Of old, the adept student was minutely subtle,
….profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge.
He alone, beyond knowledge, hence stubborn in allowing.
He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors;
Solemn such as allows; vanishing as if ice melting away;
Honest such as simple; broad such as the valley;
Blending such as muddy water; tranquil such as the sea.
Windy as if without end.
Who can be muddy so as to calmly gently clear.
Who can be quiet so as to stirring gently live.
Maintain this way, not desiring to be full.
He alone is not full, therefore able to conceal and yet newly become.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
Archive: Characters and past commentary
Corrections?
None this time
Reflections:
Of old, the adept student was minutely subtle,
….profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge.
The adept student is each one of us whenever we happen to find ourselves beyond knowledge. Let’s face it, knowledge is never absolute, always relative and shifting with the times, and so it’s easy to find ourselves often bewildered to one degree or another. Indeed, from a Symptoms Point Of View, I’d say the more bewildered or afraid of the unknown we feel, the more driven we are to fervently pursue and possess knowledge. Knowledge, or rather our belief in the verity of our knowledge, is our fortress against the infinite unknown and unknowable. (See Belief: Are We Just Fooling Ourselves?)
Knowledge is utterly dependant upon, and limited by, thought and names. As chapter 1 reminds us,
The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way.
The name possible to express runs counter to the constant name.
As expected, this unnerving constant void, beyond thought and names, is soon refilled with knowledge. A ‘Symptoms Point Of View’ reveals that the fear that the constant void evokes drives our passionate cleaving to knowledge. This cleaving bolsters the illusion of self — fortress ego. As Buddha pointed out in his 2nd Truth, The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things, i.e., believing is simply another form of cleaving.
He alone, beyond knowledge, hence stubborn in allowing.
When you are beyond knowledge you can’t help but be stubborn in allowing. That is somewhat uncomfortable too. I suppose social instinct relentlessly pushes us to judge and choose sides. As they say, “You’re either with us, or against us”. This goes back to ancient times, as Jesus reportedly said, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad”.
Could he have been that naive? After all, Jesus is the one who reportedly said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. Inconsistent, yet I’m sure a devout Christian would find a way to rationalize this inconsistency. Self-deception is easy when you have the disease of believing what you think. As chapter 71 reminds, Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. True belief in any form of knowledge is only possible when you don’t realize that you don’t know.
Perhaps the larger problem of being beyond knowledge is that the mind’s trillions of neural synapses need ‘context’. In other words, Nature abhors a vacuum void.
He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors;
Solemn such as allows; vanishing as if ice melting away;
Honest such as simple; broad such as the valley;
Blending such as muddy water; tranquil such as the sea.
Windy as if without end.
What we know gives form to who we think we are. Knowledge supports the ego, or threatens it. Indeed, we are our knowledge, especially when we think we know. This makes us very limited, narrow, lonely, and vulnerable. Feeling that induces us to circle the wagons, so to speak. C’est la vie!
Who can be muddy so as to calmly gently clear.
Who can be quiet so as to stirring gently live.
Maintain this way, not desiring to be full.
He alone is not full, therefore able to conceal and yet newly become.
This parallels the idea of where you inevitably go when you reach ‘rock bottom’. There is nowhere else to go but up. Embracing as much of the muddy and quiet side of life conserves energy (emotional energy especially). It is similar to a coiled spring: In its compressed state, it stores energy that will be released when ‘sprung’. We easily waste a lot of energy ‘springing’ all over the place instead of patiently bidding our time waiting for the ‘right moment’ to spring forth — to conceal and yet newly become.
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