My favorite poem this reading assignment is:
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Less and less is done
Until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.
I found that reading this at first I wanted to disagree with the teaching. I think that so much has been ingrained in our brains that hard work, dedication and “hustle” culture is the best way to succeed. But after reflection on this I realized it held a lot of truth. Sometimes not doing anything is promising. There is growth in non-movement. Often, even when he interfere with things and work very hard they still do not go our way, so sometimes it is best to leave things be to go the way they were always going to go. I think as Americans we can take note of this poem and try to practice it in our day to day lives but sometimes just letting things run their own course and not interfering. It would be beneficial for everyone to take small practices of this everyday.
