Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Chapter of the Week: #12
I am not a taoist but I believe that the tao teaches about good leadership and also that we need some. It may be that none of us is up to the task so we get people who want to lead but none that can lead positively.
Comments
Chapter 12
The five colors make man's eyes blind;
The five notes make his ears deaf;
The five tastes injure his palate;
Riding and hunting
Make his mind go wild with excitement;
Goods hard to come by
Serve to hinder his progress.
Therefore the sage is
For the belly,
Not for the eye.
Therefore he discards the one and takes the other.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
If colors make our eyes blind, notes make our ears deaf, and tastes injure our palate, why do we love color, music, and tasty food so much? I mean color, music and food (and sex) are universal human pleasures. Simply said, it is wise to beware of pleasure, for the enjoyment of it comes at a cost. Of course, 'more enjoyment' will naturally 'cost more'. So, where do we draw the line? How much is too much? The best advice I've ever heard was [chref=64]deal with a thing while it is still nothing[/chref]! That's not saying to avoid pleasure; rather, just be aware of its downside from the get-go. This is no different that eating potato chips. After you begin eating, it is [chref=73]difficult[/chref] to stop. As that old saying puts it, 'look before you leap'.
To 'look before we leap' requires constant watchfulness. Jumping and rushing ahead of our moment blinds us. Thus, the only possible way to actually 'look before we leap' in daily life is to [chref=16]hold as firmly to stillness[/chref] as we can. It is so [chref=70]very easy to understand and to put into practice[/chref], and yet,... Thus, it is vital to see the problem before it appears. In other words, [chref=63]therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult[/chref]. Simply maintaining a living awareness of the 'difficulty' is sufficient to avoid having [chref=63]difficulties can get the better of us[/chref].
I imagine 'riding and hunting make his mind go wild with excitement' corresponds, in the modern era, to shopping sprees and spectator sports (among a many other things I'm sure).
One reason that goods hard to come by serve to hinder our progress is that they never-ever deliver on their promise! Instead of the happiness we'd hoped for, we end up slaves to our valuable hard to come by goods. It's ironic how the treasures we seek become fetters that chain us to our own mortality. And it is not only goods hard to come by that serve to hinder our progress. Ideals hard to come by shackle our spirit and drag us down as well.
The translation in the nude
five color cause man eye blind
five sound cause man ear deaf
five taste cause man mouth bright
gallop hunt cause man mind go crazy
rare goods cause man do harm
right at (because) wise man for belly no for eye,
hence go (leave) those take this.
Now gussied up a little
The five colors blind our eyes,
The five tones deafen our ears,
The five flavors scour our mouth,
Rushing and hunting make us crazy,
Rare goods make us do harm,
Because the wise person is for the belly, not for the eye,
He leaves those behind and takes this.
Interesting, how different minds interpret the same words!
I liked this essay, especially the lines "Simply said, it is wise to beware of pleasure, for the enjoyment of it comes at a cost. Of course, 'more enjoyment' will naturally 'cost more'. So, where do we draw the line? How much is too much?"
Shunryu Suzuki says, of "Mind Waves", "Because we enjoy all aspects of life as an unfolding of big mind, we do not care for any excessive joy. So we have imperturbable composure."
How much is too much? Just think of money, for example. The family with an income of $12,000 is sure that on $14,400 they would never want for anything. The family with $120,000 knows its misery would end if it had just $144,000. As long as discontent is accepted as normal, everyone always needs tweny percent more than they have.
I can't remember which chapter it is -- I am hopeless with numbers -- but one line of Laozhe has been interpreted as "enough is too much." I think that makes a good basis for cleansing the heart of craving.
And honestly, when we consider the misery that the majority of this world's people, animals, and other creatures, find to be their lot in life -- real misery, hunger, thirst, disease, homelessness -- it seems so very very LOW of us to embrace discontent when we have run out of coffee, or can't afford a better car.
Doesn't it seem that discontent is even harder to weed out than is anger? While anger is so very lethal to its bearer, continuing rejection causes it to weaken and then die. But it seems as though discontent is immortal!
Bowing to you, Carl, and your efforts here.
Smiles,
sister
I went 'native', living among peasants in the 'third world' (Asia, Africa), for some years. Afterwards, I settled awhile in a wealthy district in Stockholm Sweden. I was struck by how unhappy the people were compared with the peasants I had lived among previously. Peasant worries are more down to earth. The wealthier people seem to be, the more neurotic they seem to become. This supports Christ's view, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God".
Of course, this goes against every fiber of 'common sense' biology affords us. More is better, we feel. More? More of that which we value – whatever that may be! If we value money, more is better; if we value peace, more is better; if we value intimacy, more is better; if we value wisdom, more is better, and so on. You ponder what it is that you value most and see if you don't feel that more of it would be better.
Naturally this tosses all our preconceptions and cozy platitudes right back at us. It is so much easier to identify the 'problem' as existing out there – even if 'out there' is seen as 'in here'. So, actually, I feel that those who "embrace discontent when they have run out of coffee, or can't afford a better car" are the poorest among us.
The [chref=46]desire[/chref] for more is only symptomatic of a lack of [chref=33]contentment[/chref] with what one has. The need to go 'there' reveals we are unhappy 'here', and visa versa. Of course, we can't help ourselves. The hunter gatherer instinct to feel that the 'grass is greener' drives us on. When we fail to feel the grass beneath our feet, off we go. And why do we fail to feel it? Because our awareness is consumed by thoughts of how green the grass must be over there (or over here). Sure, our imagination has helped us survive, and rise to the top of the food chain, but not without a dreadful cost to human consciousness. Se la vive, eh?