Translation

The wise person is without ordinary intention.
Takes the common people’s intention as his intention.
With kindness, I am also kind.
Without kindness, I am also kind, of integrity kind.
With trust, I also trust.
Without trust, I also trust, of integrity trust.
How does the wise person exist, all under heaven, breathing in?
Becoming all under heaven, simple and natural his intention.
The multitude all explain with their knowledge;
The wise person, each and every child.

wise person nothing (without; not) ordinary (normal; constant; often) heart (mind; feeling; intention; center, core).

do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean) common people heart (mind; feeling; intention; center) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean) heart (mind; feeling; intention; center, core).

good (perfect; kind) 者⁽¹⁾ I (we) good (perfect; kind) of.

no (not) good (perfect; kind) 者 I (we) also (too) good (perfect; kind) of virtue (moral character; heart) good (perfect; kind).

true (trust; faith; believe) 者 I (we) true (trust; faith; believe) of.

no (not) true (trust; faith; believe) 者 I (we) also (too) true (trust; faith; believe) of, virtue (moral character; heart) true (trust; faith; believe).

wise person exist (be living) land under heaven inhale here (herein; (usu. negative questioning) how; why)?

do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean) land under heaven muddy (turbid; simple and natural; unsophisticated; whole) his (its, he, it, that; such) heart (mind; feeling; intention; center, core).

common people all (each and every) pour (concentrate; fix; annotate; explain with) his (her; its; their; they; that; such) what one sees and hears (knowledge; information; one who spies for sb. else).

wise person all (each and every) child of.

⁽¹⁾ I left the character /word 者 (zhe) in this literal translation. It is used after an adjective or verb as a substitute for a person or a thing.

Original

圣人无常心。
以百姓心为心。
善者吾善之。
不善者吾亦善之
德善。
信者吾信之。
不信者吾亦信之、
德信。
圣人在天下歙歙焉，
为天下浑其心。
百姓皆注其耳目，
圣人皆孩之。

Commentary, July 2010

First consider how we interpret two core ‘taoist’ words, De and Xin: De is the De of Dao De Jing (i.e., Tao Te Ching) and translates all the way from virtue, integrity, character… to… heart, mind, kindness. The other, Xin, translates as heart, mind, feeling, intention, center, core. These words can infer different meanings now (esp. in the West) than they did a few thousand of years ago.

For example, Christian culture narrows and polarizes the meaning of virtue with it’s views on God; how different they are from the Taoist view of God! Science also narrows and polarizes definitions, like the precise distinction made between heart and mind. Overall, we continue to cut the uncarved block into smaller, more distinct pieces. This makes translating the Tao Te Ching challenging! Although, this is easier when I am as thick like the uncarved block; vacant like a valley; murky like muddy water as possible. Likewise, a reader will understand this better by approaching it with a similar Xin (i.e., heart, mind, feeling, intention, center, core).

The word Xin (same sound as above but a different character and tone) translates as true, confidence, trust, faith and believe, and can vary widely in what it infers. Personally, I have faith that ducks will be ducks; likewise I have faith that people will be people. This is a bottom line faith in the reality of ‘what is’, rather than faith in an ideal of what should ideally be. I have trust in people, that they will be people rather than judging them from an ideal moral standard. This is more like having no mind of my own, but taking on as my own the mind of the people. Of course, it is not that straightforward in real life. I must always first go through a muddled phase before I can see clearly. I find this the precondition for clarity and understanding, however indistinct and shadowy understanding ends up being. We can’t know until we viscerally realize that we don’t. Ah yes, straightforward words seem paradoxical.

What does true, faith and trust, or any other word, truly mean? Words are like ‘black boxes’ that emotions go into and come out of, but the ‘box’ itself is cloaked in mystery. Words are like the outside of the box, we usually only look at the outside and take ‘meaning’ for granted. Meaning though is really only a reflection of our own emotions (primal needs and fears) and, by extension, of how we see the world. Word are mirrors and mean nothing in themselves. Even so, we often take and use words at face value as if real in their own right.

The adage ‘put your money where your mouth it’ speaks to this. How kind is being kind when others are kind to you? How about when, without kindness, I am also kind, of integrity kind? (D.C. Lau puts it less literally and so less awkwardly as: Those who are not good I also treat as good.) Being kind to those who are not kind exemplifies the no stings attached emotion of giving, not one of exchanging or taking. We know anecdotally and through science (brain scans) that giving is more pleasurable that receiving. Revenge, passing judgment and favoritism are acts of taking, and so are less pleasurable. Simply put, love feels a lot more pleasurable than hate.

So why would anyone ‘choose’ anything other than giving kindness and love? Why don’t we all do as Christ suggested and just “turn the other cheek”? Simple, we have no free will when it comes to choosing our feelings, our emotions! Action and reaction is the only arena in which we have choice. Yet, even this is only pseudo-choice, for our choice of actions originates in emotion. Note: If you understand all this, ‘murky’ it up a bit by considering kindness (i.e., good, perfect, kind) in its Taoist context, i.e., the whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad.

DC Lao’s version may seem a little at odds with itself to some. The sage has no mind of his own. He takes as his own the mind of the people initially agrees with the more literal, The wise person is without ordinary intention. Takes the common people’s mind as his mind. But how does this mesh with The sage in his attempt to distract the mind of the empire seeks urgently to muddle it? He is attempting to distract the mind of the empire, which as we see, is his own, i.e., ‘he takes as his own the mind of the people’. This reminds me of, I alone am muddled. Calm like the sea. The Tao Te Ching is certainly a cornucopia of food for thought! No wonder I have difficulty keeping my commentary as short as I’d like. Sometimes I feel like I’m just beating a dead horse. Still, that is better than beating a living one.