CHAPTER 45 – CALM AND HARMONY

Chapter 45 – Calm and Harmony

People may confuse the Greatest Perfection with insanity,
great volume with void, great curvature with straightness,
great humor with foolishness,
a great speaker with the one unable to speak.

Intense movement overcomes cold.
Stillness overcomes heat.

 Only calm and harmony can ensure
 the correct understanding of everything that happens in the world.

Translation by Dr. Vladimir Antonov (2007)

It is once again Tao Te Ching Tuesday.  For the consideration of Chapter 45, I have chosen to use a rendition that I believe is more an interpretation than a true translation.  I Lao Tzu 1have done so mostly because I feel this rendering captures much of the meaning of Lao Tzu’s words and partly because many of the more traditional scholars translate the last two lines of this chapter something like this:  “By being greatly tranquil, one is qualified to be the ruler of the world” (from Wing-Tsit Chan’s 1963 translation). 

In my thoughts on Chapter 29 I considered those who want to rule the world and concluded that Lao Tzu was telling us that such people are lost – that to the extent that ruling implies imposing one’s will rather than following the natural order, the world will be ruined or lost to the supposed ruler.  Here, the more literal translation of this chapter does not contradict what was said earlier.  Rather, we are now told what qualifies one to rule, and that is great tranquility.  One possessing that quality may well have no desire to rule, but he is qualified.  Unfortunately, most of those who are now trying to rule lack that essential quality.  Still, most members of society seem to feel that a political leader should have more Yang attributes – a man of action and not of tranquility.

That brings us to what I like about this translation by Dr. Antonov.  He tells us simply that the majority of our fellows see and judge from a decidedly human perspective that leaves them confused and unable to see the natural way that is followed by Lao Tzu’s sage.

However, we are told how to correct that misunderstanding.  If one can live and think and perceive from a state of calm and harmony, he or she is able to understand the natural flow of all life.

So what do we do, take a deep breath?  That is probably a good start.  What really must be understood, though, is that all action and creation comes from a place of non-action and nothingness.  That place is not really a place.  It is that which the Tao Te Ching has called the Tao.  It has also been called the Void, the Implicate Order, the Field, the Mind of God.  “Larry” might be a good word for it.  As we learned back in Chapter 1, we are considering something that is nameless.

A few years ago I became aware (and I am using that term intentionally) of an interesting and simple approach to that nameless nothing by a gentleman named Frank Kinslow, who is chiropractor by training and formerly a long-time transcendental meditator.  He has written several books, the best known of which is The Secret of Instant Healing, and the most recent of which is The Kinslow System.
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CHAPTER 44 – WHEN TO STOP

Chapter 44 – When To Stop

 Which does one love more, fame or one’s own life?
Which is more valuable, one’s own life or wealth?
Which is worse, gain or loss?
Therefore he who has lavish desires will spend extravagantly.
He who hoards will lose most heavily.
He who is contented suffers no disgrace.
He who knows when to stop is free from danger.
 Therefore he can long endure.

Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

This chapter begins with three questions, the answers to which should be obvious.  Any reasonable person would love his or her life more than fame, would value life more than wealth and would rather gain than lose.  Then two examples are given of the consequences of answering incorrectly.  Finally, Lao Tzu tells us how the sage should live.

The sage is contented with the world as it is, so there is no attachment or desire to obtain fame or wealth.  The sage does not hoard material things.  The sage recognizes the natural flow of life.  Knowing when to stop, he or she does not exhaust energy or resources.

Nazgul from Lord of the Rings film

Nazgul from Lord of the Rings film

I would like to now look at two events from recent world news from the context of this chapter.  The first is the election that was held to make Crimea a part of the Russian Federation.  The United States and other Western countries seem to view what occurred as a “land grab” (to quote Joe Biden) by Russia; and history seems to superficially support that view.

Western powers have gone to war with Russia over that very issue in the past.  We call it the Crimean War, which lasted from 1853 until 1856.  Some 200 years earlier, Russia had forcibly annexed the Eastern half of Ukraine, and since that time had been progressively extending its territorial boundaries.

For most of those two centuries, the Ottoman Empire was a major world power that controlled the territory between the expanding Russia and the Western European powers.  However, by the mid-19th Century Ottoman might was decreasing, giving the Russians an opportunity to gain even more land.  Based on the assertion that it had the right to protect Orthodox Christians who were being persecuted by the Ottomans, Russian troops and naval forces attacked.  They quickly took control of Ottoman lands near the Russian borders and destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Black Sea.

The French and British saw these actions as a threat and an opportunity.  Continue reading

CHAPTER 43 – WITHOUT WORDS

Chapter 43 – Without Words

The gentlest thing in the world
overcomes the hardest thing in the world.
That which has no substance
enters where there is no space.
This shows the value of non-action.
Teaching without words,
performing without actions
that is the Master’s way

Translation by Stephen Mitchell (1988)

This is a short chapter, so let us compare Stephen Mitchell’s  translation with that of poet Witter Bynner:

 As the soft yield of water cleaves obstinate stone,
So to yield with life solves the insoluble:
To yield, I have learned, is to come back again.
But this unworded lesson,
This easy example,
Is lost upon men.

Translation by Witter Bynner (1944)

San Miguel Mission, Santa Fe

San Miguel Mission, Santa Fe

 As I consider what I should say about each chapter of the Tao Te Ching, I often read Bynner’s translation.  Usually I do not understand exactly what he is saying.  Critics have called his approach to Lao Tzu’s writing “abstruse,” and it often is.  Still, he was a very good poet with an ear for English – and, I believe, Chinese – and it is often interesting to delve into his version of the abstruse.

Before continuing, I would explain that my belief that he has a good ear for Chinese (which I do not) is based on the fact that he spent a lot of time in China during the 1920s, culminating with his collaborative translation, Jade Mountain:  A Chinese Anthology in 1929.  That work, it seems, was well received by the scholarly community when it was published.*

Returning to this specific chapter, I do not doubt that Mitchell’s translation is the more accurate.  Bynner’s version, though, seems a very competent and poetic explanation of what Lao Tzu may well have meant.

Teaching without words might also refer to the wordless transmission that is at the heartZen Teachings of Huang Po of, for example, Chan Buddhism.  For an understanding of that concept, I can think of no better source than John Blofield’s translation of The Zen Teaching of Huang-Po:  On the Transmission of the Mind; and I highly recommend that book .

Teaching without words might also refer to leading or instructing by example.

Or, again, teaching without words could mean that I should simply shut up and let you see what Witter Bynner has to say.  Certainly those are words, but they are not my words.  Unlike my words, his are concise and have a nice a-b-c-a-b-c pattern of half-rhymes.

So, a few thoughts on Mr. Bynner himself, and I will, in fact, shut up. Continue reading

CHAPTER 42 – DEJA VU

Chapter 42 – Déja Vu

The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.

Men hate to be “orphaned,” “widowed,” or “worthless,”
But this is how kings and lords describe themselves.
 For one gains by losing
And loses by gaining.

 What others teach, I also teach; that is:
“A violent man will die a violent death!”
This will be the essence of my teaching.

Translation by Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng (1989)

Reflections

Reflections

This chapter addresses three separate concepts or principles that are only loosely related to each other.  It seems probable that at some time after the original compilation of the Tao Te Ching someone collected a few Taoist sayings and added this chapter to the manuscript.  These are all ideas that Lao Tzu discussed, but in fact they repeat what has already been presented in earlier chapters.

The first concept is that the Tao begot the one, which begot the two, which begot the three, which begot the 10,000 things.  We have already considered the cosmology that is expressed here back in Chapter 4; and rather than repeat it, I would refer you to that discussion

I would like to consider an additional concept.  In my reflection on Chapter 40 I mentioned that the philosophy of change as embodied in the I Ching is a clear outline of a dynamic and constantly changing universe.  Since the change is constant, the begetting of the one and the two and the three and the 10,000 is not a one-time occurrence.  Rather it is repeated over and over again in the physical universe in such a manner that the simple evolves to the complex.  Thus, this is sort of the Taoist expression of entropy.  More importantly, we see that the process and philosophy of change applies only to the physical.  The Tao begot the one which begot the two, etc.  However, the Tao is seen as a force or field that simply exists. There is nothing that begot the Tao.  The Tao (and that no-thing) are meta-physical (beyond the physical) and not subject to the dynamics of change.

The second concept repeats the importance of humility – especially, it seems, on the part of rulers or political leaders.  The words used here are very similar to those found in Chapter 39, so please see that discussion.

The third concept certainly seems to be of great importance, for the text says it is “the essence of [the] teaching” that “’a violent man will die a violent death.’”  That is certainly important and it is repeated and elaborated on many occasions in the Tao Te Ching.  The oft-repeated idea that one who lives by the sword shall die by the sword is certainly not unique to Taoism, as this chapter recognizes.  Here the sage tells us that “what others teach, I also teach.”

There is however a Taoist twist that is worth mentioning.  The Tao is the Natural way, and there is a Natural progression from birth into the stages of life and through death.  One who acts with violence is not following the way of Nature, so his own violent death is outside of the way Nature intends that we leave this life.  Still, it can be seen as a cause-effect relationship that follows its own nature (with a small “n” as opposed to a capital “N”).

Additional thoughts can be found in the discussion of Chapters 30 and 31.

So, as Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like déja vu all over again.”  Still, it is worth taking a good look at this chapter, for Yogi also recognized that “you can observe a lot just by watching.”

CHAPTER 41 – IF YOU DON’T LAUGH AT THE TAO, AT LEAST LAUGH AT YOURSELF

Chapter 41 – If You Don’t Laugh at the Tao, at Least Laugh at Yourself

  When the highest type of men hear Tao,
They diligently practice it.
When the average type of men hear Tao,
They half believe in it.
When the lowest type of men hear Tao,
They laugh heartily at it.
If they did not laugh at it, it would not be Tao.
Therefore there is the established saying:
The Tao which is bright appears to be dark.
The Tao which goes forward appears to fall backward.
The Tao which is level appears uneven.
Great virtue appears like a valley (hollow).
Great purity appears like disgrace.
Far-reaching virtue appears as if insufficient.
Solid virtue appears as if unsteady.
True substance appears to be changeable.
The great square has no corners.
The great implement (or talent) is slow to finish (or mature).
Great music sounds faint.
Great form has no shape.
Tao is hidden and nameless.
Yet it is Tao alone that skillfully provides for all and brings them to perfection. 

Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

A man’s dog had wandered away.  After the pooch had failed to return home for two days, the man decided he should place an ad in the newspaper.  After two more days he told his wife that the ad did not seem to be working.  “What did you say in the ad?” his wife asked.  He replied, “It just said, ‘Here, Boy!’”

If you didn’t laugh at that one, it is not the Tao – or so says Lao Tzu in this chapter.  YetKick Me we know that everything is of the Tao, and the Tao is in everything.  You know what that means, don’t you?  It means you need to read the previous paragraph once again, and try to laugh this time.  Go ahead; I’ll wait.

We are told in this chapter that when men hear Tao, the lowest type laugh at it, while the highest type of men diligently practice it.  I feel pretty certain that a part of the diligent practice is to go ahead and laugh with the lowest bunch – though the sage laughs at himself, and not at the concept or at others.  In the Taoist classics, the most obvious exemplar of this idea is probably Chuang Tzu.  I would like to share a few stories that have been attributed to him:
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