The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
Next comes what we bully.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith.
Long drawn out speech is noble,
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
The people all say, “I am natural”.
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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:
The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
The sky overhead, whether pitch black, starlit, or brightly blue, beckons us, almost instinctively, to look upward. The sky above is simple and mostly peaceful where as the earth below is a mixed bag of rewards and dangers. Thus, it is not surprising that above is venerated while below is held in low regard. With civilization and its hierarchical framework, upward feels even more ‘superior’. Where else would a ‘hell’ exist but downward below?
‘The greatest heights lie below what we realize’ takes a poke at the hierarchical lens through which we view life. In other words, what we realize arises mostly through the cognitive framework we cultivate from infancy. This framework filters perception in that we learn early on to judge the world in terms of ‘good’, ‘above’, and other positives vs. ‘bad’, ‘below’, and other negatives.
‘The greatest heights lie below what we realize’ hints at the ultra mundane, the magic and marvel of the unnoticed and under appreciated constant non-polar essence of ‘the way’, so to speak. (For more on below, see Tangents below.)
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
I’m sorry Lao Tzu. I prefer to put fear as that which comes Next. In addition, from fear (and its softer side, respect) arises praise. Praise is a way for the mind to turn one’s sense of awe into awesome instead of awful. We praise what serves our hopes, dreams, and values. Praise is a very personal projection of one’s overall life agenda, while fear is an even deeper projection of one’s survival agenda. Fear is where the rubber hits the road.
Next comes what we bully.
Praise and its counterpart blame are the source spring for bullying. We tend to bully whatever factors we blame for the problems in life, especially when our efforts to win out fail. As chapter 38 hints, Superior etiquette acts but when none respond, Normally roles up its sleeves and throws away. Certainly, bullying is often not overt, yet it is genuine even when unnoticed. For example, passing judgment easily becomes just another subtle form of bullying.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith.
This is the first time in a long time I feel like using another word to convey the meaning better. Now it is the word faith. Line 5’s literal rendition of this line is: true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) not foot (enough; ample) here (herein; how; why), have (exist) no (not) true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) here (herein; how; why). 信不足焉，有不信焉。
The problem with faith is that the word plays such a large role in Western religion… “Ye of little faith” etc. Confidence and trust have a more neutral connotation. Oh, I see I did change it to trust for the online version, but the print version is still faith. Should I change that, or leave it as an example of the need to examine the other meanings given for the Chinese character involved?
Long drawn out speech is noble,
I notice that when I am most sincere and ‘in the moment’ with what I’m saying, my speech becomes a more long drawn out speech. When thought is touching the ‘eternal present’, speech can’t help but be long and drawn out. Conversely, when I am relying on memory or speaking from emotion, speech flows quickly. Such speech is always dregs from the past. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with that naturally. It just helps to see things as they are. This helps inoculate me from wild goose chasing temptations.
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
This is not necessarily saying that meritorious accomplishment is a ‘good’ thing, especially in light of chapters 16’s Devote effort to emptiness, sincerely watch stillness. Personally, I find the pursuit of accomplishment, meritorious or not, as a futile act. Giving myself to the work, the moment, and the process is the key to fulfillment. I can spend decades on the process and never accomplish the end I seek, yet if ‘process’ and ‘moment’ are paramount, then my effort will not be in vain — just the opposite. You could say, ‘accomplishing the moment’ is all that is truly fulfilling.
The people all say, “I am natural”.
The humbleness of simply being aligns with all of nature. Nature is without affectation. Honestly, without affectation is perhaps more precise than the current word, natural. Natural is without affectation, or “self so”, (自然 zìrán) to put it most literally! Natural like faith, comes with a lot of cultural baggage. Shall I swap out natural for without affectation?
Tangents
The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
The flow of one’s life is as the flow of water.
Water takes its character from circumstances and gravity. Gravity pulls water toward the sea, and the circumstances of the land determine its characteristics at any given moment, from a gentle flow to a roaring rush.
One’s life takes its character from circumstances and the ‘gravitational pull’ of one’s genetics. Genetics pulls us through life to ‘the Great Sea’ below that people call death. The particular circumstances present at our birth and throughout our life determine our life’s characteristics at any given moment, from a gentle sigh of relief to a roaring outburst of fear, anger or angst.
Naturally, ego feels and thinks otherwise; it has its illusion of a self to maintain. For the self, its greatest heights lie above. Self needs to feel in control and capable of rising above to reach whatever Promised Land it imagines.
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