When There’s No, “Somewhere Else”
In "There Is No Somewhere Else: Insights from the Tao Te Ching," Francis Pring-Mill dares us to scale the same mystical heights that Lao Tzu highlights in his epic book Tao Te Ching.
Penned over twenty-five hundred years ago, the Tao Te Ching isn’t just ancient scripture—it’s a manual for living a life of meaning and harmony with the world around us. Its ageless wisdom hits just as hard today as it did centuries ago.
But let’s get real—why do some of our actions unleash chaos and stress while others glide smoothly, adding to the harmony around us?
Could the secret lie in our point of origin?
Is it all about whether we’re anchored in our own egos and desires or truly centered in the Tao?
"There Is No Somewhere Else" speaks to anyone hungry for answers to these burning questions. Francis Pring-Mill, whose first book "In Harmony with the Tao: A Guided Journey into the Tao Te Ching," I featured in March carves out a fresh path up the ancient mountain in this new read, examining modern life through the lens of timeless wisdom.
You will find the book's chapters to be brief, punchy, and written in a style that’s as engaging as a late-night conversation. In it, Pring-Mill masterfully translates the profound insights of the Tao Te Ching into practical guidance that can revolutionize our daily lives.
⛰️ Your new book, "There Is No Somewhere Else," takes readers on a journey up the same mountain as Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching." What inspired you to revisit this ancient text, and how do you hope your perspective will resonate with contemporary readers?
FPM: I see Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" as taking readers on a journey up a mountain because of the amazing views he shows us along the way. I was inspired to revisit the Tao Te Ching because I wanted to see if there was another way up the same mountain. I hope my words will resonate with contemporary readers because I hope to have found a more contemporary route. While we arrive at the views in a new way, I have to say that what matters is the views themselves. I believe they are just as amazing as ever.
⛰️ In your book, you explore why some actions create confusion and stress while others flow effortlessly. How does the Tao Te Ching help us understand this difference, and what practical advice do you offer to readers to achieve harmony in their daily lives?
FPM: I think the Tao Te Ching helps us understand this difference by reminding us that, whenever we act, we're always coming from one of two places. Either we're centered in ourselves or we're centered in the Tao.
It's when we're centered in ourselves, and in our thoughts and desires, that we tend to create confusion and stress. When we're centered in the Tao, our actions tend to flow effortlessly and contribute to the natural harmony that's already there.
Lao Tzu illustrates this with the image of the circle. "The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle" (chapter 29, Stephen Mitchell version).
As for offering readers practical advice on how to achieve harmony in their daily lives, my book suggests it all starts by becoming aware of where we're coming from when we act. Are we coming from the center of the circle? Or are we coming from somewhere on the edge?
⛰️One of the central themes in "There Is No Somewhere Else" is the idea of being centered in the Tao versus being centered in our own thoughts and desires. Can you elaborate on how this shift in focus can transform one's life?
FPM: I think one of the troubles with thoughts and desires is that they come and go. They're here one minute and gone the next. Maybe we succeed in satisfying a desire (at least for a while) or maybe we don't. But what's for sure is that another desire will soon spring up to replace it, and we'll be off chasing again. Every time we do this it's like we're wanting to be "somewhere else," i.e., anywhere other than where we are right now in the present moment (hence the title of the book).
The point is that chasing desires is a never-ending game. Lao Tzu's Master shows us what being centered in the Tao is like. The Tao isn't going anywhere. It just is.
There is nowhere we need to strive to get to. We're already there. When we're centered in the Tao our actions spring from the Tao and we become part of its natural expression.
As Lao Tzu says of the Master "He doesn’t think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being" (chapter 50). Our life is transformed when we let go of our self and allow the Tao to become the core of our being.
⛰️Your writing style in this book can best be described as conversational and easy to read. How did you approach making the profound wisdom of the Tao Te Ching accessible and relatable for modern readers?
FPM: I approached making the messages in the Tao Te Ching accessible by imagining Lao Tzu as a wise old man. As I say in the Preface "What’s special, for me, is that it feels like having a friendly, wise old man take me by the hand with the words “Why don’t we take a break from your busy life and go for a walk?
We’ll go up a mountain and I’ll show you a view. You’ve probably glimpsed it from time to time, most likely when you weren’t looking for it. But today we’re going to see the view on purpose. And we’ll linger there and spend a while looking at it.”
I imagine the wise old man being quite conversational as he points out the views along the way. He doesn't tell me they're right or wrong, or even tell me what to do with what I see. He just points out the views and lets me see for myself. If my book helps modern readers feel the same way about Lao Tzu's wisdom then I will have succeeded.
⛰️ Your book suggests that we lose harmony when we try to live "somewhere else." Can you explain this concept and how it applies to our fast-paced, often hectic modern lives?
FPM: If we think of "somewhere else" as anywhere other than the center of the circle, then all I can say is that our fast-paced, often hectic modern lives do a pretty good job of keeping us on the edge. We say to ourselves that we will be at peace when... and we can now insert anything we like that we're currently chasing after.
Examples include more possessions, or more money, or more security, or more approval from others, or even all of them at the same time. Whatever it is, we can be sure that it's about being anywhere other than where we are right here right now in this present moment. It's always "somewhere else." And the never-ending chase continues.
⛰️How does "There Is No Somewhere Else" differ from your first book, "In Harmony with the Tao"?
FPM: I've mentioned that my new book differs from my first one by offering a more contemporary route up Lao Tzu's mountain. Let me say a bit more about that. In the book, each chapter starts with an observation, or series of related observations, and then the rest of the chapter explores what's going on between the lines.
But here is the difference between the two books. In my first book, "In Harmony with the Tao," the observations at the start of each chapter were Lao Tzu’s. I included the entire text of his Tao Te Ching, all 81 chapters of it (Stephen Mitchell’s version, with kind permission from him and his publisher, HarperCollins).
⛰️What new insights or perspectives do you bring to readers in this latest work?
FPM: In this new book, the observations at the start of each chapter are mine. Some observations are short; others are longer. However, I believe we are journeying up the same mountain and that many of the views we see are the same.
Why journey up the same mountain by a different route? Because I hope that, for some readers, the route may be an easier one. Other than that, I think there are four reasons. First, to remind ourselves of what we saw last time, because the views are simply amazing.
Second, to look more closely at certain views for aspects we may have missed the first time around. Third, hopefully to catch a glimpse of some new views. Fourth, simply to linger in some favorite places and enjoy what we see.
⛰️ As someone who has deeply studied and written about the Tao Te Ching, what do you believe are the most important lessons it offers for living a meaningful and harmonious life today?
FPM: I believe the Tao Te Ching is more a collection of observations than of "lessons." If reading the observations causes us to change how we see our lives, and what we do with them, then I guess we can be said to have "learned a lesson," as it were. So, with that caveat, I think perhaps the most important lesson in the Tao Te Ching is to let go of who we think we are.
In fact, to let go of spending so much time separating everything we think we see into bits and pieces that then have to be named, categorized, talked about, labeled as good or bad, or as worth striving after or trying to avoid. I think that's where the noise, confusion, and stress tends to come from. That's not to say we do nothing. It's just to say there's another way.
The other way is to become aware that the act of separating things simply creates what the Tao Te Ching calls "manifestations." They're all artifacts of our minds and there are literally as many of them as we can think of.
However, if we become aware that manifestations are illusions and that the only thing that is eternally real is unity (or Oneness/Wholeness) then this changes everything.
Instead of starting with our thoughts and desires, we start by being quiet, by listening and becoming aware of the harmony that's already there, and then discovering the unique song that each one of us can sing. Centered in the Tao, in the Oneness/Wholeness that is everything, our actions become part of the natural harmony of the Tao.
In other words, we sing in harmony with the music that's already there. Centered in our self, all we create is noise. The self gets in the way every time. I'll give the last word to Lao Tzu describing the Master: "Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled" (chapter 7). Maybe that's the most important lesson of the Tao Te Ching.
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