The Old Master: The Light and the Dark

An Evolutionary Glimpse at the Gudin Do D Jng of Loz

Acknowledgement
Without the immense scholarship of the late Professor Fn Chng X, not to mention the grace of my teacher, these modest translations would not be possible, much less their commentaries.

Introduction
We know so little of the historical Loz. Some would say he never existed. Yet such a belief would betray the very make-up of the Do D Jng. From a purely philosophical point of view, in consideration of the traditional text, we might entertain such an idea. But in view of earlier versions recently come to light, we are faced with a text breathing incontrovertible evidence of life experience, despite whatever flourishes or damages inflicted thereupon by subsequent scribes. Now by one account, he is said to have emerged from his mothers womb long-lobed, greybearded, and fully grown after sixty-two years of inhabiting it: most of us are sufficiently sophisticated to reject out of hand such a claim. Yet, rather than merely dismiss the idea, we should savour it in its proper light. The womb here is parabolic; it represents the venerable mans rebirth at the age of sixty-two into Wisdom Consciousness. In more down to earth accounts, it is given that he was Keeper of the Archives in the royal court of Zhou; though one puts him as contemporary of Confucius and another as the Grand Historian and astrologer Old Long-ears.1 These latter conjectures shall not concern us. Given however his official function and access to manuscripts native and xenogenic, it is hardly conceivable that Loz had not encountered certain Sanskrit texts, either in their original or in some form of annotated translation, such as the Vishnu Purana or Bhagavad Gita. For, while the geographic barriers between the two cultures were formidable, they were not as shown by later Buddhist-inspired commerce insuperable. Furthermore, manuscripts from afar did not arrive by camel alone. And, given the nature of our gracious host, not to mention his savoir-faire, it is not impossible that he have encountered a spiritual master or two, either in the capital or during his peregrinations. Although we have no direct proof available, we need not preclude the possibility. In fact, as

Lao Dan (

), who lived during the reign (384-362 BC) of Duke Xian () of Qin
5

we shall show, there are certain indications within the body of the Do D Jng that point to striking similarities between Aryan tradition and terminology chosen by Loz to express the cosmos. And last but by no means least: we are presented at the end of his career with the journey he undertakes towards the West. As we can safely preclude the retirees setting his sights on America or even Europe to spend the rest of his days, we cannot so readily disregard India as final destination. And as there were no travel brochures in his day, it is not demential on our part to deduce that he had some sort of destination in mind and that he had heard thereof before setting out. Leaving aside any memories of past lifetimes, we are brought to the probability of his referral either by text or by personal account or by both.

 ! ! ! !
The Way certainly is the Way! The impermanent ways as well! The Name certainly is the Name! The impermanent names as well! Without Name, the beginning of myriad existences.
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With Name, the mother of myriad existences. Reason? Constantly without desire, behold the subtlety thereof. Constantly with desire, behold the anus1 thereof. Both occur alike, different names, same meaning. Dark and ever darker2, the gate to a multitude of subtleties.
Commentary:
It is often thought that Loz is asking a question here. Yet is an emphatic particle that can represent an exclamation point as well as a question mark. He has no need to question. Established in the Wisdom of the Do, he thus can proclaim its universality in full bliss thereof. He realises that all is in Evolution. How things appear depends on where one is on its ladder. Whether one be conscious of being on the Path or not, consciously endeavouring or not, one is on the Way, even when pursuing ones own ends or stuck in a cul-de-sac of ones own making. Way and Name hold more meaning than can be told or otherwise indicated. Yet the Old Master is not afraid to give us some indicationand not without humour, pith, and depth. However, if be interpreted as a question, it is also not without answer to wit: The Way, can there be way other than the Eternal Way? The Name, can there be name, other than the Eternal Name? The Way here, may be interpreted as dharma, not in the strict Buddhists sense, but in that of old: santana dharma or sdhana. Name (again, in Sanskrit, nma) is

: shout; maw; anus. Therefore, should the above translation shock one s sensibilities, one may

also reverse ends, and read: behold the maw thereof! Therein we discern the cosmic monster before us, ever ready to devour our non-Self. Notwithstanding, when one is in continual pursuit due to desire, it is only natural to see but the hindquarters of the elusive prey. And the more dogged we are in our pursuit, the greater the close-up of our objective. (The Wang Bi version two centuries later uses a different character: , but with the same pronunciation: jio, meaning boundary and translated as

manifestation.)
2

Or mysterious and ever more mysterious. The dark is the aspect of the skein dipped into the dye

vat. Whilst we remain in the dark, it is all mysterious. Yet as we grow accustomed to the dark, we begin more and more to see

the interdimensional sound1 pervading this Universe from the very highest. It is this Name that has given birth to this vast Universe and ever continues to nurture it. Established in the Name, as in the Way, we can, without Desire, behold it as ourselves and all the subtleties thereof. Not so established in such Consciousness, we are but wending our way up the evolutionary ladder. Miao () is also minute. And it is only these last few years that we can begin to appreciate the import thereof, where, with liquid string-net theory,2 we discover the wonder of this universe and its energetic basis.

1 2

Or subtle vibration http://dao.mit.edu/~wen/NSart-wen.html


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All under Heaven know what is beautiful because of beauty, thus loathing oneself. All know what is good, this is not good! Being and its lack/contrary mutually give birth! Difficult and easy mutually complete each other. Tall and short so appear by one the other. High and low fill each other. Tone and voice mutually blend/harmonise. Before and after mutually follow/succeed each other, constantly. Rightly, the sage resides in non-action in doing. Competent, he teaches without a word. Myriad things arise; and yet he does not budge; he acts, and yet does not set his heart upon [the fruits] thereof; he accomplishes his task, yet does not dwell upon it. Man simply does not dwell thereupon, as he is not ever separate therefrom.

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Commentary:
When one imposes a concept of perfection upon an imperfect1 mind, one creates therein an imperfect concept of perfection. Concomitantly, one also creates an awareness of imperfection in that person as well as his awareness of imperfection in the world about him. Hence, we are running a race with very high hedges to jump: not the least obstacular: that imperfect concept of perfection within that young mind, against which all things are henceforth judged. The sage therefore behaves otherwise: noninvasivelyfrom a higher plane and comprehension, wherein much more is possible. This is known as karmaless karma: not that the wise man does nothing; whether he does or not in the physical will depend entirely on the requirements of the situation and the souls involved. Having no ego, he is but instrument. Established in the Do as in the Name, he works from within, and few are the wiser. Where words will confuse young mentalities, he will avoid using them. For all will learn in good time.

One may substitute the term unripe here.

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Do not elevate the worthy man, [and youll] make the people not to fight. Do not render precious hard to come by goods, [and youll] make the people not to steal.

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Do not flaunt what can be coveted, [and youll] make the people not to get troubled1. It is therefore that to govern, the wise man empties their hearts, fills their bellies, weakens their wills, strengthens their bones. He constantly causes the people to remain in ignorance and free from desire. He makes learned men not dare to act, nothing more. Free from rules, he does not [impose] control.
Commentary:
The last verse in the Wang Bi version reads .2 Thus, the famous expression wi w wi, action without action, proves to be a literary flourishalbeit correct in a general sense, necessary to further survival in the realm, as the last verse of the Guodian can all too readily be interpreted seditiously: Without laws, he does not govern.

The ideogram lun () shows a man kneeling over a pile of string in an attempt to unravel the

knots; thus, literally, means ravelled.

2

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The Do is a rushing torrent, yet does not sate when drunk. Oh, plumbless depths, like a school1 for countless creatures. It crushes ones cleverness, it cleaves ones knots2, it harmonises ones auras3, as it does ones dust4. Oh, Deep! Whose child it is, I wot not. Its appearance is that of that before [the appearance of] God.1

1 2 3 4

Or resembling the ancestor of countless creatures. i.e. dilemmas. blends ones lights/rays Or it equalises ones dustor it makes common ones earthly pleasures.

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Commentary:
We are witnessing herein the Do in its feminine aspect as shakti (Cosmic Energy). In a sense, we are all Riemann spheresor, rather, a series thereof all connected by a point to Infinity. The Do, thus traversing us from stem to stern along our spinal column, is our umbilical cordand always has been, from the birth of this Universe onwards. As the Buddha has also testified, it feels as a void, for it is a rush of force (yun) that has no material counterpart, hence the sensation of emptiness. It has always been our Mother and ever continues to be. What does a Mother do? Cut us down a peg or two when we are feeling too smart for our own good; help us out of scrapes, when we show the right attitude. And, as we strive for union, She further refines us so that we may better achieve perfection, burning away our dross and transubstantiating our gross body into light all compact.

D () or Shngd () literally, Emperor of the Above, is the Supreme God in the original

theogony of the Han people, whereof they never made image nor idol.

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Heaven and Earth show no consideration,1 they treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs2 The sage shows no consideration, he treats the hoi polloi3 as straw dogs. Heaven and Earths divide, is it not like a [forges] bellows pipe? Empty and unbending,4 it moves,5 the better to rise. Much hearsay/learning, frequent fatigue/exhaustion, [which is] not in keeping with the [Golden] Mean.
Commentary:
The last comment refers to the hot wind, as it were, produced by human bellows: lungs, expatiating with damaging effectall done out of misguided consideration when not out of personal interest. The sage, taking his example from the Universe, is impartial in his actions

1 2

(rn) the action of two persons vis--vis the other In ancient China, effigies of straw came to replace the real dogs used earlier in sacrifice. The literally: the hundred families Also a further meaning implied, as b q () also signifies without injustice!) i.e. deflates (this the bellows part).

meaning here is that there is no consideration for the individual.

3 4 5

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with individuals; for, as bellows under heaven, he is but instrument in the forging of the soul. He need not blow any more than necessary: this is the Golden Mean.

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Fountainhead1 essence2,3 is not dead, she is [said] to be the dark feminine. The dark feminines portal, is said to be the matrix of Heaven and Earth/the Universe. Softly, softly... as if cradling a child, the use thereof is not one of travail.
Commentary:
Here we behold a pan of yoni and shakti. Yoni is the locus of divine passage and sacred receptacle, shaktis crucible. Hence the epithet dark feminine: dark, because hidden and mysterious; feminine, because she is Love in action, at work everywhere for the sake of Her children.

1 2 3

Or wellspring Or divinity Often translated Valley spirit, as if we were dealing with animism, g shn () is of two parts:

the first is of water issuing forth from a mouth; the second is of a man kneeling before an altar (this latter, the phonetic constituent of the ideogram), hence the presence of the divine.

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The better good is like water. Waters good benefits myriad creatures and yet remains placid. It resides places the masses loathe [to be], the better to reside in the Do. The virtue of residence, the soil; the virtue of mind, its profundity;

20

the virtue of giving, its nature;1 the virtue of word, its truth; the virtue of government, its rule; the virtue of work, its energy; the virtue of change, its timing. Man alone does not fight, because he is free of blame.2
Commentary:
x.

1 2

Or: the virtue of ego, its indispensability Or: Man alone does not quarrel, because he is free of distinction. Possibly: Man alone does not

struggle, because he is lacking outstanding particularities (i.e. so nondescript).

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 1
Of fattening and filling, there is no end. Caches and clubs cannot always protect.2 Gold and jade fill the room, no one to guard it. Wealth, honour and pride, bequeath calamity as well. The work accomplished, one retires, [such is] the Do of Heaven.
Commentary:
One cannot go on forever. It is well in life to know the point of return. If not, one invites calamity. Just as there are pilot waves that the smallest of quanta may ride, so are there that our souls may take, some traversing this cosmos, and certain leading into the very heart of heaven. These latter are rare, but then so are the souls who embark thereupon. In the immediate, each entity is promulgated according to his vibration. It is these vibrations that make up the Do and whereunto an intelligent being would make all effort to cling.

1 2

Or: Tucking and joisting cannot always cover.

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23


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Sustain and nourish the life force: embrace it alone; will it not leave? Maintain the breath until downy-soft, can a baby?1 Perfect2 the mirror3, can it become spotless? Love the people, live for the kingdom: can they not believe? Heavens door opens wide, can it be feminine? Realise the four limits/attainments, can one not use the knowledge? Give it birth, nourish it. Give it birth, and yet not possess it. Lead yet not rule.4 Indeed, we speak of dark virtue.
Commentary:
Laozi speaks of life force p (): whether one take it to be strictly life force in the sense of breath (pra) or individual soul (jvtman), it is the same. Both need be nourished after their fashion, yet they finish by leaving. The etymology of the character for nourish, yng () is most eloquent: campfires and tents; thus mealtime for an army on bivouac. Life is an army of forces to be nourished; and we are all in the same campaign: that of Evolution. And our ultimate victory is assured.

(di) is a man wearing a mask not that the rest of us dont: our gross and subtle bodies
are but masks good for the masked ball of one lifetime. We must but patiently bear this masquerade and never forget who is behind the disguise.

Or: can [one become] a baby? is literally, embellish/repair + remove (the imperfections) (d) is a pictograph of a man examining a pan of blood, thus promoting the concepts oversight

2 3

and custody: and, since a mirror, while not a pool of blood, allows us both to oversee our image as well as, in the moment, to keep it in custody, it is an ideal ideogram for the object.
4

which is also a synonym for to slaughter.

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(d), commonly translated as virtue, is the ideogram of walking a road in perfect

intelligence, with all ones heart, mind, and soul (brushed as the proverbial ten over a heart). Why is this virtue referred to as dark (or mysterious)? Because it is not clear what it is and how one achieves it. We are for the most part unaware of its existence. While the Hanyu Da

Zidian1 gives no less than twenty definitions for the word, it is to be remembered that it is to
be found as the Classic title of Lozs work, most people content with the fact that each of the two is the opening character of the two respective parts of the work, namely the first and thirty-eighth chapters. Moreover, while absent in conjunction with the character do from the classical version of the text, the two are to be found together in both copies of the Mwngdu manuscripts in the twenty-fourth chapter (q.v.) and, together, have the meaning of what is classically considered sdhana or spiritual striving: resolutely, consciously, and blithely walking the path onwards and upwards. In the classical ordering of the work, this is its first appearance and should not be disregarded. Certain would translate the term as power; and, while this is not to be gainsaid for terrific power comes in the process, this is not where the Old Master places the accent. There is something to be said for his stick-toitiveness: it has been; and those on the path can hear it all round. Thus, virtue is there because of the Do; the Do, because of the Dark. Insofar as perfecting ourselves is concerned, xun d () is not just a dark mirror: for

d is also custody and, as such, schoolour school: we are in custody of the Darkand it is
such a great, grand school. Therefore may it be said that the Do is the Dark par excellence. Thus, the spot we are attempting to remove is the ego: we alone cannot. But the Dark can, if we but give it full power. Whereupon the Dark shines through, and we are perfected.

(Hny d zdin) or "Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary"

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Thirty spokes converging on one hub, functioning on not there, there the usefulness for the chariot. Mix water into clay and it becomes a vessel, functioning on not there, there the usefulness for the vessel. Chiselling doors and windows serves to make a house, functioning on not there, there the usefulness for the house. Thats why the benefit is from the there, and the usefulness is from the not there.
Commentary:
And that is why the sage is both there and not there: that the people may benefit from him and find usefulness therein. 27


The five colours make a mans eyes go blind. The speedy gallop of the hunt makes the peoples hearts go wild1. Hard to come by goods are deleterious to a mans conduct, The five tastes make a mans mouth go numb, The five tones make a mans ears go deaf. There is with the sages cure,

Or: minds go crazy.

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aught for the stomach and naught for the eye, thats why he leaves one and takes the other.
Commentary:
Too much of a good thing will harm both gross and subtle bodies. The stomach having no sense of its own, the sage lets it have its satisfaction, which is of benefit to all else.

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30

Favour and disgrace [are] as an alarm, gifts and great misfortune [are] as your body. Why [are] favour and disgrace as an alarm? You are favoured as an underling; receive it as an alarm, [as much as you would as] losing it would alarm [you]. That is to say, favour and disgrace [are] as an alarm. Why say that gifts and great misfortune [are] as your body? I am a great sufferer1, because I have a body. To the point that I be free of the body, what is there to suffer? For gifts serve as body in serving as domination2 as if we could entrust domination! Loving ones body3 serves as domination, a woman can possibly depend upon domination!
Commentary:
Here, Loz is encouraging us to look beyond the petty human state, which is all that is under Heavenequals earthly, equals karmic; for everything under Heaven, being subject to the rule of Heaven, it will be necessary to be above, which is to say a heavenly or divine state. And that is precisely whither leads the Do. As in many cultures, a man has the choice or not of accepting his lot; and, as he reflects

yng qualities, it is his to avail himself thereof in his role. A woman, however, reflecting yn
qualities, is one who, if she is to incarnate her passive function, need rely upon the largesse, if not of those under whose dominion she find herself, of Heaven itself. Yet, for both man and woman, it is well to come to a dynamic balance of both yn and yng. Therefore, even a

1 2 3

Or: doctor sufferer. Literally: under heaven, everything under Heaven being subject to the rule of Heaven Or: oneself.

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woman should not depend entirely thereuponalbeit in practice, she may love and use it enough that it serve as a tool for the domination of others at least for a while.

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Looking, one does not see it; its name is pronounced tiny.1 Listening, one does not hear it; its name is pronounced fine.2 Grabbing, yet one does not grasp it; its name is pronounced barbaric.3 These three senses are not capable of such close scrutiny, since it is chaotic yet acts as one. One entity, its zenith untouchable4, its nadir abrupt,1 searching, searching, oh!one cannot find a name!

1 2 3

i.e. not just minuscule, but invisible. i.e. not just delicate, but inaudible. Or: foreign. Barbarians run away or fight capture; they are therefore elusiveas also linguistically Or: unattainable.

hard to grasp, hence intangible.

4

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Once more: return to non-matter.2 There is to speak of its state of non-state,3 its non-material form. There are chaotic4 phenomena. Following and not perceiving its back, welcoming and not perceiving its head. Stick to the Do of the now, in order to guard against the existence of now. In order to know the Primal Beginning, there is the spoken binding5 of the Do.6

Commentary:
We live in puzzling timesmany would say chaotic. Some seek to know reality through physicality; and some, through spirituality. From both camps, many come to the conclusion that, if nothing else, it is Energy, Energy going beyond our puny senses, often beyond the grasp of instrumentation as well as of intellect. Yet, from introspection, Loz was able to discern quite clearly and to communicate to us, insofar as written language permits. Before these last few decades, one might have thought immateriality; such a philosophical concept has now become immaterial, since now we may examine this in the light of quantum physicsalbeit, not only. Whatever the Energy creating and manifesting as this Cosmos, at all levels, its imprint lies within each quantum thereof, its manifestation depending on the dimension and upon the

1 2 3 4

ideogrammatically: to scare the heart! Possibly: non-object. Or: condition of non-conditionality Or: indistinct. On a quantum plane, for example, this is part of the quality which renders its ideogrammatically: the threading together.

measurement in terms of locality uncertain (the Heisenberg uncertainty principle).

5 6

i.e., the discipline of yoga.

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level of Evolution of each entity. The capture or perception of any part of this Energy also depends upon the dimension, the sensory or hypersensory organ, and the level of evolution of the perceiving entity. We are inexorably bound to the Do; yet we ignore it. Once we feel the pull of its invisible thread placing us in the proper order of its chronicles,1 we also become part and parcel of the work and thus can re-experience this last Primal Beginning, called of late the Big Bang. It is for this reason that we are cautioned: Stick to the Do of the now, in order to guard

against the existence of now. For the former is at all times and eternal, while the latter is but
phenomenal and thus doomed to high entropy. One might argue that the last line refer to spoken record: in order to know the origins of the past, there is the spoken record of events (Do used as the experiences making up the Path). Interpreted as such, it means that the past is inherent, not in written knowledge, but in the consciousness as spoken. This however does not make sense in terms of record but does so in terms of Do: for we are being informed of the science of mantra, where Name contains the same Energy and Consciousness as from the very beginning. This however means precious little to those not initiated into the practice. Yet their lack of understating in no wise vitiates its existence, much less its essence.

Archival Note:
In the Classical version of Chapter XIV of the Do D Jng we read a different kind of binding:

Tying and tying, it cannot be defined, again it returns to non-existence.

Obviously, we are looking at another mentality. Yet to understand, we need go back in time and so shall discover a delightful insight into Lozs former work experience as archivist. His

Also the meaning of j () [see note above].

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function came the days when written knowledge came neither in tomes nor in scrolls but line by line, as it were, and in bamboo strips. Thus, as was to befall his own work, the binding of silk thread that kept the strips in order would inevitably corrupt, break, and spill its contents. Then it was the lot of the librarian to put the strips back in proper order and, thereupon, rethread them. One can imagine the mental and physical labour involvedand even more so when it is found that a strip is missing or out of place, whereupon the archivist must undo his work, correct the oversight and rethread all over again that is supposing nothing happens to confuse the order in the meantime. Because of this, the same ideogram shng () has also come to mean to rectify, to correct. Now, a person this side of Wisdom consciousness would seize upon this frustration for his example, whereas the sage in his sagacity speaks of the same thread as a yogic force binding us to the Do.

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The virtuous of yore were men of the Do,1 Of delicately subtle understanding, Of a profundity one cannot know. Man alone cannot know why strength governed their forbearance.2 Say: so participatory,3 it seemed like wading water in winter, so hesitant, 4it seemed like fearing four neighbours,5 so solemn, it seemed like a guest, so dispersive, it seemed like the release of ice floes,6 so turbid, it seemed like mud, so spacious7, it seemed like a valley. Its turbidity and inertia1 like gentle clarity.2

In the place of Dao, the Gudin version has sh (), meaning gentleman, knight, scholar, or Or: why effort became their form; or: why determination served as their countenance.

warriorsuch lettered professions excelling par excellence in the way of the Dao.
2 3 4 5 6 7

i.e. their taking part was pervasive i.e. cautious; not from irresolution but from deliberation. i.e. from all four quarters
In Spring, the ice breaks up, floats apart and away, and disappears. Character illegible; Professor Fn Chng X offers gung () broad, wide or kung () open,

vastthis latter ideogrammatically would seem more plausible.

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Pacifying with its action, gentle growth. Preserving this, the Do, does not desire to fill.3 Man simply not desiring fullness,4 Is [so] because his energy is poor and incomplete.
Commentary:
The distinction being made illustrates why man cannot know what concerns the Do. What may appear one thing to the untrained eye is based also on that individuals inexperience. The Dos action is from beyond desire; mans inaction is due to his incapacity and lack of growth. It is the Do which allows for low entropy: as it does not fill, it engenders no chaos; and what energy is in chaos is thus able to evolve to a higher level. Strength, or power,5 is symbolised by a strung bow and the force required to string and wield it, drawing the cord with the arrow and then withholding that force It is in such an act that forbearance is understood. Too much force, and one overshoots the markor breaks the string, or even the bow. If beings of yore were established in the Do and present day man is not, we may safely say that they are no more; at least, not on this plane. Yet Energy is never lost. So why and whence came they, and to what purpose? By all evidence, they were from a previous creation and come if not to finish their perfection to establish laws and set the example for those coming thereafter.

1 2 3 4 5

Or: calm. Or: purity. Or: is not desire-filled. Or: not desire-filled.

Qing ().

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Delicate emptiness, empyrean-pitched as well, maintaining the still, watching over as well. Myriad beings nearby arise, I in order to behold their return as well. Heavenly beings Herb-of-grace, Herb-of-grace,1 each return returns to its roots, say still. Still speaks of return to life. Return to life, forever as well. Know forever, understand as well. Not understanding forever, [all is] absurd. [All] absurd, regard as ominous. Know forever, appearance2. Appearance is thus common. The common is thus king. The king is thus heaven. Heaven is thus Do. Do is thus for the duration. The end of the body [is] not dangerous.
Commentary:
The whole of Nature is based upon the principle of recycling for Evolution. Higher dimensions as well. Loz gives his impression thereof, presumably inspired from a bed of Herb-of-Grace, commonly called Common Rue, the blue leaves whereof reflect the heavens hue.

(yn) is Ruta graveolens or Common Rue. Employed popularly as an insect repellent, it is used

medicinally to relieve gas and colic, improve appetite and digestion, trigger menstruation, uterine contractions and even abortion; in unguent, against gout, arthritis, rheumatism and neuralgia; and, homopathically, against cancer. To the palate, however, it is quite bitter. Etymologically, under the plant radical, it is the ideogram of a cloud that gives the character its meaning.
2

i.e. the phenomenal.

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Dew, for example, rises, returning to the sky, only to return to the earth. At the time of a plants or animals demise, scavengers turn the corpses to food, what animals cant handle, bacteria take charge. This is but for the phenomenal world. Souls both budding and blooming are recycled as well, with divine agencies to oversee the task. Thus, rather than speak of death, the Master says, Say still. For, for an enlightened mind, there is no death; there is only return: whether in one sense, or the other. And this process goes on forever. And as we go on forever, we are required to understand what such means. For, if we do not do so, all becomes absurdand seeing thus and acting in consequence leads us into dire straits. Thus, he encourages us to recognise the phenomenal for what it is. For it is everywhere. It is this that commands our senses: the general is thus king. Yet, on a subtler plane of understanding, all that is phenomenal is in flux; more precisely: in evolution so that what is now common shall, one day, be king. It is well to recognise it now and so aid in the process. In so doing, we become king. And where the king is, there is heaven. And so the last strophe is the reassurance: we need not fear. For we are not the body.

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Of the highest at the top, those down below know only that such exists. Their kinsmen second in rank, they praise. Their second in rank, they fear. Those below them they insult.1 [Where] trust [is] not sufficient, how is there trust [in return]? How they meditate on their own honourable words!1

Or: humiliate.

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Achieved accomplishments an incidental matter, but the masses2 speak of rights [for] themselves [as] natural.3
Commentary:
The Old Master is a past master to all court hypocrisy and intrigues. Petitioners are not interested in what has been achieved for the realm, but what rights and privileges they can acquire. They fawn upon their relatives to gain favour. They live in dread of those immediately below them, as these might any day surpass them either in merit or skulduggery. As to those downright inferior to their own station they show disdain and contumely. These souls trust no one; therefore, no on trusts them. So filled are they with self-importance, no importance remains for aught else.

1 2 3

Or: How long, their honoured speeches! Literally: a hundred families. Or: Achieving success, they proceed to affairs, for the common people speak of themselves as a

matter of course.

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The reason the great Do is abandoned,1 contentment is benevolent offering-up. Cleverness and intelligence bud forth, contentment is a huge falsity. Six relatives is not harmony2, contentment is filial compassion. The households of the realm darken in revolt, contentment is a virtuous vassal.
Commentary:
Benevolent offering-up means voluntarily sacrificing oneself for the other. This is a challenge too steep for the ego, who promptly abandons the effort. Man gets smart and cunning: contentment becomes impossible for him; he therefore proclaims that it is an illusion. He lives in a house filled with in-laws, siblings, and cousins, each out for him- or herself. It is no wonder he dreams of a world where his offspring will show him some respect: hence he awakens to philosophy. Even the king is eventually confronted with the possibility that, with all the discontent in his kingdom, there can at any time arise a revolt against him. His happiness therefore lies in a loyal subjectprovided the latter be not feigning allegiance.

1 2

Or: useless. Or: union.

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Excise [all] holy; abandon [all] knowledge: and the people benefit one hundredfold. Excise [all] charity; abandon [all] justice: and the people return to filial compassion.
47

Excise [all] cunning; abandon [all] profit: [and you shall] be free of thieves and rebels. - - These three sayings, take them to be literarily lacking,1 because their fate is somewhat conditional:2 Perceive the plain, embrace the simple; be lacking in selfishness and widowed of desire.
Commentary:
Loz is a prime anarchist. He knows that all pressure from without has its reaction from within. And, in people, this can be deleterious. It is like a seed planted in densely gravelled ground. However, when left in soil free of obstruction above it, the seed shoots toward the light. He realizes that to the peoples ear the three statements impart a suppositional void. He therefore tells man directly to recognise and embrace unadorned simplicity; not to introduce ones personality into the fray, and to wean oneself from desire. Not that utopias be achieved exactly this way, as has been learned from the noble efforts of Chairman Mao and successors; but it gives pause for thought and allows in the process a certain separation from ego and desire.

1 2

Or: literary [and] insufficient. Literally: placed subordinately.

48


49


Excise learning, be free of worries.
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Between yes and less,1 what is the distance?2 Between adorable and abhorable, what is the likeness? Mans actual fears are also not to be not feared. How sudden3 their lack of centre4! So many men so prosperous,5 as if enjoying the fruits of great sacrifice, and climbing to gaze from a gazebo the beauties of Spring. I moor where there are not a million million men nor aught of omen,6 Like a suckling child who has yet to be burped. So weary, as though I had no place to go. The multitudinous masses, each and every one possesses in excess; I alone leave behind. Me with my morons mind, murky, murky, oh! Common man, [shines] prominent, prominent, I alone the knucklehead! Common man, scrutinizing, scrutinizing, I alone, sympathising, sympathising! Suddenly, so like nightfall.7 In a heartbeat as if [I had] no place to stay. The men of the masses each and every one has use, I alone blockheaded as a bumpkin.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Literally: between [the sounds] wi and h (yes and blame) Literally: how much and why compound idiom for geometry Or: unconscious; or: seeming Or: centration; or: conclusion. Literally: prosperous-prosperous.

(zho) is both omen (drawn from the cracks formed in the heating of tortoise shells) and one
Or: as if unlucky.

million million (1012).

7

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I desire only to be different from man, and treasure to be fed by the Mother.
Commentary:
Man has learned to fear so much. Mainly, he has learned to achieve and to acquire. He has also learned that any or all can be removed from him at any time. He thus frets, at times to the point of weakening and worsening his body and mind. He might well say yes to someone; yet, fearful of its cost, he hedges and says less, even rebuking and reviling the asker for having asked. It is but proof of the fact that his heart is not in a good place, having been pushed and squashed into a corner by all the whatnot crammed into his head. And while we need not fear those fears ourselves, we should be prudent to observe what they can do to others and what those others can do, once beset by those fears. Knowing the laws of karma, even when those so benefitted dont, he lets slip the fact that they are but enjoying the fruits of actions from prior lives and so spend them willy-nilly in their prime. Loz does not try to keep up with this school of barracuda, but casts the anchor of his frail bark in quiet harbour. Suckling that he is, he has sufficiently fed of the fare of life and now awaits disemboguing. There is nowhere for him to go; for the only one he requires is everywhere. Let others amass: they are but taking on ever more worries; he is but happy to cast them off. Others see this as muddle-headedness: his thoughts seem dark to them in their firefly brilliance. They push and poke in their examination of even an insect; the old master but commiserates with its plight. It is as though he has come to the end of another day and yet not to the end of his road. Others in the world are still busy with their toys and games. He but awaits the Mother of us all. For She is contentment all personified.

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Emptiness is virtues container, only the Do is [come] out of thence.

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[Said] straight, the Do is as much a being, only chaotic and indistinct.1 Indistinct, oh! Chaotic, oh! Within, there lies a form, oh! Chaotic, oh! Indistinct, oh! Within, there lies a being, oh! Deep, oh! Dim, oh! Inside it is perfection,2 Its perfection extremely genuine. Inside it is honesty.3 The self now is a continuation of the ancient, its Name not departed, in accordance with the father of the masses [of beings]. How do I know the father of the masses [of beings] is thus? By this [very Name within].
Commentary:
The Do is the Path of Evolution. It is the Great Energy containing all evolutions, all paths. As to the first verse, let us say only that, as virtue is the universal matrix, only emptiness can be its container; and as Do is the Infinite, only Do can therein both reside and spring out therefrom full-blown, the while accommodating any other stage in between. Thus, from the very beginning, it is there, yet can only manifest as limited by the dimension through which it evolves. It starts from the portal of dimension zero and proceeds to one: thus, a point proceeding to linear, albeit within a temporal framework, which is to say within the continuum. And even though at so chaotic and indistinct a stage, therein lies in potentio form and being and, yes, even the perfection of its ultimate destiny. This is real and true. The self thus is at once the same wherefrom it sprang and the form evolving out of its prior properties through its properties in the process of achievement, placing itself in position for the attainment of future properties, impossible heretofore. Name here is that Primal Identity: it cannot leave;

both adjectives have heart as basis and have a sense of unconsciousness, meaning, consciousness Or: is something smart, energy, excellence /are polished grains/energies/essences. Or: truthfulness/faith/confidence/trust

is not yet fully developed--or so it would seem

2 3

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for it is also ones future to beand this as arranged by the Father of All Beings. And how does Loz know? By his own very being thus far evolved, where he can recognise this in himself and in all other beings. So having said, he rests his case.

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Cooking is not immediate. Looking at oneself is not [like reading] writing,1 Seeing oneself is not mere knowledge, Smiting oneself is free of result, 2

1 2

Or: is not making known/clear; or: is not [mere] comparison

i.e., karma-free.

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Esteeming oneself is not excellence.1 Speaking, I earn my keepa burdensome profession2. Beings perhaps loath it. Because the Do does not dwell there.
Commentary:
We are all in a huge stew pot. Yet we should not presume that we are all at the same point of cookedness. And above all, just being there does not make us cooked. Cooked in this connexion means ripe or perfected. It is a long process requiring many lifetimes. Looking at oneself requires perception; seeing oneself requires wisdom; awarding ourselves laurels, favours, and compliments is but proof that we know little and will but impede our growth to excellence. Thus, the Old Master chooses an unenviable livelihood. Others may not see the Do therein. Yet he knows where the Do dwells.

1 2

if pronounced chng; growth, if pronounced zhng.

hng ()

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Crooked1 laws [are] perfect, useless laws just right;

Or, literally: bent; it however also means obscure.

58

Hollow laws full, tired laws fresh; Little laws needed, many laws confusing. Yes, because the sage maintains the One1 Because he serves as shepherd for [all] under heaven. The non-ego watches, because it makes known;2 the non-ego sees, because it understands;3 The non-ego cuts through:4 it therefore has control;5 It does not control: it therefore is able to excel. Man only does not strive: he therefore cannot participate in that striving. These ancients who named the crooked perfectly, What a resounding6 expression! true perfection returning.
Commentary:
Man has a certain bent: laws therefore as well. Earthly laws therefore are no more perfect than is man: that is why they can serve him so well: to teach him his imperfections. There is however in man another being, his true being, the non-ego. This is the Self of the Sage, at one with the One. Yetsomehowthis consciousness is more or less operative in us all to the point we give it rein and reign.

1 2

Understood here: the One Law. Also meaning: ancient chapter (ten sections of speech, ten symbolising perfect) one has control Also meaning: ancient lightone sees because of former experience. Or: attacks because it has achievement The image is that of a hand on a drum; or: delightful

because one has had prior experience, knows what is happening, and therefore has mastery thereof.
3 4 5 6

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The Sage wherein reigns the Self of all selves thus is pastor of all creatures under heaven. This self is a master consciousness, synthesising all senses and much more; for it is beyond the sensorial, beyond the affect, and beyond the intellect. Understanding and knowing as it does, it makes known where and when needednaught extraneous or of overload to the apprentice soul, just enough for furtherance. It fells the dead and rotten timber, cutting out and away aught obstructive in order that fresh, healthy growth might take place. It excels in its control because it has no agenda of its own and thus does not exceed, impinge or impress. Common man is not yet to that point of consciousness where he can strive for self-completion. The Ancients understood and only if we would even a word as bent would become the key, unlocking such understanding.

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To stop speaking, speak naturally.1 A wafting breeze does not outlast2 the morning,3 Savage rain does not outlast4 the day. Who makes it so? Heaven and Earth.

1 2 3 4

Or: Rarely is speech natural. Or: To speak little, speak naturally. Or: does not die with Or: the dawn; or: directly Or: does not die with

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Yet they cannot [do so] for long, And [isnt that the] condition for man? Because the one engaging in activities and in the Do, Is identical to the Do; The one obtaining is identical to the obtaining; The one failing is identical to the failing. Identical to the one obtaining, The Do is also obtaining it; Identical to the one failing, The Do is also failing it.
Commentary:
We so often forget that the Do is there for our good and so is helping us at every moment. We speak by agenda, fabrications of the ego. And, in the mind, agenda are never-ending. Thus, to stop speaking, we have but to go with our nature. In Nature, nothing is forever. Now our condition is a part of Nature. And yet, we are not. For we do go on forever. Yet this becomes problematic when we try and go on forever in Nature, especially whilst ignoring the Do. It is the Do that enables us to go on in Nature and does so according to our evolutionary needs. Thus, wherever we attain, it is for our good: that we may learn thereby; and wherever we may fail, it is also for our good: that we may also learn thereby. Therefore, in clinging to the Do all becomes natural and effortless beyond failure even.

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[]

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Once again the condition [where] creatures come into being, Before Heaven-Earth give birth, Taking away,1 [Silky] strand particles2, autonomous and never-ending,

1 2

Or Capture or Answer. Literally, string-grains, the same as described in string-net theory physics.

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Can be considered Mother [of all] under Heaven. Non-knowledge its name, The term therefore call Do. This Force-producing Name,1 I call great. Greatness calls for death,2 Death calls for disappearance, Disappearance calls for return. Heaven [is] great, Earth [is] great, Do [is] great, The king also [is] great. Within the state [are] also four great contentments:3 The kings abode [is] one [of] peace. Mans dharma [is] earth, Earths dharma [is] heaven, Heavens dharma [is] Do,

i.e. mantra; alternate reading: I take this Force to be its Name: call it great. (At times, the phrase is

rendered: Forced to give it a name, I call it great. Yet, this is not a question of constraint. It were well then to seek the energy at its source.)
2

Guodian and Mawangdui texts give as character, meaning to divine by stalk; the Wang Bi

manuscript gives : to depart (from this life). Both are pronounced sh, which, in two out of three, would indicate the meaning death. Notwithstanding, if we are to take sh to be the character (divination), the logic here is that greatness is of Heaven: therefore, divination is called for to know its will. However, one wind of change inevitably disappears to give way to another yet, at some point, must return. For Energy never dies: all under Heaven is but transformationand cycles to further that transformation.
3

Are the ones listed below, where the four levels of dharma are accomplished.

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Dos dharma is [what is] right for the self.

Commentary:
Before this Creation, before the so-called Big Bang, there was that which always was and always will be. For Energy always is, whatever its state. It is this Energy that is Mother, bring forth the material universe and all therein. And just as this Mother has brought forth endless cycles of Creation, in this Creation, there are endless cycles or creation, destruction and recreation. And Loz but peacefully points this out. Do is so great it encompasses all and therefore cannot itself be encompassed. As it cannot be known through knowledge, it is a perfect example of non-knowledge. It is herein that ignorance is bliss. For, while not ignoring the least jot, it is, as Mother, provident unto all. Death Hierarchy is, literally, command by the sacred. And sacred is that which sacrifices itself for the good of all. Such is a working definition of Mother. Thus, if each takes example from the one above in order, all bodes well, and the realm is at peace. This also is dharma. And this is right for the self.

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Gravity serves as the basis of ease, Calm serves as lord to the uneasy.1 There is with the Lords son2 at the end of days of travel That he does not leave his baggage trains load. Even be he surrounded by officials,3 His ease abides as principle manifest.4 How can the king of myriad chariots endure The while using ease for his person in rule5? Easy rule will fail the root [of the realm],1

1 2 3 4 5

Or: restless Meaning, the sage.

i.e., court pomp and splendor.

Or: Even in swallow spots of eminence (meaning luxury palaces set on heights). Literally, of the land under heaven.

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Uneasy rule will fail the lord.

Commentary:
The words gravity and load in this chapter are the same ideogram; it is used in contradistinction to insouciance and frivolity. Gravitational force and moral gravity are of grave importance: where would we be without them? Almost two millennia later, Shakespeare has Harry2 say the same: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown This was later modified in the mouths of the public to Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown. It is thus no secret that what is of grave importance may not be taken lightly. Ease and lightness of heart may come only when gravity is met. And this is why, noblesse oblige, all of high station carry their gravitas with ease: to ease any unease of the people. The Lords son is traditional in Chinese to mean the sage, just as Son of Heaven designates the king. The noble sage carries baggage for many; he is thus ever attentive that things go well for all under his wing. Therefore he does not lessen his vigilance, no matter the circumstances. It is his ease that serves as example, even for sovereigns. For how can any sovereign remain for long if he foment unease by his insouciance and frivolity? Ruling with a light hand, he will fail and thus lose his people. And without them, who are the roots, he, the flower, will wither and perish. And be he uneasy, he will be unfit for office and lose himself.

1 2

i.e., the people.

Henry IV

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Good walkers are free of leaving footprints,

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Good speakers are free of blemishing their aptness,1 Good counters do not use tallies or slats2 Good gatekeepers are free of squeaking gates, and [one] cannot open them; Good sheafers are free of sheaving with ties and [one] cannot undo them.3 This is why the sage perpetually excels at saving men, and is free of abandoning them, [the way] beings do not abandon wealth, that is to speak of inherent understanding. The reason [for] the good man: the good man's teacher; [for] the not good man, the good man's wealth. Not to appreciate ones teacher, not to love [the mans] capital,4 despite ones knowledge (?), [would be] great bewilderment.5 That is to speak of subtle essentials.
Commentary:
A master is uncanny. This means, literally, he is not to be knownat least, not by normal, rational processes. He is certainly one whom those of lesser stature may not presume to know. All the more maddening for some, he leaves no clew of what he has done. And yet, when the smoke has cleared, one realises that one has been saved; and one has not been abandoned. He has known the inherent wealth in us, and so has redeemed us, while it is we

1 2 3

Or: -propos, suitability. This was before abaci and adding machines. Bringing the image up to date without changing the meaning: Good packers are free of packing with

ties and [one] cannot undo them. (Ironically, it also means: Good binders are free of binding contracts and do not break them.)
4 5

i.e., spiritual endowments.

Literally, conjee (rice gruel), meaning: a putrid mess.

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who had ignored that treasure within. And so we are once more met with inherent understanding, which has now become a part of us. If a man is truly good, he has had a good teacher. The next sentence if the man is not good may be considered two ways: materially, he has been seduced by the good mans wealth, whether material or spiritual, which he thus covets, blinding him to true learning; spiritually, the teacher, knowing the state of his pupil, allows this to happen, that it may prove to be a lesson to the latter, that he may realise his mistake and thus continue on the Path. For a student not to do so would leave himself in quite a stew.

71

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Know one's masculinity, keep one's femininity: become slave of the Flow of all under Heaven. Become slave of the Flow of all under Heaven: perpetual virtue never leaves, [and] again return as a suckling babe. Know one's brilliance, preserve one's dishonour: become the Flow of all under Heaven. Become the Flow of all under Heaven: perpetual virtue abounds in plenitude: again return to simplicity. Know one's brilliance, preserve one's dark: become the archetype for all under Heaven. Become the archetype for all under Heaven, perpetual virtue will not be in excess, perpetual virtue will not change, again return to the acme.1 Simplicity exhausted, law serves as tool [for order]. The sage uses his law to serve as government head. A man of great control is free of control.
Commentary:
The word slave can send shivers of dread or of revolt down or up our spine; and yet that is the primal meaning of the ideogram x (): a person kneeling, with a rope around the neck, held by a hand.2 When the indenture is completely voluntary, the perspective changes. One speaks, for example, of being a slave of lovetheoretically, without fear or disgust. If, in the context of Love, there should arise fear or disgust, these can but come from the ego. This then can be a litmus test for the latter. Once one is willing instrument of the Cosmic Flow, not only does one stick to the Path, but the Path sticks to one, as it were. One is a child in Mothers lap. And, as child of the Divine, one sees all in all simplicity. One need no longer

1 2

summit Recent etymologists of the Middle Kingdom would fain sweeten the image in seeing the hand as that

of a servant braiding the hair of her mistress (or of his master). Yet such an act might be done by any member of ones family.

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strive or rid oneself of what so ever: all is Mothers Will; one merely blissfully accepts. One knows by ones light, Her light; others cast aspersions: it is but part of a grand theatrical; play the part to the hilt. All this is needed that others may learn. Thus, one becomes role model according to the aspirations of the spectator. It is not the part that is the thing, it is the play. And it is herein we acquire the conscience of a king. Thus, as archetype, ones keeping to the Path is never too much, nor need it veer. One simply will have come full circle and find oneself at the top. Society having outgrown simplicity, it is laws that serve to guide and wherefrom the curious may deduce a certain order, if not hierarchy. The sage, as true Son of Heaven, whether visibly or invisibly, makes use of his law, i.e., the application of cosmic principles, acting as head to direct all the organs and members of the State. His control needs no control. For it is the very Will of Heaven.

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If you want to take all under Heaven and act to obtain it, I've observed that it's not obtainable. Man under Heaven is a sacred vessel,1 he cannot act as actor. One who acts is defeated; one who seizes, loses. The reason certain beings lead, certain follow; Certain sincere, certain full of air; certain in power, certain oppressed; Certain ascending, certain descending.2

1 2

Or: the Lord's instrument. Or: Certain strengthened, certain weakened.

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That is why the sage leaves the superfluous, the grandiose, the extravagant.
Commentary:
The nature of Nature is cycles of entropy and perfect harmony therein. Those who wish to embark thereupon should be ware of its modal swings: as observed by Sir Isaac Newton, To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yet, as vessel of the Eternal, man becomes a part of the higher energies, which ever remain in conservation. That is why the man of all sacred and holy chooses the middle of the Path.

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One who, by the Dao, assists the Master, does not use armed force to [obtain] all under Heaven. For these actions end in return. The place where troops dwell, thorns and brambles grow. One skilled in beneficence succeeds and puts it [all] to an end, not so as to choose force and so... [He] succeeds yet is not proud, succeeds yet does not boast, succeeds yet does not attack,
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succeeds yet does not excessively occupy: this is to speak of success and not force. Beings strong [are] then old; this is to speak of their not Dao. Not [in the] Do, [they] soon end.
Commentary:
We are now being described a spiritual student of the master. If he is in fact assisting the Master, he does not use armed force for personal gainthis holds true for all who would selflessly serve a superior or ideal. This is so primarily because karma occasions return, not only in terms of opposing armies but, more essentially, in terms of rebirth to work off ones karmas. And troops, by their very purpose, result in a no-mans land of vast devastation where little of lasting value can be cultivated. The man of good accomplishes whatever at hand, terminating the matter properly in a way that force need not be resorted to again. He accomplishes, yet is not affected thereby. He completes his task and nothing more: this is the strength of success, not the success of strength. Nature always runs its course; for one not in the Do, his course runs out at the end of his natural cycle: and that self is no more.

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One who is a man of arms is an inauspicious tool.1 Certain beings would shun him. The reason is that one who desires does not abide. The Son of the Lord, when at home, honours the left,1

Or: vessel

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when at arms, he honours the right.2 Because a man of arms is not an instrument of the sage.3 Neither is the man of arms an auspicious instrument. Not attaining a cessation [to hostilities], he has no other recourse but to use [force], Calm, indifferent because victorious,4 [he is] far from pleased with himself. If pleased with himself, he is happy to kill people. A man happy to kill people may not obtain the decision [to do so] from the Heavenly Empire.5
Commentary:
We are met with a conundrum: if one s profession is from one s desires, one is inept for that profession, for ones desires will make it so that one may no longer exercise it to ones desires. This is in contrast to the sage, Son of the Lord, who but honours the duty of the occasion. He therefore does not employ a person but intent upon force and destruction. And such a person is of no service to himself: even were he detached from his wins in battle, he was not able to find a peaceful solution prior, and so anguishes from this guilt; and, should he be proud of his martial prowess, the powers that be realise that such a person will be ever biased in favour of belligerence to prove himself, as it were and thus must ever be kept in check. And this is true even when such a person is sovereign dictator of his realm; for there is ever above him Heaven. His domination ends in his being dominated.

i.e., the East (Chinese compasses point South; they honour the Ancestors; and the main bodies of
At home, it is the births that count; in war, the deaths. Literally, Son of the Lord. Literally, superior. Literally, all under heaven

water are to the South).

2 3 4 5

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The Do is permanent, free of name, simple,1 albeit infinitesimal, And all under heaven dare not look down upon it. Lords and kings, if they preserve it. Myriad beings are prepared to be their subjects.2

1 2

Or: rough Literally, to submit themselves.

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Heaven and Earth will unite, in order to bring sweet dew,1 The people have no one to command them, yet are naturally equitable.2 The first of systems3 is that of names. Since names come to be, man gets to know limits. Knowing limits thereby he does not endanger. To give an example of the Do in [all] under Heaven, compare the giving of streams and valleys to rivers and seas. .
Commentary:
The word hng () is composed of two ideograms: the heart () intent on persevering

throughout (). This is both spatial and temporaland beyond. The Do is thus permanent.
It has no name humanly applicable. For it is its own identity and therefore its own Name. It is that whereof the cosmos is composed: the latters form, content, and flow; and, for that, its basic building block is so humble as to be most simple and imperceptible. Yet, to scorn it would be to scorn oneself. Thus, if those among the most evolved pay homage to this Transcendental and Divine Energy, it is only natural that they win the allegiance of all creatures. All worlds will work as one to produce auspicious manifestation. When all are equal, all are treated equally. Only, there is Evolution. As Name is inherent, the first system is that of naming and names: this defines man and everything in relation to him; this gives limits and is for his good, as he learns not to overstep them. Thus, the Do at its most humble serves in its Flow to perpetually fill the Do at its greatestand vice versa.

1 2 3

Or: manifestation Or: share it of themselves Or: First to control, there were names.

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One who knows men, is intelligent. One who knows one's self, is enlightened. One who is victor over men, is powerful. One who is victor over one's self, is [truly] strong/strength [itself]. One who knows to be adequate, is rich. One who acts with strength, is notable/recorded. One who does not lose his place, lasts. To die yet not forget, that is longevity.
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Commentary:
The first two comparisons show two different types of self: there is the self of the Do (the soul) and the self of the personality (the ego). Knowing one, one knows the other; for they are distinct as night and day. And thus, one may gain victory over the ego and so act with strength and decision. Such a state of awareness is both noteworthy and memorable. Many would think that the last line should read, To die yet not be forgotten, that is longevity; but that would be only a human take and meaningless; for one cannot leave memory to others. Rather, the clew is in the line preceding; we need but apply it, as for example: One who does not lose ones place in a thought is able to go on from there; similarly, one who does not lose ones place in his state of consciousness is able to proceed from that point onwards; thus, he continues for long. The Master knows that death is not the problem, for we are immortal. It is our forgetfulness of our true self; for only in constant remembrance of Self is true and ever long life.

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The Dao, how vast, oh! Its vastness can extend both left and right. Achievements and exploits are accomplished yet have no name. Myriad beings return thither yet not because of their Lord. The principle1 of permanent desirelessness can be named by the infinitesimal. Myriad beings return thither yet not because of their Lord, [whereby] it can be named by the great. It is by the sage that it can accomplish the great, Because it does not act great, that is why it can accomplish the great.

i.e., the Do

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Commentary:
In a nutshell, the Do is so infinitely huge that all is accomplished by it, through it, and in it. It is the portal of all existence; thus, all return spontaneously, as children to their mothernot that their mother command them. It is thus the infinitely small by which the Do can be named, for they hum the Name of the Mother throughout the Universe: it is their very essence. As they are at a state where there exists no desire on their part, they most readily go about accomplishing Mothers task. After each span of existence on this material plane, they return man included without Her specific command. For it is but a part of each beings evolution. When man grows to a certain stature spiritually, he is in measure of pronouncing the Name; for he has become one with the Do. It is thus by him that the Do can operate. And because it ever passes unperceived, it leaves room for the accomplishment of this whole cosmos. And so does the sage.

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[He who] grasps the Great Image, [to him all] under Heaven go. They go and no harm is done them, contented and pacified in greatest measure. Music and cakes tutor the way-goer who stops [along the Way]. It is the Dos budding speaking, saying: how dull this tastelessness. Staring at it is not sufficient to see it. Listening for it is not sufficient to hear it.

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Sampling it, one cannot turn away from it.1

Commentary:
The Great Image is the grand hexagram of the Y Jng2 or Book of Changes and represents all the permutations possible in Nature. Although they be but sixty-four in number, they way they are divined allows for further transformation from the basic set, as it is possible that, in a given situation, any of the six lines in the hexagram thrown mutate to produce a hexagram delineating the shift to a new situation. When performed correctly by the right intelligence,3 the results are quite scientific, and the procedure may be compared simply to a reading of the quantic winds of change in the local continuum. One can imagine in history and even in our lifetime what it would mean to some to know the odds of the outcome of any particular event. And, as the Master notes, those dependent thereupon would beat a path to the door of those so endowed with this science. As these readers of the future are dedicated to the Do, they are there for the good of humanity and, thus, in no wise harm the ones who come to seek their help. On a grander scale, there are divine agencies performing similar tasks, and we but the yarrow stalks perpetually tossed in this continuum of chanceor as some would remark, the cracks in the tortoiseshell whereunto the glowing poker is applied. All the entertainment along the Way tutors the way-goer who stops: he is on the Path, stopping only

Or: Staring at it, one sees neither foot nor tail,

Listening for it, one hears neither whit nor jot, Sampling it, one cannot turn away from it. The ideogram z () means foot, sufficient, or whiff (which, in the footnote version, I have translated in the manner of head or tail, The ideogram j () represents a man turning away from a bowl of rice (some say choking on something) and normally translated already; in present context, some translate it as to exhaust, as in Using it, one cannot exhaust it.; I have chosen to use the original image.
2

or sometimes called the zhu y (). It began when plastromancers noted the cracks

appearing in a turtle shell casing when a red-hot poker was applied; with time, the method was simplified to the casting of forty-nine yarrow stalks chosen from a set of fifty, and later, further simplified to the tossing of three coins and reading each toss as the basis for the marking of each line of a total of six.
3

As is the case in any quantum measuring there is always the question of consciousness to be taken

into account; succinctly put, the higher the order of consciousness, the preciser the reading.

88

makes the road longerall the more so when one factors in the consequences of each stop. Sweetness produces bile. Thus any surfeit of cakes sampled will leave us with a certain bitterness. Thus, weaning ourselves therefrom, we come to appreciate subtler tastes that we had heretofore ignored or found insipid. The very insipidity is sign that the Do is budding within. Our outer senses do not tell us, yet our outer acts are not enough to turn us away from it. Such a state is all to the good, if we can but wait out the transformation that awaits us in the Grand Image.

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One who would fold, must steadfastly stretch. One who would weaken, must steadfastly strengthen. One who would be apart, must steadfastly participate. One who would take, must steadfastly give. This is but humble clarification. The soft and weak triumph over the forceful. The [little] fishes must not slip into the deep. The sharper tools of state may not be revealed to the people.
Commentary:
Before a pelican folds his wings, he opens them wide. That way he will not ruffle his feathers. Yet this is the same when folding sheets: the couple folding them first open them up wide, so 90

that all may fall properly into place in the folding. Having made his point ornithologically,1 Loz goes on to apply the principle in the world of man: if one is to show ones enemy weak, one must render strong ones own forces; and, more insidiously, those who have gained the confidence of their enemy by contributing token force are subsequently in position to wreak havoc from within. And, in society, in order to secure a bit of privacy and retreat, one need actively contribute to the wellbeing of the group; and having given his fair share, he may fairly take the little needed for his personal comfort.2 All this is to give the citizen shining example: his pliancy and humility will stand him in good stead; it is enough that he be kept within these shallow shoals. As with children, the more Machiavellian weapons need be kept from his grasp.

1 2

The ideogram x () contains a pair of wings plus h (), meaning together. We shall not dwell upon the less savoury schemes of giving little in view of taking much.

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The Do is permanent, free of name. If lords and kings preserve it, myriad beings will evolve of themselves. [Once they be] evolving and desiring to act, I shall pressure them by the simplicity of the non-name. Pressuring them in the simplicity of the non-name, men will not get disgraced. 1 Not getting disgraced2 so as to achieve calm, Heaven and Earth will of themselves be established.
Commentary:
There is name and there is Name. Consequently, there is non-name and non-Name. As seen earlier, the Great can name; for they are in the Name and at one with the Name. Loz

1 2

Or: will not dishonour Or: Not dishonouring

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speaks as one so endowed. He is therefore entitled to help tutor mankind; and this is best done by limiting the possibility of serious damage. How? As with ice, just the right pressure. With just the right pressure, ice melts; too much pressure, it turns to steam and explodes. We have also earlier seen that simplicity is kept by not complicating issues. This is tantamount to keeping bulls out of china shops and away from red, and babes out of the woods and out of armouries. Keeping hurt and reaction to a minimum in society allows for both the divine and the terrestrial to prosper. Of course, such is not the real world wherein we live. Yet the principles nonetheless apply.

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Higher virtue is not virtuous, that is so virtue may exist. Lower virtue does not fail virtue; that is so it can be free of virtue. Higher virtue is free of action, yet not so it can act. Higher humanity acts, yet not so it can act. Higher justice acts, yet that is so it can act. Higher ritual acts, yet [if] no one answers, it shakes its arms and throws [itself into action]. Knowingly, it fails the Do. It fails the Do, yet follows Virtue, Failing the Do yet following Virtue, It fails Humanity, yet follows Justice; Failing Humanity yet following Justice, It fails Justice, yet follows Ritual. The man of decorum/ritual , and/yet confused him head. The man of prior knowledge, the floweriness/magnificence of the Do, and stupid him head. It is so a man of great seniority/breadth reside in his magnanimity and not in his smallness, He resides in his honesty/reality and does not reside in his floweriness
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That's why he leaves that and takes this.

Commentary:
Virtue, represented in Chinese by d (), means keeping to the path, step by step. Our word virtue comes from the Latin virtus, meaning the embodiment of the qualities of being a man, vir in Latin, which is rooted in vis: force, strength. In either case, to exemplify these qualities, we need know either what the Path means or what being a man means. As we have seen, neither the Do nor Virtue can be known from without, but from within: that knowledge from without but contributes to lower virtuewhereunto some may prefer to ascribe. Nishkama karma.

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xxx.
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x.

97


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98


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99


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100


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101


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102


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103


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104


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105


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106


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107


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108


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109


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110


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111


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112


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113


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114


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115


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116


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117


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118


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119


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120


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121


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122


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123


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124


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125


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126


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127


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128


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129


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130


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131


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132


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133


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134


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135


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136


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137


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138


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139


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140


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141


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142


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143


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144


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145


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146


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147


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148


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149


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150


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151


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152


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153


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154


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155


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156


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157


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158


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159


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160


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161


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162


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163


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NOTES Heshang Gong ( "Riverside Sage") who supposedly lived during the reign (202-157 BC) of Emperor Wen of Han

bin hu metamorphosis w hu
Laozi Heshang gong zhangju

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