I TALK TOO MUCH!

I ran across this poem this morning written by Lao Tzu in the TAO TE CHING which seemed to have my name written all over it. It starts, Dear Julie:

No. 23

Sparing indeed is nature of its talk:
The whirlwind will not last the morning out;
The cloudburst ends before the day is done.
What is it that behaves itself like this?
The earth and the sky! And if it be that these
Cut short their speech, how much more yet should man!

If you work by the Way,
You will be of the Way;
If you work through its virtue
You will be given virtue;
Abandon either one
And both will abandon you.

Gladly then the Way receives
Those who choose to walk in it;
Gladly too its power upholds
Those who choose to use it well;
Gladly will abandon greet
Those who to abandon drift.

Little faith is put in them
Whose faith is small.


I have found myself still talking long after people's eyes have glazed over. Even when I'm sensing that I'm losing connection with someone, I talk even more rather than allow a silence to exist. I know that when I voice lots of opinions, it keeps me from taking in new information but I still persist in having my say. When I comment idly on the lives of others, I have realized that I'm subconsciously making the assumption that they don't know what they're doing and that I do. I'm not honoring (judging) the path/journey that they're on.

Even though I know that words are ultimately inadequate to express truth and beauty, I still have so much confidence in talking and not as much in silence. Then I found another poem by Lao Tzu:

No. 56

Those who know do not talk
And talkers do not know.

Stop your senses,
Close the doors;
Let sharp things be blunted,
Tangles resolved,
The light tempered
And turmoil subdued;
For this is mystic unity
In which the Wise Man is moved
Neither by affection
Nor yet by estrangement
Or profit or loss
Or honor or shame.
Accordingly, by all the world,
He is held highest.

In James 3:17 of the Bible, it says, "...the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness." There's that "quiet" word again. Makes me think of that old saying: Better to be silent and thought stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." I remember hearing that alot from my parents. Hmmmmmmmmmm. I overheard my mother say to my aunt one day that I could make pleasant conversation with a post!

According to Lao Tzu's poem No. 56 above, this silence comes from "mystic unity". So, the stronger our connection to our Source, the more silent (or wise) we become? It's difficult to grasp with the mind, isn't it? Maybe that's why the poem encourages us to "stop your senses, close the doors".

What are your thoughts and experiences with talking too much?