Translation
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
If kings and noblemen will abide by this,
Everything will self transform.
Transform… yet desire rises,
Press it down using nameless simplicity,
Of nameless simplicity, man also supports without desire.
No desire, using stillness, all under heaven supports self calm.
1) road (way, principle; speak; think) ordinary (normal; constant; often) nothing (without; not) do (act as; be, mean; support), <conj.> and (yet, but) nothing (without; not) no (not) do (act as; be, mean; support). 道常无为，而无不为。(dào cháng wú wé,i ér wú bù wéi.)
2) nobleman (high official) king (grand; great) like (seem; as if > you) can (be able to) guard (defend; keep watch; observe; abide by; close to; near) of, 侯王若能守之，(hóu wáng ruò néng shŏu zhī,)
3) all things on earth support (bring; handle, will> lead, command) self (oneself; certainly) spend (expend\\change; transform; dissolve). 万物将自化。(wàn wù jiāng zì huā.)
4) change (turn; transform; convert; influence) <conj.> and (yet, but) desire (wish; want; about to) do (make; rise; get up; write; compose; become), 化而欲作，(huā ér yù zuò,)
5) I (we) support (bring; handle, will> lead, command) press down (keep down; ease; guard) of use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) nothing (without; not) name (fame; reputation) of simple (plain). 吾将镇之以无名之朴。(wú jiāng zhèn zhī yĭ wú míng zhī pò.)
6) nothing (without; not) name (fame; reputation) of simple (plain), husband (man) also (too) support (bring; handle, will> lead, command) nothing (without; not) desire (wish; want; about to). 无名之朴，夫亦将无欲。(wú míng zhī pò, fū yì jiāng wú yù.)
7) no (not) desire (wish; want; about to) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) still (quiet; calm), land under heaven support (bring; handle, will > lead, command) self (oneself; certainly) calm (stable; decide, fix > surely). 不欲以静，天下将自定。(bù yù yĭ jìng, tiān xià jiāng zì ding.)
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month
(Trump era)
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/zmIafk5t2Io is the link to the Zoom video of this month’s Sunday meeting. The shorter first part of the meeting begins with a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any. A little later on begins the longer open discussion part of the meeting when those who wish to discuss how the chapter relates to their personal experience.
Corrections?
None this time.
Reflections:
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
The first thing that stood out for me this time was how The way normally does nothing counters our cherished belief in free will. The idea of having the freedom to choose directly implies the directional aim steered by a personal agenda; “I want such and such to happen, and so I choose to act in a way that results in the outcome I want.” Nature has no agenda that I can see. So, naturally, the way normally does nothing. I should note here that normally is cháng ( 常= normal; constant; often). This is the constant chapter 1 points to right off the bat: The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way. The reason the way does nothing is that it has no agenda, no deadline to meet, yet there is nothing not done.
If the way, the universe, and nature are perfect just as they are, what does that say about our freedom to choose in our pursuit of getting the things in life done? This ideal of personal agency and the free will to act is a uniquely human device; we deem ourselves the only living creature with the power of free choice. Every other life form, we believe, merely acts out of instinct.
For a deeper look at free will, see • Free Will: Fact or Wishful Thinking? • Is ‘Free Will’ the Only Option? • Of Free Will, I Am • Instinctive Free Will • Free Willers Anonymous.
If kings and noblemen will abide by this,
Everything will self transform.
Taken literally, kings and noblemen mean nothing for any of us managing our lives… unless you take kings and noblemen to instead symbolize the fact that each of us, each creature, is the king of its own life. As such, it is up to each creature to find the best way to govern their life. The point here is that if we abide by the precept that the way normally does nothing, life becomes a completely different animal. Then we set out on a path to rejoin the rest of nature rather than forcing our “free will” upon it in our futile effort to transform reality to match our ideal of what the reality should be. Instead, Everything will self transform.
I’ve proven this time and time again in my own life. And it does require constant vigilance to allow nature to take its course. Acceptance is not part of nature; biology always insists we act—now! Acceptance of the status quo for any creature soon threatens survival. I’ve found that each time I “count to ten”, life usually turns out much better than I trusted it would. Each cycle of this lesson in the way strengthens my faith in letting reality play out. This is why it takes a lifetime to gain wisdom; our stumbling gradually teaches us to walk the path of life more gracefully and patiently.
How is this process any different from Darwinian evolution, or on the smaller scale, from how an infant learns to walk? Errors, missteps, failures are the necessary steps both evolution and an infant must take to proceed successfully to the next stage. And from there, the next, and the next, and so on. Every stumble is the walking. Every mistake is perfection in that moment. The ideal of “perfection” only exists because we imagine an ultimate end, often unaware that “mistake” is the other half— the entangled nature of perfection and mistake, their profound sameness.
Reaching any next stage almost immediately becomes the new baseline, the new normal, of our life. There is no secret to a successful life; all creation follows the same process. And when you fully abide by that, the process becomes fluid. Chapter 3 sums this up: Doing without doing, following without exception rules.
Transform yet desire rises;
Press it down using nameless simplicity.
Transform yet desire rises is simply pointing out that biology is in charge; no matter how sincerely we abide by this so that everything will self transform, we are nonetheless servants of our biology. Fear, need, desire and worries propel life forward; no matter how earnestly I’m following without exception, I’m still treading water. No matter how much things change, they still end up the same. Mmm… there’s another example of profound sameness underlying apparent difference.
The solution, Press it down using nameless simplicity, is our only hope. Nameless is the key here. Our certainty, our trust and faith in names and the field of imagination our thought plays around in, keeps us going round and round. Chapter 71 diagnoses this unique human problem: Realizing I don’t know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. And it offers a treatment: Man alone faults this disease; this so as not to be ill. That sounds good, but as usual, walk the talk is beyond our ability when facing reality. Often, just plunging in, using the body to be the off-switch works in the moment: chop wood, carry water, sweat, actual hunt and gather.
Alas, the more removed we are from ‘the wild’ the harder it is to find a physical off-switch, and when we do, it is only temporary. Over time, the longer path is weakening trust in names and the imagination that surrounds them. Chapter 23 puts it plainly:
Fluttering breezes change direction; sudden showers can’t last the day.
What does this? Heaven and earth.
Even Heaven and earth are unable to long continue,
And so what about people?
This matter is no different from a drunk finally reaching rock bottom, and viscerally knowing he is an alcoholic. Until that pivot, he trusts alcohol will solve his life’s problems and challenges. Only upon reaching bottom is he ready for AA. Likewise, we have complete trust that our words, names, and the thoughts we build from them can solve our life’s problems and challenges. I dare say, it is far easier for an alcoholic to reach bottom than for a thinking human being to see the error of his thinking. Realizing one doesn’t know feels so counterintuitive. And naturally so, for it is our ability to imagine, think, that is a key survival asset. Here, too much of a good thing has simply become our deepest problem.
That pivot — viscerally knowing, not just thinking — is exactly what weakening trust in word meaning feels like. Press it down using nameless simplicity is only possible if you can take your thoughts with a grain of salt. The weaker the trust you place in word meaning, the more you return to your original self, before thought began dominating your mind. Weakening my trust really began when my brother’s death triggered the insight that life and death were the same thing—essentially. However, it took a few decades before that led me to the correlation insight in the early ‘80s. That shattered my trust in word meaning, and all the biases that word meaning helps sustain. Yet, I don’t know whether it would also help destroy the lock names have on your mind. If you’re interested, see Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations. In truth, does it really matter? I always find myself here, Transform yet desire rises; Press it down using nameless simplicity. So who knows? How does one actually press desire down?
There is no perfect answer because no life form would ever evolve an innate drive for simplicity—that leans toward entropy, not survival. Indeed, research shows that denying desire often intensifies it. Psychologists call this the white bear effect — try not to think of a white bear, and that’s all you think of. Desire works the same way. It can help to redirect our survival energy out of the mind and into the body — move, and the mind quiets because the body has taken over. Counting your blessings, appreciating what you have rather than mulling over what you lack are the remedies we commonly offer others and ourselves.
However, it helps to know that appreciation is not part of our DNA. Just the opposite—survival insists we take everything seriously, which for us often means we end up taking our things too seriously. This is why constant vigilance and reflection are needed to feel content with reality. Chapter 46 offers the ideal: Therefore, in being contented with one’s lot, enough is usually enough indeed. Turning chapter 46’s ideal into a practice takes vigilance, takes work.
Of nameless simplicity, man also supports without desire.
No desire and still, all under heaven will settle themselves.
Of nameless simplicity, man also supports without desire for me means not getting too carried away with nameless simplicity as the “answer”. The ideal is a useful target for life, but to empower it with emotion would destroy its utility. Emotion, drama, simplify nothing—just the opposite. Have you not felt the strong need to simplify life, throw out junk or rearrange things, from the urge to anchor life? I find it is only useful if allowed to happen naturally. It still comes down to chapter 3’s advice: following without exception rules. Only then do I actually trust that all under heaven will settle themselves.
Note: Of nameless simplicity, is the closest I can get to wú míng zhī pǔ … 无名之朴 = nothing (without; not) name (fame; reputation) of simple (plain) . I find most, if not all, translate this as “the uncarved block”, which is evocative, but loses the precision of the literal. The tool here is simple broad perception without names. Here your mind attempts to soften the glare of difference that names enable. You attempt to perceive the essence of reality without attaching a name. Uncarved block is a beautiful metaphor, but as chapter 81 reminds us, True speech isn’t beautiful, Beautiful speech isn’t true.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/LcpS3d5nycE
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting.
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Corrections?
The third line, Transform yet desire rises; needs a transition of sorts. So perhaps this will read better: Transform… yet desire rises.
YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/8OqXA83d5GE is the link to the complete video recording of our monthly Sunday meeting. For the nicely edited version, go to Kirk Garber’s YouTube channel. The edited version comes in two parts: The first and shorter Commentary part begins with a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any. The second and longer Open Discussion part offers attendees’ observations on how the chapter relates to their personal experience.
Reflections:
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
When I picture this in my mind, I think of nature. Nature, in the broadest possible meaning, extends from the big bang onward… and backward as well. As chapter 40 notes, In the opposite direction, of the way moves.
Anyway, holding this Big Picture in my imagination, I see one reason why we humans need some sort of god or gods to believe are responsible for orchestrating the multitude of wondrous entrance. Or as chapter 14 describes,
After all, how can it be that things happen naturally without some sort of master guidance? We are accustomed to relying on masters who excel in anything that we deem important.
The beauty of the Tao Te Ching lies in how it allows us to move beyond the ‘small picture’ view that naming experience brings about. Chapter 67 captures this perfectly…
If kings and noblemen will abide by this,
Everything will self transform.
If kings and noblemen will abide by this, certainly applies to the second line of chapter 67 above. Of course, being in charge of something makes is virtually impossible to let nature play out. And this really applies to everyone; we are all in charge of our lives… or so we feel. It is from that sense of responsibility that the illusion of self and free will arise. (See also Use Non-Responsibility) The last half of chapter 48 parallels this Everything will self transform of this chapter…
We are truly not in charge; nature is! And so we might believe that if the king within us can abide by the way of nature everything will settle itself, and the ‘The wolf shall dwell with the lamb’ (Isaiah 11:6)… at least until the wolf gets hungry.
Transform… yet desire rises;
Clearly, Transform in the Taoist sense is not a static condition or a final resting place. The ideal of transcendence, transformation, liberation, peace on Earth… are all ideals driven by our need for closure, so to speak. “Can’t we all just get along”. No! That is not how nature works. The closest we can come to ‘closure’ is ruthless self honesty. Once you realize that any wish for ‘peace on Earth’ is a self-centered projection of your own self-interest, you will be in a better position to abide The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
The pendulum swings, pleasure of satiation followed by pain of hunger. Need (hunger) and fear are the driving emotions of all living creatures. These survival forces are the emotional foundation simmering continually below awareness and only arising as circumstances demand.
The problem we thinking animals face lies in how we amplify those simmering survival drives through naming experience and then becoming swept up by the ensuing stories we create. Chapter 71 is blunt on this issue… Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. When our story backs up the bedrock of our emotions, certainty goes through the roof. We ‘know’ that we ‘know’. There is only one way to return to earth. The secret lies in how we look upon the words and names out of which we weave our rationales… our certainty of belief. The remaining three line of this chapter are the secret…
Press it down using nameless simplicity.
Of nameless simplicity, man also supports without desire.
No desire and still, all under heaven will settle themselves.
Nameless simplicity is another word for the impartiality chapter 16 address. The ending is especially revealing…
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
Line 7: I replaced No desire and still, all under heaven will settle themselves with No desire, using stillness, all under heaven support self calm. Does that read better, or am I just attracted to novelty of change? I notice this novelty dynamic in the garden whenever I either pull out some plant or put in a new one. Subtraction and addition can both look ‘better’. The deeper measure of ‘better’ is usually connected to efficiency—what works better. What works ‘better’ in translating the Tao Te Ching is nebulous at best, because so much hinges on ‘the eye of the observer’. Oh well, perhaps knowing this bio-hoodwink is always somewhere in my psyche helps me guard against it. Understanding how I operate is truly useful… but I digress. Here is how this line breaks down:
no (not) desire (wish; want; about to) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) still (quiet; calm), land under heaven support (bring; handle, will > lead, command) self (oneself; certainly) calm (stable; decide, fix > surely). 不欲以静，天下将自定。(bù yù yĭ jìng, tiān xià jiāng zì ding.)
My original version, support self calm is pretty much literal, depending on which meaning you choose for the characters 将自定. Settle themselves really says the same thing, just smoother in my view now. In the end, I suppose it is 50/50.
Commentary:
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done is the ‘story’ I use to counteract the ‘story’ my desires constantly cook up and prod me to act upon. Compared to other animals, we are unique in our ability to project our desires into stories (imagine scenarios lying in the future or the past). These then become guiding lights for life. We also pump up each other story with the overall cultural story of our era via social interaction.
The only exit from this delusional vicious circle is the more timeless universal spiritual story each of the world’s religions propagate. Each of us seeks (needs) some ‘eternal’ story to push back on the one created by our desires and worries (needs and fears + thought). Failure to find one is problematic; finding a good fit can bring increased sanity and contentment. This, of course, is why people of different natures are attracted to different versions of the ‘eternal’ story. And what is the ‘eternal’ story? That’s easy:
Putting it this way isn’t all that comforting for most of us (all of us?). We need something more concrete; we need to have it in writing or spoken. The idea that Knowing doesn’t speak; speaking doesn’t know is too ascetic for most of us, especially in our youth. We need to know we know, or hear someone speak as though they know.
Everything will self transform. Transform, yet desire rises brings to mind my experience with the ebb and flow of desire. At some point, I began to notice a curious thing happening when I reached complete calmness; desire rises forthwith. Oh well, so much for my dream of utter contentment and peace on earth. After all this is exactly how nature works in its ‘existence and nothing give birth to one another‘ kind of way. One of our biggest errors in life is holding out for permanency—for our preferred side of the coin. The illusions of Heaven and Enlightenment are the starkest examples of this wishful thinking…. oh and free will, naturally.
Press it down using nameless simplicity can help deal with rising desire. If you watch yourself carefully, you’ll notice that every time desire rises the mind attaches a name to the object of that desire—Only when restricted, are there names. This is unique to humans; for other animals stimuli triggers needs (or fears) but there is no word or thought connected with it. Once the stimuli passes, the need or fear eases off. Our ability to attach names and words to need and fear allow us to dwell endlessly on the story this creates… if we ‘want to’. Yep, more often than not, The Story Trumps Truth.
Because our innate story (the bio-hoodwink) is always pushing its need and fear based agenda, we always need to refresh, remind, review, re-energize whatever counter-story we’ve adopted in order to maintain balance. Even showing up at church occasionally helps. I imagine it depends on how well one’s counter-story works. The less it works, the more one is likely to turn to other ways: usually seeking pleasure and novelty. While this doesn’t counterbalance the bio-hoodwink (it actually supports it), it does offer a sense of escape and relief from the moment… and then comes the hangover or other long-term pain.
Some religions succeed better than others in offering a counter-story that fits the circumstances of the current era. For example, Africa was converted lock, stock, and barrel to Christianity. On the other hand, Christianity made little headway in places like China, Japan and India. Why? Their own spiritual story fit their circumstances better. Religions evolve along with cultural circumstances. In the end, however, our innate nature draws us to one of these spiritual stories and then leads us to interpret that story in ways that resonate well with what we personally need to hear.
Personally, the Taoist story is the only one that works for me now. Earlier Bhagavad Gita spoke more to me (and as a child, even the idea of a personal God did). Buddha’s Truths are less story and more scientific observation, as I see it. Those four truths, at least, are an efficient description of core aspects of human nature. When I think of it, much of the Taoist worldview parallels this description, but more broadly as it encompassing nature as a whole. (Overall, the Taoist worldview happens to be exceptionally compatible with Buddha’s view, which accounts for the Zen fusion—Buddha + Tao = Chan )
Suggested Revision:
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done.
If kings and noblemen will abide by this,
Everything will self transform.
Transform, yet desire rises;
Press it down using nameless simplicity.
Of nameless simplicity, man also handles without desire.
No desire and still, all under heaven will settle themselves.\
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
I was struck today by how this chapter’s point of view shifts from ‘out there’ to ‘in here’. The myriad creatures will be transformed of their own accord arguably portrays lords and creatures ‘out there’. Then the view shifts inward, ending with… and if I cease to desire and remain still, the empire will be at peace of its own accord.
To me, this is a round-about way to say that the world we see is a reflection of ourselves; perfection lies ‘in here’, in the eye of the beholder. If I’m right, does the round about way the Tao Te Ching puts it, hit home any more effectively than me saying that the world we see merely mirrors who we are? Not if cognitive understanding must needs have its beginnings in intuitive knowing. In other words, if you don’t ‘gut get it’, nothing said will really hit home. In fact, more words can even get in the way. Of course, this is entirely antithetical to our belief that teaching conveys understanding. Yet, it agrees with my experience.
Years ago I read about ‘projection’, a narrower psychiatry version of my view that the world we think we see is simply a reflection of our senses and emotions (needs and fears). Although, I never really ‘gut got it’ back then. Sure, I understood the words, but didn’t really feel the reality until years later. Believing the illusion of my senses and emotion, I long failed to notice the dead obvious fact that my biology had me seeing reality as something ‘out there’. It is difficult to this day to discern, moment to moment, that what appears to be ‘out there’ is actually ‘in here’. Biology makes seeing the world with such impartiality (a ‘taoist’ point of view) understandably very difficult. Nature’s hoodwink (biology) continuously boggles my mind.
How is it that ‘The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done’? The more I live the immediacy of each moment, the less paradoxical this view. In fact, when I am without desire and still everything gets done all the more. Actually, everything not only gets done, it gets done more efficiently and effortlessly. It turns out that any effort I feel, especially wasted effort, is a result of my desire for an ideal outcome. When I have little thought of self and as few desires as possible, the outcome actually becomes the ideal! Instead of my ideals pushing for particular outcomes, contentment helps me look upon any outcome as ideal.
Alas, need and fear (the origin of desire) traps the human mind in an illusionary world of ideals where we battle demon after evil demon. Yet what are those demons? They are only that which threatens those ideals we cherish. Talk about shooting one’s self in the foot! In a way, this parallels government (and personal) finances. Money comes in through taxes and wages. Money goes out through expenditures. Limiting expenditures correlates to contentment and ‘less is more’, until…
Have you noticed how both the government and the people find limiting expenses extremely difficult? Some want to raise taxes, work more, or win the lottery to support more expenditures. Others want to lower taxes or work less, but never get around to limiting expenditures if they can help it. Both groups only differ in name and ideology. Neither desires not to be full. Although, this is natural. After all, we are only animals. So much so that the sole meaningful difference I see between us and other animals is our hypocrisy. This feels ironic and pitiful, though I’m not sure why. Perhaps this arises from the origin of the ideals — the nagging feelings of what could be.