Translation
When the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Man alone doesn’t detest,
Because of this not detested.
Because of this the wise person,
Knows himself without seeing himself.
Loves himself without valuing himself.
Hence, gets rid of one and seeks the other.
1) the people (civilian) no (not) fear (respect) power (impressive strength), 民不畏威，(mín bù wèi wēi,)
2) standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) big (large; great; major) power (impressive strength) to (until; > extremely; most). 则大威至。(zé dà wēi zhì.)
3) nothing (without; not) be improperly familiar with his (her; its; that; such) place dwell (live; store up), 无狎其所居，(wú xiá qí suŏ jū,)
4) nothing (without; not) be disgusted with (detest; be bored with)) his (her; its; that; such) place give birth to (grow; existence; life). 无厌其所生。(wú yàn qí suŏ shēng.)
5) husband (man) only (alone, yes) no (not) be disgusted with (detest; be bored with)), 夫唯不厌，(fū wéi bù yàn,)
6) <grm> is (yes <frml> this; that) use (<v> take <p> according to; because of <adj> so as to <conj> and) no (not) be disgusted with (detest; be bored with)). 是以不厌。(shì yĭ bù yàn.)
7) <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). 是以圣人 (shì yĭ shèng rén)
8) self (oneself; certainly) know (realize; inform; knowledge) no (not) self (oneself; certainly) see (appear, become visible). 自知不自见。(zì zhī bù zì jiàn.)
9) self (oneself; certainly) love (like; treasure) no (not) self (oneself; certainly) expensive (precious; noble). 自爱不自贵。(zì ài bù zì guì.)
10) reason (cause; on purpose; hence) go (remove) that (those; the other; another) take (get; seek; adopt) this. 故去彼取此。(gù qù bĭ qŭ cĭ.)
Pandemic special: Chapter of the Month
YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/suj_flPfajU is a link to unedited 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. At around 30 minutes 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 the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
The first line, When the people don’t fear power, shows why we were not proactive enough to be prepared for this pandemic, and why Normally great power arrives. As D.C. Lau translates this line, When the people lack a proper sense of awe, then some awful visitation will descend upon them.
We, like all other animals only react to events, when those events trigger survival instincts (a.k.a., fear) and a subsequent sense of need. That is our biological reality. Need and fear are the only true catalyst for action. All else is wishful thinking. Humans, like ever other animal, lacks free will… free choice. That means no animal is proactive except for situations in which a particular animal has evolved to be proactive. For example, squirrels store nuts for a future winter. When I think about it, the lack of free will, and any genuine ability to be proactive is a natural energy conserving aspect of life. Just imagine how quickly we’d burn ourselves out if we could actually chase down all our “best ideas” of the moment. Laziness is a natural pressure release valve for potentially wasteful urges for action.
Optimistically speaking, the long-term result of this pandemic may help with the looming global warming crisis. Our lack of action is due to a visceral lack of fear. Global climate change is a drawn-out disaster incapable of triggering sufficient visceral fear and a resultant irresistible urge to act. For example, we take earthquake seriously enough to act only after a big earthquake. While we can and do envision numerous future courses of action to take, we rarely follow through with sufficient action. Real action requires a real and deep sense of fear and need. Even the Sars pandemic didn’t prod us to prepare for the next one, no doubt because so few people were actually effected.
Thus, you could say we experience two realities — one is what we think we should do, and the other is what we actually do. The latter is a reality based in tradition. We tend to proceed with life as we always have in the past. This is not much different from how most animals, including us, tend to follow a physical trail to access food and water, for example. The looming consequences of climate change, and the increasing pandemics that will cause, makes this instinctive approach problematic. We may see the disaster coming, but it is simply easier to remain on the ‘trail’ we’ve been traveling. Think of this a biological inertia.
If this pandemic becomes serious enough, it might help shake humanity out of its natural rut-following ways, and especially out of our cognitive ruts (beliefs, traditions, routines, expectations, plans). Sure, that is a big “if”. The trick is having enough people feel the looming cataclysm that global warming promises. If that happens, timely action will ensue. It all depends on how disastrous this pandemic and economic disruption turns out to be. Ironically, we could hope for the worst to encourage a better long-term future.
Well… in the short-term anyway. Naturally, lessons learned are soon forgotten and life goes on as before. For example, consider all the people who now reject vaccines. They have never personally experienced the consequences of not having vaccines (small pox, polio, etc.). In the end viscerally felt fear and ensuing need is the only thing that moves us to act.
On the other hand, for instance, we’ve learned that seat belts save lives so we have seat belt laws now, although that took 50+ years to realize. The Internet and science connect the world as never before. The human knowledge base is exponentially broader now than pre 1900. This interconnectivity can have a large effect on people sense of reality and sense of doom. All in all, my argument would be: Once a majority of people viscerally realize the looming disaster, action becomes instinctive and inevitable… just like seat belts.
Of course, if people ceased having fatal car accidents, I suppose people would reject seat belt use just as they reject vaccines for diseases few suffer from… precisely due to vaccines. We are a very irrational animal, although not any more so than any other animal!
Reality is in the mind of the beholder
This pandemic may be a therapeutic moment for the people. Consider these first two lines: When the people don’t fear power, Normally great power arrives. I may have once seen this as saying some great power ‘out there’ would arrive. However, this is not truly saying that some great external force will arrive because the people don’t fear power, i.e., who lack a proper sense of awe, fear, and respect for nature. It is actually that when we get complacent with our status quo standards of comfort and security, anything that comes along can easily knock the wind out of our sales… And nature is always cooking up some powerful event.
Essentially, this line points to our relationship to fear, and our tendency to make life as secure and comfortable as possible. Like any animal on the planet, we quite naturally fear discomfort and insecurity. Overall, fear is what moves us to protect ourselves. Facing fear and learning to cope with it is a healthy balanced approach that the natural world (wild animals) must live daily. The uncertainties of living in the wild keep animals grounded and in balance. Conversely, the human ability to go all out in avoiding the conditions we fear (discomfort and insecurity) easily becomes too much of a good thing. Imbalance ensues.
We have no ‘wild grit’ to deal with circumstances that threaten out standards and expectations, i.e., our high level of comfort and security compared to the natural way our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived. That makes anything that rocks our boat feel like an “awful visitation” and the arrival of “great power.” Challenging circumstances like the one we are experiencing now can only help reset human expectations and return our ‘standard of living reality’ closer to nature’s reality… for a little while anyway.
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Man alone doesn’t detest,
Because of this not detested.
This closely parallels Jesus’s, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
The interesting thing here is how this all takes place inside the person. I suppose literal believers might think this means that God ‘out there’ (or up there) will judge those who judge others. I feel this all takes place internally. What we feel inside, we project onto the world ‘out there’. The judging arises from within, from fear essentially, and becomes a filter through which we see the world.
Because of this the wise person,
Knows himself without seeing himself.
Loves himself without valuing himself.
When we can cease judging and detesting the world ‘out there’, our inner eye is able to open wide and impartially see the world as it actually is. Chapter 16 hints at the process…
It helps to consider the qualitative difference between loves himself and valuing himself. Valuing anything is essentially connected to need and scarcity. No one who lives in Canada values water to any great extent Their needs are easily met. Not so, for nomads who live in the Sahara desert. Those nomads don’t love water; they need water. In fact, it can be easier for the Canadian to love water than for the desert nomad. Need and Love are inversely proportional. As need increases, the ability to love decreases.
Simply put:
Love Correlates to: acceptance, patience, silence, settled, content, simple, and so on.
Need Correlates to: ambition, restlessness, sound, struggle, stress, complex, and so on.
Need is very focused and object oriented. Love is impartial, whole, and therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself.
A similar qualitative difference exists between Knows himself and seeing himself. The former is not object oriented (name, wealth, status, education, etc). There is nothing to see. Chapter 22 describes this, He does not see his self for he is honest; he does not exist for he is clear. Conversely, as chapter 24 has it, Seeing self is not honest;
Of course, this is not evident. It isn’t evident because we are so utterly hierarchical and object oriented, we see ourselves in terms of what we desire, worry about, need, and fear. Then we project all of this inner emotional conflict onto scapegoats ‘out there’. All this goes to show we are ignorant, no different from any other animal. However, we think otherwise, and so make matters worse… we are ignorant of our ignorance.
Chapter 70 suggest this fact…
And the first line of chapter 71 really brings it home. Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease.
Hence, gets rid of one and seeks the other.
Well, as is possible in light of our ultimate lack of control over how we feel. This speaks to a hopeful pursuit of balance and happiness. This aspiration alone helps make life feel meaningful and more manageable. It is not any measure of success that matters. The process—the way—is what matters. Chapter 64 makes this clear…
On a personal note
At the beginning of this pandemic, I had an odd sense of déjà vu (literally, “already seen” in French) for about a week. Then I realized, I was feeling like I did as a young man hitch hiking the world. I’d often be traveling through countries I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know where I’d end up sleeping each night or if I’d be eating or not. This was an ‘explorer’s experience’, so to speak. Now, this pandemic has thrust the world’s population into an explorer’s experience of sorts. This experience will end, it is just that we don’t know how or when. It is a genuine adventure, and like any true adventure, perilous!
I had another déjà vu moment a week later. It’s been many decades since I had one, and now two within a few weeks! This time I was biking down the main street of Santa Cruz on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon. It all felt eerily like the time I camped out in the middle of the Sahara desert a hundred miles from the nearest oasis. There was NOTHING… but sand, flies and little sticks. Yet, here in town there were buildings all around. I reckon the similarity was due to the intense contrast… a normally bustling but now empty town was like the desert nothingness.
Video Archive https://youtu.be/suj_flPfajU
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month
Corrections?
There are no corrections per se, but I’ll repeat what I said last month for chapter 71 about the word fū (夫). Its use in that chapter was more odd than usual. This time Man alone (fū 夫) swings just one way.
Fū (夫) in the high tone translates as husband; man, porter, manual worker, scholar, old fogey; conscripted laborer (old). In the rising tone, fú it translates classically as: this, that; he, she, they; (exclamatory final particle); (initial particle, introduces an opinion). In the Word for Word, I just put the common current usage, which here falls short. However, none of these other meanings makes that much difference, at least to me. It really boils down to how a reader interprets the meaning of whatever word occupies that position. The next best choice as I see it would be: this, that; he, she, they, but as you see that isn’t much different from the generic Man.
Reflections:
This chapter conveys for me a real sense of how opposites are inextricably connected. It is hard to feel that because we usually focus intensely on one side or the other at a time. Although, you could also say, how one side or the other is intensely ‘focusing on’ (affecting) us. I guess it all depends upon which side of the mirror you are standing. The peculiar thing lies in even talking about it truthfully. Thought itself relies on focusing on one side or the other. How can thought, or its offspring speaking and writing, grasp or think about the whole? Naturally, that doesn’t stop us from trying, does it! Take the first two lines:
When the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
the people (civilian) no (not) fear (respect) power (impressive strength), 民不畏威，(mín bù wèi wēi,)
standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) big (large; great; major) power (impressive strength) to (until; > extremely; most). 则大威至。(zé dà wēi zhì.)
As you can see, this is a quite accurate translation of the Chinese. D.C. Lau put it in more understandable terms.
When the people lack a proper sense of awe,
Then some awful visitation will descend upon them.
That demonstrates how it is useful to read both, (1) your favorite understandable translation, and then (2) the Word for Word to challenge the understandable… or vice versa. For example, what is a proper sense of awe? The character here is wèi (畏) fear; respect. It helps to consider the relationship between respect and fear, and after that, how these relate to a proper sense of awe.
Let’s check the dictionary. Awe = A feeling of respect or reverence mixed with dread and wonder; Awful = extremely bad; unpleasant; 2. inspiring fear; dreadful; terrible 3. solemnly impressive; inspiring. The Chinese character implies that the meaning lies somewhere between Awe and Awful.
D.C. Lau’s It is by being alive to difficulty that one can avoid it from the previous chapter (71) also speaks to these first two lines of chapter 72. Interestingly, this “being alive…” is far from being an accurate translation of 71. Naturally, I don’t blame him… that is one bizarre chapter.
Anyway, when I can embrace the worst possibilities in life, when the worst happens, the worst doesn’t descend upon me. Sure, there may be pain, but if I’m approach life very soberly—not trying to hide from life—I am at difficulty’s level, so to speak. As the two poles are inextricably connected anyway, all I’m doing in fact is minimizing my perception of difference by seeking to perceive what is called profound sameness!
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Perhaps Not would be a better choice of words than Without for these next two sentences. Of course, there are other choices too. The Chinese word here is wú (无): nothing; nil; not have; there is not; without; not; regardless of; no matter whether, what, etc. That word, by the way, is the wu often heard in the cliché, wéi wú. Its full form is wéi wú wéi, which first appears in chapter 3, and again in 63… wéi wú wéi, (为无为), do (act; act as; serve as) nil (without, not) do (act; act as; serve as).
The point here is that these two and following sentences describe the behavior of the Man alone (fū 夫). I find it more helpful to view this as a description of how any wise Man alone would behave. Nevertheless, I know it is very tempting to insert an implied ‘should’ here. I, you, he, she, they ‘should’ not meddle… they ‘should’ loves themselves without valuing themselves. If you believe in free will, you are liable to read it that way I suppose, rather than as a clear statement of simple fact.
Second Pass: Work in Progress
Issues:
There is only one little snag today. I’ll change Man only doesn’t detest, to Man alone doesn’t detest. The actual character (唯) has two meaning: wéi (only; alone) and wěi (<formal> yea). A character’s <formal> meaning often coveys the more suitable meaning, I find. I imagine this is because the formal meaning is also the most ancient. I regard the amazing consistency of meaning over millennia to be due to Chinese characters not being phonetic. Language evolves both phonetically and in meaning, with both factors influencing each other. Chinese characters, not being phonetically based, give them great stability over time.
The formal form here, yea, is also reserved for use in writing. So, at one time, I went with this formal meaning, yea. Using this character, the line would read like this, Man yea doesn’t detest. Okay, that kind of works; after all, this is the Tao Te Ching. Anyway, I’m back to using the other meaning, Man alone doesn’t detest, and I feel alone reads better than only. Do I hear a yea?
Commentary:
I am fond of D.C. Lau’s translation of the first two lines of this chapter: When the people lack a proper sense of awe, then some awful visitation will descend upon them. It is just another way of calling attention to the consequences of not appreciating what we have, and of how fleeting it all is. If we felt we were going to die tomorrow, that would not be the case. The irony is, we are going to die ‘tomorrow’… some ‘tomorrow’ for certain. Additionally, if you think in cosmic terms, we are on the cusp of death ‘now’.
I see … don’t fear power, normally great power arrives in terms of how easily it is to fuss over details, making ‘mountains out of molehills’. Then, when some actual mountain appears, we freak out. I’ve found that the less fuss I make out of the molehills, the more I can take the mountains in stride. Naturally, I don’t ‘choose’ to take the molehills less seriously (re: the illusion of free will). How seriously we take something merely reflects the degree of our attachment to it. Knowing that actually helps me deal with the things I do take too seriously. So, while I may feel intense emotion, I don’t compound that by the stress of thinking I can do something about it. Knowing it is my need and fear causing my discomfort saves me from futile attempt to change the outside world to match my idealistic expectations.
This approach (taking responsibility for how I feel) makes it easier to avoid meddling with their dwelling place and detesting their existence. I’m not responsible for how others behave, just for my reactions to their behavior. It makes life so much simpler to manage!
The Man alone doesn’t detest, Because of this not detested parallels Christ’s “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. Like anger, the poison of judgment festers within you, not in the person or thing judged. Of course, this is all very natural; something experienced by all animals in spontaneous ways, e.g., if you kick a dog, it is going to ‘judge you’ and react according to its nature. Humanity’s problem is the thinking that complicates life… The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way. Humanity, as a whole, has yet to appreciate this initial step; indeed, this is the first line of the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Yep, it is not surprising that Taoist thought usually falls on deaf ears.
Knows himself without seeing himself. Loves himself without valuing himself. There is probably a tendency to read this as something desirable to do. Seriously, to do this is impossible. This, knows himself, loves himself, is a symptom—not an attainable goal. That such results are often ‘sold’ as attainable ideals may be an example of, Of ancients adept in the way, none ever use it to enlighten people, They will use it in order to fool them. Why ‘fool them’? I suspect that is a necessary ‘evil’ to keep mega civilizations intact.
Suggested Revision:
When the people don’t fear power,
Normally great power arrives.
Without meddling with their dwelling place,
Without detesting their existence.
Man alone doesn’t detest,
Because of this not detested.
Because of this the wise person,
Knows himself without seeing himself.
Loves himself without valuing himself.
Hence, gets rid of one and seeks the other.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week
D.C. Lau has translated 自知不自见 (literally, self know no self see) as, Hence the sage knows himself but does not display himself. This works fine. I’ve found that the deeper I know myself, the less I display myself. Displaying oneself can be one symptom of not really knowing oneself. That said, I see another way to interpret this ‘self know no self see’. For starters, what does self know mean really? Personally, I suppose it means being as self honesty as possible. The difficulty here lies in the thinking, i.e., to know yet to think that one does not know, and vise versa. No wonder it takes a lifetime!
I’ve found that the deeper I know myself, the more indistinct and shadowy I’ve become. There is less and less of me for me to see. Increasingly, I can’t see myself – no self see! When we see ourselves, we are more likely seeing the story of ourselves we’ve come to believe true. To paraphrase chapter 1, The self that can be spoken of, is not the constant self; the name that can be named, is not the constant name. In addition to this, there is the Hindu, That Thou Art. Ha! I should say, no wonder it takes many lifetimes!
‘Without meddling with their dwelling place, without detesting their existence’ may come closer to capturing the spirit of this than D.C. Lau’s interpretation. Without detesting their existence is another way to put Christ’s dictum, ‘let ye without sin cast the first stone’. When your ideals of being dominates your mind, you end up detesting every existence that doesn’t conform to that story. It follows that you would throw stones or something.
D.C. Lau’s, It is because you do not press down on them that they will not weary of the burden was a guiding principles in raising my sons. Children will only rebel against ‘Something’. The less you give them to rebel against, the smoother life usually flows. Helpful too was insuring that they felt a proper sense of awe. The adult quality that instills the utmost sense of awe in children is patience! Children understand the usual human emotions: desire, fear, anger, kindness. They don’t understand patience because in its pure form, it is not an emotion. To me patience is a function of perspective; it’s the essence of wisdom. (Note: Patience, being akin to the mysterious female, stillness and silence, seems less an awesome force than it is. Mysterious is right.)
‘Loves himself without valuing himself’ makes more sense seen as a symptom. In other words, when we truly love ourselves, we feel no need to value self. Conversely, when we feel inadequate, we need self ego affirmation. How we are determines how we act, or more accurately, react. Although, I find we often tend to see it the other way around, i.e., how we act determines how we are. This could stems from our need for control in that it is easier to identify actions and repress them than to deal with who we are intrinsically. We let free will take care of that angle.