Practical Lessons from the Tao Teh Ching

Many people out there are dissatisfied with the prescribed morals of western traditions. Perhaps they were brought up as a Catholic, or a Protestant, or without any religion at all, but have some desire for a life with deeper spiritual meaning. But they're also turned off by the postured commercialism of New-Age religions and teachers, who offer their so-called "enlightenment" with a set of expensive books-on-tape or an extravagant classroom fee.

Oftentimes, these type of money-making ventures abuse and distort the ancient traditions of the East, such as Taoism, Buddhism, or Sikhism. It's dishonest and downright frustrating!

If it sounds like these are the kind of problems you've encountered with spirituality, guess what? You don't need a spiritual guru to access the universal truths of ancient Eastern religions. One text that is near and dear to my heart is the Tao Teh Ching. Its verses are rife with deeper spiritual meaning. This does not mean it will save your soul, save you from your inner demons, or even immediately improve your life. What it will do is help you improve your odds in the search for happiness, especially when the circumstances of your life seem to be working against you.

"Keep on diminishing and diminishing,

Until you reach the state of Non-Ado.

Non-Ado, and yet nothing is left undone."

-verse 48 of the Tao Teh Ching

This is our introduction to the principle of Non-Ado, a major thematic element of the Tao Teh Ching. What does it mean? As you can see from my heading, I think it's about the appeal of a simple life. This doesn't mean you have to drop everything you do and start farming beans as if you were Henry David Thoreau. A simple life doesn't have anything to do with what you choose to pursue. Rather, it has everything to do with how you choose to pursue it. If you set great store by your job, your skills, or your personal relationships, they can balloon into sources of pride or even selfishness. That is not to say you can't value them highly. But if you value them above and beyond their worth, negative consequences emerge. If a loved one slights you, you feel utterly worthless. If your boss gives the guy in the other cubicle a promotion, you feel unskilled and incapable.

"One on tip-toe cannot stand.

One astride cannot walk,

One who displays himself does not shine.

One who justifies himself has no glory."

-verse 24 of the Tao Teh Ching

The principle of Non-Ado is about humility. What Lao-Tzu discovered, thousands and thousands of years ago, is that humility cannot be achieved without a measure of simplicity. To be humble is to avoid making your life into a big deal. In practical terms, if you devote less energy to worrying about how you think you ought to perform, you can devote more energy to actually performing. A master of Jazz Piano with Taoist attitudes himself, NYU artist-in-residence Kenny Werner wrote an entire book about this subject. It's called Effortless Mastery. A link to this book is provided above. While written for folks interested in jazz improvisation, it's a priceless bit of philosophy that can improve your odds in the search for happiness.

"Keep on beating and sharpening a sword,

and the edge cannot be preserved for long."

-verse 9 of the Tao Teh Ching

"The greatest straightness looks like crookedness.

The greatest skill appears clumsy.

The greatest eloquence sounds like stammering."

-verse 45 of the Tao Teh Ching

If a professional basketball player misses a foul shot, doesn't he look like a fool? Interestingly enough, professional basketball players miss foul shots all the time. Check out this link for some interesting statistics. Ray Allen, one of my favorite players, gets almost 91% of all his foul shots through the net. But it would be fair to acknowledge that he is, no matter how you look at it, almost, but not quite perfect. He is the fourth best free-throw shooter in the NBA but still cannot make one-hundred percent of his shots.

For some perspective, also look at who is at the bottom of the list. Shaquille O'Neal, considered to be one of the fifty greatest players of all time, made only a pithy 50% of his free-throws. For a professional, he was simply horrendous at this aspect of the game. Yet he is considered to be a master of the sport of basketball. He even looked awkward when he went to the line, shooting from overhead like he was in a middle-school gym class. As we can see, even "the greatest skill appears clumsy."

If we begin to make demands on ourselves to be perfect, or for the world around us to be perfect, we actually lose sight of what makes us great. It's okay to let your imperfections show. At the same time, we have to show a willingness to accept the imperfections of others. In fact, the more we force ourselves toward perfection, the more likely it is we will never see touch greatness. It's not to say we can't try to improve - but we will never be perfect, so why beat each other up about it, not to mention ourselves?

"He who keeps to the Tao does not want to be full.

But precisely because he is never full,

He can always remain hidden like a sprout,

And does not rush to early ripening."

-verse 15 of the Tao Teh Ching

What does it mean to be "full?" We think of fullness as related to eating; you are full after sitting down to a big dinner. But I think Lao Tzu's greater connotation, here, is the fullness you experience after satisfying all kinds of desires. This could include carnal desire, or something more abstract like the desire for accomplishment, better known as "ambition." Constantly fulfilling our desires, however, can become a kind of addiction.

Western civilization, comparatively speaking, is full of ways to satisfy our desires. We have more food, money, amenities and opportunities than any other part of the world. But think, for a moment, about how those people who fulfill their desires to the utmost actually appear. Somebody who eats extravagant amounts of ice cream becomes fat. A workaholic often suffers in the realm of personal relationships. An attention-hog appears self-centered and narcissistic. A sex addict can often bring actual physical harm to themselves and others. This is the early ripening that Lao-Tzu is talking about. If we are constantly "full", our cravings grow to define us. We all have needs and desires, guilty pleasures even; and that's okay. But when we let them get out of hand, we will eventually experience the consequences.

Hopefully, these practical lessons from the Tao Teh Ching will ring true for you, and help improve your odds in the search for happiness. This claim is exactly what it sounds like. You will not be happy every moment of every day, nor will you experience a lift in mood overnight just because you have read this article. Life will still be difficult and things will not go according to plan. But if you steadily apply these aspects of Taoist philosophy over time, you may begin to feel better when you experience difficulty. This is not because things have drastically changed, but because your attitude has changed. Perhaps this will help you find the deeper spiritual meaning you seek.

I am only an amateur scholar of Taoism, having studied it for several classes in college. I've spent a lot of time with its poetry for several years now. It is both practical and timeless, and occasionally mysterious and impenetrable. Despite my youth (I'm 24), I believe many of my life experiences are informed by its verses. I've dealt with physical pain, heartbreak, fear, and other forms of suffering, just like you. Having the Tao Teh Ching by my side has undoubtedly eased this suffering.

The quotes I provided above are merely excerpts. If you wish to read more of the Tao Teh Ching in detail, for free, visit this link. It's a database of 29 different English translations of Lao Tzu's original text, including line-by-line comparisons. I also highly recommend Dr. John C.H. Wu's translation, which is the translation I quoted from in this article and know the most intimately. Perhaps these practical lessons from the Tao Teh Ching will be helpful, but nothing can replace having it on your bookshelf or by your bedside.

"Confront it and you do not see its face!

Follow it and you do not see its back!

Yet, equipped with this timeless Tao,

You can harness present realities."

-verse 14 of the Tao Teh Ching