Chapter 25 - Cycles

There is something formlessly created
Born before Heaven and Earth
So silent! So ethereal!
Independent and changeless
Circulating and ceaseless
It can be regarded as the mother of the world

I do not know its name
Identifying it, I call it "Tao"
Forced to describe it, I call it great
Great means passing
Passing means receding
Receding means returning
Therefore the Tao is great
Heaven is great
Earth is great
The sovereign is also great
There are four greats in the universe
And the sovereign occupies one of them
Humans follow the laws of Earth
Earth follows the laws of Heaven
Heaven follows the laws of Tao
Tao follows the laws of nature

What does it mean?

Everything is circular in nature.  If one is to adhere to a life by natural law, one must respect that everything comes and goes in cycles.  Life grows, but it also recedes and returns back to it's tranquil state to nourish and make room for the next life.

This is a great thing!  Imagine a world in which there is infinite growth.  Eventually, you run out of room and resources for anything new, and then life stagnates.  The thing is everything cycles.

Humans cycle.  Individually we live and die.  Collectively our civilizations and constructs rise and fall.  At this very moment, the things that power Western civilization are slowly winding down in the way all living things do.

Life itself cycles.  We have experienced five great extinctions that wipe out over almost all of the life living on earth in a few decades.  Yet, even though it is a horrible, massive loss of life, it made room for the next age.  In fact, they say we are experiencing another extinction at this presice moment.

The heavens cycle too.  Our star will eventually expand and envelop all of the near planets, including ours and get colder.  Eventually it will burn out and explode.  When that happens, the matter that makes up our solar system will explode and become the next celestial body thousands of light years and millions of our years away.

I bet that the entire scope of reality will one day recirculate.  The universe is continually expanding and potentially might simply fade away, or perhaps it will reverse course after losing moment from a Big Bang moment.  We don't know what existed before the universe.  It could look like what the end of this reality will eventually look like.

How do I use this?

Accept the cycles in your life.  Fighting against natural cycles only causes extra suffering for yourself or others.  To be at peace, you have to look at all things as temporary and insubstantial and why that is good.

There are cycles all throughout your life.  You move to new homes, have new jobs, make new friends and learn new things.  You cannot get these new things without losing the old things, not having enough time for old friends or unlearning what you assumed was right.  This is another reason, practically, that making space in all aspects of your life is a good thing.  When, and not if, your life changes, you need to be flexible enough to change with it.

It you have a hard time letting go of the old things, think of those opprotunities you get to have once change occurs.  This does not mean you do not mourn what you loved and lost, but it does mean you have to let things pass to continue the nautral cycles.  In fact, you do yourself a great injustice to ignore your feelings to "be tough" in a swell of difficult change.  Just keep in mind that your feelings and thoughts will change too, and that will to help heal your emotions.

The contradiction is change is changless.  Change is a eternal force on reality.  It is a part of the Tao which is defined by paradox.

Chapter 26 - Roots

Heaviness is the root of lightness
Quietness is the master of restlessness

Therefore the sages travel an entire day
Without leaving the heavy supplies
Even though there are luxurious sights
They are composed and transcend beyond

How can the lords of ten thousand chariots
Apply themselves lightly to the world?
To be light is to lose one's root
To be restless is to lose one's mastery

What does this mean?

I think heaviness and quietness is a metaphor for importance and seriousness.  It is the difference between a loose feather and a loose stone.  A feather floats away on the winds of Tao, with no abilitiy to be useful to anyone or anything until it gets rooted to a branch or the ground.  A stone, however, becomes immensely useful.  To the insects living below it, to the animals who burrow under it, and to humans who build entire cities with loose stone.

A mind that is focused on the frivolities of the world are at the mercy of reality.  That kind of mind is "light" and not quiet.    When one plays games all day to the exclusion of all else, what happens when they lose the pieces or otherwise can't indulge?  In a way, it is a danger of civilization that allows so many people this opprotunity.  Even I am a victim of it.

You used to be able to call me a gamer.  My entire life's focus was on fantasy worlds in my head.  I have lost a lot of years playing games.  Then I started a family and illusions fell away.  I realized that the skills I devalued were the ones I needed most; growing and finding food, finding water, making shelter.  I needed to learn mindfulness and to respect others.  Learning skills I never bothered to learn before, I found the potential to be the father my family will need and be an example I want my kids to have.

My roots in existence are growing.

How do I use this?

Be rooted in reality.  I'll be the first to admit I that this is a weakness of mine.  I still spend a lot of time in a place outside of reality and the Tao.  However, I learned what I need to know but do not over the course of this last year on how to have respect for yourself in your own life.

Physically, do you know how to care for your needs in any situation?
Emotionally, are you tempered enough to do right and effective action in any circumstance?
Mentally, are you mindful and aware of the time and place you are in?
Socially, are you listening to the needs of those around you and not just their desires?