Introduction

Money can’t buy me happiness, even though it can buy me a boat.

To paraphrase Spike Milligan, all the stuff we gather and heap upon ourselves, from clothes to degrees and cars to once-in-a-lifetime experiences, can only bring us a more pleasant form of misery.

Please stop looking in all the wrong places for the things you want most.

Just stop. Stop long enough to get your bearings, make conscious choices, and move smoothly.

Translation

Excessive accumulation.
  Stop!

Endless forging and sharpening
  Ruins the edge.

A room filled with gold and jade
  Cannot be protected.

Wealth and Pride
   Bring about one’s demise.

Completion is followed by rest.
This is the way of spiritual wisdom.

COMMENTARY

Excessive accumulation.
Stop!

Endless forging and sharpening
Ruins the edge.

Weaving the Way has nothing to do with stagnation. Especially the stagnation of thinking we are “all that.” We can find the key to the “paradox” of evolutionary pressure in Excessive and Endless. Accumulation is necessary. Forging and sharpening are required. The question is always, “When is this enough?” That edge is always a moving target requiring deep, ongoing inquiry and constant re-evaluation.

These two lines hit me because they point directly to my edge. I am predisposed and highly indoctrinated to seek perfection, whether in a single martial arts technique or how I emote. That tendency is, in my view, one of my more notable attributes.

Constant refinement has a dark side, a dark side that was very painful and destructive for me. Nothing is ever good enough. That perspective made me unpleasant to be around. I am never good enough. That perspective made me just not want to be around. Now, I find it delightfully refreshing (most of the time).

In healing, I discovered the light side of constant evolution. The pressure of evolution uses the gap between our idealized potential and actual performance to create the space where we get to thrive. We thrive when we orient our life toward learning: setting a purpose, seeking out what we need to fulfill it, applying our will to realizing it, assessing how it went, and re-evaluating the situation. (Lectica captures this beautifully in their VCoL+7 model.) As we settle into this cycle, we discover that each moment is perfect because it could have been no other way. Should we pay attention, each moment is also a lesson for the next moment. Life becomes infinitely exciting!

Shunryu Suzuki nailed it with his famous quote:

“Each of you is perfect the way you are… and you can use a little improvement.”

A room filled with gold and jade
Cannot be protected.

Wealth and Pride
Bring about one’s demise.

Simply put, the more you gain, the more you have to lose. Obsession with what we have and fear of its loss is a bad combination for well-being.

I think there’s a more personal truth at play here. What comes to mind is personal relationships.

Have you ever known someone who presented themselves one way, only to turn out to be another way entirely? Have you done that yourself? What was the fallout from that? In my own life experience, on both sides, that is a terrible and painful situation.

When we hide our faults and flaunt our jewels, we set the table for disaster. In other words, placing anyone on a pedestal will get them knocked down. At the same time, it is essential to recognize our preciousness and share our gifts with the world. The intended message is that we aren’t embracing who we are by trying to hide or ignore the dirt in the corners. Without that self-knowledge, we are vulnerable, and our relationships suffer because of our inauthenticity.

Incorporating this truth into my perfectionism freed me from believing that love came and went as my performance waxed and waned. It also served others by not creating unreasonable expectations. There can be no hubris when there is radical honesty. Since pride comes before the fall, radical honesty is a good idea.

Being unabashedly human is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and those you love. Embrace yourself!

Completion is followed by rest.
This is the way of spiritual wisdom.

Any activity has its natural completion point, even if it is temporary. Recognizing when that completeness occurs allows for rest. Rest allows for clarity concerning what aspect of now most needs our attention. The standard commentaries typically say – do what needs doing and then be done! Such a reading fits with this verse’s overall, basic reading.

There is the rest after a task, day, project, etc, comes to completion, which is delightful. No argument from me!

Yet, there is more to glean here.

There is also the more profound rest of immovability. Immovability is a technical Zen/martial arts term. It means utterly unhindered movement, especially in the mind. The general idea is that nothing can move us if we are not in a fixed position. Instead, we move smoothly as necessary according to the moment, without reservation or hesitation.

This total opening of the mind to itself, to experience, to the ever-flowing mystery of the Dao, is the ultimate completion. The desireless exploration and constant motion of the eternal well-spring provide continuous nourishment. Sometimes, the flow of the Dao feels fast and fierce, as though we are bathing in an icy waterfall. Other times, we soak leisurely in the hot springs. Like water, the Dao flows precisely how it needs to at the moment. Through its appropriateness, it is complete. By according with it, we are at rest in the midst of life.