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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 41 When an able student hears about Dao, he has the ability to work hard to get to the core of it. When a mediocre student hears about Dao, he seems to be listening then seems to forget what he heard. When a poor student hears about Dao, he has a great laugh about it. If one isn't willing to have a great laugh, they lack the principle of Dao. Naturally the following statements arose: The evidence of Dao conforms with dispersion; The smoothness of Dao conforms with roughness; The progress of Dao conforms with retreat; The highest De conforms with an empty valley; The greatest purity conforms with disgrace; All-encompassing De conforms with lack; What is determined to be De conforms with concealment; What is deemed to be of true value conforms with inconsistency. A large square is without corners. A large tool prolongs completion. A large sound is only one of many notes. A large image is without form. Dao is praised as being indescribable. A good beginning as well as a good ending. Commentary: 41 ~ Trying to determine the best course We each have different approaches to learning and the way we choose to live our lives. Sometimes, if we find a way that works best for us, we might believe that it's the only way anyone else should approach those things. How can we make a determination as to what's the "best" course to take for others, or even that one course is the only course we ourselves can take? -When an able student hears about Dao, he has the ability to work hard to get to the core of it. A person who's very good at studying would naturally take a course that required inspecting everything, reading all the books and manuals, and gaining as much intellectual knowledge as possible. A person like that would probably be able to come to an intellectual understanding of Dao. -When a mediocre student hears about Dao, he seems to be listening then seems to forget what he heard. A person who learns as a method for gaining information about something without being driven by an intellectual mind would naturally take a course that only required putting his mind to any subject when it was necessary. A person like that would probably be intrigued by the idea of Dao, learn a bit about the concepts, then have no desire to delve any deeper. -When a poor student hears about Dao, he has a great laugh about it. A person who doesn't enjoy studying at all would naturally take a course of laughing at the idea of learning. A person like that would probably laugh out loud at the notion of studying about Dao. -If one isn't willing to have a great laugh, they lack the principle of Dao. To those people who put great stock in studying and learning, it might seem ridiculous to think anyone could experience Dao by simply laughing at it. Each of the types of people mentioned above might think they've found the best way to learn about Dao, but without being able to laugh at themselves they'd lose a very important part of Dao. -Naturally the following statements arose: The following statements show that Dao can be approached in a variety of ways. Each course can be beneficial. -The evidence of Dao conforms with dispersion; Dao can be apparent to those who seek it, but it can just as easily evaporate. -The smoothness of Dao conforms with roughness; Dao can be in an easy and smooth course, but at the same time it can be in a rough course. -The progress of Dao conforms with retreat; Dao can help you move forward, and at the same time it retreats with you. -The highest De conforms with an empty valley; The heights of self-realization can also be the depths of emptiness. -The greatest purity conforms with disgrace; Whatever is pure and clean can also be foul and dirty. -All-encompassing De conforms with lack; Every ability can also contain a feeling of inability. -What is determined to be De conforms with concealment; Finding an answer can also present new things which are hidden. -What is deemed to be of true value conforms with inconsistency. What is valued today can be worthless tomorrow. -A large square is without corners. -A large tool prolongs completion. -A large sound is only one of many notes. -A large image is without form. What is so large as to not be able to be contained can't be seen completely. As we look at others and try to assess their course, wondering if it might be beneficial for us or if it's just so much smoke and mirrors, there's no way to really understand what goes on in the mind of another. The vastness of the human mind might seem small and manageable, but thoughts and ideas can encompass more than we could ever imagine. -Dao is praised as being indescribable. When you think about it, there's no way to explain or express what goes on in your mind. When something can't be figured out by our intellects, we praise it as being God-like or mysteriously unfathomable. The course of our lives is as indescribable as Dao. Maybe there's benefit in praising our lives in the same way. -A good beginning as well as a good ending. All of the statements listed above have a similarity - they point to opposites (one of Laozi's favorite ways of reconciling dualities), and show that both the beginning of the statement and the end of the statement are equally as valid. ie. "Dao can be in an easy and smooth course, but at the same time it can be in a rough course." Whether you're a good student or a poor one, whichever course you choose at the moment, the wonders of life will be there with you. And don't forget to laugh! Dao Is Open Site Map \| BY: Nina \| Guodian Laozi \| DDJ Concordance \| Comparisons \| From the DIO Forum \| BY: Bao Pu \| By: Joshua \| Who was Laozi \| \| 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 \|