All that came before fulfills the One.
Heaven fulfills the One and is clear.
Earth fulfills the One and is tranquil.
Mind fulfills the One and is effective.
Valley fulfills the One and is full.
Existence fulfills the One and grows.
Rulers fulfill the One and support the empire faithfully.
The One causes.
Heaven without clarity brings dreadful splitting.
Earth without tranquility brings dreadful waste.
Mind without effectiveness brings dreadful stoppage.
Valley without fullness brings dreadful exhaustion.
Existence without growth brings dreadful extinction.
Rulers without faithfulness bring dreadful setbacks.
Hence, the precious take the lowly as the origin.
The high take low as the base.
This, and so rulers call themselves solitary, scant, pathetic
Is this not taking the lowly as a foundation of heresy?
No.
Extreme fame is without fame.
Not to desire jewelry is comparable to beauty.
Jewelry is comparable to stone.
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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?
If only I could! The first half of this chapter is an odd ball. In translating this chapter, I chose the words that were consistent with the overall context of the Tao Te Ching. Yet, it still carries an overly ‘right’ vs. ‘wrong’ sense to it. That is, if it makes any sense at all. I do note that it made more sense to me previously: Take a look at previous commentary on chapter 39, especially First Pass: Chapter of the Week 02/18/2010. That is about as deep as the first half takes me.
On another matter: I feel I should change the third line from the bottom to read, Extreme reputation is without reputation instead of Extreme fame is without fame. I suspect that the cultural connotation of fame may bias the meaning here.
YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/5SKQ5PfHLKw is the link to the complete video recording of our monthly Sunday meeting. For the nicely edited version, go to Kirk Garber’s YouTube channel. The edited version comes in two parts: The first and shorter Commentary part begins with a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any. The second and longer Open Discussion part offers attendees’ observations on how the chapter relates to their personal experience.
Reflections:
All that came before fulfills the One.
This first line resonates well for me. In pondering this first line, I gathered into my mind all that my awareness could touch, and let it fulfill the One. All that I truly know connects one way or another to all that came before. That connection wraps up at the flowing now… the eternal now as I sense it. Anything awareness reaching forward from the eternal now and the all that came before, is foreknowledge. As the last chapter put it, Foreknowledge of the way, magnificent yet a beginning of folly. The great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin. For me, the thick is all that came before up to this eternal present.
I have nothing useful to say about line 2 to 7. Interestingly, the characters that translate to the One ( 一者, yī zhĕ ) are only found in this chapter 39, and no where else. I feel the symbolic meaning of the One stands in sharp contrast to the ‘spirit’ of the Tao Te Ching. If it were up to me, I’d delete them… or not. After all, references to the One add to the conversation. In contrast, for example, these lines from chapter 56 depict nicely the ‘spirit’ of the Tao Te Ching…
Be the same as dust, and profound sameness just don’t conform to the notion of One. Of course, capitalizing the word “one” makes that even more obvious… which is why I did it. Perhaps the particulars, e.g., heaven, earth, mind, valley, linked to the One are the real sticking point because line 8, The One causes, fits the spirit of the Tao Te Ching fairly well.
We are all much more similar to all other life on Earth. Yet, we have difficulty perceiving that unity because we are innately biased to notice difference. Survival in the wild makes that vital. Noticing similarity is a subtle sense that doesn’t stimulate quick responses. For example, a snake and a stick have the same shape. Survival depends on noticing the difference quickly. Noticing the similarities can wait until the possibility of danger passes.
The One causes
It implies there is something that serves as the root cause of all existence. That resonates well with line 1, All that came before fulfills the One. However, it is not particularly consistent with the next chapter 40. Take the last two lines for instance, All under heaven is born in having, Having is born in nothing. Chapter 40 invites my mind to dive into the most profound depth it can ‘sink’. The talk of the One, has mostly the opposite effect.
Hence, the precious take the lowly as the origin.
The high take low as the base.
The last half of this chapter returns us to the overall spirit of the Tao Te Ching. The rational, Hence, is a little off base vis-à-vis the One. Indeed, the notion of the One is quite hierarchical and elitist, not particularly sharing the same base as profound sameness. I suppose the One could be viewed as the base. Still, wouldn’t Zero be more of a base than One? Indeed, that is the view offered in the next chapter, i.e., Having is born in nothing
Chapter 61 speaks to the view that the high take low as the base.
This, and so rulers call themselves solitary, scant, pathetic
Solitary evokes lonely. Lonely evokes empty. Empty evokes entropy. By following the cosmic ‘chain of command’ down to its deepest level, I see everything, yes every thing, as being solitary. That is what makes the world go round. The electron without its counterpart the proton is solitary. The yin without its yang is solitary. The man without his mate is solitary. That provides the pull nature employs to make the universe work… yes work, struggle, toil, act! If the universe is working so hard, why should we add to that? Let it’s work be done, and you just be the ‘tool’ of its goings on. Such an impersonal view is as comforting as it is challenging to maintain. The ego wants a future. Nevertheless, sensing that point of view on the horizon of one’s mind offers relief… well my mind anyway.
Is this not taking the lowly as a foundation of heresy?
No.
Of course, anything that supports the lowly as a foundation (the lower position) is generally repugnant to the hierarchical social system humanity has fabricated (see The Tradeoff). “I” wants to be higher on the social ladder, not lower. Any challenge to the hierarchical order is naturally felt as a foundation of heresy.
Extreme fame is without fame.
I suppose you could see this two ways. It all depends on how you define fame. The problem with words lies in the meaning you lend them. That meaning is profoundly influenced by one’s experiences… our personal story. The literal words for this character are, reputation (fame; praise; eulogize). Perhaps I should have used the first meaning, reputation, i.e., Extreme reputation is without reputation. Chapter 34 hints…
Think of water or air. Both have extreme fame / reputation. Thus, as we can easily note, these are without fame / reputation. They are without because they are so omnipresent. Entities that acquire fame / reputation stand out from the mundane. They get noticed because they are rare, elite, uncommon. To put it in Taoist terms, the uncommon is not of the constant. Simply put, the constant is anonymous. I imagine this feels like turning the world on its head. Chapter 79 sheds light… Straight and honest words seem inside out.
Viewing this from a Symptoms Point Of View reveals another way to think about this. For example, if you are hungry, what do you do? You do all you can to acquire food. Likewise, feeling a real deep lack of fame / reputation would drive one to hunger for that ‘food’. Thus, people who feel a yearning hunger for fame, will strive to fill that void and eventually acquire fame, although seldom extreme fame.
Not to desire jewelry is comparable to beauty.
Jewelry is comparable to stone.
For me, this is called profound sameness, as chapter 56 frames it. This speaks to the pernicious effects of a hierarchical social system that, by its very structure, promotes a layered and divisive approach to life. Civilizations emphasize differences in order to layer cultural reality in ways that support the hierarchy needed to organize. To be sure, civilization doesn’t create our sense of a layered reality, but it does draw on and intensify our primal hierarchical instincts. This creates too much of a good thing for our own spiritual well-being. These final lines of chapter 39 invite us to step away from this cultural influence for a few moments and see things as they actually are, not as culture promotes them. Chapter 62 and 81 speaks to this as well…
Even though surrounded by jade and presented with horses,
Not equal to receiving the way. #62
True speech isn’t beautiful, Beautiful speech isn’t true. #81
Video Archive: https://youtu.be/9NbCmfhX_fg
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