17
The highest rulers, people do not know they have them
The next level, people love them and praise them
The next level, people fear them
The next level, people despise them
The rulers' trust is insufficient, have no trust in them
Proceeding calmly, valuing their words
Task accomplished, matter settled
The people all say, "We did it naturally"
At the highest level, the ideal rulers are the ones who are so good at what they do that they can achieve their objectives quickly, silently and effectively. They do not glory in their achievements, so the people are not even aware that such rulers exist.
At the next level down, we have rulers whose benevolent actions can be seen, so that people are aware of them. The people feel close to such rulers and they give much praise for the benevolent, positive rule.
At the next level down, we have rulers who resort to intimidation and heavy-handed policies. People fear such rulers.
At the next level down, we have rulers who are incompetent or seek to deceive the people through trickery. People despise such rulers. They insult the leadership and rise up in opposition.
If such rulers cannot have sufficient trust the people, then how can the people have trust in them?
The ideal way is to govern in an unhurried, easy manner where rulers greatly values their words. This means they do more and talk less.
Because things are done this way, without anyone being aware of all the work that go into governing, when important tasks are completed and major issues are settled, the people all say that they did it themselves, and that it was naturally so.
Notes
The original Chinese is not gender specific in referring to the ruler. It does not assert in any way that the ruler must be male. Most translators arbitrarily force the gender to either male or female, which distorts the original meaning.
Like several other passages from the Tao Te Ching, this chapter seems to be aimed at the ancient kings of China. It is as if Lao Tzu was asked to advise the Emperor on the best way to rule. How can such passages apply to us, who are not necessarily in exalted positions of political power?
Do not think of ruling in the literal way that only applies to governance of a nation. Look at your own life and note all the settings and circumstances where leadership plays a role. Most of us will, at some point, start our own families, and we may be called upon to assume the responsibility of leadership in social settings, community activities, or the workplace.
The Tao of leadership remains constant in any context. Whether you find yourself having to deal with your children, neighbors or coworkers, you'll find the distinctions in this chapter a useful guide.
18
The great Tao fades away
There is benevolence and justice
Intelligence comes forth
There is great deception
The six relations are not harmonious
There is filial piety and kind affection
The country is in confused chaos
There are loyal ministers
When people forsake the great Tao, so that it fades away and perishes in their thoughts, concepts like benevolence, compassion, justice and righteousness appear in the world.
When intelligence, book knowledge and cleverness become widespread in the world, we end up with great hypocrisy and deception everywhere
When the six family relationships - parent, child, older sibling, younger sibling, husband, wife - are in a state of disharmony, concepts like filial piety, obedience, and the kind affection of parental love become important and significant.
When the country is in a state of chaos and anarchy, it becomes crucial to make the distinction between ministers who are loyal, and those who are not.
19
Discontinue sagacity, abandon knowledge
The people benefit a hundred times
Discontinue benevolence, abandon righteousness
The people return to piety and charity
Discontinue cunning, discard profit
Bandits and thieves no longer exist
These three things are superficial and insufficient
Thus this teaching has its place:
Show plainness, hold simplicity
Reduce selfishness, decrease desires
This chapter presents one of the more difficult teachings to understand, because we have a strong tendency to worship knowledge. We've all been conditioned to believe that knowledge is power, and having more can't possibly be a bad thing.
Lao Tzu is uniquely alone among all the ancient philosophers in steadfastly pointing to the pitfalls of knowledge. He saw the link between academic intelligence and scholarly arrogance clearly, and addressed it several times throughout the Tao Te Ching in no uncertain language.
One of the problems with knowledge is that we become very good at using it in a crafty and shrewd way to twist the truth. There are examples of this everywhere, and one of them applies to this very chapter.
The first two words of this chapter are literally "end sagacity." The meaning is that we should put a stop to this obsession with book smarts and focus instead on the wisdom of living an actual life apart from the books. It is the ancient Chinese equivalent of telling a bookworm to "get a life."
But some readers of the Tao Te Ching have such a powerful desire for ever more knowledge that they do not hear this message at all. They interpret "end" to mean "extreme" or "ultimate" so they can change the first line to say something completely different - that if one can gain the ultimate knowledge so that there is nothing more to learn (thus bringing about an end to learning), then people would benefit a hundredfold.
In this fashion, they have taken a warning against the disconnect of knowledge from down-to-earth living, and transformed it to a rallying cry to acquire ever more knowledge. The fact that this can happen at all is the very reason why Lao Tzu emphasizes intuitive wisdom and downplays intelligence.
As we progress through cultivation, let's keep Lao Tzu's admonition in mind: Knowledge isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but book smarts is a very different thing from street smarts... and school learning can never compare to, or supplant life learning.
20
Cease learning, no more worries
Respectful response and scornful response
How much is the difference?
Goodness and evil
How much do they differ?
What the people fear, I cannot be unafraid
So desolate! How limitless it is!
The people are excited
As if enjoying a great feast
As if climbing up to the terrace in spring
I alone am quiet and uninvolved
Like an infant not yet smiling
So weary, like having no place to return
The people all have surplus
While I alone seem lacking
I have the heart of a fool indeed - so ignorant!
Ordinary people are bright
I alone am muddled
Ordinary people are scrutinizing
I alone am obtuse
So tranquil, like the ocean
So moving, as if without limits
The people all have goals
And I alone am stubborn and lowly
I alone am different from them
And value the nourishing mother
The blind pursuit of learning leads to excessive desires - the more you see, the more you want. Excessive desires, in turn, lead to anxiety and misery. Once we understand this and decide to no longer subject ourselves to information overload, the anxiety and misery disappear as quickly as the mental clutter.
People tend to place too much importance and attachment to value judgments like good, evil, respect and scorn. In reality these are relative variables that change according to perspective. How much do they actually differ, when there are no absolute standards to measure against?
Of course, I always proceed cautiously as a Tao cultivator. Whatever the people fear, I must approach with a healthy dose of caution. If they consider something to be bad, there is probably a reason. I will handle it with care, even though I understand the relative nature of value judgments. In this respect, I am not that different from them.
Still, the great Tao is so vast, seemingly without limits. The gap between the Tao and ordinary people is huge indeed. For the most part, what they do and how they behave are quite different from my way of being.
For instance, see how easily they become happy and excited, as if enjoying a great feast, or hiking up to a scenic spot where they can take in the panoramic view. I, on the other hand, maintain my quietness, tranquility, and the purity of my original nature, like a newborn baby that has not yet learned to smile. My demeanor is not jittery and excitable. Instead, it is slow and low-key, as if I am a weary traveler without a home to return to, and is therefore in no rush.
I notice how the people have too much, while I alone seem to have too little. Their lives are filled with things they do not need, while I carry no excess baggage. My way is minimalist. I possess the bare necessities of life and and the freedom that comes with having few burdens.
It would certainly appear that I have the heart and mind of a fool. I seem so simple and ignorant compared to the shrewdness of ordinary people. They seem so brilliant and logical. They handle everything in a calculating way, while I react slowly and cannot account for every little thing. They scrutinize every detail in everything with a sharp eye, while I am happy enough with a general idea and fuzzy approximations.
My mind is tranquil and still, like the depths of the ocean. At the same time, it is also moving dynamically, like the wind high in the sky. This is something that most people are not likely to understand.
I see them frantically pursuing various goals in the world, displaying their many talents and abilities, trying to get ahead in the rat race. Meanwhile, I appear to be stubbornly persisting in my lowly ways. Why am I so different? It is only because I hold on to the basis of life, the nurturing mother of all things - the Great Tao itself!
Notes
When Lao Tzu talks about not being overly calculating and scrutinizing, he is specifically referring to our conduct in interpersonal relationships. Most people keep track of "scores" - slights, cold shoulders, back stabs, and so on - with great clarity and precision, so that when the time is right they can dole out vengeance and "even the score."
Tao cultivators do not do that. They take action to protect themselves, or distance themselves from malicious people, but otherwise let go of personal affronts without needing to retaliate in kind.
People who do not understand think cultivators must be obtuse to let others take advantage of them like that. They fail to see that, as Gandhi once pointed out, if we all practice "an eye for an eye," pretty soon the whole world will be blind.
In the game of life, those who shrewdly "win" at the expense of others will end up losing big sooner or later. Tao cultivators, in following Lao Tzu's wisdom, seem to "lose" in the short term, only to end up, inexplicably, as the ultimate winners in the long run.
21
The appearance of great virtue
Follows only the Tao
The Tao, as a thing
Seems indistinct, seems unclear
So unclear, so indistinct
Within it there is image
So indistinct, so unclear
Within it there is substance
So deep, so profound
Within it there is essence
Its essence is supremely real
Within it there is faith
From ancient times to the present
Its name never departs
To observe the source of all things
How do I know the nature of the source?
With this
The Tao is the infinite field of limitless potential. Therefore, the manifestation of inherent power and great virtue of all things can only follow the Tao and come from the Tao.
If we were to regard the Tao as a "thing," it would be indistinct and unclear. The Tao embodies the mystery and the unknown. No matter how close we get to it, it will remain forever beyond complete comprehension. It will always be one step beyond total clarity.
Within this indistinct and unclear Tao, there is the image of the universe. The stars, the galaxies - the cosmos are contained within the Tao.
The Tao is the ultimate source of everything. Although it will always be vague and elusive, it embodies all the potentialities of the physical world. Material things come out of this void, seemingly out of nowhere.
The Tao has unlimited depth, and it is within this depth that we find the essence of life. The principle and driving force of this essence are undeniable. When we examine this essence, we have no choice but to believe that the Tao exists and is quite real.
This is why the Name - the Tao, the great virtue, and power inherent inherent in all things - have never gone away from antiquity to modern times. It is not a passing fad or temporary fixation; it is the enduring and eternal truth.
We can use this truth to observe and understand the universal source of all Creation. So if people were to ask me how I can know anything about the nature of this mystical source, I would simply let them know this is it.
We may never be able to see it with perfect clarity; we may never have complete comprehension of it. Nevertheless, its existence, function and power are absolutely, positively beyond doubt. It is the Tao.
Notes
Life, as we know it, is all based on DNA. In fact, one can even say that it is the genes that perpetuate themselves generation after generation. They surround themselves with sophisticated and complex cellular mechanisms in order to enable this perpetuation.
But, as science writer Bill Bryson points out, DNA is not in itself alive. So at the very core of the phenomenon known as life, we come up against this interesting puzzle, a profound paradox: the fundamental basis of life is not itself a living thing. How can this be? How can it work?
Study this issue long and hard enough, and one may come to a startling realization. We are in fact not biological machines that have learned how to think. Instead, we are pure consciousness that has learned how to manifest in the physical universe through the workings of life. There is something about this metaphysical consciousness that simply wants to be, and it drives the process of life, transforming the inorganic to organic in order to enable its manifestations.
This is genesis. It is not completely understood and perhaps it never will be. It is indistinct and unclear, and yet within it is the seed of infinite life. Our very existence is proof positive of its function and power. It is the Tao.
