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Telling the truth isn't perceived as beautiful. What's perceived as beautiful isn't truthful. One who makes those perceptions doesn't have an open mind. One who has an open mind doesn't make those perceptions. One who has a pre-conceived notion of what's beautiful doesn't increase. One who increases doesn't look for what's beautiful. A wise person is without a need to accumulate anything. Since they're done with trying to act like others, they develop more of their own nature. Since they're done with trying to appease others, what is in their true nature keeps increasing. Therefore, the heavens' Dao is beneficial but doesn't criticize. A person's Dao takes action but isn't willing to contend.  Commentary: 81 ~ Beauty Is Within -Telling the truth isn't perceived as beautiful. -What's perceived as beautiful isn't truthful. How many times do people cover up their true feelings by saying words they want others to see as beautiful? Most people don't want to hear the truth and have a hard time accepting and expressing their own feelings. Fear of rejection? A need to be liked by others? If no one is expressing themselves truthfully, then most of the connections made between people is merely based on a facade. -One who makes those perceptions doesn't have an open mind. -One who has an open mind doesn't make those perceptions. Someone who only wants to hear beautiful words from others has closed themselves off to what hearing what other people might actually be feeling. Someone who has an open mind wouldn’t do that. -One who has a pre-conceived notion of what's beautiful doesn't increase. -One who increases doesn't look for what's beautiful. What is beautiful? Only those things you've already decided are beautiful? How could happiness and enjoyment of life increase if you shut out anything that you didn’t think was beautiful? -A wise person is without a need to accumulate anything. Someone who realizes that there’s beauty in everything wouldn’t feel the need to surround themselves with beautiful things or people who only told them wat they wanted to hear. -Since they're done with trying to act like others, they develop more of their own nature. -Since they're done with trying to appease others, what is in their true nature keeps increasing. There’s true beauty in honesty, but it can only increase if people stop demanding that others do and say what they want them to. Appreciating the true beauty within yourself and others, rather than preferring the false face of superficial and untruthful words, allows each person to express themselves and make much deeper connections with themselves and others. -Therefore, the heavens' Dao is beneficial but doesn't criticize. -A person's Dao takes action but isn't willing to contend. The heaven's Dao (Nature) can only be truthful. When Nature expresses itself in many different ways, it provides a bounty to all life on earth, but doesn't make an effort to have living things see what it does as beautiful. Its treasures pour out everywhere, without criticizing how living things choose to use those gifts. When a person is connected to the beauty within themselves, their actions are in accord with the universe and the manifestations that naturally arise from themselves. There's no reason to contend with any other living thing because each of them is simply following their own path. Seeing the beauty in what's actually here instead of what one wishes to be here - everything can be beautiful. Alternate translation: Most people don’t want to hear the truth from others. They’d rather hear what they want to hear. Someone like that has shut their mind to what others are feeling. Someone who wants to hear what others think wouldn’t get upset when they heard what others honestly had to say. Someone who only wants to hear words that make them feel good wouldn’t be able to grow. Someone who wants to find ways to grow wouldn’t only look for words that make them feel better. A person who finds the most happiness in life wouldn’t need to keep hearing how great they are. Since they don’t need to feel like they’re great according to how others think they should act, they feel happier just for being who they are. Since they don’t spend their days looking for praise from others, they’re able to keep increasing their own sense of happiness in themselves. Nature has given each of us such wonderful gifts, but doesn’t give us a hard time for not being able to be what we’re not. People can simply do what they can do in this life, and there’s no reason to criticize ourselves for not doing what we can’t do, or to ctiticize others either. | BY: Nina | Guodian Laozi | DDJ Concordance | Comparisons | Who was Laozi | | Return Home | Laozi's Dao De Jing | Your Dao De Jing | Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) | Links | Meditation | Dao (Tao) is Open Forum | Book List | Other Stuff | |
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