Translation
The five colors make people’s eyes blind,
The five sounds make people’s ears deaf,
The five taste make people’s mouths brittle,
Rushed hunting make people’s hearts go crazy.
Goods hard to come by make people behave harmfully.
Because of this, the wise person acts for the belly, not the eye,
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
1) five color (look; expression) command (order; make; cause) human (man; people) eye (item; look) blind, 五色令人目盲，(wŭ sè lìng rén mù máng,)
2) five sound (news; tidings; tone) command (order; make; cause) human (man; people) ear (on both sides) deaf, 五音令人耳聋，(wŭ yīn lìng rén ĕr long,)
3) five taste (flavor; smell) command (order; make; cause) human (man; people) mouth (opening; entrance) bright (clear; brittle, frank), 五味令人口爽，(wŭ wèi lìng rén kŏu shuăng,)
4) gallop to hunt (cultivate land) hunt command (order; make; cause) human (man; people) heart (mind; feeling; intention; core) issue (deliver) go crazy, 驰骋畋猎令人心发狂，(chí chĕng tián liè lìng rén xīn fā kuáng,)
5) hard to come by (rare) of goods (commodity; money) command (order; make; cause) human (man; people) go (prevail;; circulate; do) hinder (harm). 难得之货令人行妨。(nán dé zhī huò lìng rén xíng fang.)
6) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) sage (holy; sacred) human (man; people), do (act; serve as; become; be) belly (abdomen; stomach) no (not) do (act; serve as; become; be) eye (item; look), 是以圣人，为腹不为目，(shì yĭ shèng rén, wéi fù bù wéi mù,)
7) incident (happening; reason; hence) go (leave; remove) that (those; the other; another) take (get; seek; adopt) this. 故去彼取此。(gù qù bĭ qŭ cĭ.)
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month
(pandemic era)
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/vJ-T5Yqy5qk 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 five colors make people’s eyes blind.
The five sounds make people’s ears deaf.
The five tastes make people’s mouths brittle.
First, I have to ask myself what is it about colors, sounds, and tastes that’s problematic? I mean we’ve naturally evolved to perceive this sensory input, like all the other animals on the planet. Thought, being the one thing that separates us from all the other animals, must be the key to the problem here. The blinding effect must come from how deeply we attach ourselves—our story—to particular colors, sounds, and tastes.
This brings to mind Buddha’s observation mentioned in his 2nd Noble Truth, “The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things”. (See Buddha’s Four Noble Truths) Obviously, “things”, is much more than material stuff. It is also the thoughts, ideals and stories to which we “cleave” that augment our sense of self. Loving particular melodies, foods, or colors, helps bolster my self-identity. For example, if I love jazz, then that love becomes a defining aspect of my self. Likewise, detesting any particular sound, food, or color also helps reinforce my sense of self, i.e., “I am not those things”. What we love and what we hate becomes part of our identity, our self-narrative, and belief itself. See Belief: Are We Just Fooling Ourselves?
This ‘circling the wagons’ of self-identity hinders our ability to approach life spontaneously and fresh. Our loves and hates blind us to the deeper existential mystery of life. Instead of perceiving the world in its own right, we are blinded by the beliefs we hold and the judgments we make upon the world.
Of course, judgments by themselves are not the main problem. Indeed, survival for all animals depends on passing judgment on the external world. The problem lies in how we accumulate our judgments in memory and cleave to them as beliefs in our need to validate our illusion of self—our ego. This brings me to the profound wisdom of chapter 71, Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Alas, casting any shadow of doubt upon our cherished loves and hates—our judgments and beliefs—threatens the foundations of self-identity. Thus, it would seem that life-experience is the only path to realizing I don’t’ know. The longer we live, the more likely self-integrity has a chance to supplant self-identity.
Rushed hunting makes people’s hearts go crazy.
Goods hard to come by make people behave harmfully.
The very essence of survival rests upon every animals urge to ‘hunt and gather’. We innately see ‘the cup half empty’, no matter the level of abundance we have in life. The sense ‘more is better’ drives all life to act and survive. This instinct certainly begs the question, “How would any animal know when to stop or know when it had enough?” Chapter 46 says, Therefore, in being contented with one’s lot, enough is usually enough indeed, but this seems to put the cart before the horse. The hitch here is that feeling content is not a de fault instinct. At best, contentment is a short-lived period of tranquility until the next urge overrides contentment.
In the wild, natural competition and scarcity limit an animals ‘reach’… limits an animal’s ability to rushed hunting. One of civilization’s main purposes is to remove natural restrictions on human life. This allows Rushed hunting makes people’s hearts go crazy to come about. Of course, the rushed hunting is no longer just a pursuit of food, but rather a pursuit of anything we deem valuable. This easily leads to Goods hard to come by make people behave harmfully. The liberation from the limitations of our ancestral hunter-gatherer existence has opened a Pandora’s Box of surplus and “freedom”. (For deeper background, see The Tradeoff)
Because of this, the wise person acts for the belly, not the eye.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
The wise person acts for the belly, not the eye reminds me of the saying ‘Your eyes are bigger than your stomach’. Here, eye is describing our mind’s imagination. The virtual reality of imagination makes it extremely easy to see ourselves doing something, or to seeing other people doing something. But, when the rubber hits the road, we constantly fall short. Imagination has no natural limits set upon its reach. Only lifetime experience can temper and reign in those flights of fancy.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this. It helps to focus on the difference between ‘this’ and ‘that’. Our natural tendency to see the cup half empty locks us into survival’s hunt-and-gather role. Yet, this innate urge has none of the natural restraints that would be there in the wild. Simply put, we can go all out in our pursuit of an imagined THAT as we blindly skip over the current THIS. This is the finger pointing to our most personal inner reality. It is what is right here and now in your moment to moment, not the “that” over there that you are constantly chasing.
Ironically, as soon as we achieve a “that”, it becomes a “this” and off we go on the pursuit of the next “that” which promises to make our life whole. Conversely, the “this” of our lives is where the whole actually lies. We spend our lives chasing the illusion of a future “that” which promises to deliver us to the wholeness of “this”. For me, this parallels Theravada Buddism’s beginningless round of rebirths called the ‘Wheel of the round of rebirths’ (samsāracakka).
Consider, for example, how easy it is to get caught up in the desire to accomplish “that”, which ironically means we discount the lifetime of previous quests for “that” which have now become integral to our life’s “this”—our here and now. Always seeking “that” blinds us to the wealth of lifetime’s accumulation of “this”. Valuing the future “that” we are seeking can’t help but place our present moment of “this” in a less favorable light. Oddly, we easily end up completing with ourselves… where we are now vs. where we ideally wish to be, making for a ‘beginningless round of rebirths’.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/9bvcHCvJDEc
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Corrections?
None this time.
Reflections:
The five colors make people’s eyes blind.
The five sounds make people’s ears deaf.
The five tastes make people’s mouths brittle.
The end of the previous chapter [11], Hence, of having what is thought favorable, of the nothing think as the useful, supports the deaf and blind concern addressed here. When we focus on a narrow set of ‘favorables’, it blinds and deafens us to what lies beyond those favorites. Think of the horse fitted with blinders, i.e, Blinkers. Our ‘favorables’ become our ‘blinkers’.
The end of chapter 16 speaks to this bias of focus issue.
Impartial therefore whole, whole therefore natural,
Natural therefore the way.
The way therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself.
You can’t “nearly rise beyond oneself” when your self is cleaving tightly to its preferred things. This takes us back to Buddha’s Second Noble Truth, which says in part, “The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things”. This hints at the difficulty of freeing oneself from one’s “cleaving” to favorites.
Rushed hunting makes people’s hearts go crazy.
Goods hard to come by make people behave harmfully.
Buddha’s Second Truth also shows why we eagerly pursue Goods hard to come by. Such valuables bolster our need to preserve or enhance the illusion of self. Possessing goods hard to come by imparts the illusion that “I” the self, the ego, is particularly real and important. Oh, and by the way, goods hard to come by are both physical and mental.
It is all part of the hierarchical framework we now exist under, yet from which we desperately wish to free ourselves. The difficulty of cleaving less, or letting go of goods hard to come by, is that it comes down to feeling like virtual suicide. Simply put, cleaving less diminishes the illusion of self. We can’t just let go because Self insists on being – it’s the primal survival imperative. So we compromise and let go in ways in which we are able: charity, helping others, exercise, for example. We make ‘sacrifices’ where we can. (See The Tradeoff for more on the hierarchical framework we now exist under)
Because of this, the wise person acts for the belly, not the eye. This line points out the clear difference between practical survival need (belly) and desires (eye)… Need + thought = desire. Naturally, this brings to mind the problem chapter 71 points out… The disease of not realizing we don’t know. Thoughts feel so real, and we trust them implicitly from the moment we are able to form them. We believe what we think, think what we believe, and thus we easily ‘act for the eye, not the belly’.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this. For me that means, leave my trust in thought and take (accept) the organic need. More than anything else, that helps me act for the belly, not the eye.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
I added an ‘s’ to taste, make, and heart on line 3 and 4, and changed some commas to periods.
Commentary:
The first three lines of this chapter parallel Buddha’s 2nd Truth where he points out, “…The illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things. The desire to live for the enjoyment of self entangles us in a net of sorrows. Pleasures are the bait and the result is pain“. By “cleaving” to our personal aesthetic preferences(1) (color, music, food), we boost the illusion of self. This boomerangs… in that what we possess, possesses us in return. Narrowing the senses to prefer only what is pleasurable soon locks us into that pleasure… “and the result is pain”.
Naturally, all this only makes sense if you truly know what Buddha is saying. If not, then this chapter must surely falls on deaf ears. I mean, who doesn’t want goods hard to come by, or rushed hunting—or rather, in the modern context: shopping, eating, browsing the Internet.
In reading D.C. Lau’s translation, this good hard to come by serve to hinder his progress part stood out. What is the progress we “hinder”? To answer that, I have to ask myself what is my life’s core purpose. I’d say my ideal destination, from a Taoist point of view, is contentment… Being content is wealth and Knowing contentment, never dishonorable.Now, this doesn’t sound very virtuous at first, until you realize that finding contentment is the core biological imperative of all living things. We just err in its execution.
Much of youth is spent ‘hunting and gathering’, often rushed hunting (often felt as having fun), to find contentment. Views offered in scripture, like this one, originate ‘in the final analysis’ of countless generations of folk approaching the end of life. Nevertheless, youth cannot just flip some internal bio-switch and act for the belly, not the eye. Nor can they be truly taught, much to our chagrin. It evolves in a natural process alluded to in chapter 36,
Wisdom and graced are not learned, they are earned through suffering that “living for the enjoyment of self” inevitably brings. We can understand that this is true—that is the learning part. But, we earn the ‘gut’ knowing through our failure find happiness through pleasure, i.e., We only truly understand what we ‘gut’ know.
Acting for the belly, not the eye is finding in the present moment what others spend their lives hunting for. Acting for the eye is very much a function of our imagination, which often leads to difficulty, i.e., Realizing I don’t know is better; not knowing this knowing is dis-ease.
Suggested Revision:
The five colors make people’s eyes blind.
The five sounds make people’s ears deaf.
The five tastes make people’s mouths brittle.
Rushed hunting makes people’s hearts go crazy.
Goods hard to come by make people behave harmfully.
Because of this, the wise person acts for the belly, not the eye.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
(1) Clinging to aesthetic preferences runs counter to impartiality. Naturally, basic biology guarantees we will feel preferences in most every aspect of life… to a degree! It is in the degree that this comes back to bite us. Greater impartiality helps avoid that nasty boomerang effect of our actions.
Note: Rash actions and rushed hunting have much in common.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
Our mind’s eye gives us a superior ability to solve problems. Ironically, the source of some of our greatest problems originates in our mind’s eye! Our expectations channel what we expect to see; our expectations drive what we think we see. Like a horse wearing blinders to avoid being spooked by things moving in its peripheral vision, conforming to cultural norms helps us avoid being spooked by what exists ‘outside the box’.
This is no accident. Cultural ‘blinders’ are vital for large populations of people to maintain group identity, a sense of shared cultural connection. All the blind, deaf, hobbled and crazy effects are the price we pay (the tradeoff , the unintended consequences). Of course, this results in some ‘positive’ feedback. In other words, the blind, deaf, hobbled and crazy effects we feel often narrow our cultural blinders even further. We become neurotic. To undo that damage, the wise person acts for the belly, not the eye.
Acting for the belly, however, need not mean renouncing those tastes, colors, sounds, goods hard to come by, etc. These are actually symptoms rather than causes. Why we desire the tastes, colors, sounds, goods hard to come by is the deeper question.
Again, we feel safer in the solidarity shared norms make possible. This physiological culture fortress keeps the wilderness at bay, initially. The downside of any fortress is that it also serves as an excellent prison. The final irony: The more we want to escape its walls, the higher the walls become. Bottom line: it is having too many desires for the safety and comfort that these five promise, that become the prison. Escape is simple: Therefore the sage desires not to desire, And does not value goods which are hard to come by.
Now, this begs the question, how? As they say, nature abhors a vacuum. You can’t just rid yourself of desires, now can you? You must replace the five tastes, colors, sounds, goods hard to come by with ‘something else’. Alas, only by letting go of what we cling to, can make room for that ‘something else’ for which we yearn. Usually our life’s circumstances bring about the weakness and the loss required to make room. In the meantime there is always this: I do my utmost to attain emptiness.