Those that proclaim “Lord, Lord” loudly in the marketplace, already have their reward. Go into your closet, pray to your Father in secret, and he will reward you openly.

I have tried to act this way all my adult life. With the exception of a couple of very foolish calls, I have led a prosperous, happy, and fulfilling life. I would like to show you how you, too, can find a humble yet comfortable place in the scheme of things—a place where you may find the richest, most potent power in the universe coming to fill you with power and wonder.

Bend to Become Straight
When I was growing up, muscle was considered strength. Weightlifting gyms were opening up all over, and guys went to develop big, heavy muscles. The biggest musclemen exhibited their exploits on beaches or got on TV. In track, I was told to run fast as I could and override any pain in the body. People were supposed to always be strong and never give into feelings or ever, ever break. Try hard. Do good. Be successful: that was the path to follow. Then I read Lao Tsu for the first time, and he said:

Yield self-will, and be preserved whole,
Bend, and become straight.
Empty yourself of self, and become full,
Then even in tatters, you will be fully renewed.

I began to see that people society called weak turned out to be the ones who magically got ahead. In school, a boy who was awkward and covered with acne, whom we teased relentlessly, turned in a lottery ticket a couple of decades later and won $22 million. He is a delightful and very helpful gentleman, who freely gives to his favorite charities and educational institutions. He sure did not seem like a winner.

Moreover, I began to look more carefully and noticed the big and tough people I saw, whether men or women, are the ones who can break. Like the gnarly, thick trunked cypress tree, with their rigidity and unbendingness, they crack and are brought down by the storm. My friend from school was like the willow. We teased him, but he never responded with anger, only smiles and amiable jabs back. That skinny and supple willow appeared weak and undesirable, but in the fierce storms of our relentless teasing, he bent, even all the way to the ground, and just bounced naturally and gracefully back up. I think of Lao Tsu when I remember the life of my friend:

The best, like water, benefit all and do not compete
They dwell in lowly places everyone else scorns
Putting others before themselves, they find themselves in the foremost place
And come very near to the Tao.

I never won $22 million, but I have learned how, when you meditate daily on passages of humility and suppleness (try, too, a flexibility regimen like yoga for the body), the beauty of gentleness and sweetness comes into your life. If someone is judging or cutting you down for not getting everything just right, take a few deep breaths. Remember you can bend and sway. If you have a mantram, say it a few times and know that at your depths, the energy of the Om or Krishna or Buddha is you.

Live Simply to Possess
Strong weightlifting muscles are like our controlled, compulsive self. We drive ourselves relentlessly, trying to get more and more done in less and less time and we don’t mind working twelve hours a day to do it. We become a human doing and not a human being, who can relax, laugh, and just be.

Look at how Lao Tsu sees himself:

They all have plenty with lots more to spare,
But everything seems to have passed me by
My heart must be that of a dolt,
Confused and muddled.

Is he truly a fool? My school friend looked like a loser, too. That’s because people who adopt the humble position just relax into who they really are. They don’t need to be good or perfect. While they remain only who they are, the Tao is attracted to them.

Don’t Act, let the Tao fill you
Have you ever, for example, had days when everyone greets you with sweetness and warmth, when they receive your energy with a tender support that enters the pores of your skin and nourishes your very being? Or days when you were doing very little, but a power just seems to lift you through the job you are doing, with results that seem almost like magic? Maybe in a relationship, things happen that were never before dreamt of, and your life is reconfigured around your very greatest strengths, no longer sapped by your weaknesses? In ancient China, Lao Tsu, too, sensed such a power, and he said of it:

I just can’t tell you its name. So why not call it the Tao?

The Tao can fill only what is not full already. It is not always there; it ebbs and flows, like the tide. When the Tao tide comes in, it fills us with that energy and grace that makes parking places appear, or the job race magically forward with phenomenal achievement and results, or other people are warm and overflowing with friendliness. No human effort can ever approach this richness: but just as naturally, the Tao leaves.

Knowing these cycles of the Tao, those choosing a humble place actually invite the Tao into their life. I would invite all those who, like myself, aren’t yet wise enough to imitate the action of nature to meditate on the words of those who are. Passages which do so help seed the truth and the capacities in consciousness. Meditate on passages that speak of suppleness, flexibility, and gentleness—and bring these positive, enduring qualities into your life. Then let the Tao do the rest!!