Chapter 74 (original) (raw)
Translation
When people don’t respect death, why use the fear of death?
If we could cause people to always respect death and be in wonder,
And we caught and killed them, who would dare?
Always have the killer manage the killing,
A man taking the place of the killer killing,
Is said to be taking the place of the great craftsman.
A man taking the place of the great craftsman chopping rarely never hurts his own hands.
the people (civilian) no (not) fear (respect) die (extremely; deadly; fixed; rigid), how (why, to no avail) use ( take
according to; because of so as to and) die (extremely; deadly; fixed; rigid) fear (dread) of. 民不畏死，奈何以死惧之。_(mín bù wèi sĭ, nài hé yĭ sĭ jù zhī.)_
like (as if, seem> if; > you) send (tell sb. to do sth.; use; cause; enable) the people (civilian) ordinary (normal; constant; often) fear (respect) die (extremely; deadly; fixed; rigid), <conj.> and (yet, but) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) strange (rare; surprise) (者)[1], 若使民常畏死，而为奇者，_(ruò shĭ mín cháng wèi sĭ, ér wéi jī zhĕ,)_
I (we) need (must, get > satisfied > be ready > catch) <conj.> and (yet, but) kill (weaken) of, who bold (dare; be certain). 吾得执而杀之，孰敢。_(wú dé zhí ér shā zhī, shú găn.)_
ordinary (normal; constant; often; always) have (exist) take charge of (attend to; manage) kill (weaken) (者) kill (weaken). 常有司杀者杀。_(cháng yŏu sī shā zhĕ shā.)_
husband (man) era (generation> be in place of; acting) take charge of (attend to; manage) kill (weaken) (者) kill (weaken), 夫代司杀者杀，_(fū dài sī shā zhĕ shā,)_
is (yes this; that) say (mean) era (generation> be in place of; acting) big (large; great; major) craftsman. 是谓代大匠□。_(shì wèi dài dà jiàng [].)_
husband (man) era (generation> be in place of; acting) big (large; great; major) craftsman (artisan) cut (chop, hack) (者), hope (rare) have (exist) no (not) wound (hurt; hinder) his (her; its; that; such) hand (have in one’s hand; hold; handy) already (indeed; really; how). 夫代大匠斲者，希有不伤其手矣。_(fū dài dà jiàng zhuó zhĕ, xī yŏu bù shāng qí shŏu yĭ.)_
[1] 者(zhě) used after an adjective or verb as a substitute for a person or a thing.
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month (pandemic era) 8/5/2023
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/gDSV266JXMc 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:
When people don’t respect death, why use the fear of death? If we could cause people to always respect death and be in wonder, And we caught and killed them, who would dare?
This is a round about way of saying the human animal doesn’t always respect death and be in wonder. Indeed, the fact that we are able to respect death and be in wonder as much as we can is an odd quirk of natural evolution. I assume the innate neurological awareness of contrast along with the polarized characteristic of human cognition makes this possible. It helps to think of the polarized aspect of human cognition as an emergent property of the more fundamental and universal awareness of contrast—the on/off nature of neural signaling. (See Tao As Emergent Property)
Our foreknowledge and subsequent fear of loss, especially death, is one survival concern that pulls people into civilized behavior (see The Tradeoff ). This attempt to ameliorate our fears is “artificial” (i.e., not an evolved innate adaptation) and thus always bound to fail. Indeed, evolution can only proceed because organisms—from virus to human—don’t respect death. Nature’s flow needs the spontaneity that can only occur within that ignorance.
Chapter 16 rephrases the natural ignorance in terms of the constant, i.e., Not knowing the constant, rash actions lead to ominous results. Knowing the constant allows, allowing therefore impartial. While an individual striving to know the constant is uplifting advice, does such advice actually work? I think not, if as I observe, We only understand what we already know. Only through life experience can an individual, whether an old dog or an old human, intuitively become more aware of the constant, respect death and be in wonder. Certainly not always, but more frequently and more deeply than in youth. This is essentially a microcosm of how evolution plays out, i.e., act without fear, suffer the consequences and adapt (“learn”).
Chapter 70 lines up with this aspect of nature, Our words are very easy to know, very easy to do. Under heaven none can know, none can do. This natural ignorance is what makes the world go round, as it were. The curious aspect of our species is that we can objectify life’s struggle and imagine solutions that promise to ease that struggle. Ignorant of the constant, we naturally innovate wholly oblivious to the consequences. Again, that is how evolution works! Not surprisingly, we are largely dissatisfied with evolution because it doesn’t offer what we want here and now. Evolution is the price of admission to life; yet we don’t realize that, nor do we want to pay the price. Of course, in seeking to avoid evolution through innovation our rash actions lead to ominous results… eventually. And that is as it should be… yet again, that is evolution! Simply put, evolution is a marvelous and eventually self-correcting process. I find my deepest peace of mind when I set my personal wishes aside and simply respect evolution.
Always have the killer manage the killing, A man taking the place of the killer killing, Is said to be taking the place of the great craftsman chopping. A man taking the place of the great craftsman chopping rarely never hurts his own hands.
I see the great craftsman as another word for evolution… for Mother Nature. Nature is the killer managing the killing. Nature does so without favor. These lines from chapter 79 offer a parallel view,
The wiser mind can behold, respect, and empathize with the misfortunes of life—_hold this queer contract_— but not attempt to resolve the problem— Yet doesn’t punish the people. The wiser mind having kindness takes charge of the contract. Nature in not having kindness, takes charge of the penetration. Nature’s way is without match because it doesn’t take a side—any side. Chapter 5 sums this ultra impartiality up well:
Much of human stress is a result of our ability to imagine better outcomes that correspond to what serves our needs and accommodates our fears best. These stories can easily dominate our thoughts, which then feed back into and stir up deeper emotional realms. The more one trusts and believes their thought to model reality—to be true—the more intense the stress becomes. Thus, chapter 71 counsels,
Essentially, this comes down to realizing how greatly awareness is a result of contrast. The contrasting aspects are like opponents in a game. They play off each other. To align oneself to one side is exceptionally easy to do emotionally, and by doing so traps us and turns the game into a serious matter of life or death. When the game turns serious enough, winning becomes everything.
Of course, this is completely natural and playing out as it should. The main issue for our species is that much of the stress this brings on is of our own imagination’s making. Once one intuitively knows they don’t know, much of this kind of added stress vanishes. Then all we have to deal with is the normal stresses of life that all living organisms face. Chapter 22 seems to sum all of this up somewhat,
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/nE7AXHdrTME
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month 1/9/2016
Corrections?
None per se…
Reflections:
This chapter certainly zeros in on the folly of taking the ‘lead’ in nature rather than ‘following’ nature. Other animals respond to natural circumstance; they ‘follow’ nature for the most part. Our cognitive ability allows us to project our needs and fears into a future we imagine. Then, rather than ‘following’ nature, we ‘follow’ our projection.
One caveat: this ability to project into a future is what has enabled us to dominate and rise to the top of the food web. Knowing that benefit and harm come in equal measure is one of the things the Tao Te Ching attempts to point out, and woe to him who doesn’t realize this double edge. A few excerpts illustrate this from Word for Word and D.C. Lau.
From chapter 16
From chapter 72
When the people don’t fear power, Normally great power arrives. (72 – WfW)
When the people lack a proper sense of awe, then some awful visitation will descend upon them. (72 – D.C.Lau)
Given that our own projections arise from our own inner needs and fears means that we are chasing our own tail, more often than not. We go around in circles, yet think that we are getting somewhere. We aren’t; we just hurt our own hands. Naturally, the deep-seated belief in our capacity for free will convinces us that we are in charge, and therefore success is more certain.
The first line of chapter 71 speaks almost directly to the folly of believing in free will: Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Belief is the devoted sense that you know. Indeed, if you didn’t know your belief was true, you couldn’t believe in it. Oh, I know that’s obvious. Still, how easy we forget.
‘Simply’ dropping my belief in free will, and choice, helped me avoid taking the place of the great craftsman [nature] chopping. Yes, it was a matter of ‘simply’, but not quickly! All in all, I suppose it took over 10 years to fully settle into non-belief.
What is non-belief? To me it boils down to simply distrusting the truth of whatever cognition conjures up. You could say it is taking every thought with a grain of salt. Now, that may sound like an overly passive approach to life. Ironically, it turns out to be just the opposite.
It is not that I ‘do nothing’; it is more that I can’t avoid being more humble in whatever I do. Knowing that I am not in control helps me see through my own limitations, and this lets life unfold more naturally. Seeing through my own limitations doesn’t mean seeing my limitations, it means not believing that any limitations that I ‘think’ I see are actually real. I become more open to a wait and see approach when necessary, or conversely jump in and see what happens; try it out and let the chips fall where they may.
If “simply dropping” your belief in free will sounds worth a try, be patient. I found that all I needed to do was first wonder whether of not free will was real. Having a grain of doubt led me to try to find any true evidence of free will that couldn’t be explained by natural processes that all living things experience. I’ve found none to date. Indeed, there is so much evidence contrary to free will, that any belief in free will just ends up looking like a case of wishful thinking.
Second Pass: Work in Progress 9/01/2012
Issues:
Oh, there’s not many this time… just one measly question mark to add ‘?’. I was tempted to drop the “_them_” in line 3… And we caught and killed them, who would dare? I mean, I’m always looking for ways to keep it on the border between understandable and murky… maybe next time. Place your vote today.
Commentary:
A few words require poking into, like death for starters. The Chinese word for death is s ǐ (死) which translates as: die; to the death; extremely; to death; implacable; deadly; fixed; rigid; inflexible. Through correlations, I can see a kind of pseudo death in so many other life experiences (e.g., sleep, bored, loss, weakness, silence, emptiness, stillness, etc.). The death referred to in line 1 deviates from these yin-like passive qualities. Here, death suggests a more yang-like active quality; extremely; to death; implacable; deadly; fixed; rigid; inflexible all convey an in your face severe quality. When reading this chapter, it helps me to see it in that broader context. The word death alone doesn’t convey that. Nevertheless, I haven’t been able to find a better word. Other words loose the yin side, which is also important to meaning. I know no word that conveys both sides of the coin, and perhaps naturally so… The way constant is without name.
Just to make a mountain out of a molehill: chángmián (长眠) is generally more akin to my sense of death, i.e., cháng (长) = long; length; of long duration; steadily; regularly; strong point; forte. + mián (眠) = sleep; dormancy. Even s ǐwáng (死亡) is closer than just s ǐ (死) alone, i.e., wáng (亡) = flee; run away; lose; be gone; die; perish; deceased; conquer; subjugate.
dàjiàng (大 + 匠) means big; large; great; heavy + craftsman; artisan. This is a marvelous example of similarity (profound sameness) I often rave about. Is dàjiàng not just another description of ‘God’, the ‘Master Craftsman’ to which Christians make reference—Intelligent Design by the Master Designer. Perception of difference sure goes to absurd lengths to divide and conquer. Conquer what? Is that why humor is so humorous?
shā (杀) means kill; slaughter; fight; go into battle; weaken; reduce; abate. Here again, it helps to consider ‘killer/killing’ in a broader context. Meddling or seizing control parallel this, i.e., Without meddling with their dwelling place, and This is how even the greatest control never cuts. I think of Nature as the great craftsman; attempting to beat nature at its own game always seems to end poorly. I rarely never hurts my own hands.
Suggested Revision:
When people don’t respect death, why use the fear of death**(?)** If we could cause people to always respect death and be in wonder, And we caught and killed them, who would dare? Always have the killer manage the killing, A man taking the place of the killer killing, Is said to be taking the place of the great craftsman. A man taking the place of the great craftsman rarely never hurts his own hands.
First Pass: Chapter of the Week 07/29/2011
First note the curious grammar in the last line, rarely never hurts his own hands (希 有 不 = rare exist not). This double negative is the round about way of saying he usually hurts his hand.
This chapter reminds me of how I used to want to ‘help’ others avoid making mistakes. Undoubtedly this is caused by ‘fairness & friendly minded’ mirror neurons which play a large role in many social mammal’s DNA (1). This instinct is always helpful in social animals other than humans, and even for human in our earliest time. Civilization has made many of our natural instincts more problematic, however. For example, the instinct to eat as much high energy food (fat, carbs, protein) when we came across it in the wild was a boon. We even store some of that away in fat cells for times of famine. Nowadays, that instinct leads to obesity and associated health problems. The drive to help others avoid making mistakes often turns out to be chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter (Nature being the master carpenter here). After all, stumbling is how we learn to walk and talk. Mistakes are the path to learning and successful life long accomplishment.
All my life I’ve noticed how other people would warn me of the dire consequences of doing this or that, or of going here or there. None of it ever turned out to be so. Their warnings were actually a projection of their own fears. Thankfully by the time I had children I had seen enough of this ‘projected’ fear to allow my kids to make the most of their stumbling. Not standing in the way of their stumbling and growth benefited them and, indirectly, the whole family. Allowing nature to take its course, letting mistakes happen is the path to great perfection. This avoids contention and favors contentment more than anything else I’ve known (and I need all the help I can get).
(1) I’m playing it safe by limiting it to “many social mammals”, although I suspect that some form of this ‘fairness & friendly’ instinct exists at the core of every animals DNA, right down to ants and bees.