In desiring to inhale, one must first open up.
In desiring weakness, one must first strive.
In desiring to let go, one must first begin.
In desiring to get, one must first give.
This saying is little understood.
Weakness is superior to strength.
Fish can’t escape from the deep.
A country’s weapons can’t instruct the people.
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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?
You bet! I’m rethinking the last line, A country’s weapons can’t instruct the people. I need to replace weapons for the more fundamental connotation. I’ll explain more at the end.
YouTube Recordings:
Go to Kirk Garber’s YouTube channel for recordings of our monthly Sunday meeting. These come in two parts for each chapter. The shorter first part is a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any.
The second longer part is an open discussion among attendees on how the chapter relates to their personal experience.
Reflections:
In desiring to inhale, one must first open up.
In desiring weakness, one must first strive.
In desiring to let go, one must first begin.
In desiring to get, one must first give.
This chapter was one of the first that truly resonated with me early on. At the time, I had the ideal that selflessness was a virtue. This chapter helped me realize that, to paraphrase, In desiring to be selfless, one must first be selfish.
We easily find ourselves in various states of imbalance thanks to the tradeoff humanity ‘chose’ to make to maximize comfort and security. I say ‘chose’ in an evolutionary sense of the word, similar to how redwood trees ‘chose’ to reach to the sky, or the whale’s ancestors ‘chose’ to leave land for the sea. (See The Tradeoff )
Civilization requires a hierarchical social structure that leaves all of us more action oriented than our ancestors were. While our hunter-gatherer ancestors struggled to survive, their circumstances didn’t push for progress… starting with ideals to be more than you naturally are. Natural balance was the status quo. Such natural balance status quo is difficult to maintain in the face of the drive to ‘get ahead’, to climb the ladder to success… all essentially with the objective to be a bona fide somebody!
Entangled in our push for control, progress and power, our innate organic animal nature yearns to let go, inhale, relax, and feel content. In a word, find peace. These four lines bluntly remind us that there is a prerequisite. Through striving, you reach weakness; through beginning, you let go; through giving you get… and through selfish you reach selfless. And finally, through life you reach death.
This saying is little understood.
Naturally, this process is little understood. Civilization’s prime directive is the push for progress, achievement, power, control. We are reared from infancy, exposed to this achievement-oriented drumbeat of civilization. The weakness yin side of life’s cycle gets little attention or consideration.
Weakness is superior to strength.
Weakness correlates to death. Death = reality. Weakness and death also correlate to silence, emptiness, stillness — eternity. (See Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations) This realm of profound sameness is invincible and impenetrable. Civilization, by and large, worships at the alter of strength and progress. Weakness is a thing to be overcome. That is civilization’s raison d’être.
Fish can’t escape from the deep.
If the whole universe was the color of blue, no one could see blue. Contrast of ‘otherness’ is necessary to identify and give a name to (label) something… anything. The human mind, especially since the end of the hunter-gatherer existence has been preoccupied with naming experience. Indeed, if ‘it’ doesn’t have a name we don’t feel it exists, or it hardly exists at all. The naming of our experience becomes a blinder that prevents us from knowing the deep… the ‘blue’ of the universe, so to speak. Without labels, the mind must confront itself in utter honesty. There is no rationalization to hide behind.
A country’s weapons can’t instruct the people.
The actual characters translated here as weapon is worth a deeper look. The dual character 利 器 (lì qì) means sharp weapon or good tool. Most, if not all translators interpret this duo as ‘weapon’. ‘Weapon’ certainly forces an overly narrow view compared to ‘good tool’. Consider how these characters suggest a broader interpretation…
利 lì = sharp; favorable; advantage; profit; interest.
器 qì = implement; utensil; ware; organ; capacity; talent.
Thus, I favor using ‘good tool’ over ‘weapon’. ‘Good tool’ encompasses more of the various character meanings above, e.g., favorable + talent; profit + capacity; advantage + implement.
Briefly, the favoring of good tools overshadows deeper instruction. Alas, this is all part of the tradeoff humanity made long ago.
Again, civilization lies at the core of this problem. Power and achievement are overwhelmingly and intimately linked to the use of tools. Tools play a major role in our pursuit of greater security and comfort. Left far behind are instruction on the deeper qualities of life issues that everyone values, but nevertheless take a back seat to progress.
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