Monthly Chapter 51 (pandemic era)

The way gives birth, virtue rears, things give shape, power accomplishes.
Accordingly, everything respects the way and values virtue.
Of the way respected and virtue valued; no one decrees, yet constant and natural.
Hence, of the way born, of virtue reared.
Of long duration, of giving birth.
Of well balanced, of malicious.
Of support, of overturning.
It gives birth, yet doesn’t claim,
It acts, yet doesn’t rely on,
It is the elder, yet doesn’t rule.
This is called profound virtue.
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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 (pandemic era) 9/30/2021

Archive: Characters and past commentary

Zoom on YouTube Recordings:

https://youtu.be/jyAOAyFfVi4 is the link to the Zoom video of this month’s Sunday meeting. The shorter first part of the meeting begins with a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any. A little later on begins the longer open discussion part of the meeting when those who wish to discuss how the chapter relates to their personal experience.

Corrections?

None this time

Reflections

The way gives birth, virtue rears, things give shape, power accomplishes.
Accordingly, everything respects the way and values virtue.
Of the way respected and virtue valued; no one decrees, yet constant and natural.

Reading this chapter today brought me to feeling the profound all encompassing “thing” that drives the universe. Of course, it is not any “thing” that can be described, named, or really even spoken about. Any definition trivializes “it”. Chapter 67 captures this dilemma well…

Under heaven, all say my way is great resembling nothing.
Man is only great by reason of resembling nothing.
If it resembled anything, long ago indeed, it would trifle as would man.

In leaving out the second line, D.C. Lau’s translation may be a bit easier to contemplate…

The whole world says that my way is vast and resembles nothing.  It is because
it is vast that it resembles nothing.  If it resembled anything, it would, long
before now, have become small.

Obviously, “Nothing” is the only suitable description, if indeed you can call ‘nothing’ a description. Overall, this feels ironic, which is evidence that ‘nothing’ may be a fitting description. Other words that correlation to ‘nothing’ might also qualify a suitable descriptions. For example, female, emptiness, stillness, silence, death, etc. Still, that is awfully vague to satisfy most people. (See Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations )

The feeling that ‘something’ must be responsible for the whole thing is why people, going back to hunter-gatherers, have needed to see a “hand of god or gods” in charge of the whole deal—life, death and every aspect of creation in between. It seems only humans need to name ‘it’, and have a way to understand what ‘it’ resembles. The Taoist, “resembles nothing” is asking too much of our insecure selves. Not knowing terrifies us.  We feel secure only after we give the unknown a tangible “name”. Yet, chapter 1 begins by firmly asserting the impossibility of naming the un-namable.

My guess is our need for a name arose once we began to see we had agency, or rather our ‘illusion of self’ felt it had agency—control. This was at least 50,000 years ago, although perhaps much earlier. That would have created some degree of cognitive tension in our imagination as we wondered who or what was in control of the whole game, the universe as we experienced it. If we weren’t in control, something else had to be.

As a social species, it is a very short step to anthropomorphize the controlling force of nature, and presto we imagine ‘god or gods’ in control. Where does the buck stop, we wondered. The buck stops with ‘god’, or what other mystical spiritual label we imagine. The word ‘way’ helps to avoid a mystical spiritual label or an attempt to anthropomorphize the ‘way’.

This is what makes the genuine Taoist worldview so unusual. I say genuine because many people drawn to Taoism give the word “Tao” (or Dao) a deity connotation, turning the way into a type of god, spirit force, or some other mystical ‘thing’ to guide us. As a social species, we crave leadership, especially in such existential matters.

Hence, of the way born, of virtue reared.
Of long duration, of giving birth.
Of well balanced, of malicious.
Of support, of overturning.

Notice how this is describing the profound breath of nature’s process, reaching from one extreme to the other. Nothing is excluded or left behind. Chapter 34 says as much, The great way flows, such as it may left and right. Then again, in chapter 73, Nature’s net is vast and thin, yet never misses. Or as D.C. Lau translates it, The net of heaven is cast wide.  Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever slips through.

Thus, I find it helps to notice when I’m choosing sides on some issue. I feel a definite aversion to the malicious, and a wish for the well balanced. Of course, it is natural to harbor such innate biases! However, when I do, I get pulled into the drama—the battle—which destroys peace of mind… or as Buddha put it, Right State of Peaceful Mind. (See Buddha’s Four Noble Truths ). This ache of intrinsic worldliness naturally urges me to relieve the pain, and transcendence is the only path possible. Of course, I can never truly transcend the human condition, just as a fish can never live out of water. However, I can come close at times, nearly rising beyond oneself. Chapter 52 candidly shows the way…

All under heaven had a beginning; consider the origin of all under heaven.
Already having this origin, use this to know its offspring.
Already knowing its offspring, return to observe the origin.
Nearly rising beyond oneself.
Squeeze exchange, shut the gates; to the end, oneself diligent.
Open the exchange, help its affairs; to the end, oneself no relief.
Seeing the small is called clarity, abide yielding is called powerful.
Use the light, and again return to clarity, not offer oneself misfortune.
This serves as practicing of the constant.

Taking fundamental responsibility for choosing sides has a remarkable way of diffusing tension. The tension actually arises from the illusion of self. Empathy along with this illusion of self (ego) projects its own survival on circumstances ‘out there’. The fear it feels creates a need—a desire—for a happy ending, a solution to the problem it perceives. Seeing the natural process, or rather appreciating that all I am experiencing is part of the way, the natural process, brings cognitive balance—well balanced replaces malicious. When I accept that I’m simply pushing for my own desire to have life my way, the way returns. It is as simple as it is mystical. Indeed, perhaps it is mystical because it is utterly straightforward.

This experience reminds me a little of Buddha’s Third Noble Truth, The Third Noble Truth is the cessation of sorrow. He who conquers self will be free from lust. He no longer craves and the flame of desire finds no material to feed upon. Thus it will be extinguished. This conquering of self is perhaps more of an acknowledgment of the self-centered agenda I’m experiencing. Shining the light of awareness on it seems to dissolve it largely, albeit, only for the moment. The self-centered agenda is a natural as a cricket’s chirp, and just as recurring.

Finally, why isn’t this path to peace more widely known and traveled? I suppose because this acknowledgment feels very threatening to the very ego one is attempting to shine a light upon. Wanting life to go ‘my way’ is survival itself, which makes any challenge to the ego feel like a virtual suicide. Conversely, pushing for what we desire in life feels life affirming. Extinguishing the flames of desire can’t help but threaten the sense of self.

It gives birth, yet doesn’t claim,
It acts, yet doesn’t rely on,
It is the elder, yet doesn’t rule.
This is called profound virtue.

The type of behavior where one does the work, but claims no credit or reward is certainly profound for any human individual… not so much for the way, i.e., it is natural for the way to be thus. Chapter 2 echoes the profound aspects of this in people,

Do and yet not depend on,
Achieves success and yet not dwell.
The simple man alone does not dwell,
Because of this he never leaves

Again in Chapter 22,

The wise person uses this to hold the One, and models all under heaven.
He does not see his self for he is honest; he does not exist for he is clear;
He does not attack himself for he has merit; he is not self important for he endures.
He alone does not contend, hence nothing under heaven can contend with him.
This is the ancient point of view: bent follows whole.
How can it be that emptiness speaks! Complete sincerity returns.

And, to return to Chapter 34,

The great way flows, such as it may left and right.
All things on earth depend on it for existence, yet it never declines,
Meritorious accomplishment, yet anonymous.
Clothes and supports all things on earth, yet doesn’t act as master.
Always without desire, befits the name small.
All things on earth return here, Why?
Not being their master, befits the name great.
Because of its ultimate non-self, it becomes great.
Hence, it can accomplish such greatness.

And finally, Chapter 77 sums it up,

Therefore the sage benefits them yet exacts no gratitude,
Accomplishes his task yet lays claim to no merit.
Is this not because he does not wish to be considered a better man than others?

Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/Ut3EkWx3mzQ
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing zen followed by the meeting