• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

CenterTao.org

taoism, taoist thought, buddha, yoga, tai chi, shakuhachi

  • Home
  • Tao Te Ching
  • Ways
  • Facebook Group
  • Blowing Zen

Monthly Chapter: 5

Monthly Chapter 370


The universe is not benevolent,
. . . . and all things serve as grass dogs (‘sacrificial lambs’).
The wise person is not benevolent,
. . . . and the people serve as grass dogs.
Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bag?
Empty yet doesn’t submit,
. . . . moves yet recovers from all its coming and going.
More speech counts as exceptionally limited;
. . . . not in accord with keeping to the middle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word for Word

Limits: Translations, even the nearly literal one above, lose some of the original meaning due to the cultural context of contemporary words. Studying the numerous synonym-like meanings of the Chinese characters in the Word-for-Word translation mitigates this. (Click graphic at right for on-line Word-for-Word.)

Third Pass: Chapter of the Month 12/30/2016

Chinese character translation and commentary archive

Corrections?

None this time

Reflections:

The universe is not benevolent, and all things serve as grass dogs (‘sacrificial lambs’).
The wise person is not benevolent, and the people serve as grass dogs
.

The first question I’d ask is this: Does the universe have free will? Does it have intention; does it choose? That is a silly question, unless you believe in a God as being master of the universe. It still feels like a silly question. So, I assume the universe doesn’t have free will, intention, or choose what it wants.

If the universe has no free will, what does that say about the wise person? This chapter tells me that the wise person shares the same ‘universal nature’ as the universe, at least to the degree humanly possible. The universe and the wise person are impartial. Well, the universe is anyway. The wise person is as long as his self-interest doesn’t bias him. That leaves us to decide what free will, intention, and choice are, and what there role is. As I see it, free will (1) is merely a projected ideal of one’s self-interest… as is benevolence. Intention is the name of the game — it is either universal and impartial (2) or personal and biased.

Chapter 49 hints, The wise person is without ordinary intention. Takes the common people’s intention as his intention. I actually feel the ‘common people’ are also sage-like without ordinary intention, until their personal agenda pulls them back into their ordinary intention. That occurs when stirring emotions bias intention — plain and simple. That is just normal human nature. The trick I find is to at least be aware of and acknowledge whenever my emotions stir and bias becomes inevitable. Then, I can be both wise and common, so to speak. 😉

One final point in this idea that the wise person is not benevolent: It is important to know that the Tao Te Ching is not prescriptive; it is descriptive. Nevertheless, because we are always on the lookout for guidance, it is easy to misinterpret this, and feel it is a prescription for increasing wisdom, i.e., if you want to be a wise person, you ‘should’ try to be less benevolent. Such misinterpretation easily occurs when we need to control life and believe we have free choice, free will.

The highest benevolence is without benevolence

The Tao Te Ching hints that the highest virtue is without virtue and the highest benevolence is without benevolence. This may be a good example of, the way that can be spoken of this not the constant way. To paraphrase this disclaimer in relation to benevolence: The benevolence that could be spoken of is not the constant benevolence.

If nothing else, I see the Tao Te Ching aims at weaning the mind off its rigid dependence on word meaning. Once weaned, the mind is ready to ‘blow’… When your discernment penetrates the four quarters, Are you capable of not knowing anything? as D.C. Lau put it. More literally, chapter 10 says, When understanding reaches its full extent, can you know nothing?

Chapters 18, 19, and 38 offer more detail on benevolence.

When the great way is abandoned, there exists benevolent justice.#18

Cut off the sage, discard wisdom,
And the people benefit hundred fold.
Cut off benevolence, throw away justice,
And the people resume mourning kindness.
Cut off cleverness, discard advantage,
And robbers will not exist.
#19

Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue.
Inferior virtue never deviates from virtue and so is without virtue.
Superior virtue never acts and never believes.
Inferior virtue never acts yet believes.
Superior benevolence acts yet never believes.
Superior justice acts and believes.
Superior etiquette acts but when none respond,
Normally roles up its sleeves and throws away.
Hence, Virtue follows loss of way.
Benevolence follows loss of virtue.
Justice follows loss of benevolence.
Ritual follows loss of justice.
Ways of chaos follow loss of loyalty and thinning faith in ritual.
Foreknowledge of the way, magnificent yet a beginning of folly.
The great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin.
Dwells in the true, not in the magnificent.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this
. #38

The Taoist Story

The reality of life is certainly not as convenient for us as our stories would like it to be. I imagine that is why we often bury our heads in the sand, so to speak. When our story offers us what we want, how can we resist? I recall ‘camping’ out in the middle of the Sahara Desert and contemplating life very seriously. That environment, like the open ocean, stimulates such musings. At that stage in my life, I found myself half-wishing I could just simply buy into a normal comforting religious story… just believe in something and move on. It is curious why one can’t do that. It looks like the story must choose us, or rather, something deeper than thought makes the connection. This must have something to do with a cognitive least common denominator — if that makes any sense. For me, the Taoist ‘story’ is attractive in how it reaches beyond the story… and invites me to come along. That’s why I call it the faith of last resort. I could just as easily call it the story of last resort.

The Bio Hoodwink

Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bag?
Empty yet doesn’t submit,
. . . . moves yet recovers from all its coming and going.
More speech counts as exceptionally limited;
. . . . not in accord with keeping to the middle.

Again, biology — the bio hoodwink — pushes and pulls us to play life’s game as Nature intends. Humanity cleverly circumvents whatever rules it can to further its own ideals and desires. Obviously, we are not as clever as we think we are. The joke is on us much of the time. Nature fools us into focusing on the ‘big’ forces in nature. Size and strength impress us viscerally. We commonly associate action with defense or strength for success. Focusing on the ‘space’ and appreciating its value doesn’t come naturally. We fear failure, weakness, loss, silence, death — space! Survival instincts push us forward to fill space with action and word. Chapter 16 points back to what we so easily ignore in our rush forward.

Devote effort to emptiness, sincerely watch stillness.
Everything  ‘out there’  rises up together, and I watch again.
Everything ‘out there’, one and all, return again to their root cause.
Returning to the root cause is called stillness;
this means answering to one’s destiny.
Answering to one’s destiny is called the constant;
knowing the constant is called honest.
Not knowing the constant, rash actions lead to ominous results.
Knowing the constant allows, allowing therefore impartial,
Impartial therefore whole, whole therefore natural,
Natural therefore the way.
The way therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself.

 (1) It is not too far fetched to say, “True free will is without free will”. This correlates with Universal will, God’s will. It is impartial and without favoritism. Conversely, ‘normal’ free will is not free at all. It is bound to the self-interests driven by need and fear. Need and fear are not free. Need and fear originate in the will to survive.

‘True free will’ parallels the core of Buddha’s Fourth Truth, “There is salvation for him whose self disappears before truth, whose will is bent on what he ought to do, whose sole desire is the performance of his duty...” This brings us close to impartiality and without favoritism. It pretty much comes down to two ‘choices’ in life: what I want to do vs. what I ought to do. Core need determines which I end up doing. What I want rules the day unless or until some deeper necessity overrules those desires. No wonder we grab onto any thing that offers at least the illusion of permanence.

(2) The importance of impartiality cannot be overstated. Perfect impartiality is not humanly possible, but accepting impartiality as the ‘gold standard’ of reality and truth are humanly possible, at least as principle. In addition, accepting impartiality as the ‘gold standard’ of truth and reality offers considerable peace from a ‘dogma eat dogma’ world.

Dec 30, 2016 by Carl Abbott
Filed Under: Monthly Chapter Series

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Monthly Chapter 67 (pandemic era)

See previous chapter postings

Search

Overview

Is Taoism a Religion?   Read more...
What is Taoist thought?   Read more...
What is the root of thought? Read more...

Who is CenterTao?

CenterTao is a non-profit corporation founded in 1982.     Read more...

Subscribe via Email

Tags

addiction balance belief bio-hoodwink Buddha children civilization consciousness desire ego emergent property emotion expectations fairness instinct family fear food freedom freewill future happy hunter gatherer imagination independance instinct knowing language learning mind mysterious sameness need parents pleasure v pain religion responsibility science stress symptoms point of view tai chi tao thinking understanding what is tao worry yoga

Recent Comments

  • Carl Abbott on Alleviating the Hoarding Disorder
  • Carl Abbott on Instinctive Free Will
  • Cindy Givogue on Taoist Thought
  • Erin on Alleviating the Hoarding Disorder
  • Carl Abbott on Small ‘t’ Taoists
  • J on Small ‘t’ Taoists
  • Carl Abbott on Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life
  • NoahPayne95 on Trump and the Mandate of Heaven
  • Peter on Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life
  • Ariel Avalos on The best tao? (road, way, principle, speak, think)

Past Observations

  • Taoist Thought
  • The Tradeoff
  • Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life
  • Trump and the Mandate of Heaven
  • Refreshing Redundancy
  • The Year Is 1915
  • We All Know We Don’t Know
  • Who are you? (Part V)
  • Who are you? (Part IV)
  • Who are you? (Part III)
  • Who are you? (Part II)
  • Who are you?
  • The Word Trap
  • Stressors of Comfort and Security
  • “Right state of peaceful mind”
  • What Climate Catastrophy?
  • Straight Poop on the Paleo Diet
  • Fear & Need Born in Nothing
  • Science Proves Buddha Right!
  • Alleviating the Hoarding Disorder
  • Amazon mother
  • Cultivating Character
  • Cultivating Ego
  • Passing judgment is healthy if…
  • Necessity is the Mother
  • Practice what you preach
  • Of Mountains, Molehills and the Supernatural
  • Civilized Insanity
  • Ancient Signs Of Modern Behavior
  • The Good Old Days
  • Modus Operandi
  • Alone with Thought
  • A proper sense of awe
  • CenterTao Group Anyone?
  • Loving Your Eco-System
  • Where does the fault lie?
  • Taoist secrets
  • Laws as Symptoms, not Solutions
  • Loss Aversion Management
  • Mind Over Milkshake
  • Flow Triggers
  • Naturally Racist
  • BRAIN
  • Managing Our Disorders
  • Bono & Musk on Creativity
  • The Harmless People
  • Born Again Taoist
  • Free Willers Anonymous
  • Instinctive Free Will
  • Stupidly Intelligent
  • The Proof is in the Pudding
  • A Wealth of Happiness
  • Natural Happiness
  • Is Happiness In Your Choices?
  • Profound Connections Enlighten
  • Religion… an Opiate?
  • Is Gen Y Unhappy?
  • Remember the Disease
  • The Pendulum Swings
  • You are Immortal!
  • A Rose By Any Other Name
  • Emotion Speaks… Literally
  • I Look, But Do I See?
  • Just like Us, Just like Them
  • Science’s Baby Steps
  • Worthy of a Noble Life?
  • Who says chickens are stupid?
  • Seeking Out Untruth
  • Earn It to Learn It
  • Counterbalancing I.Q.
  • Mind Run Away; Run Away Mind
  • “The rich suffer in comfort”
  • Self-Predation
  • Finding Your Original Self
  • Feeding the Worry Gene
  • Hold the Knowable
  • Good Enough Is!
  • Ponder Between the Lines
  • Soaking in Inspiration
  • A Tao of Parenting
  • Buddha’s Work
  • Insatiably Curious at 70?
  • Breathe Into It
  • Tao of Government
  • Will-to-Live, Free or Otherwise
  • Begin New Years with a smile
  • The Why Of It
  • The Truth vs. The Middle
  • Dumbfounding
  • A Taoist Creed
  • Of Free Will, I Am
  • Discomfort and Pain
  • Undecided? You bet!
  • Siren’s Song of Politics
  • “It’s the Economy Stupid”
  • Networks of Networks of….
  • Can we pull the plug?
  • Yamaguchi San
  • “Fixation on same same”
  • Beware: the Blind Spot
  • And Then There Was Fire
  • Tao and Democracy
  • What’s Not the Elephant?
  • Upping the Ante
  • A Word to the Wise?
  • A Bee with Personality
  • Necessity, the Mother
  • Guilt, Shame and the Name Game
  • The Secret to Happiness!
  • It Began Now
  • I am foolish of human mind also?
  • Seat of Consciousness
  • What Follows Loss of the Way?
  • Placebo Effect
  • Imagining a Better Way
  • Who or What Do You Trust?
  • Giving Your Life a Gift
  • The Only Safe Escape
  • Use Non-Responsibility
  • Be Careful What You Wish
  • Jack of All Trades, Master of None?
  • We only understand what we know
  • Two Paths
  • The Trans Tribal Tao
  • Resistance is Futile
  • A Brother is a Brother
  • Really, Have We No Clue?
  • Why?
  • Gone Fishin’, Back Soon
  • Check One Off the Bucket List
  • Opiate of the Masses
  • The Wealthy Poor
  • Dreaming the Way
  • Sobering up!
  • Oh My Aching Bones
  • The Utility of Knowing What You Don’t Know
  • Naturally Unnatural, Naturally!
  • Naked Thought
  • Success Thru Failure
  • I, Amoeba
  • Why Man is King
  • Ethics as an Emergent Property
  • Loss is Gain; Gain is Loss
  • “… Strive On Diligently”
  • Is Pain the Constant?
  • Ants Are Us
  • Feeling Animal-ness
  • Pleasure Isn’t Well Being
  • Is Rock Conscious?
  • See No Evil
  • Keep ’em guessing?
  • Thou Shalt Not…
  • You Are What You Own
  • Priorities
  • We!
  • You Know
  • Who You Are Determines Who I Am, & Visa Versa
  • An Improper Sense of Awe
  • Thoughts and Ducks Quacking
  • The poetry of it all
  • So, I’d like to ask…
  • Don’t trust anyone under 60
  • Imagination knows no end
  • In Praise Of Nothing
  • It’s Simply Nature’s Way
  • The Truth About Lies
  • It’s Time We Changed Our Name
  • Fear Rules
  • Nothing’s Certain but Death and…
  • Reward, Fear & Need
  • He Who Conquers Self
  • Democracy as Myth
  • So, You Want Enlightenment, Eh?
  • When Is Attachment Good?
  • Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
  • The Story Trumps Truth
  • Water in Mind
  • Why God?
  • Playing With Dolls
  • Belief in Nothing is Dangerous
  • Illusions, Everywhere I Think
  • Wandering Mind Is Unhappy Mind
  • Love
  • Small ‘t’ Taoists
  • Beyond Spooky
  • My Battle With Tobacco
  • John Cleese, a ‘Taoist’?
  • The Nutty Things We Do
  • A Symptom’s Point Of View
  • Fear Is The Bottom Line
  • Change we can believe in?
  • Science, Religion, Truth
  • Children Know What Adults Forget
  • The Spirit of Yoga
  • The less I think, the more I know
  • Exquisite Balance
  • Skullduggery is rampant in nature
  • What Shapes How You Think?
  • Tao As Emergent Property
  • Balancing Difference With Similarity
  • Thinking clouds consciousness
  • Where Is Freedom?
  • Decisions Decisions
  • Poor Thais And Rich Swedes
  • Time’s Arrow
  • Desire and Contentment
  • Learning What You Know
  • We’re Not So Different After All
  • Chairs: One of Our Big Mistakes
  • Gossip, Hysteria, News
  • The Family Purse
  • Swarm Savvy
  • SETI… Quixotic SETI
  • The Worry Gene
  • Odds Are, It’s Wrong
  • Bathtub Tai Chi
  • How the Hoodwink Hooks
  • Omega-3 and Vitamin D
  • He Who Speaks Does Not Know, but…
  • Hunger: A Natural Stimulant
  • Know Truth, Live True
  • Why Not Protest To Raise Taxes?
  • Self Integrity, Slime, and Karma
  • A How-To for Extinguishing Self
  • Significant Others
  • Headstands and Apes
  • The Future Takes Care of Itself
  • Teachers and Students
  • Are You As Happy As You Should Be?
  • Keeping Birthday Happy
  • Why Do Idiot Savants Run Things?
  • Trust But Verify
  • Are You A Beliefaholic?
  • Sage Advice from Wall Street
  • Of Course It’s Alive!
  • What Am I Doing?
  • I understand, but do I know?
  • Just In: We’re All Nuts!
  • The Future is Now!
  • Peeking Through the Covers
  • Innately Ethical
  • Can You Believe What You See?
  • Suicide Just Doesn’t Work
  • A Hypochondriac’s Miracle Cure
  • An Essential Taoist Secret
  • Just How Big Is The Gap?
  • The Theory of God
  • Who is Right?
  • You Are Who You Are By Default
  • Cave Man Shakuhachi?
  • Into the Jungle?
  • Swimming Tai Chi Spermatozoa Style
  • Are you out of touch with nature?
  • It was a dark and stormy night…
  • Cease Treading Water and Just Sink
  • Enjoy What You Do – or – Do What You Enjoy?
  • The Glare Hides ‘Out There’ From View
  • The illusion of ‘moment’
  • Consciousness Physics
  • A Taoist Solution to Gay Marriage
  • Emotion Clear-cuts Perception
  • Right Mindfulness, Attentiveness, and Concentration?
  • The best tao? (road, way, principle, speak, think)
  • The trick lies in not believing, yet believing
  • What is ‘the Tao’ actually?
  • Think what you believe? Believe what you think?
  • Yin Yang, Nature’s Hoodwink
  • Public Tantrums
  • Understanding Understanding
  • Wealth plays out in odd ways
  • Peaches and Pleasure
  • Looking Through the Looking Glass
  • Even a little progress is freedom from fear
  • Religion: The best placebo?
  • Correlation’s ‘Prime Directive’
  • The Cost of Compassion
  • Can you say what you think?
  • Grinding Out Correlations
  • “Do you believe in angels?”
  • The Amazonian ‘Taoists’
  • Is Enlightenment Something or ???
  • Family Life
  • Who’s a Sage?
  • The Gifts Given – Paid In Full
  • King Kiwi
  • Blowing with the sea
  • In praise of kale
  • Always be a beginner
  • It’s Like Magic!
  • How do we know what is true?
  • Am I Bored or Just Content?
  • Do Good Christians Make Good People?
  • PS
  • The Decider
  • Peeking in on Nature’s Hoodwink
  • How to Know You’re Happy
  • It Is Spooky
  • Of What Is The Taoist Model Symptomatic?
  • Is ‘Free Will’ the Only Option?
  • Butterflies have wings; we have minds
  • Mind in Body in Mind in Body…xin
  • Such Synergy
  • Where There’s Passion (fire), There’s Blindness (smoke)
  • Seeing the world ‘out there’
  • Schrödinger’s cat
  • Tai Chi Video
  • Life Is Struggle, Happiness Is Contentment
  • What’s With All The Hair?
  • Tao Views of the Dow
  • Biology’s Blinders: WYSIWYG
  • Those Who Speak Do Not Know. So, Why Speak?
  • Welcome to CenterTao.org 2.0!

Postscript

Here is 2022’s Postscript.

My 80-year-old mind continues poking deeper; however, I’ll not be updating this website any longer… There’s enough already… who needs more?

For those seriously interested, see Taoist Thought (which sells at cost). I intend to continue updating this book with my latest observations and revisions until I draw my last breath.

2004-2015 Forum Archive

Click here to browse a read-only archive of all discussion that took place on this site between 2004 and 2015; over 3000 posts!

Copyright © 2023 Carl Abbott · Log in