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Living Without Striving
by Wayne Dyer
20th
Verse
Give
up learning and you will be free
from all your cares.
What is the difference between yes and no?
What is the difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear?
Should I fear desolation
when there is abundance?
Should I fear darkness
when that light is shining everywhere?
In spring, some go to the park and climb the terrace,
but I alone am drifting, not knowing where I am.
Like a newborn babe before it learns to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.
Most people have too much;
I alone seem to be missing something.
Mine is indeed the mind of an ignoramus
in its unadulterated simplicity.
I am but a guest in this world.
While others rush about to get things done,
I accept what is offered.
I alone seem foolish,
earning little, spending less.
Other people strive for fame;
I avoid the limelight,
preferring to be left alone.
Indeed, I seem like an idiot:
no mind, no worries.
I drift like a wave on the ocean.
I blow as aimless as the wind.
All men settle down in their grooves;
I alone am stubborn and remain outside.
But wherein I am most different from others is
in knowing to take sustenance from the great Mother!
In this verse of the Tao
Te Ching, you’re encouraged to experience your life free of worldly
striving. Lao-tzu advises you to slow down your incessant demands for
more and to relax your efforts to fill up every moment in anticipation
of being somewhere else. You’re invited to experience life in a way that
can be summarized in the title of Ram Dass’s book Be Here Now.
Be here in your mind as
well as in your body, in a state of appreciation and an absence of
longing. Let go of wondering about doing the right thing. Release the
what-ifs and all of your goals for the future, replacing them with the
power of this instant. Be here and remember to do it now, for thinking
about being someplace else uses up your precious present moments. The
enlightened sage makes a practice of immersing himself completely in the
current “newness” of his life.
Being here now is
accomplished by adopting an acceptance of life as it is presented by the
great Mother or the Tao. It’s a surrendering process, if you will –
simply allowing this great all creating, all-nourishing Source to take
you where it will. You give up the idea of having to get more or to be
in another place in the future and instead see yourself as whole and
complete just as you are. This surrendering process allows you to bear
witness to the unlimited abundance and eternal light that is always
present. You retrain yourself to give up your beliefs about lacks and
shortages; you instead trust in the great Source to provide what you
need, as it has always done for all beings.
Lao-tzu emphasizes that
this wasn’t a socially accepted standard even 2,500 years ago, as he
refers to himself as an outsider who is unlike most people. Striving for
satisfaction was viewed at that time as a proper role in life, just as
it is today. The narrator of this verse admits that he is drifting, not
knowing where he is, yet his tone is ironic. It’s as if he’s saying, “No
one really knows where they are in this endless universe with no
beginning and no ending, so why not admit it and allow yourself to be
moved by the Tao that brought you here from nowhere?”
You’re being encouraged to
simplify your life by not seeking another thing. Yes, others might judge
you as unmotivated and call you an ignoramus, but your reward will be
the strong sense of inner peace that comes from a direct knowing that
you’re here as a guest who’s always being provided for. Yes, you may
seem to be missing something, but the something is really only an
illusion. You’re no longer living inside of yourself with a desire to be
someone else or to gain something that seems to be omnipresent in all of
those around you – you’ve traded in striving for arriving.
“I accept what is
offered,” says the narrator of this provocative verse in the Tao Te
Ching. He continues to express that this may seem foolish, perhaps
echoing your thoughts as you contemplate letting go of striving. Lao-tzu
is telling you to change how you see what’s here now in your life, for
then it will become exactly what you need in order to be happy. In other
words, you can change how you look at striving and have contentment
without anxiety and fear.
When you live by the
tenets explained in this verse, you begin to have a worry-free
existence. Imagine that! No concerns or fears – only a sense of being
connected to the Source of all, knowing that all will be handled for you
by the same force that’s always handling everything. Lao-tzu is teaching
you to free your mind from its persistent nagging. The world and
everything in it are already taken care of by the Tao... it has always
done this and always will.
Your mind continually
urges you to strive in spite of the all-providing perfection of the Tao;
it prompts you to pursue fame, to look for a groove or purpose. Lao-tzu
encourages you to do precisely the opposite: Stay outside the rat race
and let your mind be in peaceful harmony with the Tao rather than
worrying and fighting. The concluding line of this passage of the Tao Te
Ching says it all, instructing you to change how you look at your life
by “knowing to take sustenance from the great Mother!”
The following are
suggestions coming from Lao-tzu to you in the 20th verse of the Tao:
PRACTICE LETTING GO OF THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT'S NOT HERE NOW
Just allow yourself to
meld into the perfection of the universe you live in. You don’t need
another thing to be happy; it’s all being provided for you right here,
right now. Be in this moment and free yourself of striving for something
more or someone else. This is a mind exercise that will put you in touch
with the peace of the Tao. Affirm: It is all perfect. God’s love is
everywhere and forgets no one. I trust in this force to guide me and l
am not allowing ego to enter now. Notice how free you feel when you
relax into this no – fears, no-worries attitude.
TAKE
TIME TO “LET GO AND LET GOD,” EVERY SINGLE DAY
Say the words over and
over to yourself until you can actually tell what the difference feels
like. Letting go is a markedly distinct physical and psychological
experience, much different from striving. Let go of your demands, along
with your beliefs that you can’t be happy because of what is supposedly
missing in your life. Insisting that you need what you don’t have is
insane! The fact that you’re OK without what you think you need is the
change you want to see. Then you can note that you already have
everything you need to be peaceful, happy and content right here and
right now! Relax into this knowing and affirm, again and again: I am
letting go and letting God. I am a glorious infant nursing at the great
all-providing Mother’s breast.
DO THE
TAO NOW
Begin to notice the
situations where you’re not in the moment because you’re striving to
complete or attain something for a future benefit. You may not realize
how often you endeavor to accomplish all sorts of things with the idea
that once you do, you’ll finally have the time to do what you really
want. This is one of the most pernicious ways that many of us
unconsciously prevent (or perpetually postpone) a life free of striving.
It’s a tough one to become aware of and may be easiest to see when our
free time becomes hijacked by family members or business emergencies.
Here’s an example: You’ve
put in extra hours at work all week in order to have a deliciously
imagined free day to (fill in the blank), when you learn that your
spouse has invited a friend of a friend who’s never been to this part of
the country before – and whom you’ve never met – to stay at your home.
There are two
opportunities to practice living without striving in this situation. The
first, of course, is to catch yourself wrapped up in striving for future
benefit, notice what you’re doing and focus on the now. The second comes
after the example above, which is a difficult but incredibly rewarding
exercise. Do the Tao now by accepting what is offered – that is, know
that this situation, in some way that your striving ego rejects, is
actually sustenance from the Great Mother.
The above excerpt is
taken from “Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life Living the Wisdom of
the Tao,” by Wayne Dyer. Published by Hay House and available at
bookstores or at:www.hayhouse.com.
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