June 2010
Commentary
A regular experience of ‘Until without doing; Without doing yet not undone’ happens daily for me in yoga. Each moment presents two paths, you might say. One is where ‘I am doing this yoga posture’, and the other is where ‘I am watching this yoga posture to happen’. The former is when I’m struggle to control the action, the later is where I’m passively allowing the action to happen. The former feels like I’m doing more and more, the later feels like I’m doing less and less. The former feels like I’m expressing strength, The later feels like I’m expressing weakness. The later is much more peaceful, and yet the work still gets done. It is simply a matter of approach. So, why don’t I always ‘choose’ the later path?
Simply put, life happen as blending of the generative forces of the two paths. I suppose it is simple ignorance (a result of our ability to think) that drives us to dream of perfection, such as without doing yet not undone. The survival instinct drives to take charge and control life; be strong and succeed, and not settle for something that seems chipped. Expressing weakness is emptiness, and we know how nature abhors a vacuum. That success truly comes through weakness is the greatest of ironies, i.e., Turning back is how the way moves; weakness is the means the way employs. Accepting that these are the rules for the game of life take the edge off; success becomes failure, failure becomes success… and soon all you have left is mysterious sameness. Ha!
Translation
Do knowledge, day by day increase.
Do the way, day by day decrease.
Decreasing and decreasing,
Until without doing.
Without doing yet not undone.
(1) Take all under heaven ordinary,
Use without responsibility, as well as with responsibility,
Not enough use, take all under heaven.
do (act as; be_stand for, support) study (imitate; knowledge) sun (day; daily) benifit (profit; advantage; increase; increasingly).
do (act as; be_stand for, support) road (way, principle; speak; think) sun (day; daily) decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic; caustic; cutting> mean; shabby).
decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic; caustic; cutting> mean; shabby) of also (both… and…; again) decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic; caustic; cutting> mean; shabby),
use (take; so as to_and; as well as) to (until; > extremely; most) at (in) nothing (nil; without) do (act as; be, mean; support).
nothing (nil; without) do (act as; be, mean; support) and (but (not) / yet (not)) no (not) do (act as; be, mean; support).
take (get; seek; adopt) land under heaven (the world), ordinary (normal; constant; invariable; usually)
use (take; so as to_and; as well as) nothing (nil; without) matter (affair; thing), and (as well as) have (exist) matter (affair; thing),
no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as) use (take; so as to_and; as well as) take (get; seek; adopt) land under heaven (the world).
(1) D.C. Lau translates these last three lines as “It is always through not meddling that the empire is won. Should you meddle, then you are not equal to the task of winning the empire“. Mine is more literal and so exceedingly terse. It may convey a little more than Lau’s, or not. Surely the answer to that lies in the eye of the beholder.
Original
为学日益。
为道日损。
损之又损，
以至于无为。
无为而不为。
取天下常以无事，
及其有事，
不足以取天下。