Tao Te Ching Verse 34: Practicing Humility by Emulating the Tao

The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

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Tao Te Ching Verse 34

translated by Anonymous
That which makes everything exist, is present everywhere
It spreads itself throughout the entire Creation
Everything owes its existence to It, everything to its own nature
It gives everything for nothing
It cherishes and guards everything and everyone, but expects nothing in return
Because It does not wish for anything, It seems to be important
It makes everything appear and disappear again
But Itself is eternal
Therefore the one who is wise is modest
And because she is modest,
Her actions are grand

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The Tao is Everywhere

Lao Tzu tells us the Tao is like water - it gets in everything. Even if water is in its non-liquid form - steam, for example, it can get into places that wouldn’t seem possible. Like condensation inside two panes of glass, for example. In fact, Water is one of the recurring devices Lao Tzu uses in the Tao Te Ching to describe the Tao’s properties of pervasiveness, softness, persistence, vitality - the list goes on quite a bit. I think it’s definitely helpful to observe water and see it as an imitation of Tao. But how does that apply to us? Like how do we actually sense the Tao being everywhere? Water’s a great parallel, absolutely - but you know how in the very first verse we talk about how the Tao can’t be talked about, it must be experienced? Like dancing?

Do you remember in verse 28, Staying Close to Inner Nature, when we did that mediation? In short, we became mindful of our senses, then we shifted that focus inward to our breathing and heartbeat. Then we connected with our life force - that always on, quiet humming in our bodies that started at our core and emanated outward, in all directions. We said that that feeling was the Tao within us. Our inner natures.

I’d like you to bring up the image of a loved one or a friend, now. See them smiling with their eyes in your mind. I’ll bet they have that same glow inside them that you do. Let’s sit here for a moment and appreciate them. Now, imagine that person is looking at you, and we’re just appreciating each other for a moment. Gently now, imagine what it would feel like if you were inside that person, looking at yourself smiling back. Does this other person have the same glow inside that you do? Coming back to ourselves now, can we feel our own glow again? Can we look at the other person one more time and realize that while their circumstances, points of view, their personal issues are a little different than ours, that they have basically the same set of senses and feelings that we do?

Perhaps we actually are the same person, only we’re having different experiences in this moment.

Perhaps all the other people with whom you come in contact, either virtually or in person, are just like you in this way. They all have the same thing inside of them - the Tao. The Tao is everywhere. It’s in all of us. It’s in animals. It’s in the insects. In the trees, in the grass - I’ll bet that while it may feel a little different for each thing, that little warm glow is present in each of those things, too.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to try and find a place where Tao is not. I’ll bet you can’t.