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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 17 In order for someone to be extremely superior, those beneath them must recognize them as having authority. After that, those who feel inferior will soon try to get intimate with them and give praise to them. Shortly thereafter they start fearing them. Shortly thereafter they try to humiliate them. When sincerity is lacking there can be no truthfulness. What are they deliberating? How to come up with words that'll be to their own advantage. When a task gets accomplished through much effort and hard work, let the common people say that they did it naturally by themselves. Commentary: 17 ~ Prestige -In order for someone to be extremely superior, those beneath them must recognize them as having authority. -After that, those who feel inferior will soon try to get intimate with them and give praise to them. -Shortly thereafter they start fearing them. -Shortly thereafter they try to humiliate them. If you want to be held in high regard, then other people will have to see you as superior to themselves. Being admired by others might seem like a good position to be in, as when you have prestige you end up with a bevy of followers who are always trying to be your friends and telling you how wonderful you are. But then your minions might start fearing you because of the power they feel you have over them. They become afraid of losing your attention by doing something inappropriate. Out of this fear they feel the need to take you down a peg as a protective mechanism, so they start trying to humiliate you. -When sincerity is lacking there can be no truthfulness. -What are they deliberating? How to come up with words that'll be to their own advantage. Lies are produced by the person who wants to be regarded as superior as well as from the people who see him as superior. It's a wicked web of deception, each trying to determine what words to use that would give them the upper hand. -When a task gets accomplished through much effort and hard work, let the common people say that they did it naturally by themselves. Laozi suggests that if you find yourself in the position of being a leader or boss, you might be better off not thinking of yourself as being superior nor making others feel like you're superior to them. Do the work that has to be done with as much effort as necessary, but when the task has been accomplished let everyone else believe they did it themselves without your intervention or assistance. There's no need to be praised for all the work you did - otherwise there's sure to be resentment eventually. When you're considerate of how your actions affect other people, it brings much more joy to see others get pleasure from feeling they accomplished their tasks themselves. We each accomplish tasks based on our own innate abilities - do one person's abilities or talents make them superior to another person? Dao Is Open Site Map \| BY: Nina \| Guodian Laozi \| DDJ Concordance \| Comparisons \| From the DIO Forum \| BY: Bao Pu \| By: Joshua \| \| Return Home \| Laozi's Dao De Jing \| Your Dao De Jing \| Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) \| Links \| Meditation \| Dao (Tao) is Open Forum \| Book List \| Other Stuff \|