Chapter of the Week: #02

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.]

Strength, power, and control are fleeting; they only exist 'now'. On the other hand, [chref=40]weakness[/chref] is 'eternal'. Peaks of power erode quickly, while [chref=6]the valley never dies[/chref]. Conforming to the former is [chref=2]off-set[/chref] by feelings of insecurity, contention, fear, and eventually our impending [chref=50]death[/chref] (i.e., we all know deep down life ends). Conforming to the latter allows us to [chref=28]return to being the uncarved block[/chref]. That is why one follows the way. It is just easier.

He who conforms to _______ is gladly accepted by ___________, parallels 'as you sow, so shall you reap'. Perhaps an even closer match is 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. In other words, our experience of life is solely determined by our approach to life. Nevertheless, I found most of us hate the notion that we alone are responsible for 'the problem'. It is so much easier to blame someone or something - anything - else. :roll:

In the nude... the literal translation:
infrequent speech natural.
incident (happening; cause) flutter wind not finish (death, entire) facing,
sudden rain not finish (death, entire) day.
who does (act as, mean) this? heaven earth.
heaven earth still (yet, value) not can for a long time, and compare (moreover, besides) in(*) man?
hence follow in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) way this, same(**) in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) way.
virtue this same in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) virtue.
lose (fail, miss) same in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) lose (fail, miss).
same in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) way; way also happy happy obtain of;
same in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) virtue, virtue happy obtain of;
same in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) lose (fail, miss), lose (fail, miss) happy obtain of;
lose true (confidence trust) not sufficient here (where, how, why) have not true (confidence trust) here

Here it is all dress up and ready to understand... (hopefully):
Infrequent speech is natural.
Fluttering breezes change direction, sudden showers can't last the day.
Who controls the breezes and the showers? Heaven and earth.
Still, heaven and earth can't continue for long, so how can man?
Hence, following this way matches the way
Following virtue matches virtue, following failure matches failure.
Matching the way, of the way you'll obtain;
Matching virtue, of virtue you'll obtain;
Matching failure, of failure you'll obtain;
Where there is insufficient truth, there is insufficient confidence.

(*) The chinses word here, 'yu', is a preposition meaning: in (at, to, from, by, than, out of). Just take your pick and use which ever sounds right.

(**) same also means alike; similar; be the same as; together; in common. None sounded grammatically pleasant so I chose 'match' which also means 'agree, equal, fit'. That's close enough to 'same' to suit me.

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 2
The whole world recognizes the beautiful as the beautiful, yet this is only
the ugly; the whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad.

Thus Something and Nothing produce each other;
The difficult and the easy complement each other;
The long and the short off-set each other;
Note and sound harmonize with each other;
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the sage keeps to the deed that consists in taking no action and
practices the teaching that uses no words.

The myriad creatures rise from it yet it claims no authority;
It gives them life yet claims no possession;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It accomplishes its task yet lays claim to no merit.

It is because it lays claim to no merit
That its merit never deserts it.

Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations

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.]

Beauty, like love, is one of those words into which we shoehorn meaning. These words convey perceptions that stretch from the totally self centered, like "I love ice cream and beautiful clothes", to our deepest conscious, but [chref=7]without thought of self[/chref], perceptions. The good and beautiful perceptions we commonly [chref=56]speak[/chref] about belong to the former. These $10 words simply express what attracts us (what we like), with bad and ugly expressing what repels us. These words also carry have a potent tribal component. For example, if you and I both agree that __(you name it)__ is good and beautiful, and that __(you name it)__ is bad and ugly, then we are mutually assured that we are like minded 'tribe mates'. The Beauty and ugly refered to here are two sides of the yin yang coin of life that, as we saw last week, [chref=1]are the same, but diverge in name as they issue forth.[/chref]

Deeper down, at [chref=6]the root of[/chref] yin and yang, is what we might call beautiful and good (for lack of better words). Sensing this [chref=14]shape that has no shape[/chref] occurs when, in a private moment, we are overcome with a [chref=72]sense of awe[/chref] that [chref=16]leads to impartiality[/chref].

Knowing viscerally how Something and Nothing produce each other, we can't help but keep to the deed that consists in taking no action and practice the teaching that uses no words. For, you see, action and non action, words and silence produce each other. Is this not the same ironic 'truth' that Christ expressed with, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Of course, this defies our instinctive urges to 'just do it'. Alas, biology has a way of grabbing my attention more often than I might like,... but then that's just my biology talking.:roll:

Claims no authority or possession, exacts no gratitude or claim to merit is a polite way of saying how self centered we are when we claim authority and possession, expect gratitude, and take credit. We are like little children; our emotions remain infantile long after the body has become an 'adult'. But, we'll keep that our little secret. :oops:

* * *

Here's the literal translation. Note my use of the dash, e.g., between beauty-of, word-of, and so on. Maybe that helps connect the two words better and improve meaning. The Chinese is very terse as you see. For example, 'have nil' in other translations is put as 'Something and Nothing', 'Being and non-being', and so on. The terse literal serves as a good check on any poetic license taken by any particular translator.


The Chinese literally goes like this:
heaven under all know beauty-of become beauty, this evil thereafter;
all know perfect-of become perfect, this not perfect afterwards.
hence, have nil mutually give birth to, difficult easy mutually result, long short mutually shape,
high low mutually incline, sound voice mutually with, before after mutually follow.

accordingly, sage person manage without act-of affairs, do no word-of teaching.
10,000 things rise here but not decline.
give birth to but not have, act but not depend on, succeed but not reside.
man alone not dwell, accordingly not go.


And now with as little poetic license as possible:
All who know beauty as beauty create evil thereafter;
All who know perfection as perfection create imperfection thereafter;
Hence having and nothing create each other, Difficult and easy produce each other,
Long and short shape each other, high and low incline to each other,
Sound and tone harmonize, before and after follow each other.

Thus, the sage manages life without acting on it, and does the silent teaching.
All things do but not decline; give birth to but not have; act but not depend upon; suceed but not hold on.
Only he who does not hold on is connected.