Verse 68

68.

The best warriors

do not use violence.

The best tacticians

try to avoid confrontation.

The best businessmen

serve the communal good.

The best leaders

become servants of their people.

All of them embody

the virtue of non-competition.

Not that they don’t love to compete,

but they do so in the spirit of play.

In this they are like children.

This since ancient times has been known

as the ultimate unity with heaven.

Peace is the way of the Tao.

We lose peace the moment we become lost in a mentally-constructed sense of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ that has to be upheld, reinforced and constantly solidified, no matter the cost. This ego self, a mirage of consciousness folded in on itself, is the root of our suffering.

The need to compete and emerge triumphant, to win and be better than others stems from the ego and not the Tao. If this can be uprooted or at least seen for what it is, we can instead engage life not as a battle to come out on top, but as the play of form that it is.

We take it less seriously because we take ourselves less seriously. We become lighter, freer and instead of bringing more heaviness and conflict into a world already saturated with negativity, we help sow the seeds of harmony and balance.

We become instruments of the Tao, and there is simply no higher calling than that.