Translation
Bent follows whole, crooked follows straight,
Hollow follows filled, worn-out follows new.
Little follows satisfaction, much follows bewilderment.
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, for nothing under heaven is able to contend with him.
This is the ancient point of view: bent follows whole.
How can it be that emptiness speaks! Complete sincerity returns.
1) bent (crooked, wrong) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) complete (whole; make perfect), crooked (twist; treat unjustly) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) straight (upright; frank), 曲则全，枉则直，(qū zé quán, wăng zé zhí,)
2) hollow (low-lying) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) be full of (have a surplus of), shabby (worn-out; ragged) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) new (fresh). 洼则盈，敝则新 (wā zé yíng, bì zé xīn)
3) few (little; lack) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) get (obtain, satisfied, complacent), much (many; more) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) be puzzled (be bewildered; delude). 少则得，多则惑。(shăo zé dé, duō zé huò.)
4) <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) hold in the arms (hug; cherish) one (single; alone; whole; all) do (act; serve as; become; be; mean) land under heaven type (style; form> mood; mode). 是以圣人抱一，为天下式。(shì yĭ shèng rén bào yī, wéi tiān xià shì.)
5) no (not) self (oneself; certainly) see (catch sight of_ appear) happening (reason; cause; hence) bright (clear, distinct, honest); no (not) naturally (of course) happening (reason; cause; hence) clear (evident; conspicuous). 不自见故明；不自是故彰；(bù zì jiàn gù míng; bù zì shì gù zhāng;)
6) no (not) self (oneself; certainly) fell (cut down; attack) happening (reason; cause; hence) have (there is; exist) merit (exploit; achievement; result; work); no (not) self (oneself; certainly) pity (self-important; conceited; reserved) happening (reason; cause; hence) long (of long duration; regularly; forte). 不自伐故有功；不自矜故长；(bù zì fá gù yŏu gōng; bù zì jīn gù cháng;)
7) husband (man) only (alone) no (not) contend (vie; strive; argue; dispute), happening (reason; cause; hence) land under heaven no one (nothing) can (be able to) take part in (participate in) of contend (vie; strive; argue). 夫唯不争，故天下莫能与之争。(fū wéi bù zhēng, gù tiān xià mò néng yú zhī zhēng.)
8) ancient (age-old) of what is called (so-called): [ bent (crooked, wrong) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) complete (whole; make perfect) (者)] 古之所谓：「曲则全者」(gŭ zhī suŏ wèi: [qū zé quán zhĕ])
9) how can it be that void (emptiness) speech (word) ! sincere (honest;> really) complete (whole; make perfect)’ <conj.> and (yet, but) go back to (return; converge; come together) of. 岂虚言哉！诚全而归之。(qĭ xū yán zāi! chéng quán ér guī zhī.)
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Corrections?
None this time
Reflections:
Bent follows whole, crooked follows straight;
Hollow follows filled, worn-out follows new.
Little follows satisfaction, much follows bewildered.
Notice the order of how these play out. ‘B’ follows ‘A’. This portrays the circular process of nature a little better. D.C. Lau and others tend to translate this in a way that implies free will somewhat. “Bowed down then preserved”, i.e., if you do ‘A’ then you get ‘B’. This phrasing lends itself to seeing a reward at the end of the “bowed down” tunnel. Another time, in “A lot then perplexed” we see a downside to “A lot”. Nature is far more balanced than that! The Chinese word order using follows conveys the natural process more realistically, ‘B’ and ‘A’ (or yin and yang) are cyclical expression of the One. The Word for Word drill down helps deepen the view.
Take the Line 1 for example, : bent (crooked, wrong) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) complete (whole; make perfect). Translating it as Bent follows whole works, but so would wrong follows perfect. Putting it this way reminds me of chapter 2 in particular, All realizing goodness as goodness, no goodness already. We could easily substitute that word goodness with perfect, which gives us, All realizing perfect as perfect, wrong already.
The wise person uses this to hold the One, and models all under heaven.
When I intuitively sense both side of reality’s coin, hollow follows filled, little follows satisfaction, etc., life is profoundly more peaceful. I can patiently wait for the tide to turn, as it were. Conversely, when I get lost in the exigencies of the moment, stress rears its anxious head. Why do I get lost in the moment? Fear, plain and simple! Such panic never results in good outcomes, but the emotions do not know that; they only feel “fight or flight” impulsively! Of course, the fear I feel is my mind playing tricks on me — making mountains out of molehill. I mean, there is usually no bull elephant heading toward me. (That only occurred once while hitchhiking in Tanzania. No problem, I took cover in a culvert.)
The mind, thinking that it knows, gets me disconnected from the One, and, … not knowing this knowing is disease. Now we must ask, what is the One suppose to mean? God? Sure, but for me I sense the One as Mother Nature — the ‘big picture’. Here, life & death, pain & pleasure, gain & loss, etc., all hold equal footing in my awareness. Of course, if faced with actual death, pain, or loss, my equanimity declines — as it should! Here, my qualifier, “actual” requires deeper thought. If something only exists in my imagination, is it less actual? Yes and no. I experience it as real, but its reality is only a virtual reality. This fact offers me a way to lessen my disconnect from the One… somewhat. In short, if my story is drawing a fearsome picture, I have some hope of changing the story! When a real elephant is chasing me, any and all stories become irrelevant. I’ll just run!
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.
Here again, most translations get this backwards. Take for example, He does not attack himself for he has merit. D.C. Lau puts it as, He does not brag, and so has merit. This implies a free will type of control over your life, i.e., ‘If you don’t brag you will win merit’. A Symptoms Point Of View can help us look deeper. Accordingly, it is precisely because you experience a natural sense of merit that you feel no fear of being seen by other as without merit, which means you feel no need to brag in order to compensate. The interesting thing about fear is how it cuts both ways: fear drives us to attack; fear drives us to flee — “fight or flight”. (See Fear & Need Born in Nothing)
This is the ancient point of view: bent follows whole.
Think of it this way: silence follows speech just as wrong follows perfect, or yin follows yang. This is both philosophically true and literally true. When the mind is utterly focusing on one side, the side the emotions need, perception disconnects from the One. Chapter 2 pulls no punches: All under heaven realizing beauty as beauty, wickedness already. To ease this dilemma one needs to change up the story, and indeed the words from which the story is weaved.
The story is weaved from words, so believing what we think begins at that fundamental word level. The less reality I give to word meaning, the less I am able to believe in the story I weave from words. That takes me a step closer to learning the lesson in chapter 71: Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease.
This disease of believing what we think may be more an epidemic now that media plays such an all-encompassing role in mental life. To chapter 2 notes, Hence existence and nothing give birth to one another. It follows then; knowledge and ignorance give birth to one another. Yes, I know that is a difficult duality around which to get one’s head. We so much champion knowledge over ignorance!
How can it be that emptiness speaks! Complete sincerity returns.
When words fall silent, emptiness speaks. Only then can complete sincerity return. Emptiness correlates with silence, silence correlates with sincerity, and sincerity correlates with return. Does this ring true? Perhaps the only way to realize [we] don’t know is to deal with the disease at the word level. I found the correlation process helped to decrease significantly my belief in words. Diminishing my faith in words, especially those connected to certain subconscious biases, was not a ‘fun’ experience. Indeed, it was grueling at times, yet well worth the price. The process might work for you; give it a try, see Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations. Warning: The correlation process must be personally grueling to be effective.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
Not much to fix this time—punctuation and a minor word change-up on line 7.
Line 1-3: are a little odd. Lines 1 and 2 each contain two phrases, with the second loosely restating and perhaps pinning down the first. For example, ‘bent‘ and ‘crooked‘ are synonym-like. Taking this as a hint, I can see how ‘complete‘ and ‘straight‘ are supposed to describe each other in synonym-like fashion. The same goes for line 2: ‘hollow‘ classifies ‘shabby‘; ‘be full of‘ classifies ‘new‘. Of course, I don’t mean to say these are strict definitions; this is a Taoist point of view after all!
Line 3: certainly seems to breaks this formula. I mean ‘few‘ and ‘much‘ are just flat out antonyms… aren’t they? This may not matter all that much as each section still points out a dynamic, a ‘this follows that’.
The other oddity is ‘follows‘. This is zé (则), a conjunction used to express contrast with a previous sentence or clause; standard; norm; rule; to imitate; to follow; then; principle. I like to think of zé as connecting the preceding word to the following word in a kind of pseudo cause and effect way. Pseudo because it really goes deeper than that; they are complementary—more like giving birth to one another, than one causing the other. Now, here are these 3 lines:
(1) 曲则全，qū zé quán,
bent (crooked, wrong) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) complete (whole; make perfect),
枉则直，wăng zé zhí,
crooked (twist; treat unjustly) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) straight (upright; frank),
(2) 洼则盈，wā zé yíng,
hollow (low-lying) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) be full of (have a surplus of),
敝则新, bì zé xīn
shabby (worn-out; ragged) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) new (fresh).
(3)少则得，shăo zé dé,
few (little; lack) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) get (obtain, satisfied, complacent),
多则惑。duō zé huò.
much (many; more) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) be puzzled (be bewildered; delude).
Commentary:
Here is a good example of how it sometimes helps to know the other meanings of Chinese characters. For example, the string of statements beginning with He does not see his self for he is honest reverses the cause and effect point of view virtually all other translations. As I see it, it is because he is honest that he does not see his self. Other translations view it the other way around, like D.C.Lau’s, He does not show himself, and so is conspicuous. As I see it, this puts the cart before the horse.
Here is this line 5 if you wish to check this out:
(5) 不自见故明；不自是故彰；bù zì jiàn gù míng; bù zì shì gù zhāng;
no (not) self (oneself; certainly) see (catch sight of_ appear) happening (reason; cause; hence) bright (clear, distinct, honest); no (not) naturally (of course) happening (reason; cause; hence) clear (evident; conspicuous).
Personal experience has shown me over the years that the more honest I become, the less self I can see. In other words, increasing self-honesty results in Self (the ‘I am __(whatever)__’) approaching a vanishing point. Perhaps one day…poof it’ll be gone. Unlikely, of course, for thinking and self go hand in hand, and being human I’m not about to cease thinking, at least through my own volition. Yet, rigorous self-honesty diminishes the role thinking plays in my grasp of what is. Belief becomes Solemn that seems to allow; vanishing like ice that melts away.
What causes what is the $64 question; I think we’ve long had it backwards. Why? I suspect the latent need to have control over our destiny. The ideal of free will whether explicit (the Western view) or implicit (more the Eastern view) allows us to imagine that if He does not show himself , he will be all the more conspicuous.
The symptoms point of view suggests just the opposite is true: Those who feel less “conspicuous” struggle to find ways to “show themselves”. It is simply a matter of seeking balance. What I feel deep within myself I can’t help but express the other side outwardly. Likewise, if I feel insecure, I will boast to compensate; and if I feel secure, humility comes just as naturally. Any intention to cease boasting is simply contending with symptoms, not changing the underlying original cause of the boasting. That is beyond our control; hence the reluctance to see it this way, as a symptom.
I can’t emphasis enough how useful it is to finally see what causes what. Life becomes much simpler to understand. Although, perhaps not the ‘understanding’ we desire to see. Chapter 70 may speak to this: Our words are very easy to know, very easy to do. Under heaven none can know, none can do.
Suggested Revision:
Bent follows whole, crooked follows straight;
Hollow follows filled, worn-out follows new.
Little follows satisfaction, much follows bewildered.
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.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
I reckon another word for ‘the One‘ is ‘the circle’: No beginning, no end, goes round and does not weary. Any place you think you are ‘choosing’ on the circle brings you to the other side… Opps! As a consequence, being as hesitant and tentative as possible helps avoid unintended consequences. This situation parallels two forks I see in the path of life: short-term pain, long-term pleasure, versus short-term pleasure, long-term pain. In each case, one follows the other. By choosing the former, long-term pleasure follows the short-term pain. Folks who prefer to ‘pay upfront’ tend to choose this fork. Fortunately, paying up front becomes easier as you realize those are the rules of the way of heaven. (i.e., balance: where each side is ‘paid in full’ by the other).
Folks who feel they can ‘get in free’ tend to choose the later, opting for the pleasure first. They feel the short-cut is real; a free ride in life is possible; they can avoid the pain. I find this ‘get in free’ is one of life’s most compelling illusions (a bio-hoodwink). What is its purpose? Perhaps it serves a ‘survival of the fittest’ role. Certainly, there is a survival advantage for any animal that realize early on that there is more to life than meets the eye.
Another bio-hoodwink is the drive to contend. Contending tricks us into thinking (feeling actually) that if we just win the battle and vanquish our opponent, peace will reign. Certainly, peace returns, but not through winning any battle. Peace follows naturally. The illusion (hoodwink) lies in the feeling that winning and success bring (cause) security and peace. Sure, it will feel like we have won a skirmish here and there, and that keeps us motivated, driving us to contend until we achieve final success. As long as we feel success is possible we will continue to contend. Ironically, peace only comes after we surrender.
This is natures way and so we struggle; life is struggle – death is peace. However, this need not be as stressful as it often is. Believing one can actually win just increases stress. The advantage animals have over us is their inability to ‘believe’ (i.e., not to know yet to think that they know) they can win. They can only experience this hoodwink in the moment. I find that rationally knowing that winning is illusionary offsets this illusion a little, helping me to accomplish my private ends.
Know that winning is illusionary aids us in ‘taking the lower position‘ too. Although, it goes without saying that expecting to ‘excel in taking the lower position’ is really just putting yet another mask (a self righteous one) on the illusion of success. Taking the lower position is the opposite of action and success. Stillness is key. Ironically, and contrary to every fiber of common sense, profound passivity get the job done the best.