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Chapter of the Week: #58 [Archive]
You can get Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu on Audible. The narrator is Dr Jacob Needleman.
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Chapter 58
When the government is muddled
The people are simple;
When the government is alert
The people are cunning.
It is on disaster that good fortune perches;
It is beneath good fortune that disaster crouches.
Who knows the limit? Does not the straightforward exist?
The straightforward changes again into the crafty, and the good changes again into the monstrous.
Indeed, it is long since the people were perplexed.
Therefore the sage is square-edged but does not scrape,
Has corners but does not jab,
Extends himself but not at the expense of others,
Shines but does not dazzle.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
A more direct translation of the first verse goes something like this: Government low spirits, people mellow; government alert, people imperfect. So how does a translator go from that to what we have above? The over all meaning is conveyed, though maybe some of the subtlety is lost. So, allow me to stumble around in this briefly...
In both cases we see the juxtaposition of opposites. We can [chref=4]untangle[/chref] meaning by looking at this from a symptoms point of view. For example, when those governing us watch alertly, we easily see ourselves as imperfect, and that drives us to be cunning enough to 'pass'. This applies at all levels, from the personal relationship we have with ourselves, to the parent - child relationship, to the government - people relationship.
Does government actually exist though, like some grapefruit? Government, family, even 'self' is an idea, a relationship between 'one' and 'another', [chref=1]diverging in name as they issue forth[/chref]. Thinking these are separate realities [chref=71]will lead to difficulty[/chref]. To paraphase: [chref=2]the government and the people produce each other[/chref]. Inseparable and complimentary, people and government are like [chref=11]thirty spokes [people] sharing one hub [government][/chref]. Moreover, being complementary, each feeds the other. Thus, people mellow, government low spirits; people imperfect, government alert. [chref=20]Muddled[/chref] yet? Good!
I love the next verse. When I approach life from that point of view nothing is 'wrong'. The 'wrong' (disaster) is in transition to the 'right' (good fortune) [chref=17]naturally[/chref]. Yet, I mustn't be too complacent for the opposite follows. In the end, I 'need' [chref=48]do nothing at all[/chref]. I emphasize the word 'need'. Being active, like any animal, I'm always doing. Finally, to paraphrase: It is on stupidity that genius perches; It is beneath genius that stupidity crouches.
Does not the straightforward exist? The reply, more literally, reads like this: regular returns strange; good returns monstrous. People, lost long time. Certainly, the waxing and waning ways of nature perplex people. But, does 'Indeed, it is long since the people were perplexed' convey that? The terser original conveys it better, if less poetically. Thus, it seems that making something 'more' [chref=2]beautiful[/chref] can often have the undesired consequence of making it less [chref=81]truthful[/chref]. Beautiful? Well, at least that's not a problem with my words.