September 1st

Farmers

Plain country folk with rounded bodies,
Skin turning to bronze in the valley heat.
Why talk to them about Tao?
They eat when they are hungry,
They sleep when they are sleepy.
Even a sage with infinite permutations
Could not match their simplicity.


Do you want to know about simplicity? Go live with farmers. Their daily activities are coordinated with the seasons, they are close to the earth, and they do not spend their time figuring out how to attain status. They are honest and plain. They make no distinction between who they are as individuals and who they are as farmers. Those of us who live in cities would be hard pressed to equal the farmer in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the digits of pi? Who needs to engineer a new monetary policy? Who needs to strive for political office? None of these things is necessary to be a human being.
Give up unnecessary things.

Personal Interpretation

 
 Tao is about cultivating simplicity. To truly know it, we should look at those who live closest to the Earth. Farmers fit the bill. They make no distinction between their work and their identities, for to them they are one and the same. They respond to hunger, exhaustion, and other elements of the human condition. They have no need for spiritual reasoning. They simply are. And that is what each of us should attempt to do. We should be content with simply being. Much of our unhappiness comes from self-imposed limitations and requirements.