Chapter 63 – Difficulty

Act without action.
Do without ado.
Taste without tasting.

Whether it is big or small, many or few, repay hatred with virtue.

Prepare for the difficult while it is still easy.
Deal with the big while it is still small.

Difficult undertakings have always started with what is easy.
And great undertakings have always started with what is small.

Therefore the sage never strives for the great,
And thereby the great is achieved.

He who makes rash promises surely lacks faith.
He who takes things too easily will surely encounter much difficulty.
For this reason even the sage regards things as difficult.
And therefore he encounters no difficulty.

Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

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Water over Thunder suggests
tempests above and earthquakes below –
cruel conditions for seeds and saplings.

From Richard Gill’s version of the the I Ching (1993),
Hexagram 3, entitled “A Difficult Beginning”*

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     I was not there when this happened, so I am re-telling an experience that was told to me. A couple of weeks ago my son Michael, my daughter Suzanne and her husband Jeff hiked up LaPlata Peak, which at 14,360 feet above sea level is the fifth highest mountain in the State of Colorado. Michael and Suzanne are fairly experienced, having summited many Colorado mountains – and Suzanne has been to 19,341 feet (nearly a mile higher) on Mt. Kilimanjaro – but it was Jeff’s first try at a 14er.

Photo from www.unc.edu (public domain)

     To reach the top of LaPlata Peak requires a strenuous hike of several hours, but it can be done without technical gear. The three of them reached the top at about 1:30 in the afternoon. They were tired and sat down on rocks to eat a quick lunch. Within minutes, though, the wind had picked up and a large cloud had formed. Suddenly Suzanne felt a tingling and the hair on her arm began to stand on end.

     Technically, the electricity in the approaching storm had caused her body to send a “positive streamer.” That is a bad thing. It meant that the three of them could be struck by lightning at any second. Suzanne screamed, told everyone to crouch down and get off the top of the mountain. They all did that, and were not struck. They were moving as fast as they could over a boulder field, cutting and bruising their legs while being pelted by wind, rain and hail.

Continue reading →

Chapter 62 – Refuge

Tao is the storehouse of all things.
It is the good man’s treasure and the bad man’s refuge.
Fine words can buy honour,
And fine deeds can gain respect from others.
Even if a man is bad, when has (Tao) rejected him?
Therefore on the occasion of crowning an emperor or installing the three ministers,
Rather than present four large pieces of jade preceded by teams of four horses,
It is better to kneel and offer this Tao.
Why did the ancients highly value this Tao?
Did they not say, “Those who seek shall have it and those who sin shall be freed”?
For this reason it is valued by the world.

Translated by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

In the discussion of Chapter 60, it was pointed out that there may be a lot fewer metaphors in writing than many of us would think. Well, most of this commentary is going to be a metaphor – or example, perhaps? – together with a travelogue.

Place of Refuge

The society of ancient Hawai’i was governed by a strict system known as kapu, a word that is similar to tabu or tapu in other Poynesian languages and a source for the modern term “taboo.” Essentially, a thing which was kapu was forbidden, though the term had connotations beyond simple proscription.

Many of the acts which were kapu would be familiar to modern society. For instance, murder was kapu. Others, though, were not so obvious. For example, there were areas where fishing was forbidden, at least at certain times of the year; or certain foods could not be eaten by women. It was also kapu to look at a chief or king, or to be in his presence with one’s head higher than the chief’s or to walk on ground where the chief had walked.

No matter what the offense, the punishment was generally the same – capital punishment. There was no trial and no judge. If one was caught in an act that was kapu, he or she was immediately executed. While that seems harsh – and it was – there was at least one way to avoid that very permanent result.

Continue reading →

Chapter 61 – Huddled Masses

A great state, one that lowly flows,
becomes the empire’s union, and the empire’s wife.

This chapter is not difficult to understand, though it is difficult for great and small states to apply.

Having said that, let me move directly into the digression – I often digress – portion of this week’s Tao Te Ching Tuesday reflection.

Most Americans are somewhat aware that the Statue of Liberty was a gift to this country from France. The gift was “accepted” by President Grant on his last day in office, even though the statue had not been constructed and there was no place to put it. The next day, President Hayes took over and selected a site on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor.

Although the statue itself was to be a gift, the United States was required to provide the pedestal, which of course was quite expensive. A fundraising drive was begun in 1882 (5 years after the gift was accepted by by President Grant) and included an auction of art and manuscripts. A New York poet named Emma Lazarus was reluctant to participate, though she finally submitted a sonnet called “The New Colossus,” which reads as follows:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

That sounds familiar to some because it was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal in 1903, but it seems that Ms. Lazarus felt at the time that she was too busy to write the poem. She had reacted strongly and emotionally to the anti-Semitic pogroms that “spontaneously” (with a little help from government officials) spread across portions of Russia – which included the Ukraine – after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Thousands of Jewish refugees fled to New York to escape that violence and Emma Lazarus was one of those working very hard to help them.

The pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe continued, and became even worse, for many years. Mark Twain published a Thanksgiving message to the American people Continue reading →

Chapter 60 – Ghosts: Evil, Boo Evil

Govern a great country as you would fry small fish: [neither gut nor scale them.]

 If with Reason the empire is managed, its ghosts will not spook.
Not only will its ghosts not spook, but its gods will not harm the people.
Not only will its gods not harm the people, but neither will its holy men harm the people.
Since neither will do harm, therefore their virtues will be combined.

Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus (1880)

The translation by Suzuki and Carus is one of the oldest English renditions of the Tao Te Ching, and it seems to be one of the most literal. It is one of the few I found that speaks directly of ghosts. In Wayne Dyer’s comments on this chapter he counsels that one should exclude evil from his or her life. Ron Hogan talks about “misfortune.” Stephen Mitchell is another who uses the word “evil” instead of “ghosts,” as do Jane English and Gia-Fu Feng.

It is easy to see why a modern intellect would look at a reference to ghosts as a metaphor for the concept of evil; but 25 centuries ago Chinese ghosts, and especially ancestral spirits, were considered to be very real and not a metaphor for anything. The Chinese culture had practiced ancestor worship or veneration since at least the late Neolithic Period, more than 5,000 years before the time of Lao Tzu; so I think the Old Boy was using the term “ghosts” in what was then the popular sense.

The ancient Chinese practice arose from the belief that spirits of the dead could influence the world of the living, for good or for ill. The worship of one’s deceased ancestors was intended to keep those spirits happy so they would look favorably on their descendants, and even intercede to help the living.

Such beliefs were not confined to the Orient or to ancient times. Continue reading →

Chapter 59 – Storing Virtue

While ruling the people
And serving heaven
Build up a store.
If you’ve built up a store
You can adhere to Tao early.
If you’ve adhered to Tao early
You can amass virtue.
When you’ve amassed virtue
There is nothing you cannot do.
When there is nothing you cannot do
Your capacity has no bounds.
Having boundless capacity
You’re ready to rule the realm.
Leaning on the mother of the realm
You can last through all time.
You’ve been firmly established.
You have a strong support.
This is the Tao of long life.
This is the Tao of farsightedness.

Translated by Agnieszka Solska (2005)

I looked long and hard to find an appropriate translation of Chapter 59. Most of the versions I considered seemed too much a simple interpretation – and many were like Stephen Mitchell’s 1988 translation, which is as follows:

For governing a country well
there is nothing better than moderation.

The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.

Nothing is impossible for him.
Because he has let go,
he can care for the people’s welfare
as a mother cares for her child.

All those poetic images are nice, as is moderation, but I don’t believe that is exactly what the Old Master is telling us here. Rather, I think he is saying that before a person becomes a ruler or leader, he must develop Te or virtue. That is, he must live and act in accord with Tao.

It is often said, “with God, all things are possible.” The same concept is presented here – with Tao “there is nothing you cannot do” and “having boundless capacity you’re ready to rule the realm.”

As a practical matter, it is good for rulers and the rest of us to build up stores of things in addition to virtue in anticipation of the cyclical workings of Nature. After a good harvest, some crops should be saved for the time when adverse weather or ravenous insects could precipitate a famine. During wet years, water should be stored in lakes and reservoirs knowing that there will one day be a time of drought.

Another possible way of looking at this chapter – and especially the mention of the “Tao of long life” – is rather esoteric. From the time of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) through the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.) there were those who followed a religion known as “Taoism,” and who believed that there were secret practices that could bring a person physical immortality. At the heart of these practices was the building up and storing of the bodily essences known as jing and chi (qi). I do not believe that this chapter gives any such direction to readers – and I have only limited knowledge of the beliefs of those later “Taoists” – so I will leave that subject for someone else.

Of course, the advice that one should build a store of Te before leading a nation applies to any leadership role in society, business, family or personal life. Wayne Dyer talks about this chapter in his book Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life and introduces a concept he calls “God points.” He says that for many years he has regularly made anonymous donations of money and books and service to help others who were in need. He writes that he has benefited by accumulating God points. Thus, he sees this chapter as recognizing a principle of karma.

I commend Mr. Dyer for his charitable actions, but I think the virtue of Te the ruler needs to build and store is something more than good intentions and good deeds. As an illustration, I will close by paraphrasing a story from Chuang Tzu.

It seems a reclusive sage (Hsu Su Kwei) was finally convinced to visit the ruler of his country, who was named Prince Wu. The prince asked the sage, “Tell me if I am doing right. I want to love my people and to exercise justice and bring an end to war. Is that enough?”

The sage replied, “Certainly not. Your love for your people puts them in mortal danger and your desire for justice will be the root of war after war. If you try to accomplish something great, you are only fooling yourself. Your acts of love and justice are only pretexts for asserting your power. Look around you – your hallways and buildings are filled with soldiers to enforce your sense of justice. You are at war with yourself. Give up your plans for love and justice. Instead, try to find your true virtue. Then your people can breathe easily. They will live and war will end by itself.”

Chapter 58 – Laid Back

When a nation is ruled
with a light touch,
people lead simple lives.
When a government
is harsh and demanding,
people will spend their time
trying to outsmart it.
 
Happiness is rooted in misery,
and misery lurks beneath all joy.
Who knows what could happen tomorrow?
 
Everything is relative;
what’s considered proper today
may become improper.
Correct appearances
may hide dishonesty and sinfulness.
 
No wonder so many people get confused.
 
The Masters have sharp minds,
not sharp tongues.
They are austere,
but never judgmental.
They are straightforward,
but not provocative.
They are brilliant,
but not flashy.

Interpretation by Ron Hogan (2004)

There are many ways to approach this chapter, but I would first like to consider it as a continuation of what was said in the previous chapter. In Chapter 57 Lao Tzu explains that the best way to govern a state is unobtrusively with the correctness of Te – which is to say in accord with Tao.

Richard Wilhelm

He begins this chapter telling us that ruling with a light touch will let the people lead simple, peaceful lives. But if the ruler is domineering and heavy-handed, the citizens will not trust him, finding ways to avoid excessive taxes, regulations, etc.

The advice Lao Tzu offers here is not relevant only to princes, but to anyone who is a parent, a manager or in any position of apparent authority with respect to others. It even provides guidance to help an individual live a life of Te. Having looked at politics and government in the commentary on Chapter 57, I would like to go to the other end of the spectrum and consider the individual in this “Tao Te Ching Tuesday” offering.

There is a translation of the Tao Te Ching by a scholar named Charles Muller. I usually do not refer to it, but I appreciate the way he begins this chapter:

“When the government is laid back
The people are relaxed.
When the government is nitpicking
The people have anxiety.“

Now “laid back” is not a term I would normally apply to a government, though it can certainly be descriptive of an individual; and it is a good description in the vernacular for one aspect of Te. Here in Chapter 58 we are essentially told what we might expect to observe in the person of a laid-back sage. Such a person lives in the moment and understands that what goes around comes around. He knows that things aren’t always as they seem to be and that the trends and belief systems of the physical world are in a state of constant change. His approach to these matters is, as Ron Hogan writes here, to have a sharp mind but not a sharp tongue, to be austere and non-judgmental, straightforward but not provocative and brilliant but not flashy.

I picked Ron Hogan’s version of this chapter because it would certainly have to be considered “laid back.” Hogan is not a Chinese scholar – his formal education relates to cinema. He did not translate the Tao Te Ching. Rather, he read several translations by others and then paraphrased them in a way that he thought would be modern and relevant. Sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I don’t, but that is certainly a laid-back approach. He seems to be saying, “Those who know can speak, but they don’t have to translate.”

I have no argument with the concept that to the extent a person knows and exemplifies Tao it is not critical what, if any, words he or she may use.

Of course there is more to this chapter than “don’t worry, be happy.” Continue reading →

Chapter 57 – Govern Best, Govern Least

Govern the state with correctness.
Operate the army with surprise tactics.
Administer the empire by engaging in no activity.
How do I know that this should be so? Through this:

The more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world,
The poorer the people will be.
The more sharp weapons the people have,
The more troubled the state will be.
The more cunning and skill a man possesses,
The more vicious things will appear.
The more laws and orders are made prominent,
The more thieves and robbers there will be.

Therefore the sage says:
I take no action and the people of themselves are transformed.
I love tranquillity and the people of themselves become correct.
I engage in no activity and the people of themselves become prosperous.
I have no desires and the people of themselves become simple.

Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

It is “Tao Te Ching Tuesday” and Spring – when a young man’s fancy turns lightly to thoughts of . . . politics[?].

This chapter and the next several chapters discuss issues relating to governing a country or a kingdom. It has been my impression that the wise and sagacious generally do not participate in politics. Even I, who am neither, go out of my way to avoid anything political.* With the prevalence – especially in national elections – of negative campaigning, special interest groups, a divided and ineffective Congress and everything else that has become associated with modern politics, you would have to be crazy to want to run for any major office. Consequently, government often seems to be made up of crazy men and women with oversized egos. The wise, on the other hand can look at it all from the sidelines, 25 centuries in the past, and shake their heads muttering, “It’s not supposed to be like this.”

From these next few chapters one learns that Lao Tzu did not view big government favorably and felt that if a people had to be governed it should be by a sage-like leader. The advice given here is simple and straightforward: Govern in a moral and correct fashion; if war is necessary, strike quickly and get it over with; and the proper action is usually inaction (wu wei).

He tells us that having more laws simply makes it harder for people to be law-abiding. This is similar to the bumper stickers that proclaim, “When Guns Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Guns.” However, he does not seem to favor an armed citizenry, seeing that situation as bad for the state.

In Chapter 17, Lao Tzu told us that the best rulers are not loved or praised or feared or despised. The best are those who are merely known by the people to exist way off in the capital. Such rulers quietly do what is necessary to govern. Their unintrusive ways permit the populace to live in accord with the flow of Nature.

Lao Tzu was not alone in his view of government. In the Analects, Confucius says: Continue reading →

Chapter 56 – One Who Knows Does Not Speak

 Those who know, don’t talk.
Those who talk, don’t know. 

Shut your mouth.
Be still. Relax.
Let go of your worries.
Stay out of the spotlight.
Be at one with the world
and get right with Tao. 

If you get right with Tao,
you won’t be worried
about praise or scorn,
about winning or losing,
about honor or disgrace.
That’s the way to be.

 Translation by Ron Hogan (2004)

This is the famous “One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know” chapter of the Tao Te Ching.  I have chosen Ron Hogan’s translation for this week’s Tao Te Ching Tuesday consideration.  Like much of Hogan’s approach to Lao Tzu, it is probably more an interpretation than a literal translation, and here I believe his interpretation is on target.

The sage is the person who is at one with the world and right with Tao.  That state of being is not something that is taught through words, but is acquired through right action.  Such a person is not concerned how others might perceive him or her.  Being free of the need to conform to others’ judgments, a sage teaches by example and not by preaching or prescribing exercises or requiring rigid adherence to a curriculum.

That other kind of teaching often does not produce results, anyway.  The knowledge we need to be one with the world is certainly in the world – but not somewhere out there in the world.  It is within each person in the world.  The words of a teacher or guru may help some of us; however the learning must occur silently within the soul, the essential being.  Be still, we are told.  Relax.

I could quit now; and if you would like to quit reading at this point, please do.  I am going to continue for just a bit, though.

Some of the other translations of this chapter that I have seen include language that goes beyond the advice to “shut your mouth,” and advise the reader to close doors or close gates in order to achieve a “primal union.” That could be interpreted as instruction in meditation concerning the control of chi as it flows through the body’s energetic gates, such as the dan tien.  Continue reading →

Chapter 55 – Innocence

 He who is filled with Virtue is like a newborn child.
Wasps and serpents will not sting him;
Wild beasts will not pounce upon him;
He will not be attacked by birds of prey.
His bones are soft, his muscles weak,
But his grip is firm.
He has not experienced the union of man and woman, but is whole.
His manhood is strong.
He screams all day without becoming hoarse.
This is perfect harmony.
Knowing harmony is constancy.
Knowing constancy is enlightenment.

It is not wise to rush about.
Controlling the breath causes strain.
If too much energy is used, exhaustion follows.
This is not the way of Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will not last long.

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

After reviewing several translations of Chapter 55 in preparation for this week’s “Tao Te Ching Tuesday” discussion, my first thought was that we finally have to deal with a chapter showing the dark side of following the “natural way.”  Sometimes out in the wild, with no bar codes on the food, a person may mix a little loco weed in with his watercress sandwich.  I was afraid Lao Tzu had done that before he sat down to write this chapter.

What was he thinking?  Wasps and serpents and wild beasts and birds of prey are all willing to attack a helpless newborn under appropriate circumstances.  One of the reasons

Ryder – 4/2014

humans first came together in bands or tribes was to provide the protection necessary so that babies are able to grow and the species survive.

Sure, there are legends of babies Romulus and Remus raised by wolves and of infant Tarzan raised by apes.  In The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling tells of the child Mowgli who was adopted by wolves after his parents were killed by a tiger.  However, those kids were not immune to being injured or killed by dangerous beasts; they were protected from those dangers by the wolves and apes that had chosen to act in loco parentis.

The Prophet Isaiah tells us that in the time when the lion lies down with the lamb, human children will play with poisonous snakes and suffer no harm.  The world is not yet like that, though; and it certainly wasn’t like that 25 centuries ago when Lao Tzu was writing.

Finally I realized that Lao Tzu was not laboring under the delusion or hallucination that babies can get by just fine on their own. Continue reading →

Chapter 54 – How do You Know?

 He who is well established (in Tao) cannot be pulled away.
He who has a firm grasp (of Tao) cannot be separated from it.
Thus from generation to generation his ancestral sacrifice will never be suspended. 

When one cultivates virtue in his person, it becomes genuine virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his family, it becomes overflowing virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his community, it becomes lasting virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in his country, it becomes abundant virtue.
When one cultivates virtue in the world, it becomes universal. 

Therefore the person should be viewed as a person.
The family should be viewed as a family.
The community should be viewed as a community.
The country should be viewed as a country.
And the world should be viewed as the world.

How do I know this to be the case in the world?
Through this.

 Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963)

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 Now you’re probably wondering by now
Just what this song is all about
What’s probably got you baffled more
Is what this thing here is for.
It’s nothing
It’s something I learned over in England.

Bob Dylan, “I Shall Be Free No. 10” (1964)

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Until the last two lines of this chapter, it could almost be read as a Confucian text.  Confucius taught of a social morality within a hierarchy of relationships.  The individual has certain responsibilities to his family.  Each family owes duties to the community.  The communities are responsible to the country or kingdom.  And the kingdom should assume its proper role within the greater world.

Confucius did not believe that humans are capable understanding the divine.  Therefore, the proper focus of each of us is the world around us.  The goal of this life is to take the actions necessary for each of us to achieve our highest purpose as a person (jen).  Since we cannot understand sacred time and sacred space, our ordinary worldly time and space essentially become the sacred.

The most sacred of all was seen as the family and the relationship among family members.  Those relationships are the template for all social relationships from inter-personal to inter-national.  Thus, if each of us acts to his or her highest potential we will live in a world in which virtue is abundant and society is in harmony.

From that perspective, it may not even be necessary to consider the interactions of kings and nations.  What the individual can control is his or her own virtue – and that is enough to begin the entire process.

Lao Tzu also adopted this line of thought, at least in its first stages.  He has said throughout the Tao Te Ching that each person must reach his own understanding and act according to the Way of Tao – a way that is expressed through individual virtue (Te).

Of course there are differences between Lao Tzu’s approach and that of Confucius. Continue reading →