MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
the ancient child asks
violence
is it resolute
no
the ancient child asks
is it just
no
the ancient child asks
if I project violence outward what will happen
it comes back to me
the ancient child asks
can a violent man be fine-spun
no
the ancient child asks
can a violent man find the tao
no
the ancient child asks
who made this sword
a man
the ancient child asks
was the man who made this sword fine-spun
yes
if it is a good sword
yes
fine-spun man
fine-spun sword
together they ride the winds
move the heavens
and rule the earth
the ancient child asks
how do they do this
it is a secret held in your hands
the ancient child asks
when is this secret revealed
only when it is necessary
if the secret is revealed too soon it is spoiled and despised
then the sword and the man are of no use to themselves or others
the ancient child asks
where does wisdom come from
I hear it in my left ear
it floats
the ancient child asks
where does anger come from
I hear it in my right ear
it falls hard
the ancient child asks
which is fine-spun
the left
the ancient child asks
can you force wisdom to speak to your left ear
no
it speaks when it is ready
you have to wait
the right speaks all the time
it is deafening
the ancient child asks
how can you stop the right from speaking all the time
by gently
lying down
sitting
standing and
walking
the ancient child asks
where does this work best for you
at my home where things are familiar and I feel safe
anger can be stopped there with the four virtues
home is anywhere I can feel the tao beneath my feet
my feet must be fine-spun as well
the ancient child asks
what do fine-spun feet tell you
do not find joy in hurting people
if you must hurt someone
listen to the left
keep your heart spirit calm
and be fine-spun
you can not find the tao source of life if you enjoy being violent
and hurt people, their land, and even their animals on the land
if you live life violently
the life around you will disappear
there is a time to be happy and a time to be sad
know how to differentiate between the two so you know where to
lie
sit
stand
walk
if you cultivate these virtue you will be happy
if someone is hurt be sad
treat it like a funeral
because an opportunity to enter the tao has died
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey
Violence is more a part of our lives than most would like to admit. Though sometimes overt, mostly violent force hides behind politeness, ritual traditions, and institutions whose members wear various costumes to obscure the fact that they are no different from any other man; and therefore what they do is no more noble than if it were done by any other. In this way, violence becomes coercive force—ever-present yet unacknowledged, not that it needs to be known for it to bring tragedy forth.
It is in this context that Lao-tzu discusses violence—read: the implementation of violent and/or coercive force. And of this, he speaks clearly. By its very nature, violence denies the Tao source of life. It is a form of turning away, of taking vengeance against the world because it does not conform to one’s will. To initiate force is to demonstrate moral weakness as opposed to moral resoluteness in the face of the conditions of life. It is never justified; one’s ends are merely a matter of his subjective will. But one’s will is not Nature, it is not the objective universe. One cannot become a wise traveler—one who walks in accord with the Tao—by acting out of accord with it. Rather than peace, one will only sow the seeds of destruction, chaos, and revenge.
But that is not to say that one should be weak, dependent, and harmless. If a man is well outfitted for his journey, surely he will be wearing a sword. For it is not the capacity for violence that is out of accord with the Tao source of life. It is the initiation of force, the unwise, primitive, primordial instinct toward inflicting vengeance against the source of one’s suffering. That is why there is a time and a place. Drawing a sword at the right time can bring peace, just as drawing a sword at the wrong time will increase the unnecessary violence. When is the right time? When is one justified to raise his weapon?
This is a revealed secret, one which requires openness to hear. For in the right ear speaks preconceived order, and that order believes itself always to be correct. its voice is ceaseless, and thus endlessly will it justify the use of the sword to achieve its own ends. It is the voice of arrogance which leads to self-deception which leads ultimately to resentment and revenge—will against the state of the world and life.
At the same time, in the left ear there will appear a whisper of novel wisdom born from the unknown. Like a bubble, it emerges to the surface of the unconscious ocean and into conscious awareness. It is the sudden realization of something instinctually known yet to be integrated—an impression left in one’s biological heritage as the objective universe imprinted its conditions on one’s evolutionary ancestors.
But to hear this whisper, one must empty his cup. He must quiet the mind. Through cultivation of discipline and temperance, he can learn to be still and silent within himself. Yet this in not sufficient. He must also learn acceptance of his place in the universe. This is what is meant by one always feeling the Tao beneath his feet. The Way remind him that he is always exactly where he needs to be. It is only a question of which direction he is travelling—not where he is now nor where his destination is located.
The Way, the Road, the Path is assent. it is the cultivation of one’s conduct by means of the direction of one’s will to be in line with his nature and with the Nature of the universe. It is to be at peace (or even to rejoice) at the conditions of existence—because if one is not at peace, then he is at war. Knowing this, never see the initiation of force as a good, nor as a means to a good. It is a tragedy. And when its use is necessary, the death of peace ought to be mourned.
Lao-tzu. “Chapter Thirty-One”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. pp.59-62
