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- CommentAuthorLuke Abbott
- CommentTimeDec 11th 2005 edited
Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Chapter 19 was originally featured on the 2nd week in December, 2005.
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 19
Exterminate the sage, discard the wise,
And the people will benefit a hundredfold;
Exterminate benevolence, discard rectitude,
And the people will again be filial;
Exterminate ingenutiy, discard profit,
And there will be no more thieves and bandits.These three, being false adornments, are not enough
And the people must have something to which they can attach themselves:
Exhibit the unadorned and embrace the uncarved block,
Have little thought of self and as few desires as possible.
Exterminate learning and there will no longer be worries. -
[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.]I view these three 'Exterminates' as descriptive of the natural process. Obviously, if live on earth wasn't driven to self gain (profit), there would no predation, i.e., thieves and bandits. Animals eat plants and each other, and we eat them all and each other - metaphorically at least.
These 'Exterminates' are false adornments in the sense that they are negatives. Like Mrs. Reagan's "just say NO", they are not enough. Life doesn't proceed through the negative. Life begins with the positive, birth, and gradually revolves toward the negative, death. Civilization is drawn to take shortcuts through taboos, negations, bans, and moral rectitude and rites - none of which work, for they go against the natural process. The Buddhist notion of non-attachment is no different. Remember, Nature abhors a vacuum.
We must have something to which we can attach ourselves. Is this idea of exhibiting the unadorned and embracing the uncarved block enough? This points to an approach to life, attitude rather than action. Can I attach myself to an attitude? That is a much more subtle proposition, of course. It is much easier to just go out and buy a new car on which to attach.
For me, in the end, it comes down to how much is enough. Enough occurs a lot sooner when I'm eating carrots than when I'm eating chocolate cake. Where does contentment lie. Obviously, in being content, one will always have enough. Live simply and have little thought of self and as few desires as possible. It works! But when things turn back...
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Carl, do we really need to attach ourselves to an attitude? It seems to me that the 'must' here refers to a societal byproduct, rather than instruction. In other words, there is no inherent value in attaching ourselves to things or ideas ...... that we do this is a byproduct of whatever civilization we live in. My buddy the lion does not attach himselves to attitudes .......
Also, I wonder if your carrot vs. cake tolerance has something to do with upbringing and exposure. Eskimo children think raw fish eyeballs a real treat ...... is your (and my) preference for cake more a byproduct of western upbringing then a vestigil craving?
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mikequinn:
1)... My buddy the lion does not attach himselves to attitudes
2)... is your (and my) preference for cake more a byproduct of western upbringing then a vestigial craving?
Hi Mike, It's rainy and cold outside so I'm warming myself by the sparkling crackling light of the computer, and filling up the web board with a backlog of ponderings. Now, lets see here...
1) Well, sure he does. He just doesn't 'worry' about his attitude.
2) Our biology is hardwired to experience pleasure from high caloric food - sugars and fats. In the wild no animal has an unlimited source of such food, i.e., no Costco or Safeway. It is no mystery to me why the wealthiest nation on earth is getting obese. The instinct to eat one's fill of rich food, if available, is common to all animals - those with 'free will' and those without ... (I just couldn't resist :lol
Remember, looking for and finding similarities, to the point of mysterious sameness, helps us follow the constant. Working against this may be an instinctive tendency to see the small and make mountains out of molehills. Thus, use the light (consciousness), but give up the discernment.
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