-
Feeds
Vanilla 1.1.9 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
Want to take part in these discussions? If you have an account, sign in now.
If you don't have an account, apply for one now.
-
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 25
There is a thing confusedly formed,
Born before heaven and earth.
Silent and void
It stands alone and does not change,
Goes round and does not weary.
It is capable of being the mother of the world.
I know not its name
So I style it 'the way'.I give it the makeshift name of 'the great'.
Being great, it is further described as receding,
Receding, it is described as far away,
Being far away, it is described as turning back.The way is great; heaven is great; earth is great; and the king is also
great. Within the realm there are four things that are great, and the king
counts as one.Man models himself on earth,
Earth on heaven,
Heaven on the way,
And the way on that which is naturally so.Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations -
[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.]'And the way on that which is naturally so' is the key reason I discount all human authority and observe Nature as carefully as possible for guidance. Discount doesn't mean reject out of hand, but just to consider the 'source'
And my knowledge of history only reenforces this wariness. Most of what humanity sees as 'meaningful' is but a self centered reflection of need and fear. Naturally so, for these emotions drive 'life meaning', but that fact is couched in superfluous bull___(*). A minimum of bull is probably why the Tao Te Ching is so refreshing to those of us drawn to its way. The raw literal translation:
have thing mix (blending, muddled, confused) become (finished, grown) before heaven earth born.
still silent along stand not change, goes round (all) go (do, circulate) but not danger (nearly almost),
can do (serves as, mean) heaven below (under, next) mother.
I not know its name, strong (powerful, better) of word say (call, name) way.
stong stand for (support) of name say big (great, vast, fully, major).
big say (call) depart (pass away, die), depart call far (remote), far call reverse (turn over, opposite direction).
hence, way big, heaven big, earth big, man also big.
field middle have four big, but (and, as well as) man dwell its one herein.
man law (method, way, follow, model) earth, earth law heaven, heaven law way, way law self true (natural, free from affectation).Now, simmered with some grammatical fixins':
Some blending finished before heaven and earth were born.
Still and silent it stands unchanging, with all circulating it without danger,
It serves as the mother of all under heaven.
Not knowing its name, the strongest of words names it the way.
Of names, the strongest supports calling it vast.
Vast we say it is departing, departing we say it is far away, far away we say it is returning.
Hence, the way is vast, heaven is vast, earth is vast, man is also vast.
The center has four vast things, and man lives his herein.
Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the way, and the way follows self truth.(*) Certainly, couched in superfluous bull___ is also naturally so. Nevertheless, heaven hates what it hates (which lets me off the hook, eh? :wink
. Perhaps it is the inherent inefficiency of 'bull' that turns me off. Although 'bull', like gossip, serves a natural purpose, I'd rather be silent and void for the most part, if only I had a choice! -
I connect the receding, far away, turning back, with the chapter about hammering things to a point. The more I pursue a particular desire, the more it has me by the throat, the more it's hammered to a point. It's pursued to the point of being way out of balance. But it's very difficult for the point to stay sharp and pointed - life tends to blunt that.
When I'm focused on some desire, if I'm able to let go and turn back to the mysterious sameness in reality, instead of blindly pursuing my desire, I'm more likely to let go of that desire. Without having to fulfill the desire and probably just causing myself more trouble.
This really comes up in my interactions with my 12 yr. old daughter. As she develops more independence, sometimes it's easy to just tell her what to do, not allow discussion, and expect things to happen the way I want them to. And then get worked up and push things, to "hammer it to a point". But if I turn away from that intensity of my individual desire, I open up to the mysterious sameness in life. Which translates to seeing us all as the same, which allows more compassion, more openness to considering her point of view, her desires in the situation.
Let's face it, life's way too murky to think that we can just pursue our individual desires to the exclusion of everything else. That we can nail things down, and that pursuing our individual desire is the "answer" to being "happy".
-
Joe:
... think that we can just pursue our individual desires to the exclusion of everything else. That we can nail things down, and that pursuing our individual desire is the "answer" to being "happy".
... Ah, it just goes to show you what a 'master of old' mother natures is and how superbly she hoodwinks life and gets all us living things to jump through her survival hoops.
1 to 4 of 4