In Taoism, the five thieves represent our five senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body). They are called “thieves” because they quietly and constantly steal our inner stillness and clarity. When we mistake our sensory perceptions for absolute truth, we lose connection with the undivided flow of the Tao.

Here is the ancient tale of how to stop the theft:

The Parable of the Broken Mirror

In the quiet valley of Mount Daluo, there lived a Taoist master known as Old Gu. A young warrior came to his hermitage, frustrated and exhausted.

“Master,” the warrior knelt in the dust, “I seek absolute truth, but my mind is a battlefield. Every day, the world robs me of my peace. My eyes chase after beauty, my ears are stolen by flattery, and my desires pull me in a hundred directions. How do I stop these five thieves from pillaging my soul?”

Master Gu smiled and handed the warrior a polished bronze mirror. “Take this mirror,” the master instructed. “Go to the bustling marketplace of the city. Hang it where everyone can see it. Stand guard over it. If you can protect the reflection in this mirror from the dust of the city, you will find the truth you seek.”

The warrior took the mirror to the loud, chaotic, and dusty city square. He stood completely still, watching the mirror. The very first thief, the eye, watched the market stalls piled high with silk and jade, craving them. The warrior quickly wiped the dust of attachment from the glass.

Then came the second thief, the ear. A merchant shouted an insult, and the warrior’s pride bristled, threatening to cloud the glass. The warrior breathed deep and pushed the anger away. Soon, the smells of roasted meats seduced the nose, the chatter of the crowds agitated the tongue, and the pushing of passing strangers agitated the body.

By nightfall, the warrior was trembling. His entire day was spent fighting the five thieves that were trying to reach the mirror through his senses. Defeated, he returned to Master Gu.

“Master,” the warrior wept, “I could not protect the mirror. The five thieves are too clever and too fast! Every second, they demand my attention and cover the mirror in the dust of the world.”

Master Gu took the mirror from the warrior’s tired hands. Instead of cleaning it, he tossed it into a barrel of water and swished it around. He pulled the mirror out—it was completely clean, the reflection perfectly clear, untouched by the dust.

“You tried to fight the thieves by resisting them,” Master Gu said softly. “By fighting what your eyes saw and your ears heard, you merely created another battleground in your own mind. But look at the mirror now.”

“When you immerse your senses in the deep waters of the Tao, the thieves cannot reach you,” the master explained. “The mistake is not in seeing, hearing, or feeling. The mistake is in clinging to what you perceive. If you let your perceptions flow through you like water, accepting them without grasping or resisting, your inner nature remains a clear, still mirror.”

The warrior understood. He let go of his need to control the external world and learned to simply be with whatever arose. He aligned himself with the Dao and achieved profound inner peace.

Reflection Point

Think of things you cannot resist.

Tip: Do you see a yummy dessert, and do you start craving it only by seeing it? Does the smell of bread make you hungry? Hearing the waves of the sea make you want to swim?

Practice

Make a list of triggers (thieves) and work on them. Face them; accept their existence; work on desensitizing yourself to them, just like in the above story.