Taoist Philosophy - Chapter 93

[Marblehead]

Tao Is Constantly Nameless

 

The Tao is constantly nameless.
Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,
The Ten Thousand Things
Would submit to them on their own,
And Heaven and Earth
Would unite to send forth sweet dew.
By Nature, it would fall equally on all things,
With no one among the people ordering that it be so.

Tao is absolute and has no name.
If kings and marquises can keep their unspoiled nature,
The whole world shall yield them
Lordship of their own accord.
The Heaven and Earth join,
And the sweet rain falls,
Beyond the command of men,
Yet evenly upon all.


(This chapter repeats the theme of guarding man’s unspoiled nature. As stated here, the ruler or the Sage who keeps his original nature unspoiled acquires a mystic power or Virtue which is felt as an all-pervading influence in his country. From the following selection, one can easily see the difference between Tao and Te, usually translated as “Character”, “Virtue” or “Tao Manifest”. Tao is the unembodied principle, while Te is the principle embodied. Consequently, Tao is unknown, while Te is knowable.)


Seek Repose In What The Human Mind Cannot Know

Te always leads up to the unity represented by Tao, and knowledge must seek repose in what the human mind cannot know. That represents the limit of knowledge. What is unified in Tao becomes differentiated in Te. What the human consciousness cannot know is impossible for words to express. It is fatal to argue with one another in a bid for fame and reputation.

Therefore, the great sea does not object to flowing eastwards (or downward); that is why it is great. The Great Sage encompasses the entire Universe and his influence is felt throughout the world, and yet we do not know his family name. Therefore, in his lifetime, he has no rank, and after his death, he receives no posthumous title. He accumulates nothing and does not make a name for himself. Such is what we call a great man.

A dog is not considered good because of his barking, and a man is not considered clever because of his ability to talk. How much more is this true of the man of Character? To be great is to be complete in itself. What is more self-sufficient than the Universe, but does it ever seek for anything in order to achieve all-sufficiency? One who knows the truth about all-sufficiency seeks nothing, loses nothing, and rejects nothing. He does not allow his own nature to be affected by material things. He seeks it within himself and finds infinity there; he follows the ancients but he is not servile to them. Such is the substance of the great man.

(Note that the line, “The great sea does not object to flowing eastwards,” or downwards. Because the great sea always flows downwards, it is therefore like the Tao. One of the most important ideas of Taoism is the limitation of knowledge. It is said over and over again that there is the world of knowables and the world of unknowables, that the world of knowables represents finite knowledge, but the important truths of Tao and of the Universe belongs in the world of unknowables, and that, therefore, the latter stands on a much higher plane than the former.)

Edited March 5, 2013 by Marblehead

[3bob]

Man's unspoiled nature can not be spoiled, although it can be covered over with spoilage.

 

Regular knowing does not know, but there is knowing that does not fall under regular.

 

Thus without the knowing of Tao the knowing (and connection) of Te would fail.

[manitou]

The Tao is constantly nameless.

Were marquises and kings able to maintain it,

The Ten Thousand Things

Would submit to them on their own,

And Heaven and Earth

Would unite to send forth sweet dew.

By Nature, it would fall equally on all things,

With no one among the people ordering that it be so.

 

(

 

This goes along with another thread we've been doing, the Venus Project (is that the name of it?) This seems to say that if only the rulers could maintain the Tao within themselves and their rule, that nature would distribute resources evenly among the people. It brings to mind the communal...

[Marblehead]

Man's unspoiled nature can not be spoiled, although it can be covered over with spoilage.

 

Regular knowing does not know, but there is knowing that does not fall under regular.

 

Thus without the knowing of Tao the knowing (and connection) of Te would fail.

 

Hi Bob,

 

There are some who would disagree with your first sentence. I am still without a firm belief regarding this concept.

 

Yes, it is said that there is the knowing of the mind and the knowing of the heart. We simply must find an efficient way of harmonizing the two.

[Marblehead]

This goes along with another thread we've been doing, the Venus Project (is that the name of it?) This seems to say that if only the rulers could maintain the Tao within themselves and their rule, that nature would distribute resources evenly among the people. It brings to mind the communal...

 

Yeah. But even in a communal society there must be fare rules that guide behavior because humans, afterall, will be humans. Some will hoard and others will not do their share of the labor.

[3bob]

Hi Bob,

 

There are some who would disagree with your first sentence. I am still without a firm belief regarding this concept.

 

Yes, it is said that there is the knowing of the mind and the knowing of the heart. We simply must find an efficient way of harmonizing the two.

 

 

If one recognizes and also defines "unspoiled nature" within man (and all beings for that matter) as the 'life force' directly connected to or with the Tao then one would be pointing towards the essentially unspoilable; but and granted permutations there-after could be relatively spoiled, thus the line: "...If kings and marquises can keep their unspoiled nature..." or keep it foremost and not lost in identity with the "ten thousand" permutations.

Edited December 31, 2010 by 3bob

[Marblehead]

If one recognizes and also defines "unspoiled nature" within man (and all beings for that matter) as the 'life force' directly connected to or with the Tao then one would be pointing towards the essentially unspoilable; but and granted permutations there-after could be relatively spoiled, thus the line: "...If kings and marquises can keep their unspoiled nature..." or keep it foremost and not lost in identity with the "ten thousand" permutations.

 

You did an excellent job at clearing that up for me. Now I have nothing more to say. Hehehe.

 

Well, on second thought, yes if kings, etc., i.e., we, can hold to the three treasures we will pretty much keep our unspoiled nature. Now, understand, it is pretty darned hard to be perfect. I find defects all in and around me. But I do try to be a nice guy. So I suppose in the most part it is all about resisting the negative virtues and holding to positive ones.