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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 42 Dao sprouted as one. One sprouted into two. Two sprouted into three. Three sprouted into all the living things in the universe. All living things suffer through darkness and embrace the light. In the middle, life's energy finds a way to act from the harmony of both. A person's stance might be to really hate being "alone, isolated and One Without Grain". Yet the nobility choose to call themselves by that title. A living thing may be damaged by increase; or may profit by decrease. Therefore, if a person realizes that their attitude can teach others, In the evening they will consider and discuss things, teaching each other. Therefore those who are aggressive and violent will die incomplete. I'll take these lessons as though they came from my father. Commentary: 42 ~ Helping each other -Dao sprouted as one. -One sprouted into two. -Two sprouted into three. -Three sprouted into all the living things in the universe. Everything on this earth came from the same source. We can look at Dao as the one uniting force or energy that preceded everything. As time progressed, cells came into being. Those cells divided into two dissimilar entities, thus allowing for insemination and the production of new beings. Although the outward appearance and nature of each thing may be different, they all share a common bond. -All living things suffer through darkness and embrace the light. -In the middle, life's energy finds a way to act from the harmony of both. There are times of suffering, when everything seems to be going against us. There are also times of extreme joy, when we seem to be floating on a cloud above all worry or problems. Every living thing experiences these changes. However, there's a force of energy that maintains harmony between the two extremes. Just as the darkest night will eventually change into a new sun-filled morning, a bright day will eventually become dark. Life couldn't exist without dark and light, summer and winter, storm and sunshine. -A person's stance might be to really hate being "alone, isolated and One Without Grain". -Yet the nobility choose to call themselves by that title. Those who forget their intimate connection with all other living things might tend to feel isolated. If someone sets themselves apart from the rest of the world by their own sense of self-importance, it could be very hard to see the thread connecting everyone. -A living thing may be damaged by increase; or may profit by decrease. It's easy to think that if you just had more in life - position, success, possessions, respect - that you'd be increased in many ways. Yet, great damage can result to yourself by that kind of increase, as the alienation mentioned above. What may appear to be a decrease could actually be more beneficial in other ways. -Therefore, if a person realizes that their attitude can teach others. -In the evening they will consider and discuss things, teaching each other. When you feel the suffering of others due to the superficial goals they set up for themselves, you might want to tear down the advertisers slogans, bring the unjust politicians to their knees, and rebel against the religious and cultural profanities promulgated on the world. But then, wouldn't you be just as head-strong and unruly as they are? When the daily work has been done, people look to find ways to enjoy themselves. That's the time to enjoy conversations and share what's really in your hearts with each other. -Therefore those who are aggressive and violent will die incomplete. -I'll take these lessons as though they came from my father. Those who spend most of their lives fighting aggressively will never feel a connection to all the other living things. They're so intent on looking for the differences and defending their own positions that they lose the concept that we all came from the same source. When they die they're still fighting. They die incomplete because they've never found love and compassion in life. Laozi states he takes these lessons as though they came from his father. A father is supposed to represent the person who teaches you how to live a better and more fulfilled life. 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 \|