Was the Dragon Scroll Made of Raw Silk and Uncut Wood?

Today’s entry in the Tao Te Ching is the One. It speaks of differences between doing and being, but the funny thing is that doing is called “being”—a bit confusing, I know, but stick with me.

Raw Silk and Uncut Wood

Stop being holy, forget being prudent,
it’ll be a hundred times better for everyone.
Stop being altruistic, forget being righteous,
people will remember what family feeling is.
Stop planning, forget making a profit,
there won’t be any thieves and robbers.

But even these three rules
needn’t be followed; what works reliably
is to know the raw silk,
hold the uncut wood.
Need little,
want less.
Forget the rules.
Be untroubled.

Translator Ursula K. LeGuin notes that “raw silk” and “uncut wood” are images traditionally associated with the characters su (simple, plain) and p’u (natural, honest).

Emotional well-being comes from God and it should be simple and natural. After all, He’s asking only that you be who He created you to be. But is it ever simple and natural? Not likely. Most of us have been forced off track by parents trying to mold us, teachers crushing our spirit, friends telling us what’s cool and what’s not, church leaders judging us.

I’ll likely always think of this entry in the Tao (no. 19) as the Dragon Scroll one, because when we talk about the important stuff, I often remind my kids of the Dragon Scroll in Kung Fu Panda. Everyone thought that the scroll would tell the Dragon Warrior what to do, but it was blank—and reflective. That was the important part. When Po unwound the scroll, all he saw was an image of himself. To be the Dragon Warrior, he needed to believe that he was the Dragon Warrior. He needed to be who he was meant to be, and that would lead him down the right path.

Lao Tzu tells us to “stop being holy, forget being prudent.” That’s where the confusion might arise, but consciously being those things is no different from doing them, because the rational mind/ego is in charge. When you’re acting from your soul, being your True Self, though, you don’t think about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. It’s just right for you and you know it. God knows it.

I think that few of us are ever taught how critically important it is to be our True Selves, but Lao Tzu tried, sure that, “it’ll be a hundred times better for everyone.”