Chapter 20 (original) (raw)
Translation
Cut off learning and be without worry,
Of participation and pandering, both differ by how much?
Of good and evil, both differ how then?
Of man’s actual fear, one cannot, not fear.
Neglect such that has no end!
Crowds of people bustle about
Like enjoying excessive sacrifice,
Like ascending a springtime terrace,
I alone am anchored without anticipation,
Like an infant, not a child;
Lazy, as if without a place to go back to.
Crowds of people all have more than enough,
I alone seem left behind.
I am foolish of human mind also.
Innocent, conventional people are clear.
I alone am drowsy;
Normal people discern difference,
I alone am subdued.
Crowds of people all have appointments to keep,
I alone am stupid and out of the way.
I alone am different from people,
And value feeding the mother.
cut off (sever; exhausted) study (imitate; learning) nothing (nil; not have) worry (sorrow; anxiety; concern), 绝学无忧，_(jué xué wú yōu,)_
yes of give (participate in) play up to (pander to), mutually (each other) go (leave; remove) how much? 唯之与阿，相去几何？_(wéi zhī yú ā, xiāng qù jĭ hé?)_
good (perfect; be adept in) of give (participate in) evil (vice; wickedness), mutually (each other) go (leave; remove) like (seem, as if) how much? 善之与恶，相去若何？_(shàn zhī yú ĕ, xiāng qù ruò hé?)_
human (man; people) of actually (place) fear (respect), cannot (should not) no (not) fear (respect). 人之所畏，不可不畏。_(rén zhī suŏ wèi, bù kĕ bù wèi.)_
waste (famine; neglect) ! his (its; their, that; such) have not (not) entreat (center; b/end; finish) final particle at end of questions) ! 荒兮其未央哉！_(huāng xī qí wèi yāng zāi!)_
many (crowd) human (man; people) bright (sunny; prosperous; bustling) 众人熙熙 (zhòng rén xī xī)
in compliance with (according to; as; if > go to) enjoy highest (greatest; excessively) sacrifice (prison; jail; firm) 如享太牢 (rú xiăng tài láo)
in compliance with (according to; as; if > go to) spring (love; lust; life) ascend (mount; publish) platform (terrace; support). 如春登台。_(rú chūn dēng tái.)_
I (we; self) only (single; alone) be at anchor (moor; berth) ! his (its; their, that; such) have not (did not; not) sign (omen; portent, foretell), 我独泊兮其未兆，_(wŏ dú bó xī qí wèi zhào,)_
in compliance with (according to; as; if > go to) baby infant of have not (did not; not) child; 如婴儿之未孩；_(rú yīng ér zhī wèi hái;)_
lazy (tired out, worn fatigued) ! like (seem; as if; if) nothing (nil; not have) place go back to (return; give back to; turn over to). 儽儽兮若无所归。_(lěi lěi xī ruò wú suŏ guī.)_
many (crowd) human (man; people) all (each and every) have (there is; exist) surplus (more than; over; beyond), 众人皆有余，_(zhòng rén jiē yŏu yú,)_
<conj.> and (yet, but) I (we; self) only (single; alone) like (seem; as if; if) offer as a gift (lose; leave behind; keep back; not give). 而我独若遗。_(ér wŏ dú ruò yí.)_
I (we; self) foolish (stupid; fool) human (man; people) of heart (mind; feeling; core) also (too; as well; either) ! (exclaimation particle at end of questions) 我愚人之心也哉！_(wŏ yú rén zhī xīn yĕ zāi!)_
confused (innocent) ! custom (popular; common) human (man; people) clear (obvious). 沌沌兮俗人昭昭。_(dùn dùn xī sú rén zhāo zhāo.)_
I (we; self) only (single; alone) drowsy (sleepy); 我独昏昏；_(wŏ dú hūn hūn;)_
custom (common) human (man; people) examine (look into; scrutinize), 俗人察察，_(sú rén chá chá,)_
I (we; self) only (single; alone) bored (depressed) stuffy (close; muffled, subdued). 我独闷闷。_(wŏ dú mēn mēn.)_
many (crowd) human (man; people) all (each and every) have (there is; exist) use ( take
according to; because of so as to and) . 众人皆有以，_(zhòng rén jiē yŏu yĭ,)_
<conj.> and (yet, but) I (we; self) only (single; alone) stupid (stubborn; mischievous) just (for the time being; even; both…and….) low (vulgar < despise < an out-of-the-way place). 而我独顽且鄙。_(ér wŏ dú wán qiĕ bĭ.)_
I (we; self) only (single; alone) different (strange; surprise; other) in (at, to, from, by, than, out of) human (man; people), 我独异于人，_(wŏ dú yì yú rén,)_
<conj.> and (yet, but) expensive (costly; dear; highly valued) bring food to (feed) mother. 而贵食母。_(ér guì shí mŭ.)_
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month 3/29/2018
Corrections?
None this time
Reflections:
First, this whole chapter addresses two sides of our nature that each and every last one of us experience: the worldly one and the deeper other worldly ‘spiritual’ one, so to speak. The later one perhaps paralleling Christ’s “The meek shall inherit the earth”. That we have such very distinct and dissimilar (poles apart) sides to our nature has a lot to do with trading in the egalitarian ‘old way’ of our ancestors for the more efficient hierarchical social dynamics of civilization. I say efficient, for in bees and ants for example, hierarchical dynamics is efficient. However, the strongly hierarchical dynamics that comes with civilization is a worldly vs. other worldly tradeoff. The increased efficiency comes with a steep price.
Let us count off the hallmarks of civilization pointed out here: (1) ascending a springtime terrace; (2) enjoying excessive sacrifice; (3) Crowds of people bustle about; (4) Innocent conventional people are clear; (5) Normal people discern difference; (6) Crowds of people all have appointments to keep.
From a Symptoms Point Of View, all these behaviors appear to stem from our inability to feel at home with the other side — our other worldly nature. We can’t feel at home with this weak yielding side because we feel compelled to find a strong firm niche in the hierarchy — to be someone.
Now, let’s count off the softer side of our nature — who we truly are: (1) I alone am anchored without anticipation; (2) Like an infant, not a child; (3) Lazy, as if without a place to go back to; (4) I alone seem left behind; (5) I am foolish of human mind also; (6) I alone am drowsy; (7) I alone am subdued; (8) I alone am dense and vulgar; (9) I alone am different from people.
There are no supermen. Like all living things, we are essentially fragile creatures. The egalitarian bond that hunter-gatherers shared counterbalanced this inherent vulnerability. The overall loss of that ‘security blanket’ leaves us in a ‘dog eat dog’ quest for life meaning, strength, control, power. The pursuit of our niche promises us the sense of secure connection that the social connection of our ancestral ‘old way’ used to provide. And so we bustle about, with out appointments to keep and clear in our discernment of difference. No profound sameness for us, for that goes against the hierarchical paradigm of civilization. Discernment of difference is the bedrock of civilization; the fulcrum over which it operates.
In my youth, I always felt comforted by the “_I alone am…_” lines in this chapter. At the time, I didn’t realize that everyone feels that inner weakness, the yin of their true self… and that all the clarity, discerning of difference, bustling about, and so on, was their (and my) attempt to be someone — to win the race to the top in my hierarchal niche. One value of aging has been living life long enough to realize this game is a dead end—literally. 😉 Feeding the mother is all I need do.
Mother Time
Living life moment-to-moment as honestly as possible is an act of giving to each moment, watching the flowing stillness of time. If the mother is time, feeding the mother is simply being present each moment, without anticipation and drowsy (about the future), lazy as if without a place to go back to, like and infant left behind.
This is about where I put my treasure, or rather what I treasure. When I treasure time, I hold its moment, so to speak. Christ put it well, even though he left out the emotional ‘treasures’ that trap. Of course, in his day, these would have been less of an issue compared to material treasures.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Meditation is simply giving your mind to the moment — watching. Regard formal meditation as a warm-up for a moment-to-moment watchfulness throughout the day.
The ‘stuff of life’— success, goals, ambitions, objectives, aims — are all the offspring of the mother. Without mother time these offspring wouldn’t exist. Chasing this ‘stuff of life’ is not feeding the mother; instead, it is perhaps wanting to be feed by the mother. Here, we rush to get ‘it done’, and move on to the next objective. Conversely, feeding the mother is more akin to patience, attentiveness, watchful care.
What do you feel is your core purpose in life?
My wife recently asked me this question, and the first thing that came to mind was what Buddha said on his death bed as he addressed his disciples’ pleas for advice: “All created things must pass… strive on diligently”.
Put another way: vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādetha
All compounded things, all experiences (mental and physical), all phenomena by their very nature decay and die, and are disappointing. It is through being not-blind-drunk on, obsessed by, or infatuated with, the objects of the senses that you succeed in awakening, or obtain liberation.
And more succinctly: All things are disappointing, [it is] through vigilance [that] you succeed.
And even more succinctly: Watch!
The Story Sets the Stage
In civilization, we need to cleave tightly to our cultural / personal story to compensate for the missing egalitarian connection that our hunter-gatherers ancestors experienced. That we are our story is yet another facet of Buddha’s observation, “the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things”. Cleaving to a personal story imparts a sense of connection. It also sets us up for massive failure. Fortunately, at least it is possible to edit one’s story to better conform to reality. Is not ‘Taoist thought’ just that? Heck, even Buddha’s comment above, “All things are disappointing, [it is] through vigilance [that] you succeed” is a ‘short story’ that helps counterbalance the multilayered illusions to which we cling. “Watch” may be a bit too short of a story to work for long. Still….
Anyway, this short report shows how it is never too late to begin the rewrite. When Death Rocks Your World, Maybe You Jump Out Of A Plane.
Second Pass: Work in Progress 4/30/2013
Issues:
On Line 5: Neglect such that has no end, may not convey the point well enough. Does famine such that has no end convey it better? The iffy word here is huāng (荒) which means: waste; wasteland; uncultivated land; desolate; barren; famine; crop failure; neglect; be out of practice; shortage; scarcity. I view this line 5 as addressing how we neglect the four truths above it, i.e., lines 1-4. In other words, there is a wasteland, a scarcity, and a shortage of awareness to these realities—it is simply an all-around famine of awareness. So what is the most elegant way to say this?
The literal word-for-word translation of line 5 is: (huāng 荒): waste; wasteland; uncultivated land; desolate; barren; famine; crop failure; neglect; be out of practice; shortage; scarcity (qí 其) his; its; their, that; such (wèi 未) have not; not (yāng 央) entreat; center; end; finish (zai 哉) final particle at end of questions.
Laid out like this, you can see how essential interpretation becomes; you must ‘know’ what you want it to say, rather than having it ‘teach’ you how to ‘know’. Thus, in the end, translation is really a process of interpretation—especially in regards to the Tao Te Ching! More importantly, when you read any translation, your understanding is essentially following the same process. Indeed, this is true in what ever we read or hear; knowing begins within. You ‘see’ what you already ‘know’; you just may not be able to articulate succinctly, if at all.
For now, I’ll just make a small change—Neglect of such has no end!—and let it percolate some more. Time distills, slow but certain.
On Lines 6, 12, 19: I’ll change crowd to crowds, which reads better.
On Line 11: Breathing in and out with a place to return to is just plain wrong! I must have been at my wit’s end when that slipped by. However, it doesn’t take much to bring me there when I’m dealing with this, truth to tell. As I see it, a sense of mystery is most important and always trumps accuracy; I can’t have it both ways, so I go for the mystery and plug away on the rest.
Besides, accuracy catches up eventually: Breathing out, as if without a place to go back to feels just about right. The word-for-word goes like this: (呵 hē) breathe out; scold (兮 xī) [particle] (若 ruò) like; seem; as if; if (无 wú) nothing; without, nil; not have (所 su ǒ) place (归 guī) go back to; return; give back to.
On line 20: I’ll change I alone am stupid and out of the way to read, I alone am dense and vulgar. However, I am unsure this is better, really. Perhaps dense and out of the way would be. I must say, I do like out of the way. You can see the problem with words; one or even many seldom conveys the ‘big picture’. That why Confucius say: “One picture gets the better of 10,000 words” (Yī tú shèng wàn yán – 一图胜万言). Actually, is doesn’t look like he said it, but it conveys Taoist sentiments, so perhaps some ‘taoist’ did way back then.
Here are full range of meanings for these key words:
Wán (顽) stupid; dense; insensate; stubborn; obstinate; naughty; mischievous.
B ǐ (鄙) low; mean; vulgar; despise; disdain; scorn; an out-of-the-way place.
Commentary:
We are an extremely social species. This chapter speaks to our sense of ‘nothingness’ from which our need to connect arises (1). I alone am drowsy; I alone am different; I alone seem left behind, and so on, are what we all feel in our heart of hearts, and live out our days striving to beat back this entropic reality. One comforting aspect of this chapter lies in how it addresses that surreal and innermost sense of self vs. not-self.
However, it is not surprising that the Tao Te Ching, in general, and chapters like this in particular would fall on deaf ears. Generally, we wish to hear that which reinforces the stories we have learned and want (need) to hear; we seldom wish to hear any suggestion that ‘the emperor has no clothes’. We need to believe.
Speaking of learning, cut off learning and be without worry is particularly difficult to do, for that requires letting go of those stories that shine light on the Indistinct and suddenly and promise to answer our deepest questions. The downside of learning is that whatever is learned builds a wall of belief that keeps the unknown (drowsy, left behind, etc.) out of the mind’s sight. Our mind is safely enclosed the mind in a ‘box’ of our culture’s making. Naturally, any threat to that safe ‘box’ naturally causes inevitable worry. There are no free rides in nature, eh!
This comfortable ‘box’ comes with another cost also: Namely, how can we experience profound sameness as long as we remain safely tucked behind the distinct walls of what we ‘know’.
(1) Considered from a symptoms point of view, I see this drive is not only about connecting socially with other people, but also expresses itself in any relationship in which we are passionate: work, hobby, sports, art, science… you name it! Feeling connected to something ‘important’ reflect the light of ‘importance’ back upon us, and we no longer feel so left behind, drowsy, subdued, dense and vulgar. This parallels the process Buddha pointed out in, i.e., “the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things“.
Naturally, deep down we still feel left behind, drowsy, subdued, dense and vulgar, which drives us to cling onto our ‘important’ stuff all the more… even to the point of obsession. I suppose “obsession” is a cup-half-empty view; “passion” is a cup-half-full view.
Suggested Revision:
Cut off learning and be without worry,
Of ‘yea’ and pandering, both differ by how much?
Of good and evil, both differ how then?
Of man’s actual fear, one cannot not fear.
Neglect of such has no end!
Crowds of people bustle about
Like enjoying excessive sacrifice,
Like ascending a springtime terrace,
I alone am anchored without anticipation,
Like an infant, not a child;
Breathing out, as if without a place to go back to.Crowds of people all have more than enough,
I alone seem left behind.
I am foolish of human mind also?
Innocent conventional people are clear.
I alone am drowsy;
Normal people discern difference,
I alone am subdued.
Crowd of people all have appointments to keep,
I alone am dense and vulgar.
I alone am different from people,
And value feeding the mother.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week 04/26/2009
At a recent Sunday meeting here, some folks said they initially took ‘Cut off learning and be without worry ‘ to mean that learning and knowledge were bad and something to avoid. I’ve often seen folks over the years interpret the Tao Te Ching as telling us what we ‘should’ (or shouldn’t) do.
Now, I reckon our social instinct drives this interpretation. When social animals all do the ‘right things’, the group works harmoniously. We feel a need to do ‘right’. This drives our judgments, both of self and of others; it gives us the standards with which to measure individual and group behavior. So, if reading the Tao Te Ching’s message in that context ‘floats your boat’, then nothing I say will deter you. If, on the other hand, you are worn wearing from passing judgment (on self and on others) you might consider looking at the Taoist message as merely a description of how nature works. Not that you need to, or indeed can, do anything about it I suppose. Personally though, seeing the TTC as simply a description of nature brings me contentment.
Thus, in my view, the rest of the chapter goes on to describes how each and every person feels, even though they may not ‘think’ they do. The odd thing about cognitive awareness is that we only ‘know’ what we ‘think’, and only ‘think’ what we ‘know’. (‘Think’ and ‘know’, in this case refers only to human ‘learning’ awareness, not to consciousness in general.)
Society’s myths and expectations are why most people wouldn’t ‘think’ this chapter is describing them. Of course, I may be way off base here; its just my gut feeling. Socially speaking, we generally loathe the idea of being drowsy, foolish, and subdued. We admire cleverness, alertness, activity, and align ourselves in that camp. We hide the drowsy, foolish, and subdued side of ourselves from others and ourselves as much as possible. The ‘ego’ you know. What’s ego? A self image driven by the survival instinct. There’s nothing we can do about that survival instinct, but self image rests upon how seriously one thinks that one knows. How seriously we ‘think that we know’ hinges on how much we trust words and names. Alas.