Chapter of the Week: #66 [Archive]

Carl

[cite] Lynn Cornish:[/cite]But do we ever really experience reality as it is? We are limited by our senses, first of all, and then by our preconceptions, judgements, opinions....even when we are present.

Do you think direct experience is possible? Is that what The Way is? Returning to the void?

Maybe the "nothing remains undone" could be "the void remains undone." I tried to find the literal Chinese translation here but I couldn't. Carl?

I only recently began posting the literal Chinese. All the links I sprinkle around go back to commentary I made on these chapters in the 90's. My thought is more subtle now I suppose, but that may not be a 'good' thing.??? :?

Anyway, I did the chapter you seek a few weeks ago... go here for the literal translation and more.

I surmise that we can "really experience reality as it is". My sense of this comes from correlations which 'prove' such to me. Of course, that is a subjective proof so must be found within. However,...

If I (you, we, they) believe something is so, it is true. Truth is what we believe. The more tentative we believe in what seems to be, the less any particular 'this' or 'that' is truth, but on the other hand, the more 'all' becomes truth. So do I believe that I've proven we can "really experience reality as it is"? No! Simply said, [chref=1]the name that can be named, is not the constant name[/chref]. The words subtract from the reality.

That must sound like nonsense. Here's another way to see this...

Look at a spider on the wall. If you see a 'spider' you are not seeing reality, but only an illusionary shadow of reality. When you experience... you experience. Hmm, that's not so good either. Time for bed! And, as they say, when you're in a hole, stop digging!

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 66
The reason why the River and the Sea are able to be king of the hundred valleys
is that they excel in taking the lower position. Hence they are able to be king
of the hundred valleys.

Therefore, desiring to rule over the people,
One must in one's words humble oneself before them;
And, desiring to lead the people,
One must, in one's person, follow behind them.

Therefore the sage takes his place over the people yet is no burden;
takes his place ahead of the people yet causes no obstruction. That is why the
empire supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so.

It is because he does not contend that no one is the empire is in a position to
contend with him.

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.

A few words used in this and other translations may mislead. Take 'king' (wang) for example. Quick, close your eyes and define king before reading further. Okey, got it? Now, a subtler meaning of wang has to do with connecting heaven and earth, i.e., in ancient China the emperor was seen as a 'connector', linking heaven and earth. Hmm, perhaps this parallels Christ's role connecting earthly folks to God in heaven.

I'll translate the first line more literally with but one exception; I'll substitute king with connect (heaven and earth): River and sea therefore can, for the hundred valleys, connect (heaven and earth), according to their gently being low.

Next we have, desiring to rule over the people... The Chinese more literally goes like this: ... desiring to be above the people must, by means of speaking, be lower. Here, above (shang) has been translated to mean rule. Certainly, I can see how we might be excused for equating be above the people with rule the people. But, we may lose sight of [chref=41]the great image has no shape[/chref]. In the original, be above and be lower [chref=2]complement and offset each other[/chref], which I prefer. The same occurs in, desiring to lead the people. The original Chinese puts this as, be in front of the people which is offset with, must in body be after.

My point with all this is that the original puts the 'process' in the foreground a bit more. This helps internalize the view more. For example, the ubiquitous belief in free will rests on the desire to rule over the 'people' within (i.e., the various facets of our life and personality). We desire to lead our lives, 'get it together', instead of being tossed about by circumstances. This chapter lays out the process by which we can easily be above and be before; we must simply be lower and be after. If that dosen't nurture [chref=68]the virtue of non-contention[/chref] nothing will.

Now all we have to do is convince our instinctively competitive and hierarchical nature to go along.