Chapter of the Week: #41 [Archive]

Carl

I am in something of the same boat. Where is Twin Lakes?

Following Tao is counter intuitive.

Peace,
Tom

Carl

Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. 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 41
When the best student hears about the way
He practices it assiduously;
When the average student hears about the way
It seems to him one moment there and gone the next;
When the worst student hears about the way
He laughs out loud.
If he did not laugh
It would be unworthy of being the way.

Hence the Chien yen has it:
The way that is bright seems dull;
The way that leads forward seems to lead backward;
The way that is even seems rough.
The highest virtue is like the valley;
The sheerest whiteness seems sullied;
Ample virtue seems defective;
Vigorous virtue seems indolent;
Plain virtue seems soiled;
The great square has no corners.
The great vessel takes long to complete;
The great note is rarefied in sound;
The great image has no shape.

The way conceals itself in being nameless.
It is the way alone that excels in bestowing and in accomplishing.

Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.

Carl

[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.

The Ma Wang Tui versions refers to the best student this way: He is scarcely able to put it into practice. That puts a more realistic face on it! The first question that comes to my mind is, how can I be the best student? If possible, I'd first want to avoid the big pothole on the way; this is, [chref=71]not knowing yet thinking that one knows[/chref]. A sense of wonder, curiosity and asking questions all help bring me to [chref=1]the gateway of the manifold secrets[/chref]. Over the years I have gradually moved from being an average student towards a best student. What's taken so long? Fear I suspect. After all, 'curiosity killed the cat'. Curiosity can take us to scary places. Wonder and [chref=72]awe[/chref] can feel awe-full. I suppose that is why we cling so tightly to what we believe, to the shapes that have shape. The [chref=14]image that is without substance[/chref] just provides food for nightmares.

Why does the way that leads forward seems to lead backward anyway? How could our senses, our common senses, be so off base? The only reason I can imagine is that our biology didn't evolve to inform us of how 'thing' actually are. Rather, our instinct drives us to live life as though it 'mattered'. The ultimate sage is Nature which [chref=65]excells in the pursuit of the way [and does] not use it to enlighten the people but to hoodwink them[/chref].

This little hoodwink of Nature is what evokes humor in the worst student. Laughing out loud releases tension. The tension we feel comes from the disconnect between how things are, and how we believe they are, i.e., the more [chref=18]clever[/chref] we are, the more we tend to [chref=71]think that[/chref] the way that seems dull is dull.

Geez, that is enough to almost make me want to laugh out loud or something. The irony is awesome. Mmmm... maybe I'm a worst student too :oops: .

Lynn Cornish

Rather, our instinct drives us to live life as though it 'mattered'.

This is the crux of it for me. I wouldn't understand this web site if I hadn't had the revelation that none of it matters.

That doesn't mean I don't get caught up in "it"--I sure do!

I am the average student and happy to be one. In time, I'll get better. 8)