Chapter 22
If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself become crooked.
If you wnat to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.
The Master, by residing in the Tao,
sets an example for all beings.
Because he doesn't display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn't know who he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.
When the ancient Masters said,
"If you want to be given everything,
give everything up."
they weren't using empty phrases.
Only in being lived by the Tao
can you be truly yourself.
Audio of the Meeting
- July 24, 2016: Click Here>>
Commentary
If you want to become whole, etc.:
Unless you accept yourself, you can't let go of yourself.
Because he doesn't know who he is:
From the standpoint of personality, he knows very well who he is; that is, what allows him to use his personality for people's benefit, rather than be used by it. But from the standpoint of his true self, there is nowhere to stand and no self to know. He doesn't know; he just is.
Only in being lived by the Tao:
This is what Paul of Tarsus meant by, "Not I, but the Christ in me." Or in a more lighthearted vein, the little boy who when his mother got annoyed and said, "Stop sneezing!" answered, "I'm not sneezing! It's sneezing me!"
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