Chapter of the Week: #73 [Archive]

Carl

I think this can be summed up in the immortal words of Stephen Stills when he sang, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with."

Which really can apply to anything in life, not just love.

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 73
He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death;
He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.
Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.

Heaven hates what it hates,
Who knows the reason why?

Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.

The way of heaven
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend,
In responding though it does not speak,
In attracting though it does not summon,
In laying plans though it appears slack.

The net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever
slips through.

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.]

Being fearless in being bold comes easily in youth (especially), and results in reckless behavior. When I think back on my youth I'm shocked that I'm still around. Being fearless in being timid is just the opposite. Feeling fear, or even minor insecurity, easily makes us timid. Being fearless in being timid feels like losing something - like volunteering to be demoted. Fearless in being timid is the essence of humility. It gobbling up all the [chref=51]maturity[/chref] I have.

Heaven hates what it hates is rather loaded, i.e. love vs. hate. The Chinese characters more literally say: Heaven place is fierce who knows its primal cause. Just think of tornados, earthquakes, and droughts. Certainly, [chref=5]heaven and earth are ruthless[/chref]! But hate? I don't think so.

I don't know how 'Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult' got in this translation. It isn't in the original Chinese. Speaking of which, below is a more literal rendition of this chapter. I really enjoy seeing what the original Chinese says - I hope the feeling is mutual. D.C. Lau's and Victor Mair's translations are great, but seeing the original can untangle a knot or two at times, challenge the conventional view, or reveal obvious translator bias. Not Lau or Mair mind you, although at times they appear to lose meaning in their attempt to make it read more [chref=81]beautiful[/chref] and coherent.

Brave in bold, follow killing
Brave in not bold, follow living
This both either benefits or harms
Heaven's place is fierce who knows its primal cause
Heaven's way not contend, but adept in success
No words, but adept in answering
No calling together, but adept in the first place (self come)
Simply so, but adept at planning
Heavens net vast, vast scattered, but no lose

Note the last few lines. They sum up the Taoist point of view,... the largely under-appreciated value of patience, waiting, stillness and not acting, etc. How at odds this is with the youth and action oriented hubris of our American paradigm, eh? But, no sweat - we are a young culture. After all, [chref=36]if you would have a thing weakened, you must first strengthen it[/chref].