Chapter 13 (original) (raw)
Translation
Bestowing favor and disgrace likewise startle;
Treasure and trouble likewise seem personal.
Why say bestowing favor and disgrace likewise startle?
Bestowing favor supports the low.
Gain seems to startle,
Loss seems to startle,
This says bestowing favor and disgrace likewise startle.
Why say treasure and trouble likewise seem personal?
I have great trouble means I have a body,
Come the day I have no body, what trouble have I?
Hence, regarding the body as treasure supports all under heaven,
Likewise trustworthy for all under heaven.
Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven,
Likewise worthy of serving as support for all under heaven.
dote on (bestow favor) disgrace (dishonor; insult) like (seem; if, you) start (be frightened; surprise), 宠辱若惊，_(chŏng rŭ ruò jīng,)_
expensive (valuable; precious) big (greatly; fully) trouble (disaster; worry) like (seem; if, you) body (life; personally). 贵大患若身。_(guì dà huàn ruò shēn.)_
carry (what, how, why, which) say (call; name; meaning) dote on (bestow favor) disgrace (dishonor; insult) like (seem; if, you) start (be frightened; surprise)? 何谓宠辱若惊？_(hé wèi chŏng rŭ ruò jīng?)_
dote on (bestow favor) do (act; serve as; be, mean; support) below (down; lower; inferior; next). 宠为下。_(chŏng wéi xià.)_
get (obtain, gain) of like (seem; if, you) start (be frightened; surprise), 得之若惊 (dé zhī ruò jīng)
lose (miss; let slip; fail; mistake) of like (seem; if, you) start (be frightened; surprise), 失之若惊 (shī zhī ruò jīng)
is (yes this; that) say (call; name; meaning) dote on (bestow favor) disgrace (dishonor; insult) like (seem; if, you) start (be frightened; surprise). 是谓宠辱若惊。_(shì wèi chŏng rŭ ruò jīng.)_
carry (what, how, why, which) say (call; name; meaning) expensive (valuable; precious) big (greatly; fully) trouble (disaster; worry) like (seem; if, you) body (life; personally)? 何谓贵大患若身？_(hé wèi guì dà huàn ruò shēn?)_
I (we) so (therefore; as a result) have (there is; exist) big (greatly; fully) trouble (disaster; anxiety; worry) (者), do (act; serve as; be, mean; support) I (we) have (there is; exist) body (life; personally), 吾所以有大患者，为吾有身，_(wú suŏ yĭ yŏu dà huàn zhĕ, wéi wú yŏu shēn,)_
reach (come up to; in time for; and) I (we) nothing (nil; not have; there is not; without) body (life; personally), I (we)) have (there is; exist) carry (what, how, why, which) trouble (disaster; anxiety; worry)? 及吾无身，吾有何患? (jí wú wú shēn, wú yŏu hé huàn?)
incident (reason; hence) expensive (valuable; precious) take as (regard… as..) body (life; personally) do (act; serve as; be, mean; support) land under heaven (the world), 故贵以身为天下，_(gù guì yĭ shēn wéi tiān xià,)_
like (seem; if, you) approve (can; may; be worth (doing); fit; suit <adv.> but; yet) send (post; mail; entrust; depend on) land under heaven (the world). 若可寄天下。_(ruò kĕ jì tiān xià.)_
love (like; treasure; take care of) take as (regard… as..) body (life; personally) do (act; serve as; be, mean; support) land under heaven (the world), 爱以身为天下，_(ài yĭ shēn wéi tiān xià,)_
like (seem; if, you) approve (can; may; be worth (doing); fit; suit <adv.> yet) hold in the palm (serving as a support; entrust) land under heaven (the world). 若可托天下。_(ruò kĕ tuō tiān xià.)_
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month (pandemic era) 7/6/2024
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/H5LDPO4ioBU 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:
Bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle; Treasure and trouble seem like the body.
Bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle has been scientifically confirmed. Both positive and negative stimuli cause stress. Of course, the stress we notice more and wish to avoid is the stress caused by negative stimuli like pain and disgrace. As it happens, I find that being more aware of the ‘no win’ aspect of favor and _disgrace_—or pleasure and pain—decreases the impact either side has on me emotionally. Not surprisingly, any leaning towards one side increases the stress either can cause.
In life, like a roller coaster, downswings always follow upswings… sooner or later. The more you entertain one, the more the other will follow. Treasuring anything inevitably invites trouble along for the ride. The treasure that life bestows on all living things begins with a body. Any threat or loss of that primary life treasure is troubling indeed. And yet, until it is in jeopardy, the body tends to be taken for granted as we eagerly pursue external treasures.
Why say bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle? Bestowing favor supports the low. Gain seems to startle; Loss seems to startle. This says bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle.
Saying that Gain seems to startle; Loss seems to startle is just reiterating the roots of stress. This brings to light the under appreciated stress that follows gain. Saying that Bestowing favor supports the low also implies that the inverse, Bestowing disgrace supports the high, is true. Both statements point out nature’s balancing act. Bestowing favor supports the low is akin to charitable giving—charity is about supporting the low. This serves balance by bringing the low higher. Similarly, Bestowing disgrace supports the high serves balance by bringing the high lower. I suppose that is the role of political satire and tabloid journalism. As chapter 77 notes, The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient. Balance is nature’s game.
Why say treasure and trouble seem like a body? I, as a result, have great suffering; this means I have a body, Come the time I have no body, I have what trouble?
Come the time I have no body, I have what trouble? places a floor under the meaning of trouble and treasure. Without a body, both conditions become irrelevant. Doesn’t this dilute the meaning of both words in the larger scheme of things? Both trouble and treasure are superfluous compared to the down-to-earth reality of the body. These lines establish a range of priority, with body as the primary priority followed by all the factors that can accompany having a body.
Hence, regarding the body as precious supports all under heaven, Seems worthy of trust for all under heaven. Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven Seems worthy of holding in the palm of the hand, all under heaven.
Attempting to see this chapter through the eyes of all the other life forms on this planet helps me understand this chapter more deeply. Humans are clearly not as in touch with the body as other animals due to our disease, i.e., Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Our experience of reality flows through our mind, its senses, and the thoughts that result. Not so for the rest of life on Earth!
Indeed, consider how the Tao Te Ching begins…
The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way. The name possible to express runs counter to the constant name.
Hence, regarding the body as precious supports all under heaven will become harder to do when your mind is diseased by the certainty of knowing and knowledge. The natural conditions of life for wild animals (and for our distant hunter-gatherer ancestors) ensured that their moment-to-moment physical reality took prominent importance. There are/were no distractions to spin off flights of imagination. Awareness’s feet are/were firmly planted on the ground… Seems worthy of holding in the palm of the hand, all under heaven.
Think of it this way: If the body is like a parent, then the optimal rearing of the children will follow naturally if the parents self-integrity/ self-honest is optimal. Only then does it Seem worthy of trust for all under heaven**.** If that foundation is flawed, the relationship between parent and child will be problematic. You can’t build something sound upon an unsound foundation. As the foundation is, so goes anything that rests upon it.
Our human sense of reality is predominately based upon our cogno-emotional interpretation of human experience. This interpretation gives rise to the beliefs, ideals, morals, and stories that we hold so dear. Much of our problem begins with the fact that this sense of reality is based on the ever-changing nature of thought. We can spend a lifetime chasing ideals, and totally overlook the mystery of the body, oblivious to how Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven.
This, Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven parallels Theravada Buddhism*, which emphasizes Buddha’s wisdom and the direct path of enlightenment focusing on individual spiritual growth and self-discipline. It teaches that individuals are responsible for their own enlightenment and salvation. Now granted, this has a little too much implied free will underpinning it. Nevertheless, it does address the importance of the foundation (source) in contrast to everything that arises from that base.
Theravada school vs. Mahayana school may parallel old school Christianity vs. the later protestant schools of Christianity. Theravada emphasizes that it all begins at home, with the integrity of being. Mahayana school seems to emphasize a larger social context for Buddha’s teachings. Personally, I find that larger context easily misses the more fundamental aspects Buddha laid down in his Four Noble Truths. See Buddha’s Four Noble Truths.
Theravada Buddhism is the more conservative of the two major traditions of Buddhism (the other being Mahayana). It is practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Theravada is Buddhism’s oldest existing school. Its adherents have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha’s teaching or Dhamma (Pāḷi) or Dharma (Sanskrit) in the Pali Canon for over two millennia.
Finally, I also see this Taking care in use of the body analogous to a general’s responsibility over his foot soldiers. In the body’s case, the foot soldiers are the billions of cells than coordinate their myriad functions to keep the whole living. When I view my ‘illusion of self’ as the general taking care of the foot soldiers (eukorite cells) that compose my body—my life—it is easier to do what is right for my body over all else.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/qdXxCsrwvME
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month 9/1/2017
Corrections?
None this time
Reflections:
Bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle… Gain seems to startle; Loss seems to startle.
Favor, disgrace, gain and loss all ‘stress’ the nervous system, or as this chapter has it, startle. Of course, we seek the more pleasant stress that favor and gain invoke, and seek to avoid the painful stress that disgrace and loss invoke. The reality is, these two poles are linked. In giving myself to one side, I inherit the other side. Yet, I hold on to the illusion that I can win the one and somehow avoid the other. This seems all quite natural. Such a bias toward favor and gain help ensure an animal does all it can to survive in the wild. The only hitch here is that I’m not living in the wild!
The biological realities of life make circumstance of gain and loss inevitable. More importantly, instinct drives us toward gains we feel favorable and drives us to avoid losses we feel detrimental. The more deeply I face the inevitability of this survival push pull, the easier it is to take it in stride.
Civilization’s core objective has always been to make life more comfortable and secure. This means maximizing gain and favor (a.k.a., favorable circumstances), and minimizing loss and disgrace (a.k.a, adverse circumstances). That is why we traded our ancestral hunting and gathering ways for the food security of agriculture and animal husbandry once we figured out how to do them (see The Tradeoff). Favor and gain underpin our quest for comfort and security. Given this backdrop, I imagine that disgrace and loss are even more stressful than they would be in ancestral times. Indeed, some have come to expect favor and gain as a ‘God given right’, so to speak. Such expectations only serve to augment the stress that gain and loss evoke. (See Science Proves Buddha Right! and Is Gen Y Unhappy?)
Perhaps this feels somewhat ironic or paradoxical, especially if you believe in ‘progress’ — maximizing comfort and security. As chapter 78 says, Straight and honest words seem inside out, or as D.C. Lau translates this, Straightforward words, Seem paradoxical.
Why say treasure and trouble seem like a body? I, as a result, have great suffering; this means I have a body, Come the time I have no body, I have what trouble?
This reminds me of Buddha’s First Noble Truth:
I don’t know whether Buddha was referring to all living creatures when he observed this. At any rate, I see this and his other truths as pertaining to all life. (See Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life).
It can be hard to perceive this because we tune into other people’s reality, or rather the outward appearance (the fantasy) that they and we aspire to. It is an illusion. The sorrow is universal, which is the last ‘story’ we wish to hear. We love any story that promises a way to avoid the painful losses in life (i.e., loss ≈ death), and maximize our chances for gain and favor (i.e., gain ≈ survival). Ironically, that further exasperates the suffering stresses than gain, loss, favor and disgrace impart.
Second Pass: Work in Progress 2/28/2013
Issues:
This chapter is especially challenging to translate using my nearly literally style. This time saw some major changes, but if I’m lucky, they are for the better. I never really know until I come back in a few years and reread it. Only time will tell what holds up. Don’t you just love time… the test of time!
- The phrasing is tortuous as lines 7 and especially 8 illustrate. Fortunately line 9 resolves the tension:
Why say treasure and trouble seem like a body? I, as a result, have great suffering; this means I have a body, Come the time I have no body, I have what trouble?
However, working intuitively through such tortuous phrasing can lead to surprising insight. Granted, this time it is more tortuous than most; does that mean it holds a treasure trove of deeper insight? The way to deeper insight is through leaving behind your preconceptions and tired rationales. At least tortuous phrasing can’t hurt that process! (In addition, the odd grammar helps with this.)
One character appears over and over, and accounts for some of the torture: ruò (若) meaning: like; similar, seem; as if; supposing, assuming; <conj.> if; you. This character conveys the appropriate ‘fuzzy’ view, Subdue its sharpness, separate its confusion, Soften its brightness, be the same as its dust. This is the Taoist view of what might be true, once we look away, and then re-view. I previously interpreted this character as likewise, which is probably misleading. I hope that seems will stand the test of time better.
- Line 12 and 13 previously read,
Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven
Likewise worthy of serving as support for all under heaven.
D.C. Lau puts line 12 and 13 this way: He who loves his body more that dominion over the empire can be given custody of the empire. “_Custody_” is his translation for the character tuo (托) which more literally means hold in the palm of the hand, (and also: serving as a support; entrust; rely upon). Previously I translated it as support. I now prefer the more literal meaning, hold in the palm of the hand, to support because it evokes a more practical and yet personal feeling. As a bonus, it reminds me also of that Christian folk song, “he’s got the whole world, in his hand…”
It is hard to express why ‘Seems worthy of holding in the palm of the hand, all under heaven’ feels better. For me, it speaks to integrity. In a way, the more integrity I sincerely embody, the more I feel worthy of holding [the universe] in the palm of my hand. In the end, my sense of integrity serves as the foundation for the whole of my life. If I loose that, what is the point; if I conserve that, I have all I need. That is what it really means to be a ‘conservative’(1).
Commentary:
I find we easily project the personal issues of our inner life onto our dealings with the world (i.e. all under heaven). This bio-hookwink allows me to meddle in your yard instead of cleaning up my own yard. This pulls us into closer, sometimes tumultuous, social interactions. Alas, this also creates a lot of wasted energy… waves that need not be made. Back in the wild and pre-civilized days of human existence, these waves would not resonate and take on a life of their own. Why? Well… in the first place, we would not have ‘yards’ of our own for others to meddle in. 😉
Two other characters connected to this are important too: Ai (爱) love; like; treasure; take care of and shen (身) body; life; personally. I’m sure the body mind duality was not as stark as it is now. Body is really your life. Get cancer, or just very ill to appreciate how closely one is the other. I’ve noticed that as my concern for my own life/body deepens (cleaning up my own yard), the less I am driven to deflect personal issues out into the world. This leaves me more impartial, forgiving, understanding, and compassionate than I would otherwise be.
This lends support to Buddha’s emphasis of ‘cleaning up your own yard’ first, i.e., Hīnayāna Buddhism. This closely parallels Taoist view, wéiwúwéi (为无为), Doing without doing. It all begins within. Diverting concern outward easily leads us to meddle in our neighbors’ yards as a way of coping with our own mess. Chapter 57 and 63, among others, put it well:
Do without doing, Be involved without being involved. Taste without tasting.[63]
Honestly though, I see the path one chooses in life—given a choice—as being merely symptomatic of one’s own innate nature. The Taoist way, the Hinayana way, attracts the less sociable ‘orangutan’ personality. The Mahāyānaway, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic way, attracts the more sociable ‘chimpanzee’ personality.
Suggested Revision:
Bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle; Treasure and trouble seem like the body. Why say bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle? Bestowing favor supports the low. Gain seems to startle; Loss seems to startle. This says bestowing favor and disgrace seems to startle.
Why say treasure and trouble seem like a body?
I, as a result, have great suffering; this means I have a body,
Come the time I have no body, I have what trouble?
Hence, regarding the body as precious supports all under heaven,
Seems worthy of trust for all under heaven.
Taking care in use of the body supports all under heaven
Seems worthy of holding in the palm of the hand, all under heaven.
(1) It is curious how politics (and politicians) spoil the deeper meaning of both ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’. These are two sides of the same coin and, like work and rest, are both essential. Becoming more aligned with one or the other merely indicates an imbalance that exists within oneself. Imbalance, of course, is just the grist for nature’s mill (i.e., not a ‘bad thing’, per se). As natural as imbalance is in the greater scheme of things, personally I’ve find that any effort I make at counterbalancing this imbalance makes me ‘happier’.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week 01/26/2009
I’ve read research that documents how gain and loss (good and bad) fortune both stress the nervous system. In other words, change is stressful regardless of whether it is change we like or not. This has its limits of course, losing one’s leg in an accident must certainly be more stressful than winning the lottery. Although, over the long run, one’s life would likely suffer either way for lottery winners often fair poorly, physiologically speaking. However, given the choice we couldn’t help but choose the lottery over the leg. Even so, I become increasingly aware of the ‘equal nature’ of gain and loss, favor and disgrace as the years roll by. This is one of life’s ‘easy to understand, yet’ ironies.
For me, it boils down to this simple rule of thumb: The gains we desire set the stage for losses we fear and suffer. The upside is inextricably linked to its complimentary downside. Nature hoodwinks us into doggedly chasing the upside, and naively believing we can escape the downside. Much of our ‘common knowledge’ is anchored in the illusion that one can win in the end.
How does this relate to the aphorism, ‘it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’? I find ‘love’ deepest the less I need it. Need kills love. The more I need it, the more I lose it. It’s easy to see where this leads – a vicious circle. Thus, the other rule of thumb: We only get what we give (i.e., give without ulterior motives of getting, of course). So, I’d rephrase that aphorism as, ‘better to have given love, for what is given freely is never lost’.
I suppose I am really talking about emotional understanding versus the cognitive understanding. Cognitive knowing is uniquely human; it’s quick, easy, and idealistic. Emotional knowing, on the other hand, is common to all under heaven; it’s slow, difficult, and realistic. Does common to all under heaven mean a brick ‘knows’? That depends on how we define ’emotional’. Perhaps, it is enough here just to recognize and accept the common ground we share with all living things. We’ll save the bricks for another day.