Chapter of the Week: #68 [Archive]

Comments

• Luke Abbott

  May 2005 edited May 2005

  Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Chapter 68 was originally featured on the 1st week in May.
  
  Note: 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 68
  One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable;
  One who excels in fighting is never roused in anger;
  One who excels in defeating his enemy does not join issue;
  One who excels in employing others humbles himself before them.
  
  This is known as the virtue of non-contention;
  This is known as making use of the efforts of others;
  This is known as matching the sublimity of heaven.
• Carl

  May 2005 edited December 1969

  [Note: I italicize phrases I borrow from the chapter, and link to phrases I borrow from other chapters to help tie chapters together. Some say that this makes reading it tedious at times... oh well ]
  
  I have to smile a little on this one. I mean, I reckon I'm doing well if I excel at sitting, washing dishes, or any of the other mundane daily activity. Of course, I really notice how closely I'm matching the sublimity of heaven in the intense situations where failure to do so has very noticeable consequences.
  
  I notice that I'm less inclined be roused in anger, join issue and contend when I have little [chref=7]thought of self [/chref]. What is 'self' anyway? Sure, we have synonyms like ego, but that doesn't really get to the heart of it, for me anyway; it always ends up as a circular definition. So, again, what is 'self'? Buddha probed deeply into that question in his Noble Truth#2: "The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things". Curiously, it has taken me decades of observation (seeing it happen to 'me') to realize how deeply true this is. In other words, just understanding the statement and even accepting it, as I did from youth, is not deep knowing. Such knowing ripens gradually and intuitively through personal experiences,
  
  Actually, I belief this is holds true for all 'knowledge'. Everything else is just 'parroting the paradigm'. Not surprisingly it takes some courage to see things as they are, especially when observation threatens what 'I' am 'cleaving' to. No wonder it has taken me so long!
  
  So, if my 'illusion of self' withers away, will I humbles myself automatically? I don't think so. I'm an animal first, a human second. Nevertheless, without the 'illusion of self', I'm more connected to 'other-ness', i.e., everything else. I can also relax and just be a simple animal. But, the animal still has its instincts... its emotions. If I feel cornered, I snarl. Even so, the less I am "cleaving to things", the less I push my way through life; making use of the efforts of others then happens naturally, and I snarl less.
• Lynn Cornish

  May 2005 edited December 1969

  To me this means that once you realize that at the core there is no self, then there can be no anger because there is no threat to self, there is no need to appear formidable, nor is there any reason to act better than anyone else. Seems to me that one would also be humble when there is nobody home!
  
  I see that I am saying the same thing Carl said.
• TaoCow

  May 2005 edited December 1969

  Just want to say that I really appreciate what you and Carl are saying. How much time I use going around in useless circles in my mind- I am this or that, he or she is this or that, life is this or that...Just to recognize it and being aware of the illusion is very helpful (when I can). It means it's not too late. Each moment is new and if I don't carry the baggage of holding onto an illusion there may be some more peace. You put things so well.Again...thank you.
• Lynn Cornish

  May 2005 edited December 1969

  What you said! Most of the stuff going on in my head is silly...remember that Beatles song: "Most of what I say is meaningless". Most of what I think is. The Buddha (or somebody) talked about the second arrow...for instance, seeing what I am thinking is not important is the first arrow; the second arrow is berating myself for that; the third arrow would be getting angry at myself for judging myself...and on and on. So for me it's important when I recognize the silly stuff in my head just to let it go with a little wink.
  
  Thanks for the feedback. How nice!
• Joe

  May 2005 edited December 1969

  This chapter can be uncomfortable when it talks of fighting. But I can see it many times each day, how resolution of difficult situations is more likely when I don?t join issue. If I?m stuck on my desires, then the situation can deteriorate into yelling and upset feelings. Reminds me of the need to let natural consequences happen, instead of nagging someone, for example my daughter, about what I think she should do. I often get upset because I want to spare her the consequences of her not doing her basics (teeth brushing, etc.), but then I just nag her and make it a battle. If I can dispassionately let her face the consequences, things fall into place much easier. Often times the battle comes from not paying attention to reality, which is usually that someone will experience suffering, and I can?t really prevent their suffering.
  
  I love the idea of matching the sublimity of heaven. I think of ?savour that which has no flavour?, ?press down on desire with the uncarved block?, and ?do that which consists in taking no action?. Leaving behind my sense of self and the illusions of desires, and instead staying attentive to reality.
  
  When Carl mentioned Buddha?s 2nd Noble Truth, I think again of hammering things to a point. Where I?m following a desire blindly, over and over again, until it sinks in that the illusion can?t bring me contentment. That?s when I can ?turn back? to the way, to reality. With this, the less ?self? I feel, the less I perceive things as threatening.