February 2009

Commentary

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Tao Te Ching is how it attempts to speaks ’subjectively’ to consciousness in various ways, e.g., know, watch, listen, seems, hear, discernment, think. As awareness slows down and my mind settles into its consciousness, the more unfathomable consciousness becomes. A profound tradeoff we make in having awareness preoccupied with the thinking side of consciousness is a declining awareness of the mysterious sameness side of consciousness.

I’m having a problem keeping rhythm on fast songs. People have given me advice on what to do, but I find nothing ‘works’. Perhaps the reason the advice never truly works is that we always attempt to name it. What does seem to work is being as conscious as possible of the smooth, rarified, minute… the unfathomable. That is to say, I find that I can manage this problem best by holding to the ancient way.

Now, that’s easy to say and easy to do, yet when I ‘try to do it’, it becomes impossible, i.e., whoever lays hold of it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it. Not that I can cease ‘trying’ and ‘laying hold’, mind you. Happily though, I’ve found that ‘if you would have a thing weakened, you must first strengthen it‘. Know and giving into this, the way’s discipline, helps me manage today. That this is not widely valued may be because when we lay hold of it we lose it; thanks to biology, we don’t realize that only through loss do we gain. This makes for life’s greatest adventure – the adventure within.

Note: A character below (1) is missing in the standard (Wang Bi 226-249 AC) version. I use the character in the earlier Mawangdui version (dating from 168 BC). Below, I’ll past in a short description of these two versions from Wikipedia.

Translation

Of watched for, yet not seen is called smooth.
Of listened to, yet not heard is called rarified.
Of handled yet not held is called minute.
These three are unfathomable, So they blend and serve as the One.
Its upper part is not taken in(1), Its lowest part is not hidden,
Unending, it cannot be named, and returns again to nothing.
This is called the without shape form, the without substance shape,
This is called the suddenly trance-like.
Moving towards it you will not see its head,
Following behind it you will not see its back.
Hold the ancient way in order to manage today.
The ability to know the ancient beginning, This is called the way’s discipline.

look at (regard; inspect; watch) of not see (not meet) name (fame; reputation; well-known) say (call; name) smooth (safe; exterminate).

listen (hear; obey / allow) of no hear (news; story; smell) name (fame; reputation; well-known) say (call; name) hope (rare; scarce; uncommon).

roll round with hand of not get (obtain, gain) name (fame; reputation; well-known) say (call; name) minute (tiny).

this three cannot (must not) send (extend; deliver; result in) closely question (interrogate), reason (cause; hence) mix (confuse; pass for) and do (act; serve as; become; be; mean) one.

his (its; they; that; such) upper (up; upward; higher; superior) not receive(1) (accept; put away; take in; collect; control), his (its; they; that; such) below (down; under; underneath; lower; inferior) not have hazy notions about (be ignorant of; hide; conceal),

rope (restrict; unending) cannot (must not) name (fame; reputation; well-known), duplicate (turn over; answer; again) go back to (return) in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) nothing (nil; not have, without) thing (matter; the outside world).

is (yes, this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) nothing (nil; not have) form (shape; state; condition) of form (shape; state; condition), nothing (nil; not have, without) thing (matter; the outside world) of elephant (appearance; shape; image; be like; resemble),

is (yes, this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) suddenly (seem; as if) dim (in a trance; seemingly).

greet (welcome; receive; move towards) of not see (not meet) his (its; they; that; such) head (first; leader; chief),

to follow (to comply with / to allow) of not see (not meet) his (its; they; that; such) back (behind; rear; after; afterwards).

hold (grasp; manage) ancient (age-old) of road (way, speak; think) use (take; according to; in order to; so as to <conj.> and) drive a carriage (keep out) present-day (now) of have (there is; exist).

ability (skill; <physics> energy; can) know (realize; notify; knowledge) ancient (age-old) beginning (start), is (yes, this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) road (way, speak; think) discipline (put down in writing; record).

Original

视之不见
名曰夷。
听之不闻
名曰希。
抟之不得
名曰微。
此三者不可致诘，
故混而为一。
其上不□(1) ，
其下不昧，
绳绳不可名，
复归于无物。
是谓无状之状，
无物之象，
是谓惚恍。
迎之不见其首，
随之不见其后。
执古之道以御今之有。
能知古始，
是谓道纪。

Mawangdui Silk Texts

(From Wikipedia)
Some people believe that the silk texts of the Tao Te Ching are the real book, and that the texts that have come down to us generation by generation are wrong wherever they disagree with these two earlier versions. Other people point out that the silk texts are not particularly good — in the sense that people often would not be able to make sense of them unless they had access to the texts written with the full forms of the characters. They add that Wang Bi, and other very early scholars who edited the texts that are the ancestors of the ones that came down to us by tradition, had access to many early versions of the Tao Te Ching and so were able to correct many mistakes by comparing the several versions available to them.

Most of the time the received versions of the Tao Te Ching are in substantial agreement with each other, and most of the time the text is simple and straightforward. Occasionally, however, two received versions will write homonyms with entirely different meanings at some point in a chapter. In such cases, much help can be received from a silk text that gives a third character that has a different pronunciation but is a synonym for one of the two in the received text.

In recent years several scholars have made new translations of the Tao Te Ching that are based on the silk text and ignore the received texts entirely or almost entirely. These include works by D. C. Lau, and by Robert G. Henricks. Henricks’ translation does compare received versions of the Tao Te Ching with the text found in the tomb.