Change Your Thoughts-Change Your Life Part 17 of 20: Living by Remaining Low
April 21, 2009 by dr. lam
The 61st Verse:
A great country is like the lowland,
toward which all streams flow.
It is the reservoir of all under heaven,
the feminine of the world.
The female overcomes the male with stillness,
by lowering herself through her quietness.
So if a great country lowers itself before a small one,
it wins friendship and trust.
And if a small country can lower itself before a great one,
it will win over that “great” country.
The one wins by stooping;
the other, by remaining low.
Two of the omnipresent symbols that Lao-Tzu uses are the feminine and water, which he enlists with great effect in this verse. The oceans rest lower than the streams so all the waters lead into the mighty ocean. Accordingly, when we quietly exert our presence, people and things are drawn to us. Similarly, the feminine or yin energy is a quiet and friendly one compared with the male-dominating yang. Oftentimes we are led to believe that to succeed we must leverage our yang energy but that oftentimes pushes people away from us. In history, when a leader would subjugate another people by force, it would lead to brutality, which would invariably lead to a returned brutality and self annihilation. Instead the feminine or yin energy leads by quiet example rather than forceful intervention. This type of leadership creates a more lasting and peaceful condition that continues to grow and mature rather than be fought and destroyed over time.
It is interesting because I radiate a very quiet yin energy, and I think that is why more women are drawn to me than men. I lead through a quiet presence rather than a forceful one. My staff and I are like a unified family rather than a totalitarian regime in which I rule by force of will. That kind of yang energy will be short lived and lead to mutual dissolution.
In some of the verses of the Tao Te Ching that I did not cover in this blog series, Lao-Tzu discusses how the yin energy is more in harmony with nature, which is a central tenet of his philosophical thesis. He looks at this “Divine Mother” as a life-giving source of all things. Being harmonious with nature means being in harmony with your yin energy. As you have progressed over this month (and many previous months), I have focused on many precepts that are of essence yin in nature. Today, quietly lead others by your yin energy and draw them to you like streams to an ocean rather than through force of will.
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4 Responses to “Change Your Thoughts-Change Your Life Part 17 of 20: Living by Remaining Low”
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This is a very interesting blog post. Very interesting and eye opening. I really think there is a lot of truth in this and westerners are unaware of it, but I think there is something with that. I recall when I was a kid. I remember trying to come up with an organized chore chart for all my siblings to do. It was a very organized systematic way to go about things and ideally everyone would do one of the things on the chart daily, well, guess what! Nobody volunteered! I couldn’t get any of my siblings to adopt my plan. I have a feeling I was going about it in a yang way. I remember my sister, Heidi, would operate in a very quiet but present way, which very well could be that yin energy, and I always joke to her about this. I remember one time all of us siblings were sitting in the living room chatting, whatever, and I remember Heidi saying, “Wouldn’t it be neat if we rearranged the furniture?” Whoosh! Up jumped 6 people right on the spot and within 10 minutes the living room was rearranged and not only that but the kids were picking up and cleaning! I couldn’t believe it. Somehow that yin energy dominates, but in a very non-dominating way…lol
Dr. Lam, I have to admit I’m not all that familiar with this yin and yang stuff, so hopefully my example sort of fits. I really think there is something with that yin energy and I want to find out more how to have whatever it is.
your blog response made me smile. first, great example of your sister’s yin energy. second, your writing style is already yin, which is non-combative, positive, uplifting, generous, and insightful. we should all lead by our yin energy. thanks heather!
Wow, Dr. Lam, you make me feel really good!