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The Nature of Change
[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.]
This chapter reads a little odd to me. I usually correlate death with supple and weak; life with hard and stiff, i.e., life must resist entropy. Resistance is ‘keeping a stiff upper lip’, putting up a strong and hard wall (cell wall, lipid membrane, etc.) to keep entropy at bay for life’s moment in the sun. Death returns us to the amorphous whole — [chref=14]returns ‘us’ to that which is without substance[/chref]. Hard and stiff is hardly that which is without substance. Ironically, I find that adopting death as a [chref=28]model[/chref] for living life makes life more alive. [chref=75]Setting too much store by life[/chref] has the unintended consequence of diminishing life.
Certainly though, death is initially hard, stiff, dried and shriveled. But, the initial state of most everything is illusionary. As composted dead stuff demonstrates, death is entropy, embodying the opposite of hard, stiff, dried and shriveled. While [chref=40]weakness is the means the way employs[/chref], living things need strength to maintain homeostasis. Life must act! Humanity over acts and reacts and so needs to [chref=43]know the benefit of resorting to no action[/chref]. Our problem lies in the lack of balance civilization fosters. Civilization enables us to be less pliant and yielding than we might other wise be in the wild.
Also, the ‘yin and yang’ of this chapter is odd. Yin corresponds to supple and weak, yang to strong and hard. Yang is above ‘superior’, yin is below ‘inferior’. Of course, once we bring [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref] into view the whole picture collapses into a [chref=15]subtle, makeshift ,tentative, vacant, murky[/chref] mess of words. Isn’t the Taoist point of view nifty!
The weak and fragile translation?
People, of life weak and delicate,
Their death hard and unyielding.
Plants, of life soft and yielding,
Their death withered and haggard.
Therefore the hard and unyielding, of death only,
The weak and fragile, of life only.
Destuction is normal for the use of strong weapons,
Breaking is normal for the strong tree.
The big and powerful dwell below,
The weak and fragile dwell above.
The hard and unyielding literal?
person of existence (life) also (too; either) weak (delicate),
his (her; its; their; they; that; such) die (death; extremely; rigid) also (too; either) strong (firm; unyielding).
grass (careless; hasty) tree (wood) of existence (life) also (too; either) soft (supple, yielding) fragile (brittle; crisp),
his (her; its; their; they; that; such) die (death; extremely; rigid) withered (haggard).
therefore the strong (firm; unyielding) die (death; extremely; rigid) of on foot (empty; only; follower; believer; imprisonment),
the weak (delicate) existence (life) of on foot (empty; only; follower; believer; imprisonment).
this use (take; because of) weapons stubborn (strive, strong) standard (norm, follow) extinguish (put out; destroy,
tree stubborn (strive, strong) standard (norm; follow) break (lose; bend).
big and powerful (powerful; formidable) be situated in (manage, dwell; live) below (down; under; underneath; lower; inferior),
weak (delicate) be situated in (manage, dwell; live) upper (higher; superior; previous; fill; supply; serve)
This chapter reads a little odd to me. I usually correlate death with supple and weak; life with hard and stiff, i.e., life must resist entropy. Resistance is ‘keeping a stiff upper lip’, putting up a strong and hard wall (cell wall, lipid membrane, etc.) to keep entropy at bay for life’s moment in the sun. Death returns us to the amorphous whole — [chref=14]returns ‘us’ to that which is without substance[/chref]. Hard and stiff is hardly that which is without substance. Ironically, I find that adopting death as a [chref=28]model[/chref] for living life makes life more alive. [chref=75]Setting too much store by life[/chref] has the unintended consequence of diminishing life.
Certainly though, death is initially hard, stiff, dried and shriveled. But, the initial state of most everything is illusionary. As composted dead stuff demonstrates, death is entropy, embodying the opposite of hard, stiff, dried and shriveled. While [chref=40]weakness is the means the way employs[/chref], living things need strength to maintain homeostasis. Life must act! Humanity over acts and reacts and so needs to [chref=43]know the benefit of resorting to no action[/chref]. Our problem lies in the lack of balance civilization fosters. Civilization enables us to be less pliant and yielding than we might other wise be in the wild.
Also, the ‘yin and yang’ of this chapter is odd. Yin corresponds to supple and weak, yang to strong and hard. Yang is above ‘superior’, yin is below ‘inferior’. Of course, once we bring [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref] into view the whole picture collapses into a [chref=15]subtle, makeshift ,tentative, vacant, murky[/chref] mess of words. Isn’t the Taoist point of view nifty!
The weak and fragile translation?
People, of life weak and delicate,
Their death hard and unyielding.
Plants, of life soft and yielding,
Their death withered and haggard.
Therefore the hard and unyielding, of death only,
The weak and fragile, of life only.
Destuction is normal for the use of strong weapons,
Breaking is normal for the strong tree.
The big and powerful dwell below,
The weak and fragile dwell above.
The hard and unyielding literal?
person of existence (life) also (too; either) weak (delicate),
his (her; its; their; they; that; such) die (death; extremely; rigid) also (too; either) strong (firm; unyielding).
grass (careless; hasty) tree (wood) of existence (life) also (too; either) soft (supple, yielding) fragile (brittle; crisp),
his (her; its; their; they; that; such) die (death; extremely; rigid) withered (haggard).
therefore the strong (firm; unyielding) die (death; extremely; rigid) of on foot (empty; only; follower; believer; imprisonment),
the weak (delicate) existence (life) of on foot (empty; only; follower; believer; imprisonment).
this use (take; because of) weapons stubborn (strive, strong) standard (norm, follow) extinguish (put out; destroy,
tree stubborn (strive, strong) standard (norm; follow) break (lose; bend).
big and powerful (powerful; formidable) be situated in (manage, dwell; live) below (down; under; underneath; lower; inferior),
weak (delicate) be situated in (manage, dwell; live) upper (higher; superior; previous; fill; supply; serve)
Comments
When I began to pay more attention to watching than to thinking I began noticing the nature of change in real time, not as an abstraction to understand but rather as something to know and [chref=70]to put into practice[/chref].
So, when all else fails,
stop every now and then,
be as still as you can be,
to really watch what you see,
to enter what you watch,
to know "that thou art"
Note, This ancient Vedic dictum: Tat Tvam Asi, also translates as "Thou art that" or "You are that". This way you enter that which you are seeking to understand. In entering "that" you know without needing to understand. The [chref=1]mystery[/chref] is preserved. It is so easy an infant can do it. In fact...
You can Google ‘that thou art’ (Tat Tvam Asi) and read enough to understand it thoroughly, yet still not [chref=56]not know[/chref]. The only way to know the flavor of chocolate it by tasting it. The knowing is simpler than any words we can think. Isn’t this an advantage of the infant mind over the adult?