Reflection helps one shift their perspective on what is useful. A thing’s value may not be immediately obvious and can be quite unexpected. Useful virtues include flexibility, humility, and simplicity.
Reflection
The sage uses reflection to shift their perspective.
“Without opening your door, you can know the whole world. Without looking out your window, you can understand the way of the Dao. The more knowledge you seek, the less you will understand. The Master understands without leaving, sees clearly without looking, accomplishes much without doing anything.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 47
Reflection helps determine a thing’s true usefulness. What appears lacking at first may really be complete and abundant.
“The greatest accomplishments seem imperfect, yet their usefulness is not diminished. The greatest fullness seems empty, yet it will be inexhaustible. The greatest straightness seems crooked. The most valued skill seems like clumsiness. The greatest speech seems full of stammers.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 45
Emptiness
Emptiness is one of the most useful characteristics because it gives space for possibilities. It is essential for the bowl, door, and window.
“Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that allows the wheel to function. We mold clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that makes the vessel useful. We fashion wood for a house, but it is the emptiness inside that makes it livable. We work with the substantial, but the emptiness is what we use.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 11
Effortless Action
Effortless action is useful because one acts only when it is aligned with the Way. Sometimes it is best not to act at all.
“I do nothing, and people become good by themselves…I do not meddle in their personal lives, and the people become prosperous.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 57
Forceful action and violence only causes retaliation.
“Using force always leads to unseen troubles. In the places where armies march, thorns and briars bloom and grow. After armies take to war, bad years must always follow. The skillful commander strikes a decisive blow then stops. When victory is won over the enemy through war it is not a thing of great pride.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 30
Flexibility
Flexibility is one of the most useful virtues because it allows the weak to overcome the strong.
“Water is the softest and most yielding substance. Yet nothing is better than water, for overcoming the hard and rigid, because nothing can compete with it. Everyone knows that the soft and yielding overcomes the rigid and hard, but few can put this knowledge into practice.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 78
One should never underestimate the usefulness of the small and weak.
“To understand the small is called clarity. Knowing how to yield is called strength.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 52
Or forget that the softest can overcome the hardest.
“That which offers no resistance, overcomes the hardest substances. That which offers no resistance can enter where there is no space.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 43
In fact, rigidness usually leads to failure.
“Those who are stiff and rigid are the disciple of death…The rigid and stiff will be broken.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 76
Humility
The virtue of humility is useful because it prevents disgrace and minimizes harm. It gives one longevity because they avoid retaliation.
“Knowing when you have enough avoids dishonor, and knowing when to stop will keep you from danger and bring you a long, happy life.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 44
When one is humble they realize they don’t know everything.
“Knowing you don’t know is wholeness. Thinking you know is a disease. Only by recognizing that you have an illness can you move to seek a cure.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 71
Arrogance is the opposite of humility and causes disrespect and failure.
“Those who try to outshine others dim their own light. Those who call themselves righteous can’t know how wrong they are. Those who boast of their accomplishments diminish the things they have done. Compared to the Dao, these actions are unworthy.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 24
Simplicity
Simplicity is a helpful virtue because it allows one to appreciate what’s truly important. The sage discards the unessential to focus on the Way.
“One who seeks knowledge learns something new every day. One who seeks the Dao unlearns something new every day. Less and less remains until you arrive at non-action. When you arrive at non-action, nothing will be left undone.”
Dao De Jing, Chapter 48
Summary
Refection helps one find what is most useful in life. The usefulness of emptiness and effortless action may not be immediately apparent. The virtue of flexibility allows the small to overcome the strong. Humility prevents disgrace and simplicity allows one to see what is most important.
Resource:
Tao Te Ching, Laozi, A Translation for the Public Domain by J.H. McDonald, 1996.
