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Translation and Commentary by Nina


	Dao De Jing Chapter 9 Keep trying to fill yourself up with things, and the process will never seem to end. Keep rushing about in a crowd with other people, and you'll find none of them could protect you. Keep filling up your rooms with treasures, but no one would be able to guard them. Someone who values their good luck and becomes arrogant won't be able to notice the disasters they bring on themselves. By working hard to try to satisfy your cravings, you'll remove yourself even further from nature's Dao. Commentary: 9 ~ Materialistic cravings -Keep trying to fill yourself up with things, and the process will never seem to end. People tend to think they're lacking, so they try to accumulate all sorts of things to get rid of that feeling. However, it seems like no sooner is one thing possessed than another thing is craved. It goes on and on in an endless circle, and the search for things becomes an endless struggle. -Keep rushing about in a crowd with other people, and you'll find none of them could protect you. People also tend to think if they surround themselves with others who have what they strive for they'll appear to be successful themselves. However, none of those people can really give someone a sense of self-worth or offer protection. -Keep filling up your rooms with treasures, but no one would be able to guard them. If you do manage to acquire some possessions you consider to be valuable and become too attached to them, you might try to stash all of them away somewhere so no one could take them from you. However, no one could guarantee they'd be safe. -Someone who values their good luck and becomes arrogant won't be able to notice the disasters they bring on themselves. You might think you've achieved a name for yourself. You've acquired a certain amount of fame, but with the titles and adoration comes arrogance. At that point, the struggle becomes retaining what you've gotten, and you'd be so riveted on your goal that you'd lose sight of how that was really hurting you. -By working hard to try to satisfy your cravings, you will remove yourself even further from nature's Dao. As long as a person is so completely involved in satisfying their own materialistic goals, they won't be able to see the benefits that have been heaped upon them naturally. Laozi mentions heaven's (nature's) Dao here and in other chapters. If Dao is in everything, then what is heaven's Dao? The Chinese character Tian is defined as "the heavens, the sky and nature." What's provided by nature is what's natural for everything in the universe. The wise person has the ability to join heaven and earth, thus benefiting from all of the manifestations of Dao. Someone who is so centered on acquiring material possessions and pushing his body to the limits in order to get those things has missed the benefits that he already has. Heaven's Dao can be called: the innate joy of existence without superficial struggle. 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 \|