Tao te Ching

Tao says, that when nobody knows what to make of you – you are so ordinary that nobody knows what to make of you, nobody knows any utility for you, you cannot be used, you are so ordinary, without any talent – then, they say, the real mystery reveals itself through you. Then you become a real mystery. When you cannot be used you become god like. What is the meaning? Whenever you are used, you become a thing; whenever you cannot be used, you become a person.

A person is not a utility; a thing is a utility. If somebody asks you: Who are you? You say: I am a doctor. What do you mean? It means that society is using you as a doctor. It is a function, not a personality. It is not your person, not your being, it is a utility – society is using you as a doctor.

Somebody is a carpenter, somebody else is a shoemaker. Is this your being? Or just a utility in society? Society is using you as a thing, and the more valuable your use, the more society will value you. 

But if you drop all talents, if you become just ordinary, and nobody knows what to do with you, nobody can use you, you have gone beyond society. Now you are no longer a thing, you have become a person. And this does not mean that you will not do anything, you will, but nobody will use you. You will ’do’ on your own, it will be your flowering.

A rose flowers, not for those who will pass, not for those who will see, not for those who will smell the fragrance. No! It flowers on its own. A man of Tao flowers on his own. He is like a rose, he is not a utility. And a man who has not known his innermost being is always like a thing, always on display in the window of a shop; always waiting for somebody to come and use him with all his certificates, distinctions, talents; always crying: Come and use me, make me a thing. I am a most valuable thing, you will never get any thing better than me. Come and use me! This is your whole cry. And if this is your cry, you will become a thing.

A man of Tao drops all distinctions, he burns all certificates, he destroys all bridges, he remains in himself, he becomes a flower. And this flowering is purposeless – it has no utility. Many are benefitted by it, but it is not for them, it is for one’s own self. He has attained his own destiny. Then there is fulfillment.

As a thing you will remain unfulfilled because you have to be a person, an authentic person. You have not to be a thing, not to be a husband, because to be a husband is a thing; you have not to be a wife, because to be a wife is to have a utility. Just be a flower, then you can love. But there is no need to be a husband, no need to be a wife. You can share, but there is no need to advertise.

A flower flowers; it does not need any advertisement. If somebody partakes of its pleasure and happiness, it is okay; if nobody passes by the spot, it is also okay. When you flower for yourself, everything is okay, nothing is wrong. When you are for somebody else, just waiting in a showcase, labelled, priced, catalogued, advertised, you will never reach to a fulfillment because a thing is a dead thing, only a person is alive.

Be alive, and be a person. And this you can never be if you go on copying. If you remain on the monkey mountain you will never be the real, you will continue to be the false.

Drop all falsities, exhibitions, displays. Just be yourself, ordinary and unique, and fulfill your destiny. Nobody else can do it for you.

In the spiritual world no footprints are left. It is just like the sky: a bird flies – no footprints are left, nobody can follow.But don’t copy, don’t believe or disbelieve, don’t be head-oriented. Don’t be a monkey – be a man.