Introduction

One of the delightful paradoxes of life is that we have to put in a lot of effort to not have to work hard. There is considerable thoughtfulness involved with being simple. Likewise, sincerity is a profound practice that reveals many truths we’d prefer not to see.

Embodying simple and sincere conduct engenders simplicity and sincerity in the rest of our world. These core qualities are essential to the injunction opening the last verse:

Approach absolute voidness,
preserve the profound center.

This verse discusses the maturation we undergo in meditative living as we attune to simple, sincere conduct.

Translation

The ultimate Weavers of the Way?
  No one even knows they’re here.

The next best are loved.
The next, respected.
Next are the feared.
The least are the ridiculed.

The slightest bit of hypocrisy
  results in a total loss of trust.

Pay attention!
  Sparingly use every precious word.

Successfully completing tasks
  follows patient dedication.

The people around a Master Weaver will think:
“It worked out all on its own!”

Commentary

The ultimate Weavers of the Way?
No one even knows they’re here.

Lao Zi is making a strong point here. Living according to the Way isn’t loud or flashy. It’s not something we tell people we do or something that makes us stand out in a crowd. It’s quite the opposite. The more effortlessly we flow with the Dao and lose ourselves in the grandeur of the great mystery of life, the less attention we call to ourselves. The above describes the oft-coined phrase wu-wei, effortless effort.

A hike through the woods comes to mind. If we want to be within the natural beauty of our landscape, we can’t disrupt it by breaking twigs, let alone shouting and calling attention to ourselves. But it’s not the sound that causes the chaos, for our natural sounds blend seamlessly into the noisy tranquility of the forest. It’s only disharmony that stands out; our bumbling display of ourselves is the greatest disharmony.

Our evolution as practitioners of meditative living typically goes through stages that we can gain valuable information about from our impact on events and people. Of course, most people’s reactions to events and others tell more about them than anything else. Our primary source of information about ourselves has to be our internal self-assessment.

As mentioned, in mastery, people don’t even realize we’re doing a thing. We just are; they just are. There’s not enough friction for us to be remarkable, and we aren’t calling out how we show up. That doesn’t mean that people don’t like, respect, appreciate, or love us; it just means that we aren’t in anyone’s face about how we show up. They have to think about it a bit to realize,

“Oh, hey. So-and-so is pretty remarkable, aren’t they?”

The next best are loved.

The level of integrated meditative living before being unremarkable is to be loved.

“Oh, So-and-so is always so sweet! You can really tell they care and are so attentive. The way they talk is so gentle and heartfelt. I just love being around them!”

This person has many beneficial qualities! I’m sure we all would hope this is how people talk about us, yet this marks a subtle lack of immersion in the Way. Somehow, we are “loud” in our genuine and sincere practice. It may be slight hints of pride and the desire to serve and be noticed. It may just be that our gentle demeanor doesn’t quite fit the situation we are in, and the affect chafes (even if pleasantly). In any case, we are still making subtle ripples of effort. The weave isn’t perfect, but it’s hard to tell where the flaws are.

The next, respected.

In the state prior to being “the loved one,” we are “the respected one.” Our persona is big enough to be set apart, and our efforts are apparent to others. We may not be someone they like or even want to spend time with, but they can see we have many admirable qualities. We are “approved” of. This level of effort makes many more ripples in the fabric. It’s evident that the cloth is of good quality, but it might be a bit rough, have a tight fit, or some inconsistency.

Next are the feared.

Everyone who “finds THE WAY” will likely go through a zealot phase. We all probably know someone who has it so figured out that they can’t talk about anything else and are incredibly quick to share how they solved your problem. At best, we can inspire people with our conviction. Most often, this is eye-roll territory. At worst, people start dreading talking to us.

In less specific terms, this can also point to a state of practice that isn’t very mature or genuine, but people know we’re trying. This feels like putting a pretty mask on the outside, but the inside is still somewhere on the spectrum from unrefined to “ew.” When we are in such discord with ourselves, it oozes out in weird ways all over everything else. Unfortunately, we are often unwilling to notice that impact and blame it on others instead. That’s pretty scary.

The least are the ridiculed.

The bottom rung (and yes, this is absolutely a hierarchy) is the weavers of the way, who are so false that everyone sees right through them. Far from inspiring and supporting others through their conviction (being feared), skillful actions (respected), or loving demeanor (loved), we turn people off from doing whatever it is we say we do.

The smallest portion of pretense
results in a total loss of trust.

Having run through the different qualities of weaving the way, we return to a meta-statement. What has all this been about? Self-knowledge and authenticity. It is far better to own who we are than to pretend we are otherwise. Pretense, the act of giving false appearances, undermines personal development and interpersonal relationships.

We all know the impact of insincerity in interpersonal relationships. Trust is the foundation for all relationships, and interacting or working with someone untrustworthy or unreliable is a constant source of difficulty.

We pay less attention to the far more damaging impact of internal hypocrisy, i.e., cognitive dissonance, on our psyche. Without owning who we are, there is, at minimum, shame and projection. There is no chance for personal growth or inner peace without authentic self-knowledge.

No matter which way you look at it, pretense undermines our well-being. It costs us trust in the world-out-there and, even worse, causes us to lose faith in ourselves.

Pay attention!
Sparingly use every precious word.

What, then, shall we do? Pay Attention! Act with integrity. Say what you mean; mean what you say. Better yet, stay silent unless you know your words will improve on the silence. Admittedly, this teaching is heavy on the hands trying to type out a book describing it all.

Successfully completing tasks
follows patient dedication.

Further, recognize that saying is not doing. Quietly go about your business, knowing that a journey of a thousand miles is completed one step at a time. Not only do we get to take all of those steps, each of those steps is a gift! This and the previous line combine to describe a state of leading by a quiet, humble example. We do not serve as agents of the Dao for glory, fame, wealth, or honor, but because consciously supporting the natural order of life is the most exquisite state.

The people around a Master Weaver will think:
“It worked out all on its own!”

Just how light a touch is ideal? How humbly, quietly, and patiently dedicated to the tasks of our life should we be?

Folks who are paying attention shouldn’t even be able to tell we tried at all.

Effortless effort.