Chapter of the Week: #10

Carl

[cite] Joe:[/cite]... It seems like it would be easy to have whatever emotion's the strongest, trick us into pursuing what we want because it feels "right", it feels intuitive.

I think of true intuition as a [chref=25]silent and void[/chref] knowing that has no emotion or thinking driving it (if that's possible). Your exactly right about the thinking. We fool ourselves with our own rationalizations. That's why it is so helpful to be as [chref=15]tentative[/chref] vis-a-vis thoughts as possible.

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 10
When carrying on your head your perplexed bodily soul
can you embrace in your arms the One
And not let go?
In concentrating your breath can you become as supple
As a babe?
Can you polish your mysterious mirror
And leave no blemish?
Can you love the people and govern the state
Without resorting to action?
When the gates of heaven open and shut
Are you capable of keeping to the role of the female?
When your discernment penetrates the four quarters
Are you capable of not knowing anything?

It gives them life and rears them.
It gives them life yet claims no possession;
It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude;
It is the steward yet exercises no authority.
Such is called the mysterious virtue.

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.]

Can you embrace in your arms the One and not let go? I noticed that the literal Chinese does not say 'One' per se, so what does the One refer to? I put it a little differently as you can see in my 'lightly polished' version below.

Curiously, there is also no 'mirror' in the literal, yet many translations have adopted this idea as well. As I now try to make sense of the literal Chinese, I do refer to what other translators have written. Heck, I've read those for 40+ years, so you'd think I'd be sufficiently 'brainwashed' by now. Being an heretic by nature, I suppose not. Anyway, I imagine that people have been following the same path I am. We all begin by becoming interested in the subject, then reading what others have written, then taking a stab at it ourselves. At some point, over the course of time, certain phrases must become locked in as 'standard translations'. In this case it is 'mysterious mirror' and 'the One' (perhaps?).

Of course I love this way of describing the mind! But, I also see another way to translate the raw Chinese which may allow our 'mysterious mirror' of a mind to reflect a slightly different angle and broaden its perspective perhaps – or just become more [chref=20]muddled[/chref]. Hmm, aren't a [chref=20]mind like that of a fool[/chref] and 'enlightened' [chref=43]understanding[/chref] just two sides of the same coin. They [chref=2]complement each other[/chref]. Surely much of our 'difficulty with life' lies in that we don't like these package deals Nature hands us. 'I' want to choose!

Finally, notice how this list of 'Can you...' is simply describing the Taoist meaning of virtue. This virtue is 'dark' (profound) in that it is not a culturally biased and a morality based list of 'thou shalt not' [chref=57]taboos[/chref]. 'Dark' virtue lives in [chref=2]the teaching that uses no words[/chref].

The literal Chinese-English translation:
loaded with soul hold in arms, can without leave?
focused breath extend soft (yielding), can like baby?
wash away dark (profound) see, can without flaw?
love country rule people, can without act?
heaven door open entire, can act female?
understand four extend, can without know?
(of) give birth to, (of) raised, give birth to yet not have;
act yet not rely on;
chief yet not slaughter (rule),
is meaning dark (profound) virtue (moral character).

And now lightly polish:
Can you be loaded down with 'life', without leaving the moment?
Can you be focused on 'life', yet be yielding like a baby?
Can you wash away the Mystery, and still see perfection?
Can you love and rule people without acting?
Can you keep to the female when the gates of heaven open?
Can you understand the whole without knowing anything?
Can you give birth to something without laying claim to it?
Can you act without expecting results?
Can you be the master without ruling?
All this is what we mean by profound virtue.

TheNowSeeker

... wow