The message in this verse of the Tao te Ching gives me hope, yet it is one that I struggle with implementing. The message being that there is a time for everything and a natural law in which the universe operates. I grew up reading a similar message as a kid in the book of Ecclesiastes (Chapter 3:1-8). It sounds nice, but it’s a bit challenging to remember when things are rough, that this is happening for a reason and that this too shall pass.
Lao Tzu says, “Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp, we lose.” I think we all are a bit of control freaks. The ego leads us to think that we are in control and that may be part of the reason for all the anxiety and depression, especially in a time when things are moving so fast and everything seems completely out of control. What are you in control of? How does the concept of agency, exerting will over one’s life, differ from control?
I think as I get older I’m beginning to relinquish some control, and accepting that perhaps it’s better for me to live my life and flow in harmony with natural law. According to Einstein, “[The scientist’s] religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work.”
This quote transcends the concept of left-brain vs. right-brain thinking. Leave thinking out of the way, as the human mind is somehow incapable of grasping this phenomenon. The truth lies in feeling. Are you in touch with your feelings? I know personally I’ve relied heavily on my intellect to navigate my world thus far and there’s a gnawing feeling that I’ve lived a mediocre life compared to my potential. But mediocre according to who? My ego I suppose, which feels I could be in more control, I could achieve more if I just did x, y and z. All of this is an illusion. We still don’t have a definitive answer for why we are here and how we came to be, and yet the universe is in harmony with itself, the Tao at work.
Every year on my birthday, I choose a word or 2 that will be my centering thought for the upcoming year. This year I chose clarity and flow. To remove the blinders and see clearly that I am in constant flow. That all of life is a movement toward perfection. Knowing that in moments of fatigue, I’m still flowing because I know what it is to be in action. Just as how the seasons change, I’m beginning to gain clarity on the importance of that transition - flow. Wayne Dyer says, “It’s all unfolding according to the same natural law that causes the seasons to follow one another … the birds to migrate and return without benefit of a human-made guidance system.” I think when we see our lives in this way, we see how it all unfolds organically.
One of the most prevalent fears people have is that of losing control, yet that is exactly what Lao Tzu proposes in this verse if we’re to ever experience divine harmony. It takes courage to make the conscious effort of surrendering to a higher power - to let go and let God. I believe that may be the only option we have left, and to think it’s been there all along!
Ai-Creo