Xiang'er Commentary
35
The Sage is inhumane; he treats the common people as if they were
straw dogs.
The sage models himself on heaven and earth. He is humane to
Good people, inhumane toward evil people. When kingly governance
turns to destruction and evil, [the Sage] also views the king as a
straw dog. Thus people should accumulate meritorious actions so
that their essences and [internal] spirits communicate with heaven.
In this way, when there are those who wish to attack and injure
them, heaven will come to their aid. The common run of people are
all straw dogs; their essences and spirits are unable to communicate
with heaven. The reason for this is that, as robber and thieves with
evil intentions dare not be seen by government officials, their es-
sences and spirits are not in touch with heaven, so that when they
meet with dire extremities, heaven is unaware of it.
Brown cascading hill
Blowing wind surrounding it-
In one silent thought.
Chapter 23
Keng Sang Chu
There is something which exists, though it emerges from no
roots, it returns through no opening. It exists but has no place; it
survives yet has no beginning or end. Though it emerges through
it has no permanent place; this tells us it is a dimension of space. It
survives, but has no beginning nor end; this tells us it has dimensions
of time. It is born, it dies, it emerges, it returns, though in its
emergence and return there is no form to be seen. This is what we
call the Heavenly Gate. The Heavenly Gate is non-existence, and all
forms of life emerge from non-existence. That which exists cannot
cause things to exist. They all arise from non-existence. Non-existence
is the oneness of non-existence. This is the hidden knowledge
of the sages.
Chapter 8
Webbed Toes
.... Everything has its innate nature.
Given this, then, what is curved is not curved by the use of a
template nor made straight by using a plumb line. It is not rounded
by using a compass, nor made square by using a set-quarter; not
made adhesive through glue and varnish, nor bound together by
ropes and bands. Then everything under Heaven is made as it is by
the ways of nature, without understanding why or how. Everything
achieves what is intended, but does not understand why or how.
Both today and in the ancient past it has always been so, and
nothing can affect this. There is no point in holding to benevolence
and righteousness, like a mixture of glue and varnish, ropes and
bands, as a means of trying to journey in the Tao and Te -- the Way
and Virtue -- for this merely confuses everything under Heaven.
LXXI
To Know yet to think one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to
difficulty.
It is by being alive to difficulty that one can avoid it. The
sage meets with no difficulty. It is because he is alive to it
that he meets with no difficulty.
-
- Current Music
- Pink Floyd: SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN
VI
The spirit of the valley never dies
This is called the mysterious female.
The gateway of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth.
Dimly visible, it seems as if it were there,
Yet use will never drain it.
In the classic taoist concept of cultivating skill, there is an implication, I feel, of serving a function, or a tangible necessity to the world around you.
Zhuangzi's classic parables of his favorite butcher, whom he admired greatly, have always made this implication to me. The butcher effortlessly weaved his blade through his subjects, as if taking the skilled brushstrokes of an master artist.
It was a skill to contributed to the greater course of things. The butcher has a key, functional role in even the simplest society.
As a matter of pursuit and skill, I was greatly encouraged by teachers and friends to write. I remember particularly well one teacher that was, more than likely, the best I ever had. She tolerated my hyperactive and inept behavior to a saintly degree and always urged me to keep up high standards for my own writing and creativity. If anything, using words was the most outstanding skill I developed.
Never, however, did I pursue it. I didn't take any extra writing classes, put forth any unique efforts, or take any large opportunities, even here in college. Something in my upbringing always gave me the impression that there simply wasn't money or a sustainable living to be found in writing, and it was not conducive to a functional lifestyle.
Having recently found more and more incentive to pursue it, and my outlook on life and priorities having matured, I am finally returning to it, but am struck by an intangible sort of dilemma.
One of the first tenets of Taoism that fascinated me was the inherent flaws and paradoxical nature of human language. Words are, of course, simply primitive tools for expressing ourselves understandably.
I really do believe that. Words are simply our struggle to understand eachother. Writing lacks the literal manifest of a butcher or a craftsman. Those express themselves in clear, tangible, and undeniable senses. Writing, even if nonfiction or news, is a semi-tangible practice with an unavoidable, non-negateable, and altogether inescapeable margin of error.
Zhuangzi expressed the importance and joy of cultivated skill reaching a point of spontaneous flow. At the same time, he was infamously skeptical of the nature of our languages. Though it is a necessary convention, he always seemed to distrust it. This much I certainly understand.
So, despite the spontaneous and cultivateable nature of writing, this conflict subtly gnaws at me. Is writing a real skill? Something that you can refine and lose yourself within? It certainly seems to, yet the fact that it is a flawed endeavor makes it seem like a forgone conclusion.
I'm certainly not stressing terribly over it, but I can't help but wonder how to answer this notion. What do you think?
If the emptiness of a room is what's important, does not adding things to the room make the emptiness less significant?
If the emptiness of a glass is what's important, does not adding water to the glass make the emptiness less significant?
If the emptiness of the mind is what's important, does not adding knowledge to it not make the emptiness less significant?
Or is what replaces the emptiness of a greater significance then the emptiness it's self?
If not this then should I not begin removing things from my room to make way for more emptiness?
The more that is added to a room, does it create a living conflict with the emptiness?
The more that is added into the body, does it not create a living conflict with the subtle voice of the body?
The more that is added to the mind, does it not create a living conflict with the mysteries hidden within the mind?
By living conflict I mean a conflict that is alive.
Feng Shui? Is Feng Shui of the mind possible or obtainable?
Is the thinking mind full of knowledge and chatter,
and the moving body full of consumption and waste,
not in a state of being that is difficult to pick up on the
subtleness and mysteriousness of life?
