The Way of the Meister - the Way

The Master stays behind;

that's why she is ahead.

She is detached from all things;

that's why she is one with them.

Because she has let go of herself,

she is perfectly fulfilled.

(Tao Te Ching)

The Meister at times has to work hard, but not in order to advance, but rather to let go. We have so many conflicts inside; aversions to people and occurrences and inner resistances. The Way can't help us with those; we have to exert effort to overcome those. Otherwise, there is nothing to do. The Way will always hand-deliver the outcome to us.

When I thought about action, the Bhagavad Gita came to mind. Arjun didn't want to fight the war he was in, but Lord Krishna had to remind him that karma has to be used up; you can't run away from it. Yet, once you are in acceptance of the situation you are in, you just let the activity flow through you without getting involved.

Let me give you a little example. My wife had to give a speech that involved the input of others. Someone put together a lengthy video for her, and she was encouraged by others to cut it a little. She spent hours trying to figure out how and when she discussed the changes with her colleague, no matter what they did, it never was quite as good as the original. In the end they both decided to just keep it as is. It turned out that the presentation backdrop was pretty low-key, so her speech and the additional videos were just perfect for the allotted time. So in other words, had she done simply nothing, it would have been perfect anyway!

I have often observe that when it comes to the interaction of people and events, let them all speak for themselves. The Meister supplies the wholesome intention; all other missing pieces will align themselves. The Meister is detached because she is a facilitator of what is already perfect. All she has to do is to let go of the ego which is the stumbling-block for the workings of the Way. She stays behind because you cannot make perfection any better.

This is the second note in the Meister - series. Please also check out 

The Way of the Meister - Action http://zeitgeistinma.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-way-of-meister-action.html
The Way of the Meister - Love http://zeitgeistinma.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-way-of-meister-love.html