Translation
The superior student hearing the way, diligently travels it.
The average student hearing the way, seems to live it, seems to lose it.
The inferior student hearing the way, really ridicules it.
Without this ridicule, it could not be the way.
Hence, we advocate saying,
The bright way seems hazy and hidden.
Entering the way seems like moving backwards.
The smooth way seems knotty.
Superior virtue seems like a valley.
Great purity seems disgraceful.
Vast virtue seems insufficient.
Established virtue seems stolen.
Truthful promises seem capricious
The great square is without corners
The great talent belatedly accomplishes
The great sound is scarce sound.
The great shape is without form.
The way hides from view without name.
The way alone masters perfect forgiveness and accomplishment.
1) upper (higher; superior) bachelor (scholar; person) hear (news; story; smell) road (way, principle; speak; think) diligent (frequently) <conj.> and (yet, but) go (be current; prevail; do) of. 上士闻道勤而行之。(shàng shì wén dào qín ér xíng zhī.)
2) center (middle; in; among) bachelor (scholar; person) hear (news; story; smell) road (way, principle; speak; think) like (seem; as if; if) exist (live; store; keep) like (seem; as if; if) flee (lose; die; conquer). 中士闻道若存若亡。(zhōng shì wén dào ruò cún ruò wáng.)
3) below (down; lower; inferior; next) bachelor (scholar; person) hear (news; story; smell) road (way, principle; speak; think) big (great) smile (laugh; ridicule) of. 下士闻道大笑之。(xià shì wén dào dà xiào zhī.)
4) no (not) smile (laugh; ridicule) no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as) think (believe; consider)
road (way, principle; speak; think). 不笑不足以为道。(bù xiào bù zú yĭ wéi dào.)
5) incident (hence; cause) build (construct; set up; propose; advocate) speech (word; say; talk) have (exist) of. 故建言有之。(gù jiàn yán yŏu zhī.)
6) bright (clear; honest; know) road (way, principle; speak; think) like (seem; as if; if) have hazy notions about (be ignorant of; hide). 明道若昧。(míng dào ruò mèi.)
7) advance (enter; receive; eat; take) road (way, principle; speak; think) like (seem; as if; if) move back (retreat; cause to move back; remove). 进道若退。(jìn dào ruò tuì.)
8) smooth (safe; exterminate) road (way, principle; speak; think) like (seem; as if; if) knot (blemish, flaw, wicked). 夷道若纇。(yí dào ruò leì.)
9) upper (higher; superior) virtue (moral character; heart) like (seem; as if; if) valley (grain). 上德若谷。(shàng dé ruò gŭ.)
10) big (great) white (clear; pure) like (seem; as if; if) disgrace (dishonor; bring humiliation to; insult). 大白若辱。(dà bái ruò rŭ.)
11) wide (vast; expand; spread) virtue (moral character; heart) like (seem; as if; if) no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as). 广德若不足。(guăng dé ruò bù zú.)
12) build (construct; set up; establish; advocate) virtue (moral character; heart) like (seem; as if; if) steal (pilfer; secretly; on the sly; find (time). 建德若偷。(jiàn dé ruò tōu.)
13) nature (character; simple <frml> pledge, promise) true (real; genuine) like (seem; as if; if) change (of one’s attitude or feeling). 质真若渝。(zhì zhēn ruò yú.)
14) big (great) square (upright; honest; direction; side; method) nothing (without; not) corner (nook; outlying place). 大方无隅。(dà fāng wú yú.)
15) big (great) utensil (ware; talent) evening (far on in time; late) accomplish (become; result). 大器晚成。(dà qì wăn chéng.)
16) big (great) sound (news; tidings; tone) hope (rare; scarce; uncommon) sound (voice; tone). 大音希声。(dà yīn xī shēng.)
17) big (great) elephant (appearance; shape; image) nothing (without; not) form (body; entity; appear). 大象无形。(dà xiàng wú xíng.)
18) road (way, principle; speak; think) hidden from view (conceal; dormant; lurking) nothing (without; not) name (given name; fame). 道隐无名。(dào yĭn wú míng.)
19) husband (man, master) only (alone) road (way, principle; speak; think) good (perfect; kind; be good at) borrow or lend (shift responsibility, forgive) and accomplish (become; result). 夫唯道善贷且成。(fū wéi dào shàn dài qiĕ chéng.)
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/nJFmZGq1qaQ 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.
Corrections?
I need to add an ‘s’ to seem on line 2, and replace the word really ridicules it to greatly ridicules it. Then line 3 reads as, The inferior student hearing the way, greatly ridicules it. Greatly is much more in line with the character here, i.e., 大笑. The first meaning of the second character 笑 means smile. However, ridicule captures how an inferior student might really respond when hearing of the way.
A larger correction is in order for line 14 and 15. These should be more paradoxical like the line above. Saying, Great honesty is without whispers and Great capacity is a long time coming are not paradoxical enough I feel. In my experience, these lines hint more at how nature works. That’s fine, but this chapter is challenging word meaning by throwing us paradoxical curve balls.
A simple ‘word by word’ version of these two lines would read, big square nothing corner (大方无隅) and big utensil evening accomplish (大器晚成). The former now reads paradoxical enough. The latter requires some poetic license. Actually, all four ‘Great’ lines could use an upgrade, and so…
The great square is without corners
The great talent belatedly accomplishes
The great sound is scarce sound.
The great shape is without form.
Replaces this…
Great honesty is without whispers.
Great capacity is a long time coming.
Great sound is scarce sound.
Great appearance is without form.
Reflections:
The superior student hearing the way, diligently travels it.
The average student hearing the way, seems to live it, seems to lose it.
The inferior student hearing the way, really ridicules it.
Without this ridicule, it could not be the way.
When I first read the Tao Te Ching, I wondered which student I was. Of course, my wish was to be the superior student, but my ego just couldn’t reach that level of self-deception. As it happens, now that I’m approaching the ripe old age of 80, looking back I see my life has been an evolution towards diligently travels it. Let me be clear, it hasn’t been a matter of choice.
It seems to boil down to the fact that once I’ve seen or learned something significant, I can’t un-see or un-learn it. Moving from infancy through young adulthood and on has been a journey of an ever-deepening awareness of the full spectrum of life, but especially the sorrow and loss side of life. As chapter 40 says, Loss through death, of the way uses. This life journey is not unique to people. Indeed, all living things experience this in their own way and time.
When I first considered, The superior student hearing the way, diligently travels it I had the sense that I was in charge of my life… that I could choose whether or not I was diligently traveling it. In short, I believed in free will, and thus felt it was my responsibility to be diligently traveling it if I was going to be a superior student. The notion of free will also makes it easy to be very unforgiving vis-à-vis the life struggle of others. You can glibly tell yourself, “I’m responsible for my life, so they should be too”.
I finally realized that no living thing has a choice in this journey, especially in matters so deeply significant. It happens to us naturally. In other words, the deeper I know ‘this’ the more I diligently travel it… I have utterly no choice in the matter, nor did I ever. Thus, these first sentences are actually statements of natural reality and not options that an individual has any choice over. This actuality is true for most, if not all, of the Tao Te Ching. However, this fact won’t be evident to anyone who believes people have free will and real choice in life.
In our younger days, we are in competition with ourselves… who we are vs. who we imagine ourselves to be. As death looms larger, the ego and such competitive urges recede. In my case, I viscerally know that life and death are one… chapter 56’s , This is called profound sameness. And, this is why The inferior student hearing the way, greatly ridicules it. Naturally enough, it feels ridiculous to say that life and death are intrinsically, mysteriously, the same.
Diligently traveling it with a continuous sense of profound sameness tends to make life a constantly poignant experience. “I” becomes a “we” that encompasses all the elements of my awareness. My suffering becomes our suffering; your suffering becomes our suffering. Mind you, not in a harsh way. That’s why “poignant experience” may describe it best. In other words, I can’t escape the full breath of reality because I am in the flow of reality. In short, complete connection can’t help but be a serious matter. I guess that’s why they say, “Ignorance is bliss”. I say ignorance is also blindness and I’ve already been there, done that!
Hence, we advocate saying,
The bright way seems hazy and hidden.
Entering the way seems like moving backwards.
The smooth way seems knotty.
Superior virtue seems like a valley.
Great purity seems disgraceful.
Vast virtue seems insufficient.
Established virtue seems stolen.
Truthful promises seem capricious.
Great honesty is without whispers.
Great capacity is a long time coming.
Great sound is scarce sound.
Great appearance is without form.
The purpose of these paradoxical lines is to throw a monkey wrench into our rigid, rational, dialectic cognition. We are far more adept at noticing differences than similarities, and then making mountains out of those molehills. This self-centered certainty of thought is humanity’s Achilles Heel — our disease as chapter 71 puts it, Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. To push back further on your ingrained habituated sense of word meaning, try out the Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations
The way hides from view without name.
The way alone masters perfect forgiveness and accomplishment.
As I come to realize more of the ‘big picture’, my ego can’t help but shrink in the process. The more I feel a profound sameness with all that is, the ego reverts to its original visceral sense of self. There is no place in cognition for an illusion of self to reside. In other words, as ego is simply the emergent property (See Tao As Emergent Property) of the natural sense of self-integrity, it retreats to its home in emotional instinct. The end of chapter 16 captures this part of our journey well…
As I come to know that I am a drop in the river of life, and fully in the flow of that river, I know that I inherently accomplish my part regardless of what I have or haven’t done. In this flow, there is no ‘choice’ other than perfect forgiveness and accomplishment. When the competitive forces of ‘self vs. ideal self’ and ‘self vs. other’ subside, all that remains is vanishing into the way, so to speak. Truly, as chapter 40 says, Loss through death, of the way uses.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/ll7xaPkIeXw
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
There was just a little punctuation to fix this time. Nice
Commentary:
I used to read about these student rankings and wonder where I fit. Pride wanted to see myself up with the superior, but honesty often intruded and spread doubt about that generous self-judgment. Now I see it differently. I am becoming superior, day-by-day, though I am not quite there—there is no there, there. As the years pass, I can’t help but practice the way more diligently because it is all that is left. Experience has blown away much of the illusion that buoyed me up throughout my youth.
I suppose the student part of this is the practice of noticing what is happening. That is the one and only job of awareness, is it not? Whether one sees deeply or scattered on the surface is not subject to free will; we don’t get to choose our innate modus operandi. I don’t choose to see as deeply as I do; I can’t help it, and in fact, if I had a choice I feel at times I’d prefer to see less. There is a price to pay either way. In the end, nature is always balanced and we are separable from nature! (See, Exquisite Balance and Tao As Emergent Property).
Seeing that The bright way seems hazy and hidden calms my perception. On the other hand, crowd of people bustle about, like enjoying excessive sacrifice, like ascending a springtime terrace, has benefits in its own right; the ‘dark side’ awaits in the shadows, so to speak. I would not trade places with the “crowds of people”, nor would they trade place with me, especially if they saw the trade off: joy and sorrow are complementary, producing one another. Virtue, as an ideal to prize and pursue is one thing; virtue as a practice is another—Vast virtue seems insufficient, or a D.C. Lau puts it, Ample virtue seems defective.
Suggested Revision:
The superior student hearing the way, diligently travels it.
The average student hearing the way, seem to live it, seems to lose it.
The inferior student hearing the way, really ridicules it.
Without this ridicule, it could not be the way.
Hence, we advocate saying,
The bright way seems hazy and hidden.
Entering the way seems like moving backwards.
The smooth way seems rough.
Superior virtue seems like a valley.
Great purity seems disgraceful.
Vast virtue seems insufficient.
Established virtue seems stolen.
Truthful promises seem capricious.
Great honesty is without whispers.
Great capacity is a long time coming.
Great sound is scarce sound.
Great appearance is without form.
The way hides from view without name.
The way alone masters perfect forgiveness and accomplishment.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
For nearly 50 years I’ve been interpreting the superior student as referring to students of the way in relation to the Tao Te Ching. Today I broadened my view to include every attempt to study. Along with this, I must also consolidate and simplify my definition of what it means to study. Study normally means concentrating on a subject, which may eventually lead to becoming an expert in that field. This feels like an oddly narrow artifact of civilization, however.
The further back in time we look, we see that individuals ‘studied’ (lived) life as an all inclusive whole, i.e., there were no experts to speak of. The way for them was truly broad, reaching left as well as right. Study, in this broader sense, means being as watchful as possible to notice what has yet to be seen, and therefore un-named. As D.C. Lao puts it, the way conceals itself in being nameless. I think of this as studying (watching) life until I can see it beyond the names. Seeing everything as simply symptoms of deeper, subtler, concealed causes helps me reach being capable of not knowing anything. (Now that is an ironic definition of study, eh?)
Entering the way seems like moving backwards, and so on, points to a most tragic, if subtle, aspect of life. We keep looking forward for happiness. Whenever we remain still, we soon become restless and seek out the way that seems bright, unaware that actually the bright way seems hazy and hidden.
This is natural of course. The hunter-gather instinct drives us to keep looking forward. That is where our next meal would be coming from, and so I don’t see this as being tragic in the wild. Those ancestral ‘wild’ conditions played themselves out slowly which helped maintain balance (in the wild). The main focus of civilization has been to speed up our access to what ever we seek (need, desire, want, crave). This only hinders the ability to cease to desire and remain still.
In an odd way, the more we get, the less we have. Meaning, we can only truly have what we appreciate. Rushing ahead seeking virtue, purity, smooth, and bright is a symptom of less appreciation. This only occurs from a deeper sense of not having enough. Sure, we say, hence in being content, one will always have enough. Isn’t that actually putting the cart before the horse? Contentment comes if and when we feel we have enough. Desire leads to a vicious circle; the more desire, the more we seek, the less we feel appreciation which drives on desire even more. On the other hand, a virtuous circle would be, the less we desire, the less we seek, the more content we feel which leads to less desire. No wonder, therefore, that the sage desires not to desire. I don’t known if that actually breaks the vicious circle of desire, but it can’t hurt, and perhaps slows it down.