Translation
The greatest heights exist below what we realize,
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
Next comes what we bully.
When trust is lacking, there is no trust.
Long drawn out speech is noble,
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
The people all say, “I am natural”.
1) highest (greatest; excessively; too) upper (higher; superior; better), below (under; lower; inferior) know (realize; notify) have (exist) of. 太上，下知有之。(tài shàng, xià zhī yŏu zhī.)
2) his (her; its; their; that; such) order (sequence; next) parent (relative; intimate) <conj.> and (yet, but) reputation (fame; praise) of. 其次亲而誉之。(qí cì qīn ér yù zhī.)
3) his (her; its; their; that; such) order (sequence; next) fear (respect) of. 其次畏之。(qí cì wèi zhī.)
4) his (her; its; their; that; such) order (sequence; next) insult (bully) of. 其次侮之。(qí cì wŭ zhī.)
5) true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) not foot (enough; ample) here (herein; how; why), have (exist) no (not) true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) here (herein; how; why). 信不足焉，有不信焉。(xìn bù zú yān, yŏu bù xìn yān.)
6) long-drawn-out (leisurely) ! his (her; its; their; that; such) expensive (precious; noble) speech (word; say; speak), 悠兮其贵言，(yōu xī qí guì yán.)
7) merit (achievement; skill; work) accomplish (succeed; become) thing (business; trouble) satisfy (fulfil), 功成事遂，(gōng chéng shì suì,)
8) the common people all (each and every) say (call; name; meaning; sense) I at ease (natural; free from affectation). 百姓皆谓我自然。(băi xìng jiē wèi wŏ zì rán.)
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month
(pandemic era)
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/snzB46-wF6E 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?
I may need to change line 6. Currently it says, Long drawn out speech is noble. I notice that some people take this to mean a long string of chatter. I’d change Long drawn out to leisurely, which is another synonym for the actual Chinese character. Other synonyms for Leisurely include relaxed, calm, even paces… all of which parallel Long drawn out.
Reflections:
The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
Next comes what we bully.
I notice how our species has an innate tendency be attracted by, and attach importance to, The greatest heights, whether that be tall people, mountains, skyscrapers… etc. Similarly, we attach importance to, and are attracted by, other superlatives like great size, depth, intelligence, wealth, knowledge… you name it. The greatest heights lie below what we realize attempts to open our eye to the vast world of the unnoticed, the mystery… the profound sameness.
This is similar to how chapter 40’s, In the opposite direction, of the way moves, points out how our innate biases—‘normal direction’—don’t really accurately describe how the way moves… how nature moves. Our profound bias to ‘size’ and ‘height’ is probably a result of our transition from an egalitarian hunter-gatherer social structure to a very hierarchical civilized social structure . (See Taoist Thought) We can’t help but view life in a much more hierarchical way than our ancestors did. And that does nothing to enhance our peace of mind!
I suppose the next three lines lay out our emotional priorities. We are drawn to what we praise most readily. Next likely comes what we fear, and finally comes what we bully as our ‘last resort’, which I suspect results from a deeper aspect of praise and fear, in some way or another. And certainly, bullying others raises our status relative to the one we are bullying. Being a hyper-empathic species, praise of others or even of self is certainly a prime characteristic.
Think how many people so easily fall under the sway of charismatic leaders… singers, prophets, teachers, kings… this hierarchical leaning list is long indeed, and usually symbolizing one greatest height or another.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith.
When I’m fully connected to my action, my faith is total—I am one with my action. When I’m wavering, weary, or otherwise disconnected from my actions, there is no fait. One is either on or off. There is really no in-between when it comes to one’s integrity. Thus, ‘trying’ is simply when there is no faith, but rather an intension to ‘find faith’. I suppose second-guessing one’s self happens when there is no faith, which I would feel is actually positive at that moment. If I lack faith in what I doing, it always turns out best if I take time to second-guess myself. As chapter 71 reminds us… Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Certainly, this means to be cautious about placing too much faith in thoughts and beliefs… see Belief: Are We Just Fooling Ourselves?
Long drawn out speech is noble,
The other synonym for Long drawn out is leisurely which may be the better word to use here. It appears that people can easily interpret long drawn out speech to be someone just chattering on endlessly, which doesn’t feel that noble. However, leisurely (relaxed, mellow, calm) speech comes across as natural balanced speech, and not speech driven by some emotional agenda or cause. Long drawn out speech is noble is natural speech without artifice.
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
This reminds me of the eight-fold path laid out in Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, beginning with the Forth Truth… “There is salvation for him whose self disappears before truth, whose will is bent on what he ought to do, whose sole desire is the performance of his duty. He who is wise will enter this path and make an end to suffering”.
When my actions mirror what I perceive to be my duty, what I ought to do, my life feels fulfilling. The merit lies in how closely my actions align with my duty and what I innately feel I ought to do. If there is no daylight between my duty and my actions, then I feel Meritorious accomplishment… without any need to have others acknowledge this. True merit is internal and extremely ephemeral… as chapter 9 puts it, Meritorious deeds that satisfy oneself recede; This is the way of nature. Chapter 22 describes what occurs in our psyche when we do what we ought to do… He does not attack himself for he has merit; he is not self important for he endures. We only attack ourselves when faith is lacking. Chapter 34 and 77 speak to qualities of genuine merit… Meritorious accomplishment, yet anonymous and Meritorious deeds result, yet not dwelled within.
I suppose the modern term for this integrity-of-being is called living one’s authentic self. Of course, “living one’s authentic self” opens itself up to skepticism when it is not more defined. Without a deeper definition, it is just a slogan.
The people all say, “I am natural”.
Today I discovered two ways to see this. I have always thought of this as meaning the people regard themselves as natural which still makes sense, I feel. Importantly, I added those quote marks, which may bias the view toward how the people regard themselves. The original Chinese has no quote marks.
Take away the quote marks, and this can easily also mean that the people will regard one who fulfills the criteria laid out in this chapter as being natural. In other words, if you live with personal integrity, most of the world will see you as having integrity… of being natural in the best sense of the word.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/6KTKKZtzEis
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 greatest heights lie below what we realize.
The sky overhead, whether pitch black, starlit, or brightly blue, beckons us, almost instinctively, to look upward. The sky above is simple and mostly peaceful where as the earth below is a mixed bag of rewards and dangers. Thus, it is not surprising that above is venerated while below is held in low regard. With civilization and its hierarchical framework, upward feels even more ‘superior’. Where else would a ‘hell’ exist but downward below?
‘The greatest heights lie below what we realize’ takes a poke at the hierarchical lens through which we view life. In other words, what we realize arises mostly through the cognitive framework we cultivate from infancy. This framework filters perception in that we learn early on to judge the world in terms of ‘good’, ‘above’, and other positives vs. ‘bad’, ‘below’, and other negatives.
‘The greatest heights lie below what we realize’ hints at the ultra mundane, the magic and marvel of the unnoticed and under appreciated constant non-polar essence of ‘the way’, so to speak. (For more on below, see Tangents below.)
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
I’m sorry Lao Tzu. I prefer to put fear as that which comes Next. In addition, from fear (and its softer side, respect) arises praise. Praise is a way for the mind to turn one’s sense of awe into awesome instead of awful. We praise what serves our hopes, dreams, and values. Praise is a very personal projection of one’s overall life agenda, while fear is an even deeper projection of one’s survival agenda. Fear is where the rubber hits the road.
Next comes what we bully.
Praise and its counterpart blame are the source spring for bullying. We tend to bully whatever factors we blame for the problems in life, especially when our efforts to win out fail. As chapter 38 hints, Superior etiquette acts but when none respond, Normally roles up its sleeves and throws away. Certainly, bullying is often not overt, yet it is genuine even when unnoticed. For example, passing judgment easily becomes just another subtle form of bullying.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith.
This is the first time in a long time I feel like using another word to convey the meaning better. Now it is the word faith. Line 5’s literal rendition of this line is: true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) not foot (enough; ample) here (herein; how; why), have (exist) no (not) true (confidence; trust; faith; believe in) here (herein; how; why). 信不足焉，有不信焉。
The problem with faith is that the word plays such a large role in Western religion… “Ye of little faith” etc. Confidence and trust have a more neutral connotation. Oh, I see I did change it to trust for the online version, but the print version is still faith. Should I change that, or leave it as an example of the need to examine the other meanings given for the Chinese character involved?
Long drawn out speech is noble,
I notice that when I am most sincere and ‘in the moment’ with what I’m saying, my speech becomes a more long drawn out speech. When thought is touching the ‘eternal present’, speech can’t help but be long and drawn out. Conversely, when I am relying on memory or speaking from emotion, speech flows quickly. Such speech is always dregs from the past. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with that naturally. It just helps to see things as they are. This helps inoculate me from wild goose chasing temptations.
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
This is not necessarily saying that meritorious accomplishment is a ‘good’ thing, especially in light of chapters 16’s Devote effort to emptiness, sincerely watch stillness. Personally, I find the pursuit of accomplishment, meritorious or not, as a futile act. Giving myself to the work, the moment, and the process is the key to fulfillment. I can spend decades on the process and never accomplish the end I seek, yet if ‘process’ and ‘moment’ are paramount, then my effort will not be in vain — just the opposite. You could say, ‘accomplishing the moment’ is all that is truly fulfilling.
The people all say, “I am natural”.
The humbleness of simply being aligns with all of nature. Nature is without affectation. Honestly, without affectation is perhaps more precise than the current word, natural. Natural is without affectation, or “self so”, (自然 zìrán) to put it most literally! Natural like faith, comes with a lot of cultural baggage. Shall I swap out natural for without affectation?
Tangents
The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
The flow of one’s life is as the flow of water.
Water takes its character from circumstances and gravity. Gravity pulls water toward the sea, and the circumstances of the land determine its characteristics at any given moment, from a gentle flow to a roaring rush.
One’s life takes its character from circumstances and the ‘gravitational pull’ of one’s genetics. Genetics pulls us through life to ‘the Great Sea’ below that people call death. The particular circumstances present at our birth and throughout our life determine our life’s characteristics at any given moment, from a gentle sigh of relief to a roaring outburst of fear, anger or angst.
Naturally, ego feels and thinks otherwise; it has its illusion of a self to maintain. For the self, its greatest heights lie above. Self needs to feel in control and capable of rising above to reach whatever Promised Land it imagines.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
I adjusted some of the punctuation—the easy part. Now to wade into the deep. As is often the case, I would do more, but I don’t know how. Language is limited. Take line 1 for example. The greatest heights lie below what we realize. The literal, word for word is: highest (greatest; excessively; too) upper (higher; superior; better), below (under; lower; inferior) know (realize; notify) have (exist) of. (太上, 下知有之).
I don’t see any other way to word it without losing the core meaning. It can help to change the context a little. For example, we tend to more focused on the future, and more blind to the past. We’re not reflective enough; “those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it” speak to this. Borrowing from this chapter, an apt parallel would be, The greatest future lies behind what we realize.
Lines 2,3,4 all begin with ‘Next’. This gives the impression of hierarchical sequence, giving greater emphasis to praise than fear, and greater emphasis to fear than bully. I don’t see it that way, but I don’t know any way to write the horizontal view I see. If anything, fear precedes everything—even line 1’s statement. In other words, I see fear as the underlying impetus that drives the rest. You could say that praise is the positive branch and bully is the negative branch of fear. The actual character for Next is cì (次) order; sequence; second; next; second-rate; inferior; <chem.> hypo-.
Line 5 hinges on how one interprets the central character, xìn (信) which means: true; confidence; trust; faith; believe; profess faith in; believe in; at will; at random; evidence; letter; message; information. The initial meanings feel most relevant, but it still hinges on how you interpret these words (true; confidence; trust; faith; believe). Part of me wants to pick true for that is the most precise, i.e., it is either true or not true. It can’t be half-true, or can it? What about half-truths? I see half-truths as merely a situation where some aspects of something are true and others are not true.
Anyway, I’ll replace the current trust with faith. I realize that trust is often connected to money and worldly things. Faith feels broader and deeper, as in spiritual faith, or as in losing faith in your politicians. It is not that you don’t trust them; you just trust them to be human. 😉
Commentary:
I already made commentary on lines 1-4 in the issues section above. Looking ‘below‘ and ‘behind’ allow us to see so much more of what lies in the greatest heights above and ahead. It seems an odd thing, but less so if viewed as a kind of “circle of reality”. Look behind and you see ahead; look below and you see above. However, it doesn’t work the other way around, i.e., look ahead and you can’t see behind; look above and you can’t see below. Perhaps that is because time flows in only one direction—backwards oddly enough. Only we are such suckers for energy (the bio-hoodwink) that we look to its direction—ahead—for understanding where we ‘are’. Enough of such crazy talk (Straight and honest words seem inside out).
The greatest heights lie below what we realize, so what else can we do but act out of feeling – emotion. The praise, fear, bullying, are all symptomatic of that which we can’t realize.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith is helpful to know. Faith is like a switch; it is either on or off. Anything in between is more like a hope and wish for faith, although that hope can easily pass for faith I suppose.
D.C. Lau’s translation, ‘When there is not enough faith, there is lack of good faith’ misses a deeper point by ‘over translating’ (i.e., making the English poetic). The most literal would be ‘true not enough here, exist no true here’ (信不足焉, 有不信焉). Again, the key word here is xin (信) true; confidence; trust; faith; believe in. Think of it this way. If you had any lack of faith about the direction your body would go when you rolled out of bed, you’d have no confidence. You would be frozen, unable to roll out of bed for fear of flying upward to the stratosphere instead of down to the floor. Faith is a very, very fragile condition. Once broken, it is extremely difficult to reinstate.
I see the last three lines as a whole. When ‘people’ employ long drawn out speech instead of impulsive reactive speech; when ‘people’ feel fulfilled through meritorious accomplishment, they feel most natural.
Suggested Revision:
The greatest heights lie below what we realize.
Next comes what we praise.
Next comes what we fear.
Next comes what we bully.
When faith is lacking, there is no faith.
Long drawn out speech is noble,
Meritorious accomplishment is fulfilling,
The people all say, “I am natural”.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
I’m departing a bit from the traditional interpretation again. There is a cultural tendency to ‘follow the leader’. Because we’ve ‘always seen’ something a certain way in the past drives us to maintain that tradition going forward. While that’s often wise, if one wishes to see ‘outside the box’, it helps to be not religiously bound to the view ‘always seen’ from inside the box. Each time I return to a chapter, I attempt to see what I’ve not seen before – to set ‘always’ aside and read between the lines. I feel the following translation /interpretation is faithful to the core meaning, though not in the traditional way. It is a matter of perspective. Anyway, you be the judge…
In Lau’s version, best of all rulers is but another word for God, in my view. Love, praise, fear, and take liberties (bullying) are various ways people treat ‘God’. On a personal level, this describes the various ways ‘I’ can manage ‘my’ life. I use ‘I’ and ‘my’ tenuously for these are nonsensical at their core (but, then what isn’t?). How one manages life hinges on one’s sense of responsibility, guilt, morality, desires, pride, fear, etc. This results in two sides of a mysterious coin: some equate God (the greatest heights) with ‘self’ (‘God-self’), while others see ‘self’ (ego) as an impediment to the greatest heights.
Lau’s version talks of ‘when his task is accomplished‘. Accomplish what? Letting life’s ‘accomplishments‘ happen naturally means giving up responsibility; I can’t take credit, nor can I receive blame. I become an integral part of whatever happens no matter what I ‘do’. I can do nothing, or rush about and meddle in everything. Yet, neither makes a difference when viewed from the greatest heights. What is different, however, is how I end up feeling as time unwinds events before me. Realizing that I can’t truly decide (i.e., free will) is very peaceful. Indeed, I always end up doing what needs doing anyway, regardless. I only lose this fulfilling sense of meritorious accomplishment when I forget what I realize to be so. Why do I forget something so integral to knowing contentment? Nature can’t allow living beings to feel that content. After all, life must push back on entropy to survive.
This chapter gives good guidance for parenting, and for encounters with wild animals. Being a shadowy presence (lying below what we realize) works wonders. Many would probably wonder how this keeps the kids and wild animals in line? Why do they not take liberties? Kids and animals alike are able to see past cultural pretence into one’s core nature. It instills respect (praise and fear) when all they see is a ‘shadowy presence‘ (i.e., the below what we realize). Otherwise, they simply respond to what they see; this is often the duplicity of conflicting needs and fears we of less maturity struggle to maintain.