This leads the poet into a discussion of natural law: violence inevitably finds its way back to those who use it to achieve the delusory goals of group allegiance. This is the law of the fall of empires and the death of civilizations guided by the use of power and aggrandizement. The natural leader is himself a follower梐 follower of the Sage; thus his action is guided by Modesty, and his inner firmness is made manifest, yet without force, display, or violence. He does not set himself or his nation against the Source of their being, for the natural leader understands that tyranny and murder are relentlessly suicidal, for both the leader and his nation.
31
Of all the instruments of human ego,
Weapons of war are the most horrible.
The teaching Heart of the Cosmos
Turns away in revulsion from these,
And from those that use them.
The student of the Sage
Embraces the supple form of truth.
The student of war
Hides beneath the stiff shield of delusion.
The former walks in blessing,
The latter strides toward Fate.
When the infantile lord descends
To playing with his toys of war,
He must be resolutely answered
With a calm and firm rejection.
And should he kill and conquer,
Let him not revel in his hideous slaughter;
Let him not exult in extermination.
For he who delights in destruction
Shall never live in the Way of Nature.
Celebrate the living body of truth,
Mourn the madness that is power:
The latter is the seat of appearances,
Where the dead figurehead resides.
Let a dirge of sorrow be sung
For the victorious commander-in-chief.
Lament as well the grievous slaughter he has wrought.
Though we may weep for all his seeming victims,
It is the patriot-that power-drunk demon-
For whom the funeral rites must be observed.
Lao Tzu had no doubt noticed something that we may observe today in our world: those who enjoy the greatest safety from the danger of battle seem to cry the loudest for war. Let them be in governmental offices, in a posh bunker somewhere in a fortified countryside, sitting before a bank of television cameras, or residing in the editorial office of a tabloid newspaper梩hese are the most likely sources for the call of the hawk. These are the self-styled patriots, the "power drunk demons," as Lao Tzu refers to them, or the "walking dead," as they are referred to by Carol Anthony and Hanna Moog in I Ching: The Oracle of the Cosmic Way:
"卆 person who has totally separated from his feeling consciousness, disdaining his feelings and his body. His chi energy is decreased by ignoring and suppressing his true feelings, and by rejecting the Cosmic gift of love. If neglected long enough, his inner light dwindles to a mere set of coals...the Sage calls such a person one 憌ithout head?[in Hexagram 8] because he lacks the ability to further connect with the Cosmic Whole. (p. 731)."
Lao Tzu says that such a person "may be safely met with a calm and firm detachment," and this advice is echoed again in The Oracle of the Cosmic Way:
[A walking dead person] may continue in this state for many years, stealing chi energy from other people. When a person realizes that he is being drained of chi energy in this way, he needs to inwardly disconnect from and remain neutral in the presence of a walking dead person [and] that he not view that person as a culprit, as that too would give him energy. (p. 731).
Thus, the walking dead person, who has killed his own inner truth to feed his ego upon the lives of others, is the very person "for whom the funeral rites must be observed," for he has committed the act of inner suicide that is warned of in Chapter 30. When this true self is lost or repressed, as in one "who descends to playing with the toys of war," then it is the murderous demon that must be expunged, and this can only happen through our calling upon the Sage within such a person, as Lao Tzu indicates in the next poem, Chapter 32. But as long as one "delights in destruction," he will be as if possessed by that demon, and hounded by it梩o the very moment of his death, and beyond. Thus, Lao Tzu's teaching about war again reaches beyond the obvious: yes, war kills living bodies, and this is indeed to be lamented; but it also warps Nature, and the human place within it梐nd once that is lost, there can be no survivors.
32
The Cosmic Whole, in all its breadth,
Surpasses its name.
Its crystalline simplicity
Is so inexpressibly minute
That no human mind can grasp it.
If only political leaders and corporate barons
Could apprehend its nature,
Then the complementarity of limitless beings
Would effortlessly arise and endure.
In such loving attraction live earth and sky:
As when blessed rain falls soft upon the earth,
Mankind and Nature could unite like lovers-
Free of law, free of command,
People would finally be at peace.
Through names are things distinguished,
And through names can they be exhausted.
The outcome depends on balance:
Feeling where the word is true,
And when it has reached its limit.
Correct approach comes from the center.
In balance, too, is Tao expressed
In the life of our world:
The stream extends to the river,
The river extends to the sea,
The sea extends to the ocean,
The ocean extends to the world.
And the world extends to the Tao.
33
Study mankind, for this is wisdom.
But first examine yourself, for this is penetration.
To subjugate others, it takes power.
But defeating your own ego
Needs the gentle strength of perseverance.
Acknowledge the wealth within you,
And you won抰 need to strive for more.
But grasp after the brass ring,
And you become a conformist
In a society of willful pursuit.
The one who can remain in the center
Will endure beyond the reach of time.
For though he may die to the visible,
His life continues in immanence.
Thus, he is immortal.
34
Sublime, the Cosmic Breath
That limitlessly pervades and imbues
Time and space, form and non-form.
It diffuses in every direction,
It flows through all being,
It creates and furthers all,
But makes no claim and takes no credit.
It is the body of transformation,
And we do not even know its name!
It loves and nourishes
The infinite family of forms,
But seeks not allegiance or submission.
Eternally free of abstraction,
Its name may be sought
Within the realm of the infinitesimal,
Though it is the origin and destiny
Of the vastest expressions of Nature.
It rejects aggrandizement,
And thus may be called great.
Just so, the student of the Sage:
He divorces his ego, repudiates elevation,
And rejects recognition:
Thus imbued, his achievement endures,
And his work is made great.
There is a natural, inherent greatness, which can be discovered by one who repudiates the false greatness of group identification. Greatness that must be sought or protected is not true greatness, but the empty elevation of ego. Lao Tzu uses this poem to help us feel the reality of true greatness: it does its work without claiming credit for it; it is free of abstraction and ideology; it turns away from any effort to aggrandize itself or its work. The fact is that our greatness is inborn: it is the treasure that is given to each individual at birth. The only way you could possibly miss it is by denying the invisible reality within you梑y purchasing the ideological lie that says we are separate from the universe, superior to Nature. Discard the lie, and you will live your greatness.
35
Take to your heart
The hand of the great Cosmic Teacher,
And your deepest true nature
Will arise in a peace beyond harm-
Joyfully harmonizing with the eternal abundance.
The wanderer tarries at the lilt of a song
Or the smell of good cooking;
But the lyric from the Cosmic Breath
Falls flat upon the ear,
As its words are flavorless to the tongue.
The eye can scarce perceive it,
The ear discerns only the echo-
For it lies deep within,
And you never get tired of using it.
36
Would you like to reduce it?
Then first see it inflated.
Would you like it to be weakened?
Then first see it as powerful.
Would you like to destroy it?
Then first see it enshrined.
Would you like to drain it?
Then first see it overflow.
This is called the subtle discernment:
Gently penetrating flexibility
Undermines the rigidity of power.
A fish can抰 swim
When it抯 out of its depth;
A nation can抰 survive
When it shows off its weaponry.
37
Unforced action, constant and eternal:
Tao ceaselessly moves,
But appears to be still.
When the hearts of the president
And the power-broker perceive
And accept this truth,
It will be the dawn of an era
Of transformation.
Throughout this evolution,
If the old impish projections
Of manipulative action appear,
They could be firmly dispersed
With the aid of the Primal Presence-
The nameless, formless One-
The teaching Heart of liberation
From attachment.
Could these magnates just renounce,
Once and for all,
Their old habitual attachments,
Then like a clear and cleansing rain,
Peace would fall on man and Nature.
With this poem, Lao Tzu comes to the end of the first half of the Tao Te Ching. This is the part of the book that is called "Tao," while the second half is called "Te." It is a matter of emphasis more than content: Te is, of course, introduced in the first half of the book, and Tao is never far from Lao Tzu's mind throughout the work as a whole. But, as will be seen, the concept of Te is brought into a detailed light in Part Two, whereas Tao has been the primary subject of the poetic dance in Part One.
Lao Tzu closes Part One with two poems, Chapters 36 and 37, that present an overview of the same process, wherein the student of the Sage approaches the journey of inner diminishment梩he exposure, unraveling, and discarding of ego, in both its personal and societal contexts. It is the process of joining in partnership with the "teaching heart of liberation from attachment"梩he Sage梐nd beginning the work of exposing and identifying what is inflated, powerful, holy ("enshrined" in Chapter 36), and saturated. Then the work of dissolving and transforming these projections, and freeing the true self from their influence, is undertaken: this is the "movement that appears to be still" of Chapter 37, the "subtle discernment" of Chapter 36, which "undermines the rigidity of power."
38
Great Modesty is unstudied-
It is not even conscious of being modest.
Thus, Modesty is its true nature.
But the modesty of the collective
Is self-centered in its self-effacement.
Thus, it abandons true Modesty.
Correct Modesty is unforced action,
Which lacks intent or deliberation.
Commonplace modesty is the calculated art
Of the private agenda.
Natural kindness acts for the good of the whole
Without ever being aware of it.
Perfect justice lacks a plan but meets its goals
Without passing judgment.
Conduct drawn from inner clarity
Is free, exact, and appropriate,
Without expectation.
It just rolls up its sleeves
And does its work.
When we separate from the Tao,
We resort to cultivated modesty.
Failing that, we revert to philanthropy,
And thence to self-righteousness.
And on this we erect
The mandate of propriety.
Propriety and ritual are built
On the empty shell of faith.
The superficial is thus the seed of discord,
And separates from the natural loyalty
Of inner truth.
Immature and cursory knowledge of Tao
Is the origin and the ornament of delusion.
For this reason, the Sage abides in substance,
And withdraws from appearances.
It dwells in the immanent,
And not in the manifest.
Thus, it comes not from without,
But receives you within.
Immature and cursory knowledge of Tao
Is the origin and the ornament of delusion.
For this reason, the Sage abides in substance,
And withdraws from appearances.
It dwells in the immanent,
And not in the manifest.
Thus, it comes not from without,
But receives you within.
Lao Tzu begins Part Two of the Tao Te Ching with two of his longest poems, Chapters 38 and 39. Together, they comprise an extended meditation on Te, or the Cosmic principle of Modesty. In brief, 38 talks about "Te as Te," while 39 talks about "Te as Tao." Together, they present the core of Lao Tzu's perspective on Modesty as a fundamental principle of action and understanding in following the Tao. Both poems also warn of the consequences of separation from the principle of Modesty. To this purpose, a picture is drawn of a regressive spiral of vain dogma, error, and delusion. The cultivation of false modesty as a self-conscious promotion of one's "better nature" leads to philanthropy. This leads in turn to complacency and self-righteousness on the part of those who are the purveyors of this philanthropy, and in its wake come propriety and ritual. By this point, we are so far from our true nature that we have enclosed ourselves in a garish and grotesque "ornament of delusion." We have reached the point where we "exalt superiority" (this from Chapter 39), and have opened the door wide to corruption; we have divorced mind from consciousness and thereby created a realm of "insanity and death."
39
From before Time as we know it was born,
The experience of Oneness with Tao has been.
To receive the gift of Oneness
Is the way of Nature,
Manifest in all its forms:
The open sky and stable earth,
The presence and energy of mind.
Through the One the valley fills
With the life of innumerable beings.
Sometimes, kings and lords receive it,
And are helped in their paths of leadership.
Were sky divorced from clarity,
Then I fear it might collapse in darkness,
