54

Whatever’s deeply planted

will never get uprooted.

Whatever’s held tightly

will never be stolen.

Those are the things your descendants

will commemorate, long after you’re gone.

Foster the way in yourself

and Te will be genuine.

Foster the way in the family

and Te will thrive.

Foster the way in the community

and Te will be enduring.

Foster the way in the nation

and Te will flourish.

Foster the way all over the world

and Te will be ubiquitous.

Therefore, look at your actions

to behold who you are.

Look at the family’s dynamics

to behold that family.

Look at the community’s ethos

to behold that community.

Look at the nation’s structures

to behold that nation.

Look at the world’s systems

to behold what that world

is truly about.

How do I understand this cosmic reality?

Like this…

WRITTEN REFLECTION

In light of the recent death of our beautiful 23 year old son Auggie, someone who embodied the Tao in many ways and taught us about how to apply it through ordinary life, we’ve done a lot of thinking as a family about family itself, the way to live virtuously, and the nature of any mortal’s legacy. This chapter speaks directly to all that. We have been feeling the loss acutely, of course. But it has also caused us to react strongly to other losses, like the loss of a ring, or the theft of our truck camper. Our strong reaction is natural, since we are still feeling the sting of a great loss. But in light of that great loss, we have also been able to see our losses from another perspective. Everything will rust and decay. But the legacy of love, deeply rooted, cannot ultimately be uprooted. Auggie’s legacy is enduring. His lessons inform us each day. And even when each of our names becomes lost to history, the ripples of virtue we allow to flow through our lives continue throughout the universe endlessly.

This chapter teaches us to start by letting Te (virtue) inform our selves. Finding that center, we are able to infuse it into our families. Our families then carry that forward into the village, and ultimately serve to affect healing in humanity as a whole. We don’t need to do it all, we just need to be a part of the flow of goodness if we want an enduring legacy. Auggie was that for us, and we hope to continue to honor him by being that for others.

One final note for folks wondering whether they are in unhealthy religious communities or relationships. This chapter tells us to look to the nature of a group to determine its ethos or culture. We’ve found that, whatever a website claims about a religious community, the best way to evaluate it is to observe the well-being of its adherents. Are they mopey? Are they unable to think for themselves about basic life issues? Are their minds split between the real world and a fanciful world within the context of their community? If so, it’s probably not a good place for. As Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16).

Note: the audio version of this was released shortly before Auggie’s death. The written reflection represents our return back to these reflections.

The Healing Starts Within (Tao Te Ching 54)