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The Master gives himself up
to whatever the moment brings.
He knows that he is going to die,
and he has nothing left to hold on to:
no illusions in his mind,
no resistances in his body.
He doesn’t think about his actions;
they flow from the core of his being.
He holds nothing back from life;
therefore he is, ready for death
as a man is ready for sleep
after a good day’s work.

Tao Te Ching by Lao-tsu trans. by Stephen Mitchell

In the spring of the coming year I plan to facilitate a discussion of the Tao Te Ching. At the inception of our gathering I plan to point to this verse as the spoiler, the give-away clue to the meaning of this ancient compendium of wisdom. The relationship between life and death, indeed between all of the paradoxes of language, is described in this verse with vivid, down to earth realism.

Ames and Hall in their more philosophical translation render the meaning of the Chinese:

One third [of humanity] are companions of life, One third are companions of death, And one third again are people who, because of their preoccupation with staying alive, move toward the execution ground with each and every step.

I have met many who believed they were exempt from what is inevitable for everyone else. Some of these folk “live hard, to die young”… Also I’ve known individuals who seemed obsessed, anxiety ridden in anticipation of their own death. Growing up among Evangelicals, a specter of divine judgment loomed for many of them. They were haunted behind their faux “cheeriness”. The final third, more than a few acquaintances in my adult period in the business world, were fixated upon winning every single deal. As far as they were concerned existence is “zero sum” either you win, or you die. That being the case more winning, means the further the distance from death… Your win-loss record can be told by the balance in the brokerage account.

No doubt the lines penned by Lao-tsu offer an alternative, difficult but genuine, to a servile way of life which denies death in one of the three forms.

Would I like to live life without holding anything back? I would.

What about you friend? Shall we think about that together?

*The header image is of cake pops in Starbucks display case. The label read, “pops of joy.”