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Chapter of the Week: #46
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 61
A large state is the lower reaches of a river-
The place where all the streams of the world unite.
In the union of the world,
The female always gets the better of the male by stillness.
Being still, she takes the lower position.
Hence the large state, by taking the lower position, annexes the small state;
The small state, by taking the lower position, affiliates itself with the large state.
Thus the one, by taking the lower position, annexes;
The other, by taking the lower position, is annexed.
All that the large state wants is to take the other under its wing;
All that the small state wants is to have its services accepted by the other.
If each of the two wants to find its proper place,
It is meet that the large should take the lower position.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!
Chapter 61
A large state is the lower reaches of a river-
The place where all the streams of the world unite.
In the union of the world,
The female always gets the better of the male by stillness.
Being still, she takes the lower position.
Hence the large state, by taking the lower position, annexes the small state;
The small state, by taking the lower position, affiliates itself with the large state.
Thus the one, by taking the lower position, annexes;
The other, by taking the lower position, is annexed.
All that the large state wants is to take the other under its wing;
All that the small state wants is to have its services accepted by the other.
If each of the two wants to find its proper place,
It is meet that the large should take the lower position.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!
Comments
Chapter 46
When the way prevails in the empire, fleet-footed horses are relegated to
plowing the fields; when the way does not prevail in the empire, war-horses
breed on the border.
There is no crime greater than having too many desires;
There is no disaster greater than not being content;
There is no misfortune greater than being covetous.
Hence in being content, one will always have enough.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
D.C. Lau’s and the literal are very close. His is a little more poetic, naturally. Even so, there is something that stands out more in the literal than in Lau’s translation. Not because he translated it wrong, rather wording it a little differently sheds light from another angle. Specifically, not being content with one’s lot. The Chinese literally says ‘know foot’, i.e., ‘zhizu’ (知足) (zhi=be aware of, realize; zu= foot; leg; sufficient; enough; ample; enough). Being content with one’s lot, or appreciating what one has, requires an certain level of active realization. In other words, contentment doesn’t come naturally. Why?
Nature '[chref=65]hoodwinks[/chref]' hunter–gatherers to keep looking for that greener grass on the other side of the fence. This instinct works great in the wild, naturally. Alas, it is a little pathetic and even tragic in civilized circumstances. We never are satisfied really. For example, what would be ultimate good fortune to our ancestors, like good dentistry and the absence of famine, soon became accepted and expected. Each step forward becomes a new bottom line standard which makes appreciation a fleeting experience as we leap onward seeking our next dream. Thus, progress is only an illusion of progress.
Another point stands out in the literal, desire vis-a-vis gain. It is not desire, per se, that is at fault, it is the desire for more… gain! Dynamic desires, to sleep, to eat, to play, are not a problem until the desire to gain more and more arises. In a word, greed. Giving awareness to each moment - ‘burning in fire of the senses’ - increase the chance of feeling appreciation and decreases the chances of greedy expectations taking over. I find the secret lies in how I approach life, i.e., [chref=69]I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot instead...[/chref]
Served up with a pinch of poetic license:
All under heaven have the way, while walking horses fertilize the fields.
All under heaven without the way, army horses breed in the suburbs.
No misfortune greater than not being content with one's lot.
No fault greater than wanting to gain.
Therefore, in being contented with one's lot, enough is usually enough.
Just the literal, raw and ‘simple’:
heaven under have way, step back (retreat/ yet, while, buy) walk (go, move) horse use (take, so as to, / and, as well as) apply manure.
heaven under nothing (not have, without, nil) way, army horse grow (bear, existence, have) in suburbs (outskirts).
misfortunes none great than no be content with one's lot.
fault (blame, censure) none great that desire gain (complacent, need, must).
[hence, of content with one's lot, enough ordinary (normal, constant, usually) enough.