Chapter 7: Selflessness is the Secret to Longevity and Lasting Legacy

The heavens are long-lasting and the earth is enduring. 

The reason heaven and earth are long-lasting and enduring is that they don’t live for themselves

– thus they are long-lived.

Sages put themselves last and yet end up first;

they place their personal interests on the outside and yet are preserved.

Is it not simply because of their selflessness?  

This is why they are able to succeed in their personal labors.

 

The natural world has a longevity that far surpasses a single human life.  It has lasting impact, benefit, and resiliency.  It endures natural disasters human wars and calamities.  It adapts, overcomes, and endures.   The natural world balances order and chaos and doesn’t play favorites.  It also doesn’t have any self-serving agendas or interests.  Heaven and earth are impartial.  As a model or embodiment of the Way, the natural world provides resources and opportunities for life to grow.  Organisms that are able to find their niche and utilize available resources responsibly survive and thrive.  The secret to sustainability and longevity, whether personal, institutional, or organizational, is selflessness – our ability to see beyond ourselves and serve others.

As sages, or wise people, we can emulate the Way through by practicing selflessness and serving others and placing the greater good and the interests of society ahead of our own personal desires.  As Mr. Spock was fond of saying, “the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”  As wise people, we can take ourselves out of the equation, put our own individual agendas on the outside.  We can choose to see things from another’s perspective and walk a mile in their shoes.  That is not to say that we can’t or shouldn’t pursue our own dreams and desires but that we prioritize and find ethical ways of achieving our desired outcomes without taking away from everyone else.  To be selfless simply means to think of others a little more and ourselves a little “less.”  Everyone has to eat, take care of families, and provide the necessities of life.  As wise people, we are not JUST or ONLY self-serving, we can also consider the needs of those around us and we get involved in causes greater than ourselves – things that will create long-term benefit for humanity and the planet.  By doing so, we are not giving up on our dreams and aspirations, but rather we discover that somehow our own goals are supported, sustained, and naturally come to fruition.  This is a sagely principle of influence and impact.

The Chinese character for “self-interest” or “selfish” 私 (anciently interchangeable with 和) is a picto-phonetic character and is perhaps a compound ideogram as well.  It refers to one’s personal harvest 禾 or seeds grown into ripened grains and ready to harvest and a mouth 口 or an open mouth 厶, which is also the phonetic.  The idea is that one eats their own harvest and doesn’t feed anyone else.  The contemporary term 自私 implies that one doesn’t see past their own nose or doesn’t consider benefitting or creating a harvest for anyone else.

So, find a passion project.  Get involved in something greater than self.  Find a purpose beyond just personal prosperity.  Make it our mission to do something more than just entertain ourselves.  Clear the clutter and create some space in our lives for something wondrous.  What do we want to create in this world?  What kind of impact do we want to have?  What will be our lasting legacy?  What seeds will we sow?  What will we grow?  What abundant harvest will we create – not just for ourselves, but for others to reap as well?  It is ours to choose.  ~ DCB


 

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