into this verse,

The master is present and can welcome all things beyond seeking,

Desire and expecting.

I'm just here in this moment,

Feeling what I am feeling,

Being what I am being,

Genuine,

Fluid,

Alert,

Cautious,

Open-minded,

Clear.

There is a subtle wisdom and depth of understanding to a master,

To one who is just able to just be.

How hard is it to just be in this moment?

I guess that's the practice.

The ancient masters had subtle wisdom and depth of understanding.

So profound they cannot be understood,

All we can do is describe their appearance.

Cautious as one crossing a wintry stream,

Alert as a warrior in enemy territory,

Grave or cautious like one acting as a guest,

Fluid like ice beginning to melt,

Genuine like a piece of undressed wood,

Open-minded like a valley,

As clear as a glass of water.

Who can find peace in a muddy world?

By lying still it becomes clear.

Who can maintain their calm for long,

Until right action arises on its own accord?

The master does not seek fulfillment,

Beyond seeking,

Desire and expecting,

The master is present and can welcome all things.

The ancient masters had subtle wisdom and depth of understanding.

So profound they could not be understood,

All we can do is describe their appearance.

Cautious as one crossing a wintry stream,

Alert as a warrior in enemy territory,

Cautious or grave like one acting as a guest,

Fluid like ice beginning to melt,

Genuine like a piece of undressed wood,

Open-minded like a valley,

Clear as a glass of water.

Who can find peace in a muddy world?

By lying still it becomes clear.

Who can maintain their calm for long,

Until right action arises on its own accord?

The master does not seek fulfillment,

Beyond seeking,

Desire and expecting,

The master is present and can welcome all things.

So,

Well done.

This brings us to the end of the session.

The bottom of your screen gives you 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,

And read the answers from other students,

And to hear my replies.

Remember to start your responses with verse 15,

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 Dao Teaching.

It's available now on my InsightTimer profile.

Check it out.