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Newsletter - October 2024

​How To Let The Light Shine

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“The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance.” (Lao Tzu)

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What is your mind full of? If it’s full of thoughts and desires there’s no room for the Tao. What’s more, the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 21) suggests you block the radiance of the light that’s within you. If you keep your mind at one with the Tao, you get out of your own way—and the light shines.

 

I’ve always wondered about the phrase “get out of your own way.” Surely I am where I am. How can I be in my own way? Yet we all know this phrase contains an uncomfortable truth (even if we might try to argue with it, like I just did). On some level, we know both that it’s true and that we’re somehow responsible. This newsletter explores why it matters and what we can do about it. And we’ll find Lao Tzu had something to say about it too.

 

Not everything we do is deliberate. But quite a lot of it is. Whenever we act with a particular end in mind, we literally have that end in mind. Often, we even have a mental picture of the result we’d like to produce in the world. It could be anything from a freshly-baked loaf of bread, to what a house will look like when we’ve finished building it. The result could also be less down-to-earth like more money, or more security, or the esteem of others.

 

Whatever the particular desired result may be, we then use our actions as the means for making it true in our world—or at least trying to. And much of the time there’s nothing wrong with this. After all, bread tastes good. Houses are nice places to live. Money can be useful too and so can security. But what about the esteem of others? Hmm, I think this is where we have to slow down a bit.

 

What exactly are we trying to do? And where are we coming from when we do it? Did we just bake a loaf of bread for its own sake, or are we entering a bread-making competition? Do we need money because we realize it’s just a handy way of exchanging things of value? Or do we need money to prove that we have more of it than our neighbor does? Did we perhaps build a particularly large house as a way of making some point about ourselves?

 

In the last few examples, where we’re coming from is our self and its desires for how it wants to be seen in relation to others. And the Tao Te Ching suggests this is exactly where the trouble starts. In the quote above, Lao Tzu suggests this amounts to blocking the light—which is a useful image. Here he is again. “The Master, by residing in the Tao, sets an example for all beings. Because he doesn’t display himself, people can see his light” (chapter 22).

 

The message is clear. When you’re full of your self you block the light; when you’re empty of your self the light shines. Why? Because when you’re empty of your self, the only place you can be coming from is the Tao. This is why Lao Tzu’s Master is radiant. Because she “keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance.” Does that mean when you get out of your own way the light will shine. Yes, I think it does.

 

But what’s even more interesting (at least, I think so) is that Lao Tzu implies the light is already there. It’s not something you create. All you can do is block it or let it shine. What does it mean to say the light is “already there”? Let’s explore.

 

What it means to me is that when I’m full of my idea of how something should be, then I cannot see anything else. My way, of course, is the right way so that’s what I have in mind as I try to bend the world to meet my desires. As I see it, there’s the way the world is, there’s the way I want it to be, and there’s a gap. And it’s my job to close the gap. What could be simpler?

 

Well, it may be simple but it’s also a great way to block the light. What’s more, it’s a small step to thinking there’s a right and a wrong way for things to be. (And it’s really hard for the light to shine through that, isn’t it?) But let’s get back to why the light is already there—regardless of whether or not we block it.

 

When Lao Tzu describes the Master as being at one with the Tao, what’s “already there” is the Tao. It is always there. It always was. “Since before time and space were, the Tao is. It is beyond is and is not” (chapter 21). So the words “is” and “was” don’t really work. If anything, the Tao is eternally present. But that’s a bit much for us to get our heads around.

 

So Lao Tzu gives us something easier to get our heads around “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?” (chapter 10). Yes, that’s better. But how do you do that? The answer is to just stop wandering away and following your own idea of the way things should be. “Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?... Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?” (chapter 10).

 

When we do this, here’s what I think happens. We step out of time and into the light. “Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity” (chapter 52). This is the light shining. It’s as simple as that. There’s no right or wrong. We don’t say yes to some things and no to others. "Thus the Master is available to all people and doesn’t reject anyone. He is ready to use all situations and doesn’t waste anything. This is called embodying the light” (chapter 27).

 

Time to get all this down to earth. An example that’s true for me is when my writing doesn’t go where I want it to go. I can try to force it, of course. And I guess I can always give up. Or I can do something else which is to let go and become very patient as I watch the words rearrange themselves on the page. Does the light always shine when I’m done? Maybe. I don’t know. It’s not really for me to say. But one thing I do know is that, at least for a bit, I have got out of my own way. Here’s Lao Tzu winking at me: “He who tries to shine dims his own light” (chapter 24).

 

What’s an example that’s true for you? Where have you got in your own way, as it were, and blocked the light that was already there? What’s an example of where you have felt completely “at one with” everything around you?

 

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, you can get in touch with me by:

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Thanks for reading. Please feel free to share this newsletter.

 

Francis

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

 

There Is No Somewhere Else: Insights from the Tao Te Ching was released on July 16, 2024. It's available as shown here.

 

In Harmony with the Tao: A Guided Journey into the Tao Te Ching is available as shown here.

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Synopses and reviews for both books are on www.francispringmill.com/books

 

Past newsletters are here: www.francispringmill.com/newsletter-archive

 

If you have enjoyed my books and have a spare couple of minutes, I'd love it if you could leave an Amazon review so more people can discover them. (The customer review link for In Harmony with the Tao is here, and for There Is No Somewhere Else is here.)​

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