With desire choosing anything, of doing I see no satisfied end.
All under heaven is divine capacity; nothing must be done either.
Doing decays, grasping loses.
In the external world of man, someone leads, someone follows.
Someone snorts, someone blows.
Someone strives, someone wins.
Someone subdues, someone ruins.
Because of this, the wise man leaves the extremes, the luxurious, and the safe behind.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
YouTube Audio Recording:
Reading and Remarks : the ‘4 bell’ section of our Sunday meeting.
Open discussion : how it all relates to our personal experience.
Reflections:
With desire choosing anything, of doing I see no satisfied end.
This first line brings to mind Buddhist view that because of karma, beings are bound to the ever-turning wheel of rebirth. Only when a person stops believing in the existence of self can he or she become free from karma. First, what is self? Buddha’s 2nd Noble Truth, says in part, “the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things”. I find this spot on, and easily verified through experience.
Of course, Buddhism goes on to exaggerate and over-complicate the natural ebb and flow hinted at here, and ends up with heavy moral overtones as all ‘isms’ do. Still, there are grains of truth in the karma myth. First consider this summary.
Samsara (Sanskrit, Pali; also samsara) in Buddhism is the beginning-less cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma. Samsara is perpetuated by karma. Karma or ‘action’ results from an intentional physical or mental act, which causes a future consequence. Finally comes the salvation solution, Buddhist path, as exemplified in the Noble Eightfold Path, shows us the way out of samsara.
One of my main problems with religion is how they always end up ‘criminalizing’ natural consequences, and more specifically, the Bio-Hoodwink. In order to notice the grain of truths in the paragraph above, think of beginning-less cycle as a moment-to-moment ebb and flow, and not as a “repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again”. Then think of the Noble Eightfold Path as a way to mitigate samasara and not as a way out of samsara!
Mitigate, not eliminate, samasara!
Now, back to the first line of this chapter, With desire choosing anything, of doing I see no satisfied end. Desire, and more specifically need, drives all life actions. Desire and worry (a.k.a., need and fear) are the engines that drive survival. These cornerstones of survival are not something to find a “way out of”, but instead manage better. Better management hinges on knowing what were dealing. (See Fear & Need Born in Nothing. )
Dealing with Desire is where Buddha’s 4th Noble Truth shines.
“The Fourth Noble Truth is the Middle Path that leads to the cessation of suffering. 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. He who is wise will enter this path and make an end to suffering.”
Disregard the exaggerated tone here, e.g., “… leads to the cessation of suffering. Nature does not allow for the “cessation of suffering”. Disregard the allusions to free will in “… he who is wise will enter this path”. One can’t freely choose this path. Rather, when you know there is no other way to manage the problems desire causes, you can’t help but get on board with “this path”. It happens quite naturally when one is truly ready.
Ready Set Go… Slow!
Placing duty over desire can simply come down to not biting off more than you can chew. This means taking life step-by-step, moment-by-moment, snag-by snag. Look for the seamless flow that connects the moments and steps… if you can slow down enough. That amounts to a kind of tai chi throughout the day, in every way. The trap constantly present is the lure of the goal, the light at the end of the tunnel. Once you boldly face the fact that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, you can begin to see the light that is here in the tunnel of your life. Nature hides nothing, only one’s wishful thinking hides nature’s truth.
All under heaven is divine capacity; nothing must be done either.
Doing decays, grasping loses.
If you look around at the world — universe — around you, you’ll notice it is always changing, always creating, always getting its ‘job of creation’ done. Life models that in countless and continuous microcosmic ways. Humanity also models that in our tool making capacity. The common denominator here between all under heaven, humanity’s tools, and the most mundane life forms is the divine capacity to get the job done.
Nothing must be done either become increasingly obvious once you slow down enough to take in all under heaven is getting done, moment by moment. From this vantage point, step back and behold how inevitable doing decays, grasping loses. With that sober stance, every action you take is bound to be much more balanced and in line with nature’s long-term.
Chapter 8 hints at qualities that help make action significantly more balanced. “Hints” is the operative word here. Pondering these carefully over time helps.
When there is a fork in the road, do you take it?
The alternative to allowing nature to take its course comes down to revving up your karmic wheel, flipping you in and out of emotional balance, so to speak. Well… that’s no fun! As chapter 74 cautions, [This] is said to be taking the place of the great craftsman chopping. A man taking the place of the great craftsman chopping rarely never hurts his own hands.
In the external world of man, someone leads, someone follows.
Someone snorts, someone blows.
Someone strives, someone wins.
Someone subdues, someone ruins.
In the external world, the chaotic ebb and flow of life’s struggle to survival snorts, blows, strives, wins, subdues, ruins, and there is no satisfied end. I could continue on with this litany of life circumstances, e.g., someone lives, someone dies, eats, starves, fights, flees, rests, works, worries, finds peace… In the end, don’t we all pass through all of these conditions?
Because of this, the wise man leaves the extremes, the luxurious, and the safe behind.
If you believe you have free will, you may read this last line as advice, i.e., if I want to be wiser, I should leave the extremes, the luxurious, and the safe behind. From this standpoint, wisdom is the goal and leaving the extremes behind is a way to achieve that goal.
Alas, it is truly the other way around. As you fully and viscerally know that With desire choosing anything, of doing I see no satisfied end, you can’t help but leave the extremes, the luxurious, and the safe behind. Intuitively knowing the opposite extreme is just around the corner lowers you down into the reality chapter 58 describes well,
Where does one go when one leaves the extremes, the luxurious and the sage behind? Chapter 61 gives us a pretty good hint, Of all under heaven, The female normally uses stillness to overcome the male. Using stillness she supports the lower position.
Now, this talk of stillness and supporting the lower position may sound very passive, especially if you still hold on to the promise of free will. Stillness does not mean ceasing to be active and living life! What dies away is the illusion that there exists a satisfied end to my desires, whatever they may be. The tables always turn, and the only way to go with that flow is to leave [all my trust and faith in] the extremes, luxurious, and safe behind. Indeed, knowing that the stillness of the moment is all I can truly ‘have’ makes leaving all that baggage behind unavoidable.
Finally, there is one important caveat
Leaving the extremes behind applies to the ideal of leaving the extremes behind. We are animals, and so need, and its human offspring desire, will always be choosing in the hope of seeing a satisfied end. There is no escaping the Bio-Hoodwink. Thus, to be ruthlessly honest, the last line would better read, Because of this, the wise man [more likely than not] leaves the extremes, the luxurious, and the safe behind.
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