Translation
When its politics are boring, its people are honest.
When its politics are scrutinized, its people are imperfect.
Misfortune, yet of good fortune its resting place
Good fortune, yet of misfortune its hiding place
Who knows such extremes? It’s not mainstream.
Mainstream turns to strange, Good turns to evil.
The people have been long confused.
Thus, the wise are upright, yet not cuttingly so.
Honest, yet not stabbingly so.
Straightforward, yet not wantonly so.
Honorable yet not gloriously so.
1) his (its; their; they; that) politics (affairs of a family or organization) bored (depressed; stuffy), his (its; their; they; that) the people (civilian) pure (honest). 其政闷闷，其民淳淳。(qí zhèng mēn mēn, qí mín chún chún.)
2) his (its; their; they; that) politics (affairs of a family or organization) examine (scrutinize; look into), his (its; their; they; that) the people (civilian) lack (incomplete; be absent; vacancy). 其政察察，其民缺缺。(qí zhèng chá chá, qí mín quē quē.)
3) misfortunes (disaster; ruin) still (yet; esteem, set great store by) good fortune (happiness) of place lean on or against (reply on> biased, partial). 祸尚福之所倚。(huò shàng fú zhī suŏ yĭ.)
4) good fortune (happiness) still (yet; esteem, set great store by) misfortunes (disaster; ruin) of place bend over (lie prostrate; subside). 福尚祸之所伏。(fú shàng huò zhī suŏ fú.)
5) who know (realize; tell) his (its; their; they; that) extreme (pole; extremely; utmost), his (its; their; they; that) nothing (without; not) straight (upright; main; in the middle). 孰知其极，其无正。(shú zhī qí jí, qí wú zhēng.)
6) straight (upright; main; in the middle) duplicate (answer; again) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) strange (rare; surprise), good (satisfactory) duplicate (answer; again) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) demon (evil spirit; bewitching). 正复为奇，善复为妖。(zhēng fù wéi jī, shàn fù wéi yāo.)
7) human (man; people) of be confused (be lost; perplex; fascinate; enchant) his (its; their; they; that) sun (day; daily) solid (firm <frml> in the first place, originally, admittedly) for a long time (long; of a specified duration). 人之迷其日固久。(rén zhī mí qí rì gù jiŭ.)
8) <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) square (upright; honest; direction; side; method) <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) cut. 是以圣人方而不割。(shì yĭ shèng rén fāng ér bù gē.)
9) honest <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) cut (stab). 廉而不刿。(lián ér bù guì.)
10) straight (perpendicular; just; frank; stiff; directly; simply) <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) wanton (unbridled; > shop). 直而不肆。(zhí ér bù sì.)
11) light (brightness, honor; glory; smooth; … naked; alone) <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) look into the distance from a high place. 光而不耀。(guāng ér bù yào.)
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month
(pandemic era)
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/HwvYsFEdHYM 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
When its politics are boring, its people are honest.
When its politics are scrutinized, its people are imperfect.
The first line, When its politics are boring, its people are honest, caught me a little off guard. It seems to say that when the people are honest, the people’s politics will be boring. I needed to reflect deeper. Of course, the word politics is straightforward enough. It essentially amounts to the human effort to deal with each other. Heck, all social animals engage in forms of politics to deal with each other. However, for humans, it easily gets dysfunctional at the macro civilization level, at least compared to politics at the local interpersonal level.
Honest, on the other hand, goes to the subtle center of our being. What is the deepest meaning of honest? Consider what these chapters have to say on this:
Lines 4 and 5 from chapter 16, Returning to the root cause is called stillness; this means answering to one’s destiny. Answering to one’s destiny is called the constant; knowing the constant is called honest.
Line 4 and 5 from chapter 22, 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.
Lines 1 to 4 from chapter 24, What we look forward to does not exist; What we chase after will not prevail. Seeing self is not honest; Of course, this is not evident.
Lines 1 and 2 from chapter 33, Knowing people is wisdom. Knowing self is honesty.
Lines 6 and 7 from chapter 55, Knowing harmony is called the constant. Knowing the constant is called clear and honest.
And this last line of chapter 78 may really sum it all up, Straight and honest words seem inside out.
The more honest each person in a society is, the fewer devious manipulations will arise in the politics of that society. Conversely, the more blinded we are by our own personal hypocritical biases and beliefs, the more politics becomes ‘interesting’ enough to be scrutinized and talked about among competing factions. In the end, the politics of a society reflects its population’s depth of self-honesty. No wonder the people have been long confused, as line 7 of this chapter puts it.
Misfortune, yet of good fortune its resting place
Good fortune, yet of misfortune its hiding place
Who knows such extremes? It’s not mainstream.
It helps me to be continually aware of the inconsistency between how nature actually works and how I innately want nature to work. All living things embody an inborn bias to survive, which means all life seeks good fortune over misfortune. That sets all life on a confrontational path with nature’s overarching process. As chapter 30 observes, Making matters better as a long-term rule, is not of the dao. Not of the dao ends early… well to be sure, all living things die after completing the life cycle: birth, growth, decay, death.
While all living things struggle with the natural order, we compound our suffering by the disease of thinking that we know. As chapter 71 puts it, Realizing I don’t know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. A core error we make in thought is thinking that we ‘should’ have good fortune, and that bad luck or some evil spirit or god is throwing misfortune our way. Certainly, all living creatures feel survival pressures—need and fear—but only in humans do such emotions drive false knowing and subsequent deluded thinking.
Most people innately feel the need for the status quo, stability, security—the mainstream. Nature waxes and wanes, ebbs and flows, as it travels eternity’s road—the dao. Chapter 34 depicts this naturally balanced flow, The great way flows, such as it may left and right. Only we humans think we can out maneuver nature when its currents don’t flow the direction we want.
Of course, all living creatures are instinctively pushed to ‘make matters better’ for themselves. Ironically, it appears much of our problem arises from being way too good at doing this. “Too much of a good thing”, as they say. Our big-brain cognitive ability enables us to make matters better… to a fault.
Mainstream turns to strange, Good turns to evil.
The people have been long confused.
Our innate natural survival biases are at odds with the natural order of the universe, and indeed with eternity itself. The people have been long confused has been our problem ever since we began to think, began to know, began to think we know. Unlike other animals, our vivid imagination and ability to conceptualize has put us into a constant cognitive battle with nature. This is the reality from which all our spiritual ideals arise.
Thus, the wise are upright, yet not cuttingly so.
Honest, yet not stabbingly so.
Straightforward, yet not wantonly so.
Honorable yet not gloriously so.
So, what does one do in light of this sobering, humbling reality? First, this is only a sobering and humbling reality to those who realize it, i.e. Realizing I don’t know is better. As my visceral awareness of nature’s way deepens, my only sane way forward is to avoid the extremes, which always flip to their counterpart. Chapter 56 points the way,
And what does it mean to reach great conformity? Chapter 3 lays it out short and sweet, Doing without doing, following without exception rules.
Finally, while all this may sound great on paper, it is not how nature plays out. In other words, being innately driven to making matters better as a long-term rule means that we will always remain beginners, constantly learning by revisiting our natural folly. As that old saying goes, 2 steps forward, 1 step back… if we’re lucky, that is. The Tao Te Ching does a wonderful job of articulating this journey. All we really need to do is realize it and do the best we can. Doing otherwise is innately impossible. Fortunately, the sheer realization of how nature works helps me lessen my neurotic urge to make matters better.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/CQasWqllh8k
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Reflections:
I am happy with the loosely literal rendition of this chapter. Again, changing words around doesn’t affect the meaning all that much. It is like rearranging the furniture in one’s room. As soon as the novelty of the change wears off you are back to square one again. Meaning truly rests in the mind’s eye of the reader / beholder. I think translation dangers lie more in any choice of words that actually mislead. Of course, that is probably more a result of translator bias than anything else is. For example, if the translator / interpreter has a humanist bias, that will show up in their choice of words. Naturally, the same applies to spiritual bias.
Ideally, the Taoist worldview is neither humanist nor spiritual… just natural. Naturally, this talk of bias begs the question: “what is Carl’s bias?”. I know our own biases blind us to seeing our own biases as biases. So, I leave it to others to call me out on that one. Perhaps my dogged perseverance to observe the ‘profound sameness‘ between that which appears different, forms my core bias. Of course, this doesn’t feel like a bias; it just feels like true reality. But then, that is the purpose of one’s biases. 😀
So, I reckon that it is better to be confused and vague than to have ‘reality’ nailed down ‘wrong’ (I hope I’ve done my best to confuse). When I am confused, I am more likely to look at the Word for Word synonyms. Half the time that just confuses me more, but eventually ‘profound sameness‘ settles the dust and I see life a bit more simply.
As this chapter points out, all things are connected. Differences are illusionary; similarities are closer to reality. Maybe that is the Taoist bias in a nut shell. No matter which side you choose to take, you will be on the ‘wrong side’ of the way. That experience, over time, naturally results in this…
Honest, yet not stabbingly so.
Straightforward, yet not wantonly so.
Honorable yet not gloriously so.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
When its politics is boring… needs to change to When its politics are boring… because this really points to the “affairs” rather than the singular institution of politics, e.g., when political affairs are corrupt, the politics of government is corrupt.
Commentary:
Politics in government is not truly different from the politics, or the affairs, within a family. More simply, what is politics but just the source spring for gossip about the affairs of people. And, just to take it a step further, what is gossip but social instinct in action. The principle of emergent properties come to mind. Layer upon layer resting upon what is naturally so. It is remarkable how we tend to take issue with that which is naturally so. That is how we keep politics interesting. Of course, conversely that means, When its politics are boring, its people are honest. Yes, honesty suffers and hypocrisy rules, yet (alas) naturally so. It is humbling to see how things are exactly as they should be; my ideals for something different are mere projections of my own narrow self interest no matter how egalitarian and humanistic they appear.
Most sitting at today’s meeting find the wording a bit awkward, less like “normal English”. As we are all used to reading D.C. Lau’s translation for decades, I must first take into account how this is the first time reading it worded this way. Then too, a core guiding principle for me each time I translated a chapter was chapter 81’s True speech isn’t beautiful. Beautiful speech isn’t true. I’ve said this before, and I suspect I’ll have to keep it constantly in the forefront of discussion. One source of our ‘blind spot’ is a cultural attachment to word ‘color’. This keeps our observations well inside-the-box I feel. So, finding a middle ground between satisfying our need for some degree of mainstream grammatical norms, yet ‘odd’ enough to jerk us out of our common sensible safety zone is my goal.
Proposal: Luke proposed that we all consider each chapter ahead of the meeting, take any necessary notes, and perhaps how we’d word it differently either in part or whole. That sound like a splendid idea; let’s see how well it gets put into practice. That would work well for anyone online as well as anyone coming to the meeting. All need be done is print out the page for the chapter and ponder.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
When the government is muddled, the people are simple; when the government is alert, the people are cunning speaks not only to big government but also to small scale governance – from the governance of ourselves, to parenting , to employing, and on up the hierarchical chain.
For me, this addresses the wisdom of taking life step by step, like a journey of a thousand miles, compared to forcing life to conform to my agenda (the ideal of what should be). The former allows me to respond to each step as it unfolds in a simple, honest, and straightforward way. The later, agenda driven approach scrutinizes the steps along the way, and contending with them, I focus on imperfection rather than on that which is naturally so.
The difficulty of imposing our agenda (ideals) onto life is that we will find ourselves swinging more and more from one extreme to the other. The more acutely aware we are of the good, mainstream, and straightforward, the more acute becomes the opposite. Simply put: Our sorrows lie in that which we hold most dear. (These two are the same, but diverge in name as they issue forth.)
We tend to believe that somehow we can have all the good, mainstream, and straightforward, and somehow escape the other side of the coin. I like to think of this as being just another biological hoodwink to get us to act in the world. After all, nature has no need to enlighten us as to how it operates. For all other species this works out well and balance is maintained. Because we approach life with such idealized versions of how life ‘should’ be, we react far out of proportion to what is actually so. Our ability to think enables us to make mountains out of molehills.
Viscerally knowing that this is how ‘it’ is, one can’t help but be upright, yet not cuttingly so;. Honest, yet not stabbingly so; Straightforward, yet not wantonly so; Honorable yet not gloriously so. Seeing both sides of the coin makes it all very easy to put into practice (and downright impossible to do otherwise! , ‘It happens to us naturally.’).