Chapter 77 (original) (raw)
Translation
The way of nature is like a stretching bow.
The high restrains, the lower lifts.
The surplus decreases, the insufficient benefits.
The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient.
The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus.
Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven?
Only those who have the way.
The holy person uses this to serve, yet does not rely on,
Meritorious deeds result, yet not dwelled within.
Such absence of desire appears able and virtuous – how odd!.
sky (heaven; day; season; nature; God) of road (way, principle; speak; think) his (her; its; that; such) just as (like; still; as if) open (spread; stretch) bow-shaped **take part in (**give, get along with, help> and). 天之道其犹张弓与。_(tiān zhī dào qí yóu zhāng gōng yú.)_
tall (high; above the average) (者) restrain (repress; curb) of, below (down; under; underneath; lower; inferior) (者) lift (raise; hold up; act; deed; move) of. 高者抑之，下者举之。_(gāo zhĕ yì zhī, xià zhĕ jŭ zhī.)_
have (exist) extra (surplus; after I) (者) decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic> mean; shabby) of no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as) (者) repair (fill; supply; nourish> benefit) of. 有余者损之，不足者补之。_(yŏu yú zhĕ sŭn zhī, bù zú zhĕ bŭ zhī.)_
sky (heaven; day; season; nature; God) of road (way, principle; speak; think), decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic> mean; shabby) have (exist) extra (surplus; after I) <conj.> and (yet, but) repair (fill; supply; nourish> benefit) no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as). 天之道，损有余而补不足。_(tiān zhī dào, sŭn yŏu yú ér bŭ bù zú.)_
human (man; people) of road (way, principle; speak; think), standard (norm; rule > imitate; follow) no (not) right (correct; so; like that> but), decrease (lose; damage> sarcastic> mean; shabby) no (not) foot (leg; enough; full; as much as) use ( take
according to; because of so as to and) give (receive; esteem; believe in; wait upon) have (exist) extra (surplus; after I). 人之道，则不然，损不足以奉有余。_(rén zhī dào, zé bù rán, sŭn bù zú yĭ fèng yŏu yú.)_
who (which; what) can (be able to) have (exist) surplus (spare; remaining; beyond I) use ( take
according to; because of so as to and) give (receive; esteem; believe in; wait upon) land under heaven, 孰能有余以奉天下，_(shú néng yŏu yú yĭ fèng tiān xià,)_
only (alone) have (exist) road (way, principle; speak; think) (者). 唯有道者。_(wéi yŏu dào zhĕ.)_
is (yes this; that) use ( take
according to; because of so as to and) sage (holy; sacred) human (man; people) do (act; act as; serve as; be; mean; support) <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) **rely on (**depend on), 是以圣人为而不恃，_(shì yĭ shèng rén wéi ér bù shì,)_
merit (achievement) accomplish (become; result) <conj.> and (yet, but) no (not) get along (with sb., manage dwell; live_place). 功成而不处。_(gōng chéng ér bù chŭ.)_
his (her; its; that; such) no (not) desire (wish; want; about to) see (appear, become visible) virtuous (worthy, able) evil (heretical; irregular; unhealthy environment)! 其不欲见贤邪！_(qí bù yù jiàn xián xié!)_
Fourth Pass: Chapter of the Month (pandemic era) 11/4/2023
Zoom on YouTube Recordings:
https://youtu.be/vmCChY-8DHY 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:
The way of nature is like a stretching bow. The high restrains, the lower lifts. The surplus decreases, the insufficient benefits. The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient.
These first four lines convey a balanced, albeit subtle, picture of nature. As the fourth line concludes, The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient. This is the fundamental nature of entropy—taking from a surplus to give to the insufficient. Essentially, this is the essence of death of both organic and non-organic existences. As chapter 40 put it, Loss through death, of the way uses.
We can apply this facet of nature—_decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient—_to any practical matter. A useful and straightforward example that applies to everyone is sarcopenia, a natural age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength. Overall, sarcopenia is associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality, so this way of nature is relevant for anyone wishing to improve their health span and life span as much as possible.
Your body must biologically know you are serious before it will begin to decrease surplus of protein to benefit the insufficiency of muscle. This also applies to bone density and joint flexibility, but the muscle side of this is most clear-cut.
Youthful energy (fear, need) is serious enough to drive muscle growth and its maintenance. As you age into midlife and beyond, this innate energy (fear, need) gradually decreases. During this time, you just maintain your life’s mellower routine, which sounds comfortable at first glance.
However, the progressive mellowing down as you age initiates gradual muscle loss. The body senses you no longer seriously need as much muscle as you did in youth, and so begins decreasing surplus, and uses the recycled proteins in other ways. This can happen so gradually over years that it is comparatively unnoticeable.
Once we realize this decline in health span, most of us would probably wish to reverse course. Here lies the hitch: Our wish must be backed up with raw will—a visceral Striving to be current is will, as chapter 33 puts it. Resistance exercise and braving the elements is the only way to reverse or at least slow down this process. However, as we age we become more mellow and more sensitive to discomfort (heat, cold), which together make it difficult to be serious enough to make the necessary effort.
The body (i.e., biology) must know you are deadly serious and not just indulging in wishful thinking. True recovery is driven by a genuine sense of necessity, not desire (i.e., desire = need + thought). This way of nature is the foundation underpinning all life functions, not just muscle. (See Fear & Need Born in Nothing and Necessity, the Mother.)
Finally, one may wonder why natural evolution set us up for this age-induced decline. It actually didn’t, at least to the extent humanity experiences it. All animals evolved to live in balance with nature’s demands, and so for our distant ancestors, many of humanity’s current problems were usually non-existent. We humans arrogantly, albeit naively, sidestepped nature’s more uncomfortable wild side. This unavoidably brought about the deep-seated imbalances we see throughout civilization. (See The Tradeoff). Undoubtedly, rebalance can only occur by welcoming more discomfort into life. As I like to say, “Short-term pain nurtures long-term pleasure”.
From here on this chapter comes across with a somewhat moralistic slant. The end of the last line how odd! sums this up, at least for me.
The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus. Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven?
The way of man is actually no different from the way of nature, despite our stories that consistently bury that reality. Such idealistic moral stories like the fifth line, The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus, are undoubtedly an attempt to compensate for the lopsided consequences of civilization (again, see The Tradeoff). The simple truth is this: if one is content, one’s actions naturally reflect contentment, and thus never would decrease the insufficient so as to give to the surplus. Conversely, when we feel discontent, we are feeling insufficient and so scurry around to fill that inner void with whatever surplus we feel will do the trick, which is the natural process for all life!
We notice the imbalances in society and ourselves and feel a strong need to correct them. Our belief that we have a uniquely human ability to control circumstances plays right into this urge to fix the problem. Interestingly, our belief in this ability to control becomes the irrefutable “proof” that we have control. This is one of the ironic aspects of belief; belief in something becomes the “proof” of that something—no evidence required. Blinding faith is all the “evidence” we need. (See Free Will: Fact or Wishful Thinking?) The sixth line, Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven is the perfect example of our ‘cart before the horse’ view of nature. Only when we feel an inner surplus are we able to give to all under heaven, as it were. Simply put, natural processes operate throughout all species, including our own.
It is easy to notice how some people have great surplus. It is also easy to be oblivious to the underlying forces at play here. I’d call this an illusion of “objectivity”. This chapter is saying that those with an ostensible surplus, as a rule however, decrease the insufficient so as to give to the surplus. This demonstrates the very misleading characteristic of so-called “objective perception”. Indeed, objectivity is rooted in subjectivity. What we feel and think are simply inner biological/psychological forces skewing our judgments on reality. Essentially, all we perceive is but a mirror of our own inner reality—our needs and fears. Considering the goings on in life from a symptoms point of view (see Symptoms Point Of View) helps step back from our own emotional agenda and see what may lie beneath the surface.
In this case, anyone who decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus is actually feeling _the insufficient_—the void—within. Feeling insufficient (loss, empty, insecure, hunger, etc.) they can’t help but grasp after their treasured ‘something’ until they viscerally feel they have reached the surplus. Of course, that doesn’t end this cyclic process of nature. Indeed, adding more on to life can’t nullify the entropic void within. Yet, the emotions (fear and need) will always shout out otherwise. Chapter 46 pulls us back to the simple truth… Therefore, in being contented with one’s lot, enough is usually enough indeed. Thus, those who decrease the insufficient so as to give to the surplus are actually experiencing the insufficient within. The grasping after only ceases when one feels more inner _sufficiency_—the inner cup spilleth over!
Only those who have the way.
This is a blatantly shallow and hierarchical view of the way, and goes against the spirit of chapter 73’s Nature’s net is vast and thin, yet never misses. In other words, what in all of creation does not ‘_have the way_’? Such hierarchical and moralistic viewpoints creep into the Tao Te Ching quite rarely—fortunately. This is a sobering reminder that being as impartial as nature is virtually impossible for any living organism. As chapter 16 ends,
Life does not permit us to be totally impartial, and so even approaching impartiality is truly nearly rising beyond oneself. I find it more than sufficient to face up to and accept my impartiality, and bravely admit I am simply a fragile and fleeting artifact of nature. As chapter 76 put it, Of people, existence weak and delicate.
The holy person uses this to serve, yet does not rely on, Meritorious deeds result, yet not dwelled within.
Here again, these two lines put the cart somewhat before the horse. The need to rely on ‘something’ is simply a symptom of the insufficiency of that ‘something’. These lines imply that those who have the way have no insufficiency. In reality, feeling insufficiency is the baseline for all living creatures. Thus, the whole idea of any living thing as not having the way as moralistic and absurd. Take chapter 34’s The great way flows, such as it may left and right. All things on earth depend on it for existence, yet it never declines or chapter 73’s Nature’s net is vast and thin, yet never misses. This is rather a simple case of internal imbalance—the lack of homeostasis—with the deficit driving a need to rely on ‘something’ missing. This is natural, no different from how hunger drives living things to seek out nourishment. Life is a pendulum, swinging between sufficiency and insufficiency.
Thus, the only time one dwells within their so-called meritorious deeds is when they feel a deficit, i.e., social insecurity and in need of self-affirmation or increased higher status in the social hierarchy. Any claims made about one’s virtue or meritorious deeds are a symptom of their need to bolster their self-image. Fear (entropy, loss, insecurity) drives us to compensate in myriad ways in our pursuit of inner psychological homeostasis—balance.
Such absence of desire appears able and virtuous – how odd!
I find it quite true that the more absent my desire, the more able I am to deal with circumstances in the most balanced, graceful, and virtuous way. Indeed, desires and expectations are the main roadblocks to virtuous action. Clearly, this means that virtuous action is not a reality, but rather an ideality. Fear and need (desire) are the motivation forces that propel life to live and act. Chapter 38 puts virtue in perspective, although it still ends from a somewhat ‘cart before the horse’ point of view.
Chapter Archive https://youtu.be/I75py_zxBos
This is the complete video. It begins with blowing Zen followed by the meeting
Third Pass: Chapter of the Month 3/19/2016
Corrections?
None per se…
Reflections:
Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven? Only he who has the way. Well then, all I need to do is figure out how to get the way. Sarcastic yes, yet still a good blunt line of attack. It is utterly normal to think I can do something to get the way. Alas, that approach always ends up getting in my way.
Feeling and then thinking I can do something to get the way illustrates the difference between free will notions and the way. I think of the way as an infinite bowl of space time in which all of existence circulates within. Everything is in-by-with-of-on the way; this is my objective metaphor. However, it is a subjective sense of having the way for which I yearn. Why? Because I assume ‘it’ will make me happier. Doesn’t this ring the bell of Buddha’s “The surrounding world affects sensation and begets a craving thirst that clamors for immediate satisfaction”.
The intention to do something, anything, in order to have the way causes the problem that I’m wishing to resolve. It is utterly futile. The bright side of this dismal circumstance is that by facing up to it, I am able to look deeper within to tab other resources. Consider the Bhagavad Gita and its view of surrender for example.
But they for whom I am the End Supreme, who surrender all their works to me, and who with pure love meditate on me and adore me ‑ these I very soon deliver from the ocean of death and life‑in‑death, because they have set their heart on me. 12:6‑7
For concentration is better than mere practice, and meditation is better than concentration; but higher than meditation is surrender in love of the fruit of one’s actions, for on surrender follows peace. 12:12
The renunciation of selfish works is called renunciation; but the surrender of the reward of all work is called surrender. 8:2
So, all I need to do is surrender! Yes and no. I must surrender in order to relax or fall asleep. Yet, if I try to let go and surrender, I just lie awake trying to do it. Cease trying to do is what works, but I can’t try to cease the doing.
Wéi Wú Wéi or Wú Wéi (为无为 or 无为)
You probably see where I’m headed with this. I hope I’ve helped take the moralistic connotation with which people habitually interpret this chapter. A blinding belief in free will, whether explicit or implied, lends this chapter the righteous angle implied in lines 5,6, and 7. Indeed, I’d even go so far as to say the author, Lao Tzu or others, made this blunder. Well, nobody’s perfect!
- The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus.
- Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven?
- Only those who have the way.
Any such misreading of Nature, in my view, is due to failing to examine circumstances from a symptoms point of view. Instead, our faulty judgments arise from an innate sense of fairness common to ‘higher’ social animals. Simply put, primal emotion drives human cognition. Line 4 gives us a clue to seeing outside this instinct driven box: (4) The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient.
Chapter 56’s This is called profound sameness and to chapter 16’s Knowing the constant allows, allowing therefore impartial also helps clear away moralistic connotation.
The way of nature doesn’t just take a vacation when it comes to humanity. Therefore, whenever the way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus is true, it is still nature at work! In other words, when a person is piling up surplus, for example, they are merely feeling a profound insufficiency within themselves, i.e., emptiness, loss, failure, weakness, death and all the other correlates. They can’t help but decreases surplus they see ‘out there’ to benefits the insufficiency they are experiencing within themselves. After all, ‘in here’ is our core point of reference for what is real. I suppose that’s why sanity can be so precarious.
Free will and wéi wú wéi are like oil and water
Doing without doing, following without exception rules.
Do without doing, Be involved without being involved.
Much of the Tao Te Ching appears to be telling us to do something, like be involved without being involved and much of the rest of chapter 63 and 3. In some cases, like this current chapter 77, it seems the author/s is doing just that. In other cases, the author/s pleads a case for without doing. I resolve the seeming inconsistencies by simply regarding the Tao Te Ching as a very keen view of how nature works, and not as a prescription of what I ‘should do’, had I free will to choose.
Viewing the Tao Te Ching as a description rather than as a proscription is actually an effective way to nudge myself in the ‘Right Direction’, as Buddha might have called it. The more deeply I sense how nature works, the more involuntarily I seem to comply cognitively speaking. I can’t help it. It becomes harder to expect otherwise, and as we know, it is cleaving to our expectations that grieve us most! Surrendering expectations — This is called matching of Nature’s ancient utmost.
Here are chapters that speak just to ‘without doing’ – wú wéi ( 无为 )
Chapter 10; Chapter 37; Chapter 38; Chapter 43; Chapter 48; Chapter 57; Chapter 64.
Second Pass: Work in Progress 9/29/2012
Issues:
Just a few little touch-ups for this chapter. They are bolded in the suggested revision below.
Commentary:
For me, The way of nature is like a stretching bow, speaks to the most obvious quality of nature that exists without exception—balance. This occurs as static balance or as dynamic balance. Perhaps an underappreciated aspect of dynamic balance is the unbalances that balance balance. I mean, perfect balance would be, in my view, unbalanced. You know… if everything was in balance’s corner, then poor old unbalance’s corner would be empty non-existence. If anything, I suppose such empty non-existence would be the constant balance, i.e., The way possible to think, runs counter to the constant way. The states of balance I can envision or actually see don’t meet this fundamental Taoist benchmark. The constant is like the last reflection in a succession of infinite succession of mirrored reflections.
So what is it with us that as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus? You’ve probably guessed it: it’s thought. In having a large part of our sensations of exist in a mind-made virtual reality, it is easy to get out of kilter balance-wise. We imagine loss, death, failure off in the future. Sure, all these are certain to be future realities at some point. However, our thoughts highjack our emotions and lead us to feel this imagined reality (more or less) current reality.
The more we feel our imagined reality is ‘certain’ reality, the more out of balance we become with the actual reality in and of the moment. The forever-haunting presence of this trait probably blinds us to its prevalence, if not very existence. I know it took me many decades to appreciate fully its blinding power! Although, perhaps I’m just dumber than most.
Suggested Revision:
The way of nature is like a stretching bow.
The high restrains**(,)** the lower lifts.
The surplus decreases, the insufficient benefits.
The way of nature decreases surplus**(,)** yet benefits the insufficient.
The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus.
Who can have a surplus and give to all under heaven?
Only those who have the way.
The holy person uses this to serve, yet does not rely on,
Meritorious deeds result, yet not dwelled within.
Such absence of desire appears able and virtuous – how odd!
First Pass: Chapter of the Week 09/20/2011
Once in awhile the Tao Te Ching falls into what I’d call a ‘humanist’ trap. This lends support to the view than the Tao Te Ching is really the product of more than one thinker / author. Perhaps too, the ‘taoist’ point of view was passed down via aural tradition over generations before being finally written down. (It’s so long ago; I forgot 😉 )
The view here that ‘It is the way of heaven to take from what has in excess in order to make good what is deficient. The way of man is otherwise‘ runs contrary to the broader view expressed in chapter 34… The way is broad, reaching left as well as right.
Even more at odds with this chapter is chapter 25, which in my view, expresses a simple rendering of the emergent properties principle. Chapter 25 ends with:
I can only guess that our species’ fairness instinct (see our fairness instinct) drives the egalitarian bias obvious in chapter 77. This sense of equality and fairness underlies so much (perhaps most) of our behavior, I suspect. I now deem this to be a major influence in every facet of life(1).
Indeed, this chapter expresses a sense of what I call implied free will. It is subtly expressed here, for instance, by: The way of nature decreases surplus yet benefits the insufficient. The way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus. The implication is that mankind somehow has a choice in the matter. It seems to imply that mankind could act more “naturally” than it does if it chose to. This view puts the cart before the horse (or rather the man before the biology).
The way I see it, an animal (including us) does what it does out of innate need and fear. What is the real reason that the way of man, as a rule however, decreases the insufficient so as to give to the surplus? Chapter 22 sheds light on this indirectly:
Here, the view is that by not bragging he has merit; by no boasting he endures; by not considering himself right, he is illustrious. Again, the cart is before the horse(2). My experience is just the other way around. The more I feel inner merit, the less I tend to brag; the more illustrious I feel, the less I need to consider myself right, and so on.
Similarly, the more contentment I feel, the less I decrease the insufficient so as to give to the surplus. It is out of need (visceral hunger) that greedy action arises. Greed is a symptom of not being content; greed is a natural consequence of not being content. Not being content drives animals, including us, to do what they do – period. The trick to balanced living is not shooting oneself in the foot. This entails doing that which has the best chance to make us feel more content; with contentment we naturally keep to the deed that consists in taking no action and practice the teaching that uses no words. Ah yes, all this is so very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet…
(1) So, how do I know I’m not just projecting some need to see “the fairness instinct” as one of nature’s master puppeteers? I don’t really. On the other hand, I don’t really care if I’m right or wrong. Ironically this may make it more likely that I’m seeing ‘it’ as ‘it’ is. In any case, people have no trouble seeing instinct as the driving force in animal life. It’s just in human life where people balk at the idea. Somehow we desire to see ourselves “superior” to other animals and blessed with free will, free choice.
(2) The way this is stated, i.e., “He does not brag, and so has merit”, is accurate in the sense that this is how we tend to perceive it. Meaning, when someone doesn’t brag we regard them in a more meritorious light. This ‘judging a book by its cover’ is a key bio-hoodwink that often trips us up.