Dào Dé Jīng, Part 2 on Dé, Ch. 44
c. 350 BCE

Early today. Daoism is the breakfast of champions. 🥣😋

Self-control was a prized inner power in Hellenism.
So here in ch. 44 - an ode to moderation,
linking it to longer life.

Thanks for reading in early #Daoism with us. 🪷
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Dào Dé Jīng Pt 2: Dé, Ch. 43
c 350 BCE

Chs 43 & 78 extol the virtues of gentleness & yielding
which are yet the most powerful weapons in the world, weapons that conquer without injuring either
themselves or their enemies.

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The line in (3),
“The strong and violent do not die a natural death,”
must have been very old, because it was appropriated by both the Confucian & Taoist schools.
Chen (p. 160, abbr.)

Ron Hogan is direct & practical.
He doesn't do cosmology or mysticism.
As is very evident in DDJ ch. 42. 😆
#Daoism

Ellen Chen (1998, p. 160)

Stanza 3:
While humility is the way to peace and long life,
asserting one’s strength leads to violent early death.

This part on the evils of strength and recalcitrance
serves as a transition to the next chapter
on the benefits of gentleness.

#Daoism #DaoDeJing 42

Chen:
The unifying theme in ch. 39
is the concept of the one as the small & humble.
In ch. 42 it is in the last character in (1) hé, meaning harmony.

As all beings come to be through the harmony of yin & yang (1), it is through harmony that all beings are preserved (2)
& long lasting (3).

#Daoism

#DaoDeJing Part 2: Dé, Ch. 42
c. 350 BCE

This chapter's structure resembles that of chapter 39.
Stanza (1), on cosmogony & cosmology,
is followed by ethics in (2) & (3). (Chen, p. 159)

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Section 2. A long quotation on the nature of Dào.

Chen divided it by subject:
1: Dào is the subject,
2: dé is the subject,
3: dà, the great or maximum that exceeds ordinary measure, is the subject.
Chen (1998, p. 155, abbr.)

Ron Hogan's ch. 41 is below. I do like his translation.
#Daoism DDJ 41

Dào Dé Jīng Pt 2: Dé Ch 41
c 350 BCE

More on the theme of Dào as the non-being
that gives rise to & nurtures all beings.
Dào is the coincidence of opposites
eluding the grasp of ordinary consciousness.
(Chen, abbr.)

Thanks for reading in early #Daoism with us. 🪷😁
Chen's section 1: 2 & 3 in post 2.

... Thus even in the midst of death & despair
there is hope of new life.
Ellen Chen, p. 152, abbr.

Here's Ron Hogan's ch. 40, an example of someone
making the Daoist teachings their own.

#Daoism #DaoDeJing 40

The promise of life returning to earth in the spring
after the trials and tribulations of winter
is the hope of the world.
To the ancient Chinese this return,
a promise that never fails,
was the heart of heaven & earth...

Ellen Chen, p. 152, abbr.
#Daoism #DaoDeJing 40

Dào Dé Jīng Part 2: Dé, Ch. 40
c. 350 BCE

A short chapter after two long ones.
Ch. 40 presents the DDJ's ontology
(the nature of being) in a nutshell.

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Ellen Chen: Chs 38 & 39 speak of reversion to the source...

Chen abbr.

The one endows everything with its specific nature
so that it is what it is.
As among numbers the number one is the smallest
& yet the beginning & foundation of all numbers,
so the one is #Dào, the creative ground,
coming forth as the small to become the world
which is the great.
#Daoism

Ellen Chen (p 150, abbr)

Every being becomes what it is
by returning to the one from which it comes.

Two parts: 1 & 2 on ontology,
3 & 4 on ethics and politics
based on the ontological foundation in 1 & 2.
The one as the ontological foundation of all beings
is in 5 chs (10, 14, 22, 39, 42)
#Daoism

Dào Dé Jīng Part 2: Dé, Ch. 39
c. 350 BCE

Another long chapter, so Chen & Hogan are side by side.

The theme in ch. 38 was:
in order to be what it is
a being must revert to its origin.
Ch. 39 elaborates. (Chen, abbr.)

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From low dé down to rén, yì, & lǐ, we fall to the non-reversive rigidity of conscious human actions. Moral consciousness as a permanent rupture from the world [results] in
actions aimed at changing the shape of the world.

Human action is warfare waged by humans against nature.

Ellen Chen #Daoism

DàoDéJīng Pt 2: Dé, Ch 38 cont.
The Classic of the Way & its (Natural) Power

The DDJ begins with pt 1 on Dào.
Ch. 38 is a thematic statement that begins part 2 on dé.
I wanted to emphasize section 5.

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#Daoism

Dào Dé Jīng Part 2 (Dé), Ch. 38
The Way & its Nature
c. 350 BCE

A long chapter, so Chen & Hogan are side by side.
It’s the thematic statement of DDJ pt. 2 on Dé.
Ch. 38 expands on the theme of non-action in ch. 37.

Thanks for reading in early #Daoism with us. 🪷😁
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Since reading in the foundational texts of #Daoism
I'm thinking differently about my regular #chiro sessions.

I'm finding Daoism copacetic with my brain;
it's rewiring & straightening out my thoughts on life.
Chiro does that for my spine, muscles, & nerves.

Both allow me to live more naturally. 🪷

In general, the Dào part concerns fundamental ontology,
while the Dé part concerns cosmology, which,
in the DDJ includes the social & political orders,
since humans are a part of the natural world.

End of Ellen Chen p. 45 paraphrased.
Hope it made sense: I had to condense. 🤓😁
#Daoism #DàoDéJīng
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