“It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.”
—Stephen Mitchell, Tao Te Ching, Harper Perennial Modern
Classics, 1988
I began writing this reflection over a week ago. A lot has happened in that time, and I could use those disruptive events as an excuse for not focusing on Verse 6, but the real reason for my delay is that I’ve been struggling—struggling a lot with these two seemingly simple lines.
At first, I went down what I now call the “Star Wars Rabbit Hole.” These lines reminded me of that film series. So, I got caught up comparing the Tao and the Force and contemplating the Force’s light and dark sides—Luke Skywalker representing the light side and Darth Vader the dark side, of course. “You can use it any way you want” prompted that line of thinking. This dualistic conception of the Tao didn’t seem to fit its expansive equanimity, so I abandoned it and began again.
The Tao—which I conceive as the energy that has always existed, that created the world and sustains it—is always within me, according to Verse 6. It keeps me alive, and when I die, I will dissolve back into it in some fashion; a manifestation in form, returning to its formless home. The Tao is my origin, my present, and my destination. It is greater than I. I dwell within it and it within me.
The notion that I can freely use this incredible—and I mean both beyond belief and magnificent—energy inspires awe. Such power! Such responsibility!
While I don’t feel powerful at all, I do feel responsible. Overly responsible, uncertain, intimidated, and inhibited about using the Tao in my life. However, these feelings are less overwhelming when I break life down into manageable chunks, one day at a time. If this awesome energy is within me and I am free to use it, how do I want to use it today in what I do and say in each situation I encounter? What are its characteristics, and how do I want to embody them? Such profound and consequential questions!
I know, because this isn’t my first time reading the Tao Te Ching, that the verses which follow will contain clues to answer these questions. Each time I reflect on them, I will see a slightly different facet of their diamond of insight. So, as I walk among the brilliant fall colors, my little dog trotting ahead of me, I let the awe of life’s energy vibrate within and around me. I contemplate the awesome privilege of using it any way I want. And you?
