Tao Te Ching Verse 57: Practicing Gentility

The Tao Te Ching for Everyday Living

Tao Te Ching Verse 57

translated by Xiaolin Yang
When governing a country you must be fair and just;
When fighting a battle, you must use tricks;
When taking over the world, you must practice WUWEI.
How do I know everything in this world? This is how.
The more restrictions the government sets, the more people become poor;
The more people have dangerous weapons, the more the country falls into chaos;
The more people become clever, the more bizarre things happen;
The more severe the law becomes, the more thieves there are.
So the great leaders said: "If I practice WUWEI, the people will govern themselves;
If I am always peaceful, the people will be upright by themselves;
If I do not initiate things for my own purposes, the people will become rich by themselves;
If I do not have desires, the people will become simple and plain by themselves.
Photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash
Let’s consider how we can apply the principle of Practicing Gentility in this verse today.

I’d like to use an acronym to practice this verse today. The acronym is A-S-K.

Keeping in the spirit of being gentle with ourselves and therefore others, here’s what I think we can do:

The A is for Acceptance - lifting those prohibitions on ourselves and others - observing things without judgment. Of course this doesn’t mean we have to approve of anything - we’re just not judging.

The S is for Simplicity. By eliminating the weapons of guilt we use on ourselves and avoiding overthinking, we allow our lives to unfold in the natural way of things. We grow quiet and rich in spirit.

And the K is for Kindness. By becoming aware of my selfish desires and then discarding them, I am naturally kind to myself. There is nothing to beat myself up over when I fail to achieve that desire! Remember that’s not saying we can’t have goals - we’re talking about desires to feel a certain way that results from our manipulating a certain set of external circumstances. Going on a diet, stopping a habit, getting more love from people, getting approval from others because we want praise - that sort of stuff.

So today, I can A-S-K ask the Tao for assistance with all of this. I can ask the Tao to help me concentrate my attention on the light energy, the light energy that is there all the time anyway. And after I make my request, I can relax and be grateful, knowing that that which I’ve requested is already on its way.