Tao Thought: Invisibility and daodejing 76

Invisibility is the best advantage.
But if forced to a confrontation,
Come out with all your skill.

There was once a roadside vendor who sold rheumatism formulas to the passersby. He was a cheery old man who was faithfully at his spot for years. One day a young bully began to harass the vendor. The old man tried very hard to avoid the confrontation, but eventually the bully became convinced that he had a coward to abuse as he pleased. When the moment of attack came, the old man defeated him with superior boxing skills. Significantly, the old man was never seen again. He had manifested his superiority at a critical moment, but once he had exposed himself, he disappeared.

In this competitive world, it is best to be invisible. Go through life without showing off, attracting attention to yourself, or making flamboyant gestures. These will only attract the hostility of others. The wise accomplish all that they want without arousing the envy or scorn of others. They make achievements only for the sake of fulfilling their inner yearnings.

Yet it is inevitable that you will have to prove yourself at one time or another. When that is necessary, then you must marshal all your skills and do your very best. Prove yourself when it is demanded, and when you must prove yourself, be superior. At that moment, it is no time to talk of philosophy and humility. Act. Do. Then fade back into invisibility.

invisibility
365 Tao
Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9

Tao Te Ching translated by various current scholars

76

When people are born they are soft and supple
when they perish they are hard and stiff

When plants shoot forth they are soft and tender
when they die they are withered and dry

Thus it is said the hard and strong are followers of death
the soft and weak are followers of life

When an army becomes strong it suffers defeat
when a plant becomes hard it snaps

The hard and strong dwell below
the soft and weak dwell above

— RED PINE

http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/taoism/taoism.php?name=taoteching.redpine


76

At birth a person is soft and yielding,
at death stiff and hard.

All beings, the grass, the trees: alive, soft, and yielding;
dead, stiff, and hard.

Therefore the hard and inflexible are friends of death.
The soft and yielding are friends of life.

An unyielding army is destroyed.
An unbending tree breaks.

The hard must humble itself or be otherwise humbled.
The soft will ultimately ascend.

— BRIAN BROWNE-WALKER

http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/taoism/taoism.php?name=taoteching.walker


76

Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plats are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

— STEPHEN MITCHELL

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/taote-v3.html#76

OUR NEXT JOURNEY:

CHAD HANSEN’S CHINESE PHILOSOPHY PAGES

his site contains segments of an extended interpretive theory of Classical Chinese philosophy that takes Daoism (Taoism) as the philosophical center. The interpretive theory turns on a new, more philosophical reading of the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (ChuangTzu 莊子). My analysis highlights skeptical and relativist themes in his thinking. The crucial novelty is the assumption that Zhuangzi was a philosopher of language, like his close friend and philosophical interlocutor, Hui Shi, . He was deeply engaged with the linguistic and other insights of the Later Mohists (sometimes called Neo-Mohists or Dialectical Mohists) and the School of Names. His relation to the other famous Daoist, Laozi (Lao Tzu) is rather more indirect but their views are complementary in that both deal with 道dao^guide at a higher level than do Confucians or Mohists.

The site also contains my related writings about Confucianism, Mohism, LegalismAsian values, human rights and rule of law. and some reflections on Asian values, human rights and rule of law.

If you find the interpretive approach and style worthwhile, you may be interested in my systematic and more complete treatment of Chinese thought. I am please to report that Oxford University Press has reissued my book, A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought , in affordable paperback (at last!). I add essays and translation here as I finish them for publication and also include links to classes I teach at the University of Hong Kong. Much of this is work in progress and I would appreciate any feedback about, e.g., where it is hard to follow, makes historical errors, etc. Any Chinese characters in various postings use Big5 coding (gradually changing to Unicode). Hover over note icons in the detail pages for a brief description of each article. If you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions send mail to: chansen (at) hku.hk

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Tao Thought: Austerities and daodejing 66

朴素的

Self-discipline leads to higher spiritual states
Only if practiced with understanding.
The clearer the goal,
The greater the result.

We must distinguish between discipline with a purpose and blind discipline. Discipline with a purpose is merely a means to an end and is healthy. Blind discipline does not have a true purpose and so becomes fanaticism. In the past, there were many spiritual people who believed in harsh asceticism. They would flog themselves, live in cold and damp caves, twist themselves into uncomfortable postures, fast for dangerous periods of time. All too often, these people lost sight of their goals. We must be strongly disciplined, but we must not lose sight of our inner meaning.

Austere living with a clear understanding of why and how we are doing things does not require esoteric practices. Few of us mind going through extra effort and even hardship if we know that we will gain something better for it. That is all that discipline and austerity are about : You make extra efforts to gain a better life.

austereties
365 Tao
Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9

Tao Te Ching translated by current scholars

66

The reason the sea can govern a hundred rivers
is because it has mastered being lower
thus it can govern a hundred rivers

Thus if the sage would be above the people
he should speak as if he were below them
if he would be before them
he should act as though he were behind them

Thus when the sage is above
the people are not burdened
when he is in front
the people are not hindered
the world never wearies of pushing him forward

Because he doesn't struggle
no one can struggle against him

— RED PINE


66

The sea is king of the valleys and streams
because it is willing to be beneath them.

One who wishes to guide the people
should be humble in her speech toward them.
One who wishes to lead the people
must learn the art of following them.

The sage is above the people,
but they don't feel her weight.
She stays ahead of the people,
and no harm comes to them.
She has the affection of the whole world.

Because she contends with no one,
no one can contend with her.

— BRIAN BROWNE-WALKER


66

All streams flow to the sea
because it is lower than they are.
Humility gives it its power.

If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn how to follow them.

The Master is above the people,
and no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the people,
and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.

— STEPHEN MITCHELL

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看不出

Invisibility is the best advantage. But if forced to a confrontation, Come out with all your skill. There was once roadside vendor who sold rheumatism formulas to the passersby. He was a cheery old man who was faithfully at his spot for years. One day a young bully begin to harass the vendor. The old man tried very heard to avoid the confrontation, but eventually the bully because convinced that he had a coward to abuse as he pleased. When the moment of attack came, the old man defeated him with superior boxing skills. Significantly, the old man was never seen again. He had manifested his superiority at a critical moment, but once he had exposed himself, he disappeared. In this competitive world, it is best to be invisible. Go through life without showing off, attracting attention to yourself, or making flamboyant gestures. These will only attract the hostility of others. The wise accomplish all that they want without amusing the envy or scorn of others. They make achievements only for the sake of fulfilling their inner yearnings. Yet it is inevitable that you will have to prove yourself at one time or another. When that is necessary, then you must marshal all your skills and do your very best. Prove yourself when it is demanded, and when you must prove yourself, be superior. At that moment, it is no time to talk of philosophy and humility. Act. Do. Then fade back into invisibility. invisibility from the book 365 Tao Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao ISBN: 0.06.250223.9 "Bufous Boofose Golly" © 2007 lisbethwest hiding behind the elizabeth ann kibben memorial garden for a short reading list of Taoist and Zen material, please go to http://www.duckdaotsu.org/dao_books.html (duckdaotsu receives a small monetary contribution when books are purchased from that location) PayPal at http://preview.tinyurl.com/yxv6xa to subscribe to daily Taoist meditations send an email to duckdaotsu write SUBSCRIBE TAO in the subject line archived at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/july07/invisibility.html if you receive the text-only version, click here to see the full color! Please consider the environment before printing this web page

Tao Meditation: Unexpectant

Here's a view of the focus of my energy for the past week or so. GongGong (the mother) has tried to hatch a brood so many times I have lost count, and I have "midwifed' her through it all. (Ensuring that she get food, water, time away from the nest, doesn't try to sit in the winter, etc.) This is our very first brood in all the years we have kept fowl, although the mallard is really working on it this year. I have enclosed a photo of mom and dad - my banty frizzle and the funniest looking rooster in the world! His crow is just as loud as them all; we have to bring him indoors on harsh winter nights or he would freeze trying to guard all his hens. Meditate with no thought of gain. Expect no ambitions to be fulfilled. Only then will the inner force manifest. In the competitive world, we give expression to our ambitions, shrewdness, and aggressiveness. We must do this to survive. In the meditative world, we cannot use these attitudes. What works well on the outside will not serve us on the inside. When we meditate, we must expect no gain. If we look for results, then those results will elude us. In contrast, if we suspend our ambitions, then the results will manifest very quickly. It may sound like absurd mysticism, but it is an undeniable, empirical truth. If you have no expectations, you will feel the divine. If you strive and have selfish desires, then you will feel only frustration. When the mind is occupied with meditation for gain, it creates a barrier to precisely the results that you want. Spirituality is a mode that is far beyond the machinations and imaginations of the rational mind. It is created by an aspect of the mind that is not a part of everyday thought. In fact, the part of the mind that brings spirituality is very nearly antithetical to the common ways that we think. Therefore, we can only reach this type of spirituality by suspending our everyday thinking. unexpectant from the book 365 Tao Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao ISBN: 0.06.250223.9 "Six Babies" © 2007 lisbethwest hatched in the elizabeth ann kibben memorial garden to subscribe to daily Taoist meditations send an email to duckdaotsu write SUBSCRIBE TAO in the subject line click below to email this to a friend archived at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/july07/unexpectant.html Please consider the environment before printing this email or web page.