Translation
Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue.
Inferior virtue never deviates from virtue, and so is without virtue.
Superior virtue: without doing, and without believing.
Inferior virtue: without doing, yet believing.
Superior benevolence: doing, yet without believing.
Superior justice: doing and believing.
Superior ritual: doing and when none respond,
Normally roles up sleeves and throws.
Hence, virtue follows loss of way.
Benevolence follows loss of virtue.
Justice follows loss of benevolence.
Ritual follows loss of justice.
Ways of chaos follow loss of loyalty and thinning faith in ritual.
Foreknowledge of the way, magnificent yet a beginning of folly.
The great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin.
Dwells in the true, not in the magnificent.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
1) upper (higher; superior) virtue (moral character; heart) no (not) virtue (moral character; heart) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) have (exist) virtue (moral character; heart). 上德不德是以有德。(shàng dé bù dé shì yĭ yŏu dé.)
2) below (down; inferior) virtue (moral character; heart) no (not) lose (deviate from the normal) virtue (moral character; heart) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) nothing (without) virtue (moral character; heart). 下德不失德是以无德。(xià dé bù shī dé shì yĭ wú dé.)
3) upper (higher; superior) virtue (moral character; heart) nothing (without; not) do (act as; be, mean; support) <conj.> and (yet, but) nothing (without) think (believe; consider). 上德无为而无以为。(shàng dé wú wéi ér wú yĭ wéi.)
4) below (down; under; inferior; next) virtue (moral character; heart) nothing (without) do (act as; be, mean; support) <conj.> and (yet, but) have (exist) think (believe; consider). 下德无为而有以为。(xià dé wú wéi ér yŏu yĭ wéi.)
5) upper (higher; superior) benevolence (kindheartedness; humanity; sensitive) do (act as; be, mean; support) of <conj.> and (yet, but) nothing (without) think (believe; consider). 上仁为之而无以为。 (shàng rén wéi zhī ér wú yĭ wéi.)
6) upper (higher; superior) justice (righteous; equitable; relationship; meaning) do (act as; be, mean; support) of <conj.> and (yet, but) have (exist) think (believe; consider). 上义为之而有以为。(shàng yì wéi zhī ér yŏu yĭ wéi.)
7) upper (higher; superior) ceremony (rite; courtesy; etiquette) do (act as; be, mean; support) of <conj.> and (yet, but) no one (nothing; none; no) of use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) answer (respond; agree (to do sth.); should), 上礼为之而莫之以应，(shàng lĭ wéi zhī ér mò zhī yĭ yīng,)
8) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) push up one’s sleeves and bare one’s arms (in excitement or agitation) <conj.> and (yet, but) throw (toss; cast; throw away; cast aside) of. 则攘臂而扔之。(zé răng bì ér rēng zhī.)
9) hence (therefore; consequently) lose (let slip; deviate from the normal) road (way, principle; speak; think) <conj.> and (yet, but) after that (then) virtue. 故失道而后德。(gù shī dào ér hòu dé.)
10) lose (deviate from the normal) virtue (moral character; heart) <conj.> and (yet, but) after that (then) benevolence (kindheartedness; humanity; sensitive). 失德而后仁。(shī dé ér hòu rén.)
11) lose (deviate from the normal) benevolence (kindheartedness; humanity; sensitive) <conj.> and (yet, but) after that (then) justice (righteous; equitable; relationship; meaning). 失仁而后义。(shī rén ér hòu yì.)
12) lose (deviate from the normal) justice (righteous; equitable; relationship; meaning) <conj.> and (yet, but) after that (then) ceremony (rite; courtesy; etiquette). 失义而后礼。(shī yì ér hòu lĭ.)
13) husband (man) ceremony (rite; courtesy; etiquette) (者) loyal (honest) true (confidence; trust; faith; believe) of thin (weak; infertile; poor) <conj.> and (yet, but) in a mess (disorder; chaos) of road (way, principle; speak; think). 夫礼者忠信之薄而乱之首。(fū lĭ zhĕ zhōng xìn zhī báo ér luàn zhī shŏu.)
14) front (forward; before) know (knowledge) (者), road (way, principle; speak; think) of magnificent (prosperous; flourishing; best part) <conj.> and (yet, but) foolish (stupid; make a fool of; fool) of beginning (start;> only then). 前识者，道之华而愚之始。(qián shí zhĕ, dào zhī huá ér yú zhī shĭ.)
15) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) true man (real man), get along (manage; > dwell; live) his (its, he, it, that; such) thick (deep; kind), no (not) dwell (live; store up) his (its, he, it, that; such) thin (flimsy; weak). 是以大丈夫，处其厚，不居其薄。(shì yĭ dà zhàng fu, chŭ qí hòu, bù jū qí báo.)
16) get along (manage; > dwell; live) his (its, he, it, that; such) true (real; honest; fact), no (not) dwell (live; store up) his (its, he, it, that; such) magnificent (prosperous; flourishing; best part). 处其实，不居其华。(chŭ qí shí, bù jū qí huá.)
17) hence (therefore; consequently) go (remove) that (those; the other; another) take (get; aim at; seek; assume) this. 故去彼取此。(gù qù bĭ qŭ cĭ.)
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Corrections?
None this time.
YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/LuyVIP-0yf0 is the link to the complete video recording of our monthly Sunday meeting. For the nicely edited version, go to Kirk Garber’s YouTube channel. The edited version comes in two parts: The first and shorter Commentary part begins with a chapter reading followed by attendees’ commentary, if any. The second and longer Open Discussion part offers attendees’ observations on how the chapter relates to their personal experience.
Reflections:
Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue.
The last line of chapter 78, Straight and honest words seem inside out, sheds light on the first line of this chapter. I assume this literal wording is a bit obscure as it should be. D.C. Lau’s wording is clearer: Straightforward words seem paradoxical. Saying that Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue challenges the very meaning of virtue… and rightfully so!
Much of our existential difficulty stems from taking the words we use to think about life at face value. We trust that words mean what they mean, and fail at the most fundamental level to challenge such meaning. As chapter 71 bluntly states, Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. On the surface, “know” applies to the knowledge we think we know, but more fundamentally, it applies to the underlying blind trust we place in the discrete words themselves. After all, we build our structures of belief out of the word ‘bricks’ instilled in us from infancy. To top it off, emotion intimately influences word meaning. That means, ultimate meaning is essentially irrational. Correlations can help turn this around somewhat. See Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations.
Inferior virtue never deviates from virtue and so is without virtue.
Superior virtue never acts and never believes.
Inferior virtue never acts yet believes.
Superior benevolence acts yet never believes.
Superior justice acts and believes.
Superior etiquette acts but when none respond,
Normally roles up its sleeves and throws away.
I read these lines as all attempting to soften the hard meaning we ascribe to these key words: virtue, benevolence, justice, etiquette. For example, Superior virtue never acts and never believes. This describes the natural behaviors that exist apart from any belief held to back them up, i.e., never believes. All animals, including human, experience this natural, intuitive action. Conversely, Inferior virtue never acts yet believes. This outlines the nature of hypocrisy. We believe in certain virtues, yet our actions never fully conform to those virtues. It is akin to living a lie, I suppose. Without belief there is no lie.
Hence, Virtue follows loss of way.
Benevolence follows loss of virtue.
Justice follows loss of benevolence.
Ritual follows loss of justice.
Ways of chaos follow loss of loyalty and thinning faith in ritual.
These middle lines (9 to 13) succinctly describe the way nature actually works. Nature abhors a vacuum sums it up. When the way is lost, virtue fills the ensuing vacuum. Simple examples of this are the laws that govern society. Stop signs are set up when drivers become careless. Traffic lights are set up when stop signs lose effectiveness. Police forces are set up when people lose social cohesion and mutual respect.
Instinct tends to make us approach life in a more pro-active way. Our eyes look ahead… literally and figuratively. We look forward to goals and seek to achieve them. Thus, by the same token, we fear loss and failure. We trust and believe in the ‘future’. Not surprisingly, nature works just the opposite of how we assume it does. Chapter 40 gives us a wonderful clue as to what is actually happening.
All living creatures, including us, react to loss. Our actions and behaviors are symptoms of what we deeply feel missing. The simplest form of this is how we react to feeling hunger… we seek food. The emptiness we feel within pushes us to ‘hunt and gather’… Having is born in nothing, as chapter 40 concludes. This is why I strive to view every angle of life from a symptoms point of view. What I observe ‘out there’ is only the tip of the iceberg—a symptom of a much deeper underlying reality. This point of view connects me much closer to life than I would otherwise be. (See Symptoms Point Of View)
Foreknowledge of the way, magnificent yet a beginning of folly.
The great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin.
Dwells in the true, not in the magnificent.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
It can help to think of foreknowledge as any moment beyond the eternal present moment of now. We are innately forward leaning and out to survive, ‘hunt and gather’ so to speak. Thus, we fail to live life totally in the present. While this is probably true of all living things, it is profoundly true for humans because we think and so are capable of foreknowledge. And as chapter 71 observes, our certainty in our knowledge is our disease. We are lured toward our magnificent visions of our life’s next attraction. We look forward, expect, hope, wish, desire… all aimed at future outcomes.
Dwelling in the thick and true is maintaining a deep connection to the eternal present, and whatever sense of the previous ‘presents’ that can inform our life’s direction. I always say, stupid is not the mistakes I make, it is continually repeating those mistakes. The more I Dwell in the thick and true the less stupid I am. That means always keeping one eye on where I’ve been, as it were.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
This is right here, right now. That is over there, later somewhere.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
Lines 3-8: I saw poetic improvements to make in these lines today. Nothing substantial in the meaning, mind you, only in the reading. Of course, ‘the reading’ is substantial in its own right I suppose; it it doesn’t read well the meaning is lost. On the other hand, with the Tao Te Ching in particular, if it reads a little quirky it can loosen up thinking. That encourages the mind to look a little deeper.
Commentary:
Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue speaks to why Chuang Tzu had such a problem with morality. Morality as an ideal sounds good on the face of it, until we consider chapter two.
All under heaven realizing beauty as beauty, wickedness already.
All realizing goodness as goodness, no goodness already.
Morality as an ideal sounds good on the face of it, until we consider chapter two, 2. Morality is what we desire, especially in other people and for society in general. The question is, does promoting an ideal influence reality? It may, although not necessarily in the direction we think and wish. That is the irony of morality. The ideal of morality, never deviating from virtue, is more likely to be a clever cognitive curtain to hide behind.
In other words, When intelligence increases, there is great falseness, or as D.C. Lau put it, When cleverness emerges there is great hypocrisy. Ideals are a way we escape facing ourselves honestly. Instead we make up a narrative (story) that suits our needs and fears. The result: we spiral down in the descending order described here.
The urge to act is really a symptom of dwelling in the thin and the magnificent. Of course, urges to act are normal animal instincts. It is thinking that allows dwelling. The promise of the future pulls us away from the thick and true of the present-moment and off we go on the next cognitive wild goose chase. The most ironic part of this natural hoodwink is how we are chasing after the promise of a magnificent present-moment to come. Yet, the present-moment — Now — is simply the present-moment of some past promise. ‘Now’ is the fruit of yesterdays flower… Hence the man of large mind abides in the thick not in the thin, in the fruit not in the flower.
Justice follow loss of benevolence.
Ritual follows loss of justice:
Justice and Rituals (D.C. Lau’s rectitude and rites) appear to me to be symptoms of our loss of intimate long-term ancestral tribal relationships. In the wild, there are no laws other than natural law. Laws are the result (symptom) of the breakdown of natural justice. Ritual is the result of the inconsistency (hypocrisy) laws embody, i.e., our ‘when all else fails just do what you are told’ approach to civilized life.
Now, this human dilemma is certainly not new. I reckon this began when we ‘got kicked out of Eden’, i.e., the dis-ease of thinking that we know. See Are you out of touch with nature? for more on this ‘dis-ease’. (Finding Your Original Self, and Counterbalancing I.Q. also speak to this dilemma.)
Codification of justice and rituals are symptoms of deficit, failure and loss. Indeed, everything you are aware of can be seen as a symptom of some need, which in turn is symptomatic of some shortfall, failure or loss. The advantage of considering the content our perception as a symptom of need and fear (of failure and loss) is that by doing so it becomes much easier to Realize I don’t know… (D.C. Lau’s To know yet to think that one does not know is best). Rather than being a complete puppet on biology’s string, you can at least look up and become more aware of the puppeteer, Mother Nature.
Suggested Revision:
Superior virtue is not virtuous, and so has virtue.
Inferior virtue never deviates from virtue and so is without virtue.
Superior virtue never acts and never believes.
Inferior virtue never acts yet believes.
Superior benevolence acts yet never believes.
Superior justice acts and believes.
Superior etiquette acts but when none respond,
Normally roles up its sleeves and throws away.
Hence, Virtue follows loss of way.
Benevolence follows loss of virtue.
Justice follows loss of benevolence.
Ritual follows loss of justice.
Ways of chaos follow loss of loyalty and thinning faith in ritual.
Foreknowledge of the way, magnificent yet a beginning of folly.
The great man dwells in the thick, not in the thin.
Dwells in the true, not in the magnificent.
Hence, he leaves that and takes this.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
Much of this chapter supports my so-called ‘symptoms’ theory of reality. Briefly stated: What we see and think are real in the world are actually symptoms (effects) of underlying – normally opposite – causes(1). So, for example, the reason a man of the lowest virtue never strays from virtue [is because ] he is without virtue. The whole sequence below shows a descending chain of causation: Virtue follows loss of way; Benevolence follows loss of virtue; Justice follow loss of benevolence; Ritual follows loss of justice. We are biologically ‘hoodwinked’ to deal with external symptoms and overlook underlying causes. Our innate incentive to ponder causation and watch these teaming creatures return to their separate roots is fairly weak. All in all, life is easier to manage when I know (remember) I’m seeing symptoms, and not ‘the real thing’. Whenever I lose sight of this ‘secret’ I am led off onto one wild goose chases after another (i.e., those by-paths people prefer). Needless to say, I treasure being as mindful of this as possible.
‘Abiding in the fruit not in the flower‘ describes one of the more tragic sides of life. We have the greatest difficulty appreciating the fruit of this moment. Instead, we hold out for tomorrow’s fruit promised in the flowers of our dreams. Naturally, instinct drives all life to keep looking ahead in the scramble for survival. The hunter gatherer has to always be searching for his next meal. Our difficulty lies in our ability to move out of ‘now’ into a foreknowledge of tomorrow. Our mind easily dwells in the thin, whereas non-thinking animals have no alternative but to be grounded, dwelling in the thick of the present. Turning back to be in the thick of it all is essential for apes who think.
(1) Confounding our perception are also the projections of our own needs and fears into our thinking. What a messy affair! The best way I’ve found, so far, to untangle this is through correlations.
Note: The term ‘without doing‘ (wu wei) used below is a core Taoist view of human conduct that lets things takes their own natural course, e.g., One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone.