Lao Tzu for Everyone
Students, Scholars,
& Seekers
Peter Gilboy, Ph. D.
regarding the characters
chosen for this translation.
Lesson 5
What is our
"Straw Dog?"
仁rén
(人 person + 二 two)
humanity
Interlinear
Line 1
The world is not humane.*
It treats everything
like straw dogs.
天tiān 地dì 不bù 仁rén
heaven earth not humanity
以yǐ 萬wàn 物w ù 為wéi 芻chú 狗gǒu
use 10,000 thing act as straw dog
Heaven and earth [are] not humane.
Use the 10,000 things as grass dogs.
That the “world is not humane” seems like a cruel statement. Add to that what Lao Tzu says in the next line, that “The sage is not humane,” and we might jump to the conclusion that the world and the sage don’t give a wit for anybody or anything. But that is not the case. In fact, in Lessonr 29, Lao Tzu tells us that the world is a “sacred vessel.” (夫fū天tiān下xià 神shēn 器qì 也yě.)
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*Note regarding the character 仁rén, "humanity." 仁rén is the combined images of a person (亻) and the number two (二). Together, they suggest a person who is in a relationship with, or acting within, a community.
. . . . . . . . .
Line 2
The sage is not humane.
He or she treats the people
like straw dogs.*
聖shèng 人rén 不bù 仁rén
sage person not humanity
以yǐ 百bǎi 姓zìng 為wéi 芻chú 狗gǒu
use 100 families act as grass dog
The sage is not humane
Uses the 100 families as straw dogs.
We each have our "straw-dog" which we carry around with us all day. This is our outer self which includes not just our physical bodies, but of our historical self too, to include all our experiences and learning. When the sage teaches, he or she does not address this personal "straw dog," but instead the true inner person, their very being which is prior to our straw dog.
. . . . . .
*These first two lines of this chapter are often thought to be a response to Confucius’ teachings about 仁rén “humanity.” Perhaps that is so. “Humanity” was certainly one of the Confucian virtues, along with 寬kuān generosity, 信xìn sincerity, 敏mǐn diligence, and 惠huì kindness (Analects 17:6).
Note, though, that the difference between Confucius and Lao Tzu, is that Confucius speaks of practicing or 為wéi “doing ” 仁rén, humanity. Confucius also speaks of of 修xiū cultivating the 道tào Way. But for Lao Tzu, there is no "doing," no"cultivation of the Way." That is because the Way is already present and immediately available to us. So, what is there to cultivate?
Line 3
Is not the space between
heaven and earth
like a bellows?
天tiān 地dì 之zhī 間xián
heaven earth (poss) space
亓qí 猶yóu 橐tuó 籥yuè 輿yú
(pron.) resemble open sack/bellows (interrog.)
The space of heaven and earth,
it resembles an open bellows?
Reference the first line of the previous chapter, “The Way is empty.” Now in this third line, and again in the next line, Lao Tzu once more tells us that it is from the nonphysical Way that the physical world is appears.
He analogizes "empty" it to a bellows, which is an instrument whose effects—what is physically created and made visible to us—rely on the “empty” or nonphysical part which remains unseen to us.
. . . . . .
Line 4
This space is empty
and yet inexhaustible.
Draw from it and
ever more comes out.
虛xū 而ér 不bù 屈qū
empty and not exhaust
動dóng 而ér 愈yù 出chū
move and more and more exit
Empty and yet not exhausted.
Move and more and more comes out.
The Way has no physical presence, nor does it undergo change. It is always there as the background to things and to each person who undergoes change.
. . . . . .
Line 5
Hearing much leads
to many dead ends.
It is not as good as
heeding what
is already within.
多duō 聞wén 數shǔ 窮qióng
much hear number/fate exhaust
不bú 若ruò 守shǒu 於yú 中zhōng
not same hold (prep.) middle
Much hearing, a lot of exhaustion;
is not the same as holding in the middle.
To understand what Lao Tzu's teaching, hearing about it simply won’t suffice. It can only be discovered by having a look within. That is where the operation of Way is disclosed to us. As we’ll see in other lessons (17, 23, 25, 51, and 64), this is what Lao Tzu calls 自zì self 然rán, our self-so-ness, or, "that-which-we-are."
When Lao Tzu encourages us to "heed what is already within" he is not referring to the modern-day emphasis on feelings, empowerment, self-improvement, or "finding happiness." For Lao Tzu, these are still quests undertaken by our straw-dog self. More on this in Lao Tzu's other lessons.
. . . . . .
It’s worth recalling that Lao Tzu intends his words to be therapeutic, a kind of treatment for the worries, anxieties, and confusions that people faced in ancient China and which is no different today. Lao Tzu’s answer to these problems is his statement in the final line. More study and learning simply won’t resolve them.
While some see the last line of this lesson as an invitation to meditation, Lao Tzu does not specifically address meditation of any sort. The practice of Taoist meditation appears much later in the tradition and is known as “religious” Taoism.
Mediation is purported to be a way to discover one’s most inner self which is prior to all the layers of one’s human experiences and prior to the all accumulated effects of society. This inner self is one’s touchstone with the nonphysical reality of the Way.
But Lao Tzu seems to have no interest in the practice of “doing” meditation. What is there to practice if the Way is already operating as our true self, and is always and already here with us?
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