Nineteen - Simplicity, Selflessness, and the End of Desire
In the last chapter, we were introduced to The Great Pretense; Lao Tsu continues his consideration of the topic here in Chapter Nineteen. Chapter Eighteen was the diagnosis and prognosis, and here in Nineteen we find the prescription. If we are to return to The Way, we must give up the pretenses of wisdom, kindness, morality, and ingenuity. These things are merely “outward forms alone.” As I wrote in my last entry, these pretenses are only necessary when we have lost our Way and begin to experience our selves in an atomistic sense. Then what is the prescription? Lao Tsu tells us:
It is important
To see the simplicity,
To realize one’s true nature,
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire.
I like Feng’s translation above, but I also appreciate McDonald’s for its beautiful terseness:
Embrace simplicity.
Put others first.
Desire little.
Simplicity is apropos, for what does it literally mean: One. Simplicity or Oneness is “one’s true nature.” Realizing this there can be no selfishness in the sense of an atomistic individual separated in some metaphysically significant sense from other individuals. Realizing that simplicity is our true nature, there is no need of desire. Simplicity is absolute sufficiency.