Verse Thirty-two

Tao is eternal, one without a second. Simple indeed yet so subtle that no one can master it. If princes and kings could just hold it, all things would flock to their kingdom. Heaven and Earth would rejoice with the dripping of sweet dew. Everyone would live in harmony, not by official decree, but by their own inner goodness.

- The problem with peace is that we are individuals.
- To achieve worldwide peace requires everyone to let go of their selfish individuality
- What binds us to life is the individualistic desire to survive
- Peace cannot be enforced

Application: I realize the sad truth about bring about world peace. As long as someone is looking for power, there will be none. But peace comes to us as we leave our individuality. And peace is within us. Searching for peace outside of us in an individualistic world is pointless. I no longer believe that world peace can be achieved through war or political change. It can only be achieved through personal and spiritual change.

The world is nothing but the glory of Tao expressed through different names and forms. One who sees the things of this world as being real and self-existent has lost sight of the truth. To him, every word becomes a trap, every thing becomes a prison.

- Everything is already unified
- It is the perception of the individual which divides and categorizes
- We live in the world we perceive
- Reality is relative

Application: I have realized that when I think of the world, I usually think of the man-made world instead of the natural world. For example, I think of nations and cultures. I also think of cities and cars. All of that is not the world really. It is the product of our selfishness. When I think of the world I must think of it as humans, animals, plants, oceans, rivers, mountains, etc. The natural world recycles itself. Man-made world does not, but nature always finds a way.

One who know the truth that underlies all things lives in this world without danger. To him, every word reflects the universe, every moment brings enlightenment.

- Fear dissolves as individuality dissolves.

Application: I can make all of my fears, anxieties, and desires go away as soon as stop thinking of myself as an individual and start thinking of myself as unified with the whole.

Rivers and streams are born in the ocean. All creation is born of Tao. Just as all water flows back to become the ocean. All creation flow back to become Tao.

- The water cycle as a metaphor for life.
- Water is life, both have essence.

Application: I believe that the natural world is cyclical and the artificial world is linear. Once we die all our artificial constructs are destroyed including our individuality but our natural constructs are recycled as our bodies return to the earth and our souls return to Unity.