Taoist Philosophy - Chapter 94

[Marblehead]

Exalt Not The Wise

 

Exalt not the wise
So that the people shall not scheme and contend;
Prize not rare objects
So that the people shall not steal;
Shut out from sight the things of desire
So that the people’s hearts shall not be disturbed.

Therefore
In the government of the Sage,
He keeps them empty-hearted (open-minded),
And makes full their bellies.
He discourages their ambitions
And strengthens their frames
So that the people
May be innocent of knowledge and desires
And the cunning ones shall not presume to interfere.

He constantly causes the people to be
Without knowledge and without desires.
By action without deeds may all live in peace.
If lords and kings could be like the Tao
And persist in this attitude of nonintervention,
The Ten Thousand Creatures
Would soon follow its example of their own accord;
And if they should show any passion,
They would be tamed
With the simplicity of the nameless,
And then they would be passionless.
Being passionless,
They would be still,
And peace would follow naturally.


(The Sage ruler strives always to keep the people innocent of knowledge and desires, and to keep the knowing ones from meddling. By doing nothing that interferes with anything, nothing is left unregulated and Nature will take its own course.)


Exalt Not The Wise; A World Of Unconscious Goodness

In the world of perfect peace, no value was placed upon exalting the wise, or putting the capable men in position. The ruler was like the top of a tree, unconsciously there, and the people lived like the deer of the forest. Doing right, they did not know that it was called justice; “Doing their duty.” Kind to one another, they did not know it was called humanity; “Love of neighbor.” They were straight and did not know it was called faithfulness; “Men to be trusted.” They were proper, and did not know it was called honesty; “Men of good faith.” They moved about and called to one another for help, and did not call it favor; “Being generous.” For this reason their actions left no trace and their events left no record. Their deeds have not been narrated; they made no history.


Knowledge Is The Instrument Of Contention

Do you realize how one’s character is lost and where knowledge leads? A man loses his character through the desire for fame, and knowledge and desires lead to contention. In the struggle for fame, men crush each other, while their knowledge is but an instrument for scheming and contention. These two are instruments of evil and lead one away from the moral life.


The Five Enemies

With wood from a hundred-year-old tree they make sacrificial vessels, covered with green and yellow designs. The wood that was cut away lies unused in the ditch. If we compare the sacrificial vessels with the wood in the ditch we find them to differ in appearance, one is more beautiful than the other yet they are equal in this, both have lost their original nature. So if you compare the robber and the respectable citizen you find that one is, indeed, more respectable than the other, yet they agree in this, they have both lost the original simplicity of man.

How did they lose it? Here are the five ways: Love of colors bewilders the eye and it fails to see right. Love of harmonies bewitches the ear and it loses its true hearing. Love of perfumes fills the head with dizziness. Love of flavors ruins the taste. Desires unsettle the heart until the original nature runs amok.

These five are enemies of true life. Yet these are what “men of discernment” claim to live for. They are not what I live for. If this is life, then pigeons in a cage have found happiness!


The Doctrine Of Inaction

There has been such a thing as letting mankind alone and tolerance; there has never been such a thing as efficiently governing mankind. Letting alone springs from the fear lest men’s natural dispositions be perverted, and tolerance springs from the fear lest their character be corrupted. But if their natural dispositions be not perverted, nor their character corrupted, what need is there left for government?

In days long past the empire was governed by a ruler who made the people live happily; consequently the people struggled to be happy and became restless. Then the empire was governed by one who made the people live in misery; consequently the people regarded life as a burden and were discontented. Restlessness and discontent are subversive of man’s Character; and without Character there has never been such a thing as stability.


Fulfilling The Natural Instincts Of Life

When man rejoices greatly, he gravitates towards Yang. When he is in great sorrow, he gravitates towards Yin. When the equilibrium of positive and negative is disturbed, the four seasons are upset, and the balance of heat and cold is destroyed. Man himself suffers physically thereby. It causes men to rejoice and sorrow inordinately, to live disorderly lives, be vexed in their thoughts, and lose their pattern and norm of conduct. When that happens, then the whole world seethes with revolt and discontent. Offer the entire world as rewards for the good or threaten the wicked with the dire punishments of the entire world, and it is still insufficient to reform them. Consequently, with the entire world, one cannot furnish sufficient inducements or deterrents to action. The world now lives in a helter-skelter of promotions and punishments. What chance have the people left for fulfilling peacefully the natural instincts of their lives?

Therefore, when a gentleman is unavoidably compelled to take charge of the government of the empire, there is nothing better than inaction; letting alone. By means of inaction only can he allow the people to fulfill peacefully the natural instincts of their lives. Therefore he who values the world as his own self may be entrusted with the government of the world; and he who loves the world as his own self may be entrusted with the care of the world.

If the gentleman can refrain from disturbing the internal economy of man and glorifying the powers of sight and hearing, he can sit still like a corpse or spring into action like a dragon, be silent as the deep or talk with the voice of thunder, the movements of his soul calling forth the natural mechanism of Heaven. He can remain calm and leisurely do nothing while all things are brought to maturity and thrive. What need then would he have to set about governing the world?


The Sage In Government

Even though the Sage may be in the midst of government, his mind seems to be in the mountain forest. His adobe is in the Ten Thousand Things, but it does not mean that he does not wander freely.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Marblehead

[3bob]

...and shall it be mentioned that there is not a single Sage that ever attained sage-hood without going through or making and overcoming every single error and weakness mentioned? (besides the many other forms of error or weakness not mentioned)

 

Om

Edited January 5, 2011 by 3bob

[Marblehead]

...and shall it be mentioned that there is not a single Sage that ever attained sage-hood without going through or making and overcoming every single error and weakness mentioned? (besides the many other forms of error or weakness not mentioned)

 

Om

 

Naw. We won't mention all the internal work that needs be done to even get close to becopming a Sage. Most people, if they actually knew how much work is involved, wouldn't even think about attain such a state.

 

But I will add this: It is my opinion that there are some people who are more naturally inclined to such a life than most are.

[3bob]

Naw. We won't mention all the internal work that needs be done to even get close to becopming a Sage. Most people, if they actually knew how much work is involved, wouldn't even think about attain such a state.

 

But I will add this: It is my opinion that there are some people who are more naturally inclined to such a life than most are.

 

Agreed that details (which are more or less unknown by others anyway) don't need mentioning but not agreed that the principle of the matter should not be mentioned - otherwise I think there is more of chance that people could take it as being talked down to. (an unfortunate permutation where many have a blanket rejection of being trustful or trusting those that have worked through and overcome much.

 

Om

[Marblehead]

Agreed that details (which are more or less unknown by others anyway) don't need mentioning but not agreed that the principle of the matter should not be mentioned - otherwise I think there is more of chance that people could take it as being talked down to. (an unfortunate permutation where many have a blanket rejection of being trustful or trusting those that have worked through and overcome much.

 

Om

 

Yeah, I was only half-way serious when I said we shouldn't talk about it. Hey, I talk about Taoist philosophy every chance I get. Hehehe.

 

I do agree with you in that if the processes are not talked about people will view the results as trickery.

 

But here we are, communicating our thoughts, trying to help others and trying to better ourselves. This is what it is all about, I think.

[Mr. T]

hey all,

 

interesting topic, and i wanted to ask a general question that i hope is not straying too far from the mark here...anyway, i get the feeling that achieving "enlightenment", or as you say becoming a sage, takes a lot of hard work. so does it follow that you do not ascribe to the idea of "instantaneous enlightenment"? i'm asking because i do not believe that enlightenment can be achieved immediately, but i personally do not feel that it requires a lot of "work".

 

this could all be rubbish if i am mashing together two unmashable terms, namely enlightenment and sagehood. i suppose to have immortality as a sage would require a lifetime of discipline, instruction, practice, and refinement. is this what you are referring to with the above?

[Marblehead]

hey all,

 

interesting topic, and i wanted to ask a general question that i hope is not straying too far from the mark here...anyway, i get the feeling that achieving "enlightenment", or as you say becoming a sage, takes a lot of hard work. so does it follow that you do not ascribe to the idea of "instantaneous enlightenment"? i'm asking because i do not believe that enlightenment can be achieved immediately, but i personally do not feel that it requires a lot of "work".

 

this could all be rubbish if i am mashing together two unmashable terms, namely enlightenment and sagehood. i suppose to have immortality as a sage would require a lifetime of discipline, instruction, practice, and refinement. is this what you are referring to with the above?

 

Hi Mr T,

 

The question is fine as it is within the scope of the topic.

 

I will offer my understandings and hopefully Bob will chime in as well (or anyone else).

 

Okay. The first problem I am going to have in responding is that I have never accepted any standard definition of "enlightenment". I really don't know what enlightenment is. I know about 'awareness'. I also know that I have some defects in that area.

 

Yes, I would agree that becoming sage-like requires a lot of work.

 

Interesting this: "instantaneous enlightenment"?

 

Yes, I believe that it is possible to experience 'instantaneous enlighterment' of a concept. But no, I do not believe that one can instantaneously become a Jesus or a Buddha (or a Great Sage).

 

The thing about becoming a Sage is that we must be able to walk our talk without flaw. And we must talk very little. The Sage does more teaching through their actions than the do through the words they speak.

 

Now I will agree with you, as I noted above, that there are some people who becoming sage-like would be much easier than it would be for other people. I guess it depends a lot on how far astray we have been led by our surroundings, and the people in our life. Kinda' like, the deeper into the forest we get lost the longer it will take to return to the main road.

 

I'm not sure I answered your questions. We'll see.

[3bob]

hey all,

 

interesting topic, and i wanted to ask a general question that i hope is not straying too far from the mark here...anyway, i get the feeling that achieving "enlightenment", or as you say becoming a sage, takes a lot of hard work. so does it follow that you do not ascribe to the idea of "instantaneous enlightenment"? i'm asking because i do not believe that enlightenment can be achieved immediately, but i personally do not feel that it requires a lot of "work".

 

this could all be rubbish if i am mashing together two unmashable terms, namely enlightenment and sagehood. i suppose to have immortality as a sage would require a lifetime of discipline, instruction, practice, and refinement. is this what you are referring to with the above?

 

one analogy: a sudden crack (or opening) could more or less instantaneously give one a helpful look-see through a shell, but it takes a lot of work to keep that crack from resealing and also enlarging it to the point where one could walk through and not go back. (also imagine an eggshell being chipped away from the inside and also being chipped away from the outside, and suddenly when the inner and outer chippers meet all is well!

 

I believe that in Zen many spend a lifetime in preping for what is sometimes called "instantaneous", but you will have to ask further of those on that path.

 

Om

[manitou]

I think many of us have had the instantaneous Aha! (particularly when we realize who we really Are), and that the Aha! continues settling in through the years. This is the process of self-realization, as opposed to attaining external knowledge. We realize things from the inside out, not the outside in; the result of this is Self Awareness. Our external attainment of knowledge aligns with our deepest internal motivations, and at some point our internal motivations are in the alignment of the Sage, if we are sincere in walking this Way one day at a time.

 

It's because of the behavioral and personality modifications Tao makes within us that we gradually enlighten; we enlighten from form and from negative thinking. We enlighten ourselves of confrontation and the need to see anything or anybody other than the way they actually are. We enlighten in our attitudes; we become capable of feeling a love for the most obnoxious folks, and we develop the type of patience that knows that the Tao is actually in charge and will bring about the very best result in time.

 

I think enlightenment also includes trusting that the universe actually knows what it's doing at any given time.

[Everything]

We are kinda finding the balance between intervention and letting the world flow by itself. There are certain natural laws that people will always follow, and the more we use it to our advantage (as a government) the more harmony is maintained. But to know these secrets, one must be trustworthy enough to take such a position, before preventing others from obtaining this knowledge or acting upon it.

 

Just as you said. "Therefore he who values the world as his own self may be entrusted with the government of the world; and he who loves the world as his own self may be entrusted with the care of the world."

 

Not many in our government can be trusted in this way, sadly... We're on information and knowledge war now, every little secret is being fought for.

[Marblehead]

Good comments there Everything.

 

It is true, I have a hard time trusting my government (the US of A) any more.

 

A perfect example is what is going on with Wikileaks right now. Sad.