39

The Master lets go of desire
and people are fulfilled;
he has no goal in mind
and people are transformed;
he remains silent
and people are educated.
Act without doing,
speak without intention,
and even the beggars in the street
will benefit from your example.

 

The Master doesn’t interfere.
He perfects the whole world in his heart.
He leaves the gold hidden in the mountains
and the pearl at the bottom of the sea.
He has no interest in wealth or fame,
sees no advantage in long life,
isn’t elated by success,
isn’t discouraged by failure
or confused by the world’s rights and wrongs.
He knows that all beings
are strung on a single thread
and that life and death are one body.

The Master’s job couldn’t be cushier. All he does is be, and he doesn’t even do that. There’s nothing required of him. He doesn’t help, doesn’t lead, doesn’t set an example. He just observes the marvelous transformations of mind. When we live or work with him, we are inspired by his very presence, by the spaciousness of it. Finally, someone who is at home in the world, who’s utterly responsible and carefree. We didn’t know it was possible to be happy all the time. We didn’t know you could have a heart without any checkpoints.

The Master doesn’t interfere in other people’s lives. Why would he? He knows that he doesn’t know what’s best for the world, or even for himself. He leaves the gold hidden in the mountains, because he doesn’t need it on his wrist or around his wife’s neck or in the bank. Yes, he could buy pickaxes and hire ten villages of dwarfs, but he realizes that when you extract gold there’s always an irritated dragon to deal with. Besides, entrepreneurship is less exciting than the adventure of discovering what is enough. How fine life becomes when what you want is exactly what you have!