Translation

For managing people’s daily affairs, there is nothing like frugality.
Only the frugal man is said to serve from the start.
Serving from the start he is said to deeply accumulate virtue
Deeply accumulating virtue, as a rule he is said to be limitless.
Being limitless, as a rule no one knows his utmost point
No one knowing his utmost point, he can have state
Have the origin of the state, he can long endure
This is called deep roots, solid foundation,
Long life, enduringly watchful of the way

rule (govern; manage; peace) human being (people; adult) matter (affair; thing; involvement) sky (heaven; day; nature) no one (nothing) like (seem; as if) stingy (miserly).

husband (man) only (alone) stingy (miserly) <grm> is (<formal> this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) early morning (long ago; early; in advance) clothes (dress; serve; obey; be accustomed to).

early morning (long ago; early; in advance) clothes (dress; serve; obey; be accustomed to) say (call; name; meaning; sense) of weight (heavy; important; deep) store up (accumulate, amass) virtue (moral character; heart).

weight (heavy; important; deep) store up (accumulate, amass) virtue (moral character; heart) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) nothing (without; not) be unable to.

nothing (without; not) be unable to standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) no one (nothing) know (realize; tell) his (its; their; they; that) utmost point (extreme; pole; extremely).

no one (nothing) know (realize; tell) his (its; their; they; that) utmost point (extreme; pole; extremely) can (may) have (exist) country (state; nation).

have (exist) country (state; nation) of mother (origin) can (may) older (elder; chief_ long; of long duration; strong point) for a long time (long; of a specified duration).

<grm> is (<formal> this; that) say (call; name; meaning; sense) deep (difficult; profound; intimate; dark) root (base; cause; origin) solid (firm> originally) foundation (root),

perdure for a long time (long; of a specified duration) look at (regard; watch; inspect; ) of road (way, principle; speak; think).

Original

治人事天莫若啬。
夫唯啬是谓早服。
早服谓之重积德。
重积德则无不克。
无不克则莫知其极。
莫知其极可以有国。
有国之母可以长久。
是谓深根固柢，
长生久视之道。

Commentary, December 2010

First I must ask, what prevents me from following the way from the start and causes me to be less frugal. One glaring factor is the tendency to put limits on myself⁽¹⁾. From birth I was ”brain washed” into my culture’s paradigm, beginning with being given a name. Being named right off the bat is not a promising way to “follow the way from the start”⁽²⁾ , yet what choice did I have back then? Same goes for the taboos, cultural myths, and rites instilled in me from infancy.

I regard all this as symptomatic of society’s need to keep large populations of virtual strangers living in the semi-harmonious illusion of belonging to the same tribe. When we all go up to the terrace in spring, we feel a sense of communal connection. But, this is a far cry from the intimate birth-to-death intimacy experience by hunter gatherer tribes. Sure, they would have had their issues. Like any animal, barn yard politics always plays some role⁽³⁾.

Many facets of civilization aim at enhancing the illusion of communal connection. We lose more and more of the real thing as population increases (no wonder we say, reduce the size and population of the state). One of the main features of civilization is the codification of ‘limits‘. These limits (taboos, rites, rituals) maintain social stability as long as everyone is onboard and keeps to their “proper place”. Just imagine if everyone was a free-thinker, a non-thinker, or even capable of not knowing anything. I imagine mega-civilization would collapse, and we’d all return to hunter gathering again. Now, would that be a step back, or a step forward? (Of course, this an unanswerable question, i.e., forward and backward produce each other.)

The remarkable feature of the Tao Te Ching is how it shows me a way to leave taboos, rites, benevolence and rectitude behind, or at least head in that direction. Merely letting go of who/what I think I am, looking inward and returning to my roots is a step in the right direction. When I no longer think that I know my limits, who else can? Am I not my own worse enemy? Overcoming myself is the greatest hurdle I face.

⁽¹⁾ How does being frugality help me to be limitless? On the face of it, limitless and frugality feel like opposites. Here clearly, straightforward words seem paradoxical. All I can say is, the more far reaching the view, the more useless words become at conveying it. Eventually, only practicing the teaching that uses no words remains.

⁽²⁾ This is why we did not name our children for a year after they were born. Assigning labels (names) removes some of the inherent mystery. There would be plenty of time for that in the future we rightly thought.

⁽³⁾ My experiences among the Akha hill tribe people in Laos and the Dayak people in Borneo showed me that politics thrives at every social level. It is just that the simpler the level, the greater the trust, and the more direct the resolutions of grievances. Simply said, there are no terrorists at that level.