Instructive wisdom from Lao Tzu in the Tao Teh King.
“Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realized?” (Tao Teh King 7b).
When the ego is pushed to the end of the line, the real Self will be found at its head. That is why Jesus said: “The last shall be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). And: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33). When the phenomenal, conditioned personality is seen as really external, and in no way our true self, it is purified and preserved, becoming a mirror of our inner reality. Those who truly desire nothing find that they attain much. The Yoga Sutras say that when a person is completely indifferent to materiality then all the treasures of the earth are available to him. Also, when the limited ego is set aside, the limitless Self comes into function.
The highest excellence
“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao” (Tao Teh King 8a).
Once when someone asked Swami Brahmananda, the great disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, if he would bless him, the swami replied: “We have nothing to give but blessings”–referring to the superstitious idea held even today that sadhus have the power to curse as well as bless. The simile of a rose and a piece of sandalwood is often used in relation to truly good people: when crushed they only give forth their sweet fragrance. Without water nothing can live; in the same way the benevolence of the wise extends to every form of being.
Furthermore, the wise occupy the lowliest position as uncomplainingly and as naturally as water flows to the lowest level. Water on the mountaintop and water deep in the earth is still water and possesses the same characteristics. In the same way the sage is unaffected by any external conditions or situations.
Highest excellence embodied
One late afternoon in Delhi I was sitting in a taxi as a friend of mind was buying rice. From a distance I saw a remarkable-appearing sadhu. His entire appearance was that of someone from a century before–even his eyeglasses were of a style I had only seen in photographs from the previous century. But the outstanding quality of his appearance was his great dignity and tranquility. People flowed all around him, jostling him here and there, but he remained unresponsive, obviously centered within. One man ran into him violently and nearly knocked him over. I looked for his reaction and saw him look at the man with complete calmness and a caring and compassionate look. He had no blame, but understood the inner turmoil that had propelled the man along so heedlessly and so unconsciously that he had made no apology but kept hurtling on. He turned back and resumed his calm pace. Right then my friend returned to the taxi and I asked him to take some money from me and give it to the sadhu. He hurried after him, bowed and touched the sadhu’s feet and handed him the money respectfully. The sadhu’s demeanor never changed. He turned looked for a moment as my friend came back to the car and then walked on unaffected by any of it. That day I saw that the ideal of the Gita regarding evenness of mind in the pleasant and the unpleasant, in honor and dishonor, could be realized. As my friend Hari Dutt Vasudeva used to say regarding such people: “That is the glory of India.”
God is the same, the godly being merely reflections of that Absolute Goodness.
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