Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

48th Verse

Learning consists of daily accumulating.
The practice of the Tao consists of daily diminishing;
decreasing and decreasing, until doing nothing.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It cannot be gained by interfering.

Re: Verse 48 - Advice from Dr Dyer

Re: Verse 48 - Advice from Dr Dyer

What a perfect time of year for this sentiment Deb!  My daughter and I have an annual ritual in which we spend time after Thanksgiving “lightening our load” –with the intention of releasing more than will come in at the end of this month. :-)
Love to all,
Johanna

Re: Verse 48 - Reducing our Belongings

Lelazjia,

My children have more toys than we have space or room for them to play with.  In our community are “thrift stores” that many of the people, with limited financial resources, utilize to reduce costs.  We often give to those.  This year my husband has been talking about setting up a table on the highway.  Not to make money, just to give some of the excess away.  Truly, the kids have presents they openned last Christmas, that remain un-used as we approach the next, and I am struggling to find a balance between their expectations of Christmas (based upon the past) and not being inclined to buy more.  Yet, they are only 4 and 7, and it is too soon for such explanations regarding my desire to just cut back, as one would give to an older person.  Yes, Lelazjia, there is a Santa Claus and he does come to our house.

We have given away regularly, all that we can, and more continues to pour into our life.  We give generously and freely whenever we can to whoever will take it.  We have cleared out all unused clothing and toiletries when hurricanes have struck.  It is almost an embarassment of our wealthy society that we have so much more than need.

Yet, Meenakshi, your point (I believe) is perfect and well taken by me.  It is not the “stuff” but an attachmentment to it, that is to be put out of our life.

Deb

Re: Verse 48 - Advice from Dr Dyer

Re: Verse 48 - Advice from Dr Dyer

Kabirdas is one of the most loved mystical poets in India. Unlettered, but in sync with truth.

I wondered at how he could've spoken of professional advice, and found that it is a rendering by Daniel Ladinsky of Kabir's verse that is variously translated as:

I laugh
when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. …
God is within
but people think that he is somewhere outside.
O! Irony of ironies!


Or:

When I hear that the fish is thirsty in the water, it makes me laugh!
You have a thing in the house but you don't see it; you go to look for
it outdoors.

~

I really enjoy seeing truth melding as it flows from different sources; thank you, Deb.

Re: Verse 48 - Advice from Dr Dyer

Meenakshi,

I thank you for expanding upon this.  I certainly thought of you, as I posted it, and wondered what you might know about this poet.

Just as I like having different versions of the Tao verses to compare, it is nice to have these different translations from Kabirdas, that you have given us.

Thanks - again.
Deb

Re: Verse 48 - The Tao of Emerson

From The Tao of Emerson by Richard Grossman

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

He who devotes himself to learning seeks
          from day to day to increase his knowledge;
He who devotes himself to the Tao seeks
          from day to day to diminish his doing.
He diminishes it and again diminishes it,
          til he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose).
Having arrived at this point of non-action, there is
          nothing which he does not do.

From Ralph Waldo Emerson - Essay - “Spiritual Laws”

Let us unlearn our wisdom of the world.
Let us take our bloated nothingness out of
          the path of divine circuits.
Let us lie low and learn that truth alone
          makes rich and great.
The rich mind lies in the sun and sleeps,
          and is nature.
To think is to act.

Re: Verse 48 - Jonathan Star

From Jonathan Star - Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition

To become learned, gain daily
To obtain Tao, reduce daily
Reduce and reduce again
          until all action is reduced to non-action
Then no one is left
Nothing is done
          yet nothing is left undone

One who gives freely and without attachment
          gets a full life in return
One who gives with the secret hope of getting
          is merely engaged in business
Truly, they neither give nor receive
          any of the treasure from this world below Heaven

Re: Verse 48 - Jonathan Star

I like this one!  Reduce and reduce again
   until all action is reduced to non-action.
I read that and thought “yes!  that's exactly it!” and then read it again and could only understand it intellectually and not practically. 
Ahhh yes.  The next lines:  Nothing is done
yet nothing is left undone.
There we have it!
thank you, Deborah.

Re: Verse 48 - Jonathan Star

Centria,

Yes, utter simplicity and yet difficult to do in our modern lives.

Still, I find that at times, when I have not the time at attend to something immediately, that it evaporates and never needed doing in the first place.  Since I absolutely and passionately hate wasting what little time I have in a day, I love it when that happens.

Deborah

Re: Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

I think that the clue to that is given in

” One who gives freely and without attachment
          gets a full life in return”

Action without attachment to result –as the Gita calls it, non-karmic action.

So it's not about reducing what the body/mind actually do, but about not being attached to it as it happens, before it happens and after it has taken place.

Re: Verse 48 - The Tao of Motherhood

From The Tao of Motherhood by Vimala McClure

48

RELAX

First time mothers read all the
books and cling to theories and
gadgets.

Fifth time mothers have taken it
all in and let it sink into the
unconscious.  Equipment has worn
out and the child is given wooden
spoons and the easy company of
present-focused people.

The youngest child is usually the
most relaxed !

Re: Verse 48 - Stephen Mitchell & Byron Katie

From Stephen Mitchell - tao te ching - A New English Version

In the pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names for Joy - Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

                                                        True mastery can be gained
                                                        by letting things go their own way.

The more closely I look at something, the more I begin to notice that I really don't know what it is.  A name arises, and with it the silent Is it true?, surrounded by and emanating the laughter that comes from not knowing.  ” 'I am Byron Katie' - is it true? “  And as the question dissolves each proof, I am left as nothing - in other words, as the woman sitting here.  I was born now, on this couch in a hotel room, with no past other than imagination.  How charming !  How absurd !

Whatever I see is infused with the light of mind.  And that light illuminates the one sitting on the couch now, awake and everywhere and timeless.  It dissolves everything in its brilliance, until there is no one on the couch.  What can live but the everlasting laughter?  Let there be light, let there be world, since the world, as I understand it to be, is always born now, and now is where it always ends.

Things go their own sweet way, whether you let them or not.  The rose blooms without your approval and dies without your consent.  Even though you haven't issued directions, the streetcar rings its bell, the taxi stops to pick up a man in a gray suit.  The world runs perfectly.  It's all done without you.  It's all done for you, whether or not you interfere.  Even your interference is life living itself out through you.  Life continually pours forth its gifts and lives itself out in its own sweet way.  All you need to do is noitce.  That's true mastery.

Re: Verse 48 - Dr Dyer's Essay

We live in a society that seems to say “The more you amass, the more value you possess as a human being.”  The 48th verse of the Tao Te Ching asks you to take a different perspective.

Rather than validating yourself by acquiring more, you can reverse this embedded idea of increasing as the criteria for mastering life.  The benefit of living by decreasing is seeing your world in a different light - one in which, believe it or not, you'll experience a greater sense of completeness.

Even in our schooling, we are encouraged to accumulate more of everything - more math formulas, more rules for grammar, more knowledge of history, more info about the human body, outer space and galaxies, religion, chemical compounds, etc.  In return, you amass transcripts, diplomas and degrees as evidence of your learning.

The Tao asks you to release the external indicators and symbols of your educational status.  Rather than learning as an accumulation, the Tao is about wisdom, which involves letting go of information and knowledge and living in harmony with Source.  You are asked to “practice” by decreasing a reliance upon things.

Everything you add to your life brings an element of imprisonment.  You must insure and protect your stuff from thieves and natural disasters.  You have to maintain these things - polish, paint, clean, store, pack and move them, whenever you do.  The Tao Te Ching seems to say here that true mastery is gained by freeing oneself from attachments.

Native Americans once had no term for land ownership and similarly we never can truly own anything.  (deb's note - I certainly noticed this as my FIL was dying, how everything of “substance” ceased to have the least bit of meaning to him.)  Modern ownership of land includes an endless cascade of legal maneuvers that include title searches, liens, attorney's fees, mortages, taxes, etc.  All of this for a piece of land that can only be temporarily occupied.

Lao-tzu would urge you to think of yourself as a guest here, rather than a proprietor.  To cease interfering with the natural world by diminishing your impact on the environment.  To live in harmy with the no-thing-ness state from which you emerged and to which you will ultimately return.

Re: Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

48. 
Conquering the World by Inaction

Translated
by Lin Yutang

http://oaks.nvg.org/ys1ra3.html

Re: Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

I think the Tao Te ching is simply perfect Heyoka.  Everything’s turned around.  How to gain everything?  Simple!  Lose everything…  

Re: Verse 48 - Living by Decreasing

As simple as breathing out to breathe in.