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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 53 My own opinions have caused me to have a limited understanding of the operations of Great Dao. It's only going astray from what is right that I dread the most. The way of Great Dao is so smooth, but people prefer to take the most difficult route. They keep the palaces and courts so clean, yet the fields are overgrown with weeds and the granaries are totally empty. They wear fashionable clothing, carry sharp weapons to protect their property, eat until they are glutted., and make sure they all have equal amounts of valuable possessions - more than they could possibly use. Of course there will be thieves! Stealing is in opposition to Dao. Commentary: 53 ~ Keeping up appearances -My own opinions have caused me to have a limited understanding of the operations of Great Dao. -It's only going astray from what is right that I dread the most. We sure seem to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what's the "right" thing to do. That's the way we come up with opinions, not realizing that those opinions take us further from understanding the way Dao moves. We're so afraid of making a blunder that we have to come to a final decision that what we're feeling and thinking is proper, acceptable and beyond reproach. -The way of Great Dao is so smooth, but people prefer to take the most difficult route. The way Dao moves doesn't require second-guessing. It doesn't limit or restrict itself, psychoanalyze itself, or map out what course would be the proper one to take. It flows freely through and around all things. People don't do that. People try to make things much more complex than they really are. -They keep the palaces and courts so clean, yet the fields are overgrown with weeds and the granaries are totally empty. -They wear fashionable clothing, carry sharp weapons to protect their property, eat until they are glutted., and make sure they all have equal amounts of valuable possessions - more than they could possibly use. -Of course there will be thieves! People try to retain an outward appearance of abundance and opulence. The face they show the rest of the world is so veiled with superficial adornments that they don't even realize that their innermost selves are overgrown with weeds and lack any substance. They put so much effort into showing the rest of the world that they have treasures beyond the imagination that they lose the ability to show their true faces and just naturally be who they are. And the outcome of all that pretending is that other people think they have to pretend as well. -Stealing is in opposition to Dao. You can't steal another person's identity. You can't force yourself to be something you're not. Why would you want to do that? As long as you set up those kinds of ideals and goals, you're fighting against Dao. 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 \|