The Art of Living: Attending to Needs
By: Erik Schön
Tags: Self Improvement, Poetry, Strategy, Philosophy, Leadership

The Art of Living: Attending to Needs

A Modern Reading of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching: Sections 7–13

What is the meaning of life? Why is this important? How do you live your life to make it more meaningful? The Art of Living provides timeless answers to these eternal questions including new perspectives on the world, people and their behaviours; practical tools for avoiding and handling conflicts, and, actionable advice on how to lead effectively and make a difference. “This is powerful, this is for practical people struggling with business goals, lacking time with family, feeling they climb wrong ladders, feeling stressed.” (All parts)

7. Attending to People’s Needs

Lao Tzu

The world is eternal since it exists for others.

Therefore, skilled leaders

withdraw from contention,

yet find themselves in front;

acts selflessly,

yet find themselves taken care of.

Attending to people’s needs fulfils your own.

Ames & Hall

[Skilled leaders] in emulation of the natural processes are impartial and inclusive. […] It is because [skilled leaders] take nature as their mentor that their persons are preserved and all of their needs are satisfied.

8. Be Like Water

Lao Tzu

The highest effectiveness is like water.

It is because water benefits everything without contending

yet dwells in loathed places

that it almost reaches ultimate purpose.

Live in a suitable place;

keep your heart and mind deep;

treat others properly;

stand by your word;

lead effectively;

serve capably;

act with timing.

Act without contention

in accordance with ultimate purpose

to avoid blame.

Ames & Hall

The highest [effectiveness] is a combination of the degree of benefit something bestows and the inclusiveness of such beneficence. The intensity and expansiveness of water is an appropriate analogy for such efficacy since it gives the gift of life without discrimination, and flows everywhere disdaining nothing. […] The greatest obstacle to optimising relationships is coercion. If a healthy relationship is mutually accommodating, then the introduction of coercion, in which one party overwrites the importance of the other, entails a diminution of the creative possibilities of both […] Forced redefinition is humiliation. […] Relationships are invariably hierarchical. But hierarchy is only pernicious when it is compromised by coercion. The family as an institution is hierarchical, but appropriate patterns of deference can allow members of the family to have both dignity and parity in their relationships.

9. Accomplish and Withdraw

Lao Tzu

Rather than fill to the brim, stop in time:

keep on pounding and the sharpness will be gone soon;

treasures are hard to guard;

riches and pride bring calamity;

Ultimate purpose is to accomplish and withdraw.

Ames & Hall

The human experience can be maximised only by coordinating its activities with the workings of the natural environment and the propensity of circumstances. These human activities should be modelled upon the cyclical patterns of nature in which one season gives way to the next, orchestrating the full range of natural forces — sun, soil, air, moisture — to collaborate in producing a thriving environment and an abundant harvest.

10. Like a Baby

Lao Tzu

Can you balance your energies

and embrace them

without separation?

Can you control

your breath gently,

like a baby?

Can you cleanse

your mysterious mirror

until it is without spots?

Can you love people

and lead

without coercion?

Can you open and close

the gates to the world

in accord with people?

Can you view clearly

the four directions

using unprincipled knowledge?

Give life and nurture:

give life without possessing;

nurture without coercion;

this is ultimate effectiveness.

Ames & Hall

It is the thorough integration of the physical and spiritual aspects of our experience in the concentration of our [energies] that enables us to maximise our potency and invigorate our minds.

11. Emptiness Brings Usefulness

Lao Tzu

Thirty spokes form a wheel;

its usefulness comes from emptiness.

Clay forms a pot;

its usefulness comes from emptiness.

Windows and doors cut out make a room;

its usefulness comes from emptiness.

Therefore, something brings value,

emptiness brings usefulness.

12. Belly Over Eyes

Lao Tzu

Five colours blind the eye;

five tones deafen the ear;

five flavours destroy the tongue;

hunting and riding upset both heart and mind;

exotic goods hinder progress.

Therefore, leaders

take care of the belly instead of the eyes

choose one, reject the other.

Ames & Hall

Prevent the inner focus of vital energy from being overwhelmed by outer distractions.

13. Beyond Yourself

Lao Tzu

Favour and disgrace are like fear.

Honour and distress are like the self.

What does this mean?

Favour debases us:

afraid when we get it;

afraid when we lose it.

The self embodies distress:

no self, no distress.

Respect the world as your self:

the world can be in your trust.

Love the world as your self:

the world can be in your custody.

Ames & Hall

If we attend to each and every one of our responsibilities with the same care that we invest in our own persons, we can be entrusted with anything, including ruling the world. […] Treat all things with equal seriousness and respect, and our own person will be taken care of as a matter of course.

The Art of Living: All Parts

Contents: A very short summary of each part

Introduction: How to make life more meaningful

Glossary: Explanation of key terms

Acknowledgements: Standing on the shoulders of giants

Sources: Where to learn more