Of old, the adept student was minutely subtle,
….profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge.
He alone, beyond knowledge, hence stubborn in allowing.
He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors;
Solemn such as allows; vanishing as if ice melting away;
Honest such as simple; broad such as the valley;
Blending such as muddy water; tranquil such as the sea.
Windy as if without end.
Who can be muddy so as to calmly gently clear.
Who can be quiet so as to stirring gently live.
Maintain this way, not desiring to be full.
He alone is not full, therefore able to conceal and yet newly become.
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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.
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month
(pandemic era)
Archive: Characters and past commentary
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/0_fymmZVDNI 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:
Of old, the adept student was minutely subtle, profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge.
He alone, beyond knowledge, hence stubborn in allowing.
Reading this today, I notice how these lines imply a means to evaluate my approach to life. In doing so, I have to wonder, just how minutely subtle, profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge am I really? And I realize there is actually no way to measure that. This is akin to comparing current conditions with the infinite. Minutely subtle, beyond knowledge have no knowable limit. I know I have always been somewhat minutely subtle, profoundly connecting, and deep beyond knowledge, and I am becoming more so as the years pass. Indeed, isn’t this the life journey—birth to death—every living thing takes, whether or not they recognize it. But on a scale from zero to infinity, we are all either at near zero… or perhaps at infinity without the ability to know it. Whatever the case, it is something useful to ponder, and perhaps nudge the mind out of its box.
He alone, beyond knowledge, hence stubborn in allowing is what happens as we, or any animal, ages. Of course, the beyond knowledge part is rather unique to humans, and the greatest factor in limiting any ability to be stubborn in allowing. The certainty we place in our knowledge counteracts any intent to allow. Filled with knowledge, there is no space left for allowing nature to play out. The urge to control outcomes and make them mirror our knowledge and imagination overwhelm any subtler sense of life. Clearly, chapter 71 points out this unique human handicap… Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Accepting our vast ignorance is most difficult. Chapter 70 puts this disability in perspective,
He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors;
Solemn such as allows; vanishing as if ice melting away;
Honest such as simple; broad such as the valley;
Blending such as muddy water; tranquil such as the sea.
Windy as if without end.
The third line of chapter 71, The sacred person is not ill, taking his disease as disease, echoes the line, He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors, as well as the rest, i.e., solemn, vanishing, honest, broad, tranquil, blending, windy. Facing up to the fact that I have this disease requires continuous solemn honesty. I must constantly remind myself that I don’t know. The steadier that remembrance, the more blending such as muddy water, honest such as simple, and solemn such as allows I am, and as a result the more natural I become. I call this returning to original self… the simple animal that I actually am.
Approaching life as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors only happens when my story is not propping up my self-identity. That is a somewhat fearsome mind-space to be in, which explains why we hang onto our knowledge, beliefs, preferences as much as we do. These touchstones help define who we are, and so losing them is a virtual death of self. Perhaps this is why Blending such as muddy water; tranquil such as the sea comes much easier with age. The older you become the closer to dying you realize you are. That realization can offer a type of windy as if without end sort of security and ‘self-confidence’, which is quite unknowable in one’s youth. The first four lines of Chapter 36 allude to this progression of self. Simply put, you can’t let go until you first begin, and we begin life by holding on.
Who can be muddy so as to calmly gently clear.
Who can be quiet so as to stirring gently live.
Who can be muddy so as to calmly gently clear. Who can be quiet so as to stirring gently live describes life balance—homeostasis—that I feel all animals experience and biologically strive to maintain. From a passive state springs forth an active state, and vice versa. For example, uncertainty primes the mind for certainty, and vice versa; hunger primes the body for food. This is what I call dynamic balance. Problems in life arise when we lose sense of the passive side and uncertainty side, and swing too far toward the other extremes… Then, gently live, and gently clear, are beyond reach.
Maintain this way, not desiring to be full.
He alone is not full, therefore able to conceal and yet newly become.
Maintain this way, not desiring to be full is similar to the importance of hunger. Living the cycle between being hungry and being full is true to our (and all life’s) evolutionary history. We didn’t evolve with unlimited access to food or to the other things that our desires hunger for. Succumbing to desires to be full can’t help but leave us feel discordant and out of balance with nature. This is subtle and so it becomes all too easy to indulge and remain on the full side of life’s equation. Thus, He prepares as if fording a river in winter; as if in fear of neighbors, becomes the only way to be able to conceal and yet newly become. Newly become happens naturally when you aren’t full of who you think you should be. The only way that can come about is if you truly realize you don’t know. And I might add, if you truly realize that neither does anyone else know!
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/N2nyE7rbXlI
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting