Chapter 3

[Cameron]

3. Without Action

Not praising the worthy prevents contention,

Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,

Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.

 

In this manner the sage governs people:

Emptying their minds,

Filling their bellies,

Weakening their ambitions,

And strengthening their bones.

 

If people lack knowledge and desire

Then they can not act;

If no action is taken

Harmony remains.

[Cameron]

This one is tricky for me . I think it is talking about the virtue of humility which seems to be a central teaching in TTC. This one is not saying beauty or things of great value or worth don't exist, but by having a sense of oneness everyone can appreciate things without becoming greedy or covetous towards them. The person who realizes the Tao can appreciate beauty and the finer things without having desire or need for them.

 

I could easily be wrong on this though.

 

The empty the mind and fill the belly has been disputed by different teachers.

 

In qigong, Ken Cohen says this means empty the mind(of thoughts and concepts) and fill the belly with food(pointing to the tremendous contribution Taoists made to the art of cuisine in China).

 

Michael Winn says that is incorrect and it is reffering to filling the belly with energy(Qi).

 

I prefer the empty the mind and fill the belly with qi translation though can see it may be food.

Edited November 20, 2005 by Cameron

[hagar]

3. Without Action

Not praising the worthy prevents contention,

Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,

Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.

 

In this manner the sage governs people:

Emptying their minds,

Filling their bellies,

Weakening their ambitions,

And strengthening their bones.

 

If people lack knowledge and desire

Then they can not act;

If no action is taken

Harmony remains.

9262[/snapback]

 

This is one of my favourites, along with chapter 11 and 20.

 

In response to your discussion of different interpretations, I guess since I am corrupted by my university degrees, I engulf myself in the subtle nuances and different layers of meaning in the text, which for me boils down to it being a good work of art. Being that, it manifests the quality of the Dao, as it can be connoted to so many different dimensions of practice, human affairs, politics or life in general. All these dimensions of existence is offshots of the same source. Which makes the text a good work of art. It has all these meanings and more, and yet it has the X factor that all good poetry has from the time of Lao Tzu until this day.

 

I guess "filling the belly" has all the above meanings, and also is a critique of intellectuality, greed for power and elitism. A society governed by lowering the high and raising the low creates harmony. The opposite creates chaos, theft, and "loyal ministers". They are all a symptom of imbalance.

My own hunch is that this passage is a subtle pun on the confucians and other philosophical schools emphasis on learning, knowledge, hard work and ambition. Basically a critique of elitism.

 

The "act and not act" part is drawing on the concept of Wu Wei, where harmony is restored when intention is alingned with true need. True need being what is left when all superflous drives, emotions, and ambition is disposed of.

 

But then again, I'm probably showing how my own way of looking at it is marked by my own intellectualism too...=)

 

h