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Living By Your Inner Light
by Wayne Dyer
27th
Verse
A
knower of the truth
travels without leaving a trace,
speaks without causing harm,
gives without keeping an account.
The door he shuts, though having no lock,
cannot be opened.
The knot he ties, though using no cord,
cannot be undone.
Be wise and help all beings impartially,
abandoning none.
Waste no opportunities.
This is called following the light.
What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man’s job?
If the teacher is not respected
and the student not cared for,
confusion will arise, however clever one is.
This is the great secret.
For just a moment, imagine
your most valuable possessions, including a large cache of money, on a
table in your bedroom and in full view of anyone who might come in. Now
further imagine that your pile of precious jewelry, cash and important
documents is completely safe – there’s no need for insurance, no one
could ever possibly steal your treasure. Is this state of complete trust
possible? I think so, especially since it’s encouraged in this 27th
verse of the Tao Te Ching: “The door... though having no lock, cannot be
opened.”
The “knower of the truth”
lives by an inner light. This illumination shines on the fact that
stealing isn’t the way of truth, so it’s unnecessary to lock anything
up. Possessions are safe among those who live by an inner light, which
reflects the perfection of the Tao. It’s the Source you’re encouraged to
always carry with you and to consult when you feel the need for
assistance or direction.
Lao-tzu advises you to
give without keeping an account or expecting something in return, for
this is the nature of the Tao, and you are of the Tao. Giving is
synonymous with receiving when you live by this illumination. Trust the
inner light to guide you, for it is your heritage. Your origin is more
from the Tao than from parents, culture, or country.
It’s also important that
you live more spontaneously – you don’t need to neatly wrap up each
detail of your life. Understand this and you can travel without being
attached to a plan that covers every possible scenario. Your inner light
is more trustworthy than any guidebook and it will point you in the
direction that’s most beneficial to you and everyone you encounter. When
you develop a trust in the Tao, you’ll change the way you look at life.
You’ll marvel at the brilliance and clarity of what you begin to see:
Fear, anxiety, stress and unrest will simply become facets of yourself
seen in the glow of the Tao, like candles marking your way and helping
you love everyone as a piece of yourself.
Lao-tzu advises you to “be
wise and help all beings impartially, abandoning none” – that is, you
don’t need anyone else’s rules in order to reach out to others. Giving
of yourself becomes your natural response because you’re following the
inner light of the Tao. You and giving are one; you and receiving are
one. In such an arrangement, there is no one who is not you.
The most revealing lines
of this verse remind you that a good man is but a bad man’s teacher and
a bad man is but a good man’s job. This is an extremely empowering way
to see life and eliminate stress and anger: If you perceive yourself to
be a “good” person, then those whom you call “bad” – including convicted
felons or enemies on the other side of the world – are your job! Try on
the view that you’re here to teach yourself and others in some way and
that the work is to raise the collective energy of our entire universe.
Cultivate your awareness of the inner light that’s within all. Be the
Tao!
Virtually every
translation of the Tao Te Ching I’ve examined refers to all of us being
one, and all of us needing to be there for each other. The great secret
is this: Waste no opportunity, abandon no one, respect the teachers and
care for the student. Twenty-five hundred years later, the Tao remains
elusive to most of us because it’s so infrequently practiced.
Nevertheless, it must be instilled within us if we’re to ever truly walk
in the luminosity of the Great Way.
Become “a knower of the
truth,” as Lao-tzu advises, by forgetting the locks, chains, maps and
plans. Travel without leaving a trace, trust in the goodness that is the
root of all and rather than curse the darkness that seems so rampant,
reach out with that inner light and let it shine on those who aren’t
seeing their own legacy in the Tao.
From his ancient spiritual
throne, Lao-tzu is telling you to practice in these new ways:
TRUST IN
YOURSELF
Develop an inner code of
conduct that’s based exclusively on your irreversible connection to the
Tao. When you trust this wisdom that created you, you’re trusting
yourself. Know that nothing could ever dissuade you from your internal
code of honesty and live by this standard. If you encounter an easy
opportunity to cheat, perhaps because you’ve been handed too much change
by a hurried cashier, make the decision to be down-to-the-penny honest.
Furthermore, have faith in yourself to go on a trip with a minimal
amount of planning. Allow yourself to trust in the energy of the Tao to
guide you, rather than relying upon fixed plans arranged by someone
else.
DON'T JUDGE
YOURSELF OR OTHERS
Don’t criticize the
behavior or appearance of those you’ve assessed to be “bad people.”
Instead, switch your thoughts to something along these lines: I am my
own student and have this opportunity to learn that I’m instructing
rather than judging. I will now cease critiquing myself or any other and
teach being the Tao. If the entire world of the 10,000 things knew the
simple truth that we are all one, then in my opinion war, hostilities,
confusion and even illness would cease to exist.
Why not be one individual
who chooses to respect yourself and all others as teachers and as
students? When you see the world as full of opportunities to help, one
thought and one action at a time, you’ll be living by your inner light.
The great Sufi poet Hafiz
speaks of this in his poem “No More Leaving”:
At
some point your relationship with God
Will become like this:
Next time you meet Him in the forest
Or on a crowded city street
There won’t be anymore “Leaving.”
That is, God will climb into your pocket
You will simply just take yourself along!
DO THE TAO NOW
Find one person labeled
“bad” and use that opportunity to do your job. Be a teacher by reaching
out and sending a loving message to him or her – perhaps you could pass
along a book, write an e-mail or letter or make a phone call. Just do
one thing as a “good” person today, even if it’s for a stranger living
in a prison cell. He or she is your assignment right now.
Excerpted from The
Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
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