Monthly Chapter 54 (pandemic era)

The well established cannot be pulled out.
The well established cannot be neglected.
Descendants using ceremonial offering of sacrifice to ancestors never ceases.

Of cultivating in oneself, its virtue only then genuine.
Of cultivating in the family, its virtue only then in surplus..
Of cultivating in the village, its virtue only then long.
Of cultivating in the nation, its virtue only then abundant.
Of cultivating in all under heaven, its virtue only then universal.
Hence,
Use oneself to observe oneself,
Use the family to observe the family,
Use the village to observe the village,
Use the nation to observe the nation,
Use all under heaven to observe all under heaven.
How can we know all under heaven correctly?
By using this.
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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) 12/30/2021

Archive: Characters and past commentary

Zoom on YouTube Recordings:

https://youtu.be/IiU0x0w91Mw 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 well established cannot be pulled out.
The well established cannot be neglected.
Descendants using ceremonial offering of sacrifice to ancestors never ceases.

What is truly well established? First, I’d say nature overall, and biology in particular. The genetic factors we inherit at birth are the same assortments that have been with our species for 300,000 years or more. Most of the superficial and circumstantial factors have changed—pulled out, neglected—over recent millenniums, but our deep biological reality is very constant.

Remembering this well established thread running through time brings me a great degree of peace. It shelters my awareness from being devoured by the commotion of current times. As chapter 14 suggests…

Hold the ancient way in order to manage today.
The ability to know the ancient beginning; this is called the way’s discipline.

The way’s discipline is a simpler and more universal way of saying, Descendants using ceremonial offering of sacrifice to ancestors never ceases. This archaic view is very specific to ancient China. More broadly, this refers to the deep traditions that help hold society together. Curiously, these now appear to be fading away quickly… Rampant innovation (i.e. rash action) is overturning society’s apple cart. And we know the result of that, as chapter 16 reminds us, Not knowing the constant, rash actions lead to ominous results. Ah yes, nature’s revolutionary game of evolution plays no favorites.

Of cultivating in oneself, its virtue only then genuine.

I’ve always been drawn to the older original form of Buddhism—Theravada. The latter form, Mahayana Buddhism, began to take shape in the first century BCE., in the belief that Theravada was too self-centered and had lost the true vision. Nonsense I say! Theravada is indeed self-centered, and thus matches the Taoist view, Of cultivating in oneself, its virtue only then genuine. It also parallels Christ’s view of how virtue originates personally within one’s self, i.e., “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” and “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. In short, put your own house in order before you clamor and push to have other people’s houses in order.

Of course, Of cultivating in oneself, its virtue only then genuine is a daunting task, especially if we believe (incorrectly) that we have free will. It is so much easier to criticize others and insist that they live more virtuously. That way, we can feel we’ve done at least ‘something good’, without actually doing anything that leads to genuine virtue. Indeed, ‘doing without doing’ (为无为 – wéi wú wéi) is much more honest and much less destructive. As the old adage puts it, “Hell is paved with good intentions.”

People innately project their agenda (needs and fears) onto the world with which they interact. In ancestral times (i.e., hunter-gatherer times) this behavior would be a form of social glue to bind the tribe through personal interaction. In the circumstances of civilization, this instinctive behavior can be very harmful. This mismatch of instinct and circumstance is even more troubling due to the deep, albeit obscure, social disconnection experienced by civilized people. The sense of disconnect drives an even greater push to ‘change the world’ so it matches society’s virtuous expectations.

Of cultivating in the family, its virtue only then in surplus..
Of cultivating in the village, its virtue only then long.
Of cultivating in the nation, its virtue only then abundant.
Of cultivating in all under heaven, its virtue only then universal.

Our natural tendency to view the world around us from a personal point of view creates immense misunderstanding of our village, nation, and all under heaven. In wishing to cultivate virtue in the ‘world out there’, we act from a place of deep ignorance by observing the world subjectively… from ‘in here’. The result is an endless chain of missteps, overreaction, under reaction… the list goes on. Again, chapter 16 sums it up well, Not knowing the constant, rash actions lead to ominous results

Hence,
Use oneself to observe oneself,
Use the family to observe the family,
Use the village to observe the village,
Use the nation to observe the nation,
Use all under heaven to observe all under heaven.

Chapter 16’s, Not knowing the constant, rash actions lead to ominous results tells the results of dealing with the world ‘out there’ from a self-centric point of view. The beauty of this chapter lies in how it lays out where one’s self-centric point of view should finish… Of cultivating in oneself, its virtue only then genuine. In other words, first steps first.

Imagine a world where everyone actually took full responsibility for their integrity, or as the first lines of chapter 16 puts it,

Devote effort to emptiness, sincerely watch stillness.
Everything  ‘out there’  rises up together, and I watch again.
Everything ‘out there’, one and all, return again to their root cause.
Returning to the root cause is called stillness;
this means answering to one’s destiny.
Answering to one’s destiny is called the constant;
knowing the constant is called honest.

A high degree of impartiality is essential to observe the reality that actually exists rather than the skewed projection of one’s own needs and fears—one’s personal agenda, so to speak. Impartiality is the key to all observation, up to and including, Use all under heaven to observe all under heaven. Chapter 16’s conclusion hits it home…

Knowing the constant allows, allowing therefore impartial,
Impartial therefore whole, whole therefore natural,
Natural therefore the way.
The way therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself.

Again, we are not biologically set up to be impartial! Life on earth evolved to act and react personally, not impartially! The lion chasing the deer isn’t impartial… it’s hungry. The deer fleeing the lion isn’t impartial… it fears for its life. So, how does one cultivate an ability to see impartially? The first lines of chapter 16 are helpful if you actually want to be impartial. I repeat, if you actually want to be impartial! The saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” is the honest truth. One must feel a visceral thirst to be impartial, to cultivating in oneself. In the end, hunger and thirst pull us to do what we feel we must do. Lacking that thirst, it all remains just the hot air of a spiritual ideal.

How can we know all under heaven correctly?
By using this.

By using this is the clear-cut answer to the question. By using this process, the steps of cultivation and observation, stated clearly here are all one needs to know. The problem we have is not a lack of knowledge. I suppose the core problem is that our emotional appetite for quick solutions greatly exceeds our deeper thirst to seek out and embrace the actual, albeit shadowy, solution. Life’s answers are only an open secret for those thirsty enough to swallow.

Our natural desire for the easiest way is what keeps the answers secret. The irony is that the way that feels so difficult is actually the easiest way. All our ‘short cuts’ can never bring home the bacon. Chapter 63 lays out the easy way…

Do without doing,
Be involved without being involved.
Taste without tasting.
Make the great small and the many few,
Respond to resentment using kindness.
Plan difficulty out from its easy.
Do the great out from its small.
All difficulties under heaven must arise from the easy.
All that is great under heaven must arise from the small.
Accordingly, the wise man, in the end, doesn’t support greatness,
For this reason he is able to accomplish greatness.
The man that rashly promises, certainly few trust.
The excessively easy, certainly excessively difficult.
Accordingly, the wise man, still of difficulty,
For this reason, in the end, without difficulty.

Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/MZb3hU7xiMs
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting