There's this verse of the Tao te Ching that's eluded me for a while.  Until now.

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The Tao doesn’t take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn’t take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center.
— http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html

What center?  What the heck was Lao-tzu talking about.  Recently I've been dealing with something really stressful, helping out a friend.  I'll be honest, it's been making me just sick.  I'm worried for my friend, see bad outcomes around every corner, want to solution for them.  It's draining, tiring, suckwork.  (Yeah, it's a word.  I just made it up.  Deal.)

"When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot.  When you realize that everything springs only from you, you will learn both peace and joy." -- Dalai Lama

"When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot.  When you realize that everything springs only from you, you will learn both peace and joy." -- Dalai Lama

My friend's been suffering too.  Like, tons.  I pointed this thing out to them, based on a quote by the Dalai Lama.  Here it is.

I was grateful to share it with my friend on Tuesday.  It's like a double-shot gratitude, because I'm grateful for it myself, today.  THAT CONCEPT IS WHAT THE VERSE IS TALKING ABOUT.

I'm the center.

So are you.

People talk about how they are happy (or unhappy), like it's an intransitive verb.

For my non-grammar-obsessed readers, transitive verbs have an object.

Examples:

  • Mako hugged the shark.

  • Valentalae prepared the rødgrød.

  • Amelia knitted the yarn cthulu.

Whereas intransitive verbs don't.

Examples:

  • Mako cheered.

  • Squee awoke from her nap.

  • Rachel felt happy.

But here's the thing - that last one is slippery.  Happiness is something you feel and also something you do.  That's what being at the center means.

I am grateful for this knowledge, this responsibility, and this ability.

Posted
AuthorMako Allen
Categories365 Gratitude