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Chapter of the Week: #13 [Archive]
[Note: I italicize phrases I borrow from the chapter, and link to phrases I borrow from other chapters to help tie chapters together. While making it more tedious to read, :? the Tao Te Ching is best pondered in the context of the whole.]
Personally, "between good and evil, How great is the distance? " sets the tone for the rest of this chapter. Namely, there is no distance, just as there is none between the heads and tails of a coin - just two faces of [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref]. Of course each of us varies as to what we [chref=2]recognizes as good[/chref]... but that's another story.
Just as the differences between yea and nay, good and evil are relative and illusionary, so to are the differences between the multitude and I... between vulgar people and the [chref=19]sage[/chref]. In truth, we all feel our mind is that of a fool, muddled, drowsy. We all... alone seem to be in want.
Of course, we dare not let on to folks around us that we feel this way. We deny, bluff, pretend, and struggle for purpose and [chref=13]rank[/chref]. Ironically, this is both a best kept secret, and yet dead obvious. Our very private inward sense of being foolish and uncouth drives us to the opposites - joyous, active, clear, alert. But, don't worry, your secret is save with me!
Seriously, the deep beauty of this chapter for me lies in how it reveals the [chref=1]secret[/chref]. As I've come to see I'm helplessly a part of 'it', I become liberated from 'it' to a certain extent. You see, [chref=32]knowing[/chref] I can't 'win' makes it much easier to [chref=63]do that which consists in taking no action; pursue that which is not meddlesome[/chref] and just value being fed by the mother, Nature.
PS... Do we all really feel muddled and such? Profoundly! No matter how fearless the surface appears, it is only skin deep. All life is driven from within by fear and [chref=40]weakness[/chref]. We are all in the same leaky boat, sinking into the [chref=5]void[/chref]. :roll:
Personally, "between good and evil, How great is the distance? " sets the tone for the rest of this chapter. Namely, there is no distance, just as there is none between the heads and tails of a coin - just two faces of [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref]. Of course each of us varies as to what we [chref=2]recognizes as good[/chref]... but that's another story.
Just as the differences between yea and nay, good and evil are relative and illusionary, so to are the differences between the multitude and I... between vulgar people and the [chref=19]sage[/chref]. In truth, we all feel our mind is that of a fool, muddled, drowsy. We all... alone seem to be in want.
Of course, we dare not let on to folks around us that we feel this way. We deny, bluff, pretend, and struggle for purpose and [chref=13]rank[/chref]. Ironically, this is both a best kept secret, and yet dead obvious. Our very private inward sense of being foolish and uncouth drives us to the opposites - joyous, active, clear, alert. But, don't worry, your secret is save with me!
Seriously, the deep beauty of this chapter for me lies in how it reveals the [chref=1]secret[/chref]. As I've come to see I'm helplessly a part of 'it', I become liberated from 'it' to a certain extent. You see, [chref=32]knowing[/chref] I can't 'win' makes it much easier to [chref=63]do that which consists in taking no action; pursue that which is not meddlesome[/chref] and just value being fed by the mother, Nature.
PS... Do we all really feel muddled and such? Profoundly! No matter how fearless the surface appears, it is only skin deep. All life is driven from within by fear and [chref=40]weakness[/chref]. We are all in the same leaky boat, sinking into the [chref=5]void[/chref]. :roll:
Comments
Note: The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.
Chapter 13
Favour and disgrace are things that startle;
High rank is, like one's body, a source of great trouble.
What is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are things that startle?
Favour when it is destowed on a subject serves to startle as much as when it
is withdrawn. This is what is meant by saying that favour and disgrace are
things that startle. What is meant by saying that high rank is, like one's
body, a souce of great trouble? The reason I have great trouble is that I have
a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?
Hence he who values his body more than dominion over the empire can be
entrusted with the empire. He who loves his body more that dominion over the
empire can be given custody of the empire.
Favor and disgrace are two sides on the same coin - not the [chref=6]mysterious[/chref] middle of the coin. What is neither [chref=2]beautiful[/chref] or ugly, something or nothing, high or low? [chref=1]These two are the same, but diverge in name as they issue forth.[/chref] In life, we are perpetually bouncing between the extremes and experience the greatest [chref=71]difficulty[/chref] sensing that mysterious center which I feel is best described by the notion of [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref]. The extremes, [chref=58]good fortune[/chref] or bad, favor or disgrace knock us off balance.
It is obvious, "when I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?" What is less obvious is the fact that the reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. With a body we have life, with life we have trouble. As Buddha put it, "life is suffering". Trouble, in the broadest sense is life's struggle to survive, i.e., to hold back the tide of inevitable entropy as long as possible.
All living things are grounded in this process. Civilization evolved as part of this process. It insulates us from the [chref=5]ruthless[/chref] side of nature. This freedom from nature's wild side permits us to find trouble elsewhere. As animals, we inherit the capacity to worry and resolve trouble. Insulating ourselves from natural trouble doesn't remove our instinctive drive to worry and resolve trouble - this instinctive 'trouble' energy is still there. :yy:
This energy has to find an outlet. And so, our mind's imagination permits us to leave our body to find trouble elsewhere. As we struggle to 'fix' the trouble out there, we experience the vivid illusion that we are fixing our life's (body's) trouble. The final irony is the fact that we are causing trouble by fixing 'it'. However, this is not really a 'problem'. It is simple nature's way of maintaining balance. We are going to experience trouble, either through dealing with nature's wild side or through our own 'evil' doings. My life feels more balanced when I [chref=16] act from knowledge of (this) constant[/chref].
We have, in this chapter, an example where the Ma Wang Tui manuscripts may augment understanding. First in using "honor" instead of high rank, and then later in the last verse, "...who values putting his person in order more than putting the empire in order..." and "...who grudges using his person for putting the empire in order...". None of this changes the root meaning; rather, it helps confirm it.