Tao Te Ching Archives - Finding the Meaning in Everyday Life

Don’t Call Me Crone

An old woman who is thin and ugly….archetypal figure.. keeper…. seer….. healer…… midwife…. a disagreeable malicious sinister old woman. These are all descriptions found for the word crone. Although some of those are quite positive, my being always feels “Don’t call me crone.” This is a totally irrational reaction. Many other women I have talked to feel the same way. The tapping that follows is an exploration of the internal dialogue that happens when I consider that word. While it is obvious that I no longer fit into the archetype of maiden or mother, I still want to scream “Don’t call me crone” because of the negative connotations in today’s mainstream society.

http:/https://youtu.be/oYPcZaKMIkU

Do I Have To Be Right?

Verse 2: Tao Te Ching

Everyone recognizes beauty only because of ugliness

Everyone recognizes virtue only because of sin

Life and death are born together

Difficult and easy

Long and short

High and low — all these exist together and arrive together

Sound and silence blend together

Before and after

The Sage acts without action and teaches without talking

All things flourish around him and he does not refuse any one of them

He gives but not to receive

He works but not for reward

He completes but not for results

He does nothing for himself in this passing world so nothing he does ever passes

In this passage I was made to consider the duality of existence. The dichotomy that sprang to mind for me was right vs wrong.

Setup (while tapping the karate chop point): I don’t always have to be right. I don’t really believe that. Of course I always have to be right. There may be more to this. I am open to looking at how my need to always be right might be hurting myself in other ways. There are two sides to everything. I suspect this verse may be telling me that there are some things that may be more important than being right. I choose to consider each situation independently and consider prayerfully how important being right is. I deeply and completely accept myself, even in my stubborn need to always be right.

Eyebrow…I always need to be right

Side of Eye…That has been a major force in my life

Under the Eye…Being right feels good

Under the Nose…I’m becoming aware that the cost may sometimes be too high

Chin…I choose to consider that I WANT to be right but I may not always NEED to be right

Collarbone…I am open to experiencing the difference

Under the Arm…Meditations on the Tao suggest that my need to be right drives my judgments that others are wrong

Top of Head…The Tao also suggests that accepting right and wrong as coexisting together rather than being separate is another option

Eyebrow…I sometimes get glimpses of that but certainly don’t live it

Side of Eye…I MUST be right all of the time

Under the Eye…No I don’t

Under the Nose…Sometimes relationships may be more important than proving I’m right

Chin…Taking action based on reasonable information may be preferable to researching to prove that I’m right before acting

Collarbone…I need to learn when enough is enough

Under the Arm…Being right can sometimes hurt other people

Top of Head…Obviously being right can sometimes hurt me too

Eyebrow…I choose to be open to learning a new way

Side of Eye…I choose to be open to practicing a new way

Under the Eye…I choose to be open to experiencing a new way

Under the Nose…Being right feels good

Chin…I hope to learn how to also accept not being right

Collarbone…It may not be as much tied to who I am as I previously thought

Under the Arm…Not proving that I’m right may not really be a life-ending disaster

Top of Head…I guess that is up to me

Eyebrow…I always have to be right

Side of Eye…That doesn’t feel as true for me as it did before

Under the Eye…One day at a time

Under the Nose…I am open to experiencing life as it comes

Chin…It is not about right or wrong

Collarbone…I think I’ll start by not needing to prove that others are wrong so that I can be right

Under the Arm…I choose to continue growing so that I don’t need others to be wrong

Top of Head…I choose to love and accept myself along this journey

Judge Less and Listen More

The tapping exercise below also comes from my study of the Tao Te Ching.

Setup (while tapping karate chop point): I have a tendency to make snap judgments about people, places, events, circumstances – really, just about everything. Even when I take the time to think about things, I’m still making judgments. I often pride myself on being a good listener, but I even make judgments about what I expect other people to say. I sometimes start thinking about how I want to respond to what people are saying before they even finish saying it. That is a definite clue that I’m not really listening. Even though I have this tendency to judge, I choose to move toward judging less. Even though I often fail to really listen to other people, I choose to move toward listening more. Even though I have a tendency to judge and a tendency not to really listen, I choose to judge less and listen more.

Eyebrow…I am a very judgmental person

Side of Eye…That doesn’t feel like a very flattering statement

Under the Eye…I can hardly admit that to myself

Under the Nose…I certainly don’t want to admit that to anyone else either

Chin…Even the statement that something is good is a judgment

Collarbone…My need to evaluate or judge things is a sign of my resistance to just experiencing life as it comes

Under the Arm…It sounds to zen to say that there is no good or no bad – there just is

Top of Head…I’m not at a place where I really believe that

Eyebrow…I am open to learning to judge less

Side of Eye…I am open to believing that I could experience more of life without adding judgments about whatever is happening

Under the Eye…I may not be as good a listener as I would like to think

Under the Nose…I get caught up in my own thoughts and fail to really listen to the thoughts of others

Chin…If I am not listening to them – I’m still in my own reality

Collarbone…That means I can’t really understand where they are coming from

Under the Arm…I choose to listen more

Top of Head…I am excited to see where these choices will lead me

It Doesn’t Always Need a Label

I have posted quite a few tapping examples lately that were based on my reading of the Tao Te Ching. I was inspired to delve into the Tao Te Ching after reading Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book Change Your Thoughts-Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. His discussion of each of the verses has been very meaningful to me. Considering the magnitude of change that embracing these lessons could bring caused me to start tapping while reading just to manage the anxiety. Here is another tapping example. I welcome your comments and questions and hope you will share your experiences.

Setup (while tapping the karate chop point): According to Wayne Dyer’s advice we should practice letting go of always naming and labeling. This advice makes me feel sick to my stomach. I’m really good at naming and labeling. Naming and labeling is the way that I manage my life and my world. I cannot imagine what life would be like without the names and labels. While on one level I know that the names and labels don’t really define the thing, and that those names and labels really only define me – they make me feel safe and secure. In spite of this very, very, very, very strong tendency to name and label, I want to be open to experiencing the world without those names and labels.

Eyebrow…Names and labels

Side of Eye…I love them

Under the Eye…The idea that the names and labels may really limit my experience of the world isn’t new

Under the Nose..Even Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet makes reference to that fact when discussing the rose

Chin…I just can’t imaging what it would be like to experience something without a name or label

Collarbone…That’s probably not true

Under the Arm…I experience things all of the time without names and labels

Top of Head…I usually tend to call it anxiety

Eyebrow…I call that out of control

Side of Eye…Or I make the judgment in response that I must be stupid because I cannot name or label it

Under the Eye…The Tao suggests that names and labels aren’t really necessary in order to experience the world

Under the Nose…The Tao also suggests that my need to label and name may stem from my inability to accept the mystery

Chin…So true!

Collarbone…The word mystery is very much like the word surprise to me

Under the Arm…Very scary stuff

Top of Head…I want to be open to the possibility that I could do it differently

Eyebrow…Maybe I could use my senses to understand something before jumping to the name

Side of Eye…I could lose myself in the fragrance or color of a flower before giving it a name

Under the Eye…I want to experience being in the presence of a butterfly without knowing what kind it is

Under the Nose…I suspect that once I name it I really stop experiencing it

Chin…It is exciting to think that my experiences could be more intense and more real than ever before

Collarbone…I commit myself to more experiencing

Under the Arm…I commit myself to letting go of my need for instant names and labels

Top of Head…I commit myself to considering the mystery

Don’t Try – Do! Another Lesson from the Tao Te Ching

While the message Don’t Try – Do! may be more recently associated with my little green guru Yoda, it is also a lesson from the Tao Te Ching. It is also a lesson I have struggled with, although intellectually whole-heartedly support.

Setup (while tapping on the karate chop point): I have a tendency to say I’ll try things. I was taught that I should always be open to trying. That was supposed to help me find the courage to do things that I might think I could to. Unfortunately, saying I’m going to try seems to also set me up for failure at times. I am open to just doing things to whatever level or ability I can at that time and accepting the result – whatever it is. Even though I tend to think in terms of success and failure, I am open to learning a new way of being. Even though trying feels more comfortable to me than doing, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I am aware that this is a lesson I haven’t quite mastered in the past, I love and accept myself fully.

Eyebrow…The words I use may be holding me back

Side of Eye…It seems like saying that I’ll try something should be a good thing

Under the Eye…But that attitude may be limiting me in some ways

Under the Nose…When I say I’ll try, I instantly insert the possibility for failure in my life

Chin…I am open to learning a new way to choose the events of my life

Collarbone…I wonder how things could be different if I just do things instead of trying

Under the Arm…I choose to use words that open up possibilities

Top of Head…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid commitment

Eyebrow…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid responsibility

Side of Eye…The attitude of trying can sometimes help me avoid the possibility of failure

Under the Eye…Well — not really

Under the Nose…I am open to redefining failure

Chin…I am open to redefining responsibility

Collarbone…I am open to redefining commitment

Under the Arm…These are all constructs that I have previously accepted as real

Top of Head…Perhaps there is another way to view the world

Eyebrow…I am open to clarity

Side of Eye…I am open to being less tentative about things I choose to do

Under the Eye…I am open to doing

Under the Nose…When I wake up in the morning – I am doing

Chin…When I eat – I am doing

Collarbone…When I go to bed — I am doing

Under the Arm…In all that I face today – I want to do

Top of Head…Trying is in the past. Now I will do.

There May Not Be a Right or Wrong

There may not be a right or wrong. I’ve been exposed to this concept before and have certainly used it in psychotherapy more than once when encountering someone’s rigid beliefs. Honestly, this is a concept that I often struggle with and I have a marked tendency to see things in terms of right and wrong. It requires a conscious decision to see things any other way.

The second verse of the Tao Te Ching addresses the duality of the world. I understand that I can see beauty because I see ugly and that there is no old without also knowing the existence of young. I have trouble handling things when what seems to be polar opposites exist side by side. I have even more trouble handling it when directly pertains to me. If I do something that I label as wrong, I’m all bad. If I do something that I label as great, I lose sight of other parts of me that might not be as great.

I am trying to embrace the duality of life more often. I’ve been wrestling with the inadequacy of the labels “right” and “wrong” for a long time now. Below is a tapping exercise to help better understand my struggle. I hope you tap along.

Setup (while tapping on the karate chop point): Even though I tend to think in terms of right and wrong, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though I struggle with dichotomous interpretations of the world, I am open to having an easier time with this. Even though I have blocks to really accepting the new way of seeing the world in my life, I choose to embrace my willingness to change and accept all of me along the journey.

Eyebrow…Life without sadness means life without joy

Side of Eye…Life without illness means life without health

Under the Eye…Life without tragedy means life without victory

Under the Nose…Life without frustration means life without satisfaction

Chin…I’m afraid to embrace the entire human experience

Collarbone…I really prefer only the thing that I label as good

Under the Arm…The rest really scares me

Top of Head…I can’t quite wrap my head around the whole thing

Eyebrow…A part of me wants to get it

Side of Eye…And another part of me doesn’t

Under the Eye…That is just another example of the duality of the world

Under the Nose…I guess I can’t fully understand the concept of approach

Chin…If I don’t also recognize my own feeling of avoid

Collarbone…I’m not sure how this really plays out in my daily life

Under the Arm…I look forward to those moments when I feel like I really get it

Top of Head…And I guess I need to look forward to the moments where I don’t too. That is the duality of life.

Keeping My Word

In general, keeping my word isn’t a terribly hard thing for me, at least not the way I have interpreted that before. Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star verse 8 includes, When speaking, be truthful. In that sense keeping my word is about telling the truth. The context surrounding the statement seems to be pointing to more than avoiding lies. It seems to be about being in harmony with truth, not just following a rule.

In Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, the translation is Stand by your word. This seems to call for even more personal integrity and elicits many more questions and poses more pitfalls. It would even be easy to get bogged down in this (and I did) with questions like, “can’t I ever change my mind?” or “does that leave any room for spontaneity?”, or even “everybody lies sometimes.”

After tapping and meditating on this for a while I have come to believe that this statement, like much of the Tao, isn’t about behavior as much as it is about who we are at the core. It doesn’t mean that I can’t ever tell somebody I’m going to do something and then decide that I can’t or don’t want to do it. It means that if I have committed to doing something I then need to speak the truth to the person about why I am no longer going to do it. I’m not going to blame someone or something else, make an excuse, avoid, or simply not follow through.

Not only can tapping be useful for gaining a deeper understanding of a text like this one, it can also be quite valuable in changing the way you feel after having gained the insight. I was flooded with memories of all of the times that I have made excuses, heaped blame, and therefore devalued my own word. The emotion resulting from all of those memories have been responding well to tapping. In addition, tapping has helped when I’m tempted to lie, distort the truth, or make excuses.

There are many reasons why we choose not to be truthful or not stand by our word. Are you afraid that you won’t make the sale, get what you want/need, or win the approval of others? TAP!

Avoid the Pedestal. It’s a Tough Fall.

Have you ever put someone up on a pedestal? Did you think they could do no wrong? How did that work out for you? Turn that around. Do you want to be the one up on the pedestal? If we are really honest, sometimes we do seek that type of relationship with other people. The following tapping exercise gives you a starting point if this is an issue that resonates with you from either side of the pedestal.

Setup (while tapping the karate chop point): The Tao Te Ching tells me that I don’t want to be on a pedestal, but I seem to seek that position anyway. Even though I seem to want to be viewed as something special, or something “more”, I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Even though my mind acknowledges that danger of being put on a pedestal, my behavior suggests that I feel otherwise. In spite of this conflict, I deeply and completely love and accept myself anyway. Even though I don’t want the pain of falling off of the pedestal, I would like the love and respect that I believe comes with being put on a pedestal. I choose to remain open to new ways of thinking about this.

Eyebrow…My mind and emotions are not in agreement about this issue

Side of Eye…I choose to remain open to clarity

Under the Eye…I have a lot of emotional baggage that I don’t fully understand

Under the Nose…I have put others on a pedestal

Chin…And when they let me down and “fall” off of that high place

Collarbone…We generally both get hurt

Under the Arm…I don’t want to continue that pattern with other people

Top of Head…And I don’t want to experience that fall myself either

Eyebrow…I am open to learning new ways of getting my needs met

Side of Eye…Maybe I am confusing adoration with respect

Under the Eye…Maybe I am confusing respect with love

Under the Nose…Maybe I am just confused all the way around

Chin…Awareness is a good place to start with this issue

Collarbone…I choose to be gentle with myself as I learn a new way

Under the Arm…I am looking forward to changes in the way I relate to others

Top of Head…I am looking forward to changes in the way I view myself

As I said, this exercise is just a starting point. I know I have more work to do on this issue. Do you?

Letting It Be Easy

Do you make things harder than they have to be? I know that I sometimes do. There have been many occasions when I’ve struggled through a task, and on completion been amazed (and distressed) when I realize that it could have been much simpler or easier than I made it. Perhaps it is prior programming that taught me that things worth having require work, or maybe it is the number of past experiences when change was truly difficult. I suspect that I have just been getting in my own way much of the time. This tapping video is about letting things be easier whenever that is possible and at least not making them needlessly difficult.

Finding The Right Time

I often find it hard to know when it is time to take action versus time to wait. When exactly is the right time? This tapping video was inspired by portions of the Tao Te Ching, Verse 8.

When acting, remember – timing is everything

One who lives in accordance with nature

does not go against the way of things

He moves in harmony with the present moment

always knowing the truth of just what to do.