Tao Te Ching Chapter 41 The Great Instrument Is Late

[sic]

Hear the Word from the upper earth, and act diligently; The sergeant heard, if it survives, it is better to die; The corporal sniffed and laughed. Not smiling is not enough. Therefore, there is a suggestion: the clear way is like ignorance; If you go in and out; Yi Dao Ruo Hao ; Upper Dro Valley; Guangde ruo is insufficient; Jiande ruo steals; Quality Truth Ruoyu; Great white insults; Generous and unsurpassed; Late completion of the big instrument; Loud voice; Elephants are invisible; The Road is nameless. Husbands are only righteous, good loans and success.

[Translation]

When the sergeant hears the sermon, he must immediately diligently carry it out; When the sergeant hears the word, he hesitates; When the corporal hears it, he laughs. If they don't laugh at it, it's not enough to be the Tao. So the ancient proponents said something like this: The Word of Light seems to be obscure; The way forward seems to be retreating; The flat road seems to be uneven; The sublime virtue is like the valley of inferiority: the vast virtue seems to have deficiencies; Strong virtue seems to be lazy; Simple and innocent and seems to be cloudy; White and flawless things seem to contain dirt and dirt; The most square thing seems to have no edges and corners; The most precious artifacts are always made at the end; The loudest music sounds like no sound; The largest image can not see its shape; The Tao is silent, nameless and formless. There is only the Word, which is good at giving and assisting all things.

[Analysis]

In the previous chapter, Lao Tzu talked about the "movement of the anti-Tao" and discussed the virtues of the Tao, that is, the cycle of repetition and the soft conformity. This chapter also speaks of the word "anti," the true meaning of the Tao and the way it works, which is often contrary to what secular people perceive.

All things are born of the Dao, so whatever it is, it should follow the virtues of the Dao, conform to the cycle of nature, and reach the realm of no words and no action. Only by doing this can we appreciate the fullness and beauty of life and be free from punishment from nature. "The sergeant hears and acts diligently; The sergeant heard, if it survives, it is better to die; The corporal sniffed and laughed. This chapter focuses on telling people the specific methods of practicing virtue according to the Tao.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, scholars can be divided into three classes, namely sergeants, sergeants, and corporals. The sergeant refers to the wise aristocracy; The sergeant refers to the mediocre aristocracy; Corporals refer to the shallow aristocracy. In this chapter, Lao Tzu also divides human beings into three levels: sergeant, sergeant, and corporal. But the three hierarchies that Lao Tzu speaks of here are different from the hierarchies in secular society, and they are in terms of the level of cognition. Therefore, the sergeant is also a person who is deeply enlightened, the sergeant is a person who is half-convinced of the Tao, and the corporal is a person who is ignorant of the Tao.

Since everyone has a different degree of understanding of the Tao, there will be different views of the Tao; By listening to the virtues of people preaching, Shangtu can quickly comprehend the true meaning of them and apply the learned truths to practice in order to guide their own behavior and realize the harmonious unity of the individual and the Dao. When a sergeant listens to people talk about the virtues of the Dao, he cannot fully understand the true meaning of virtue, and he is always half-convinced, unable to apply the true meaning he has realized to practice, so it is very difficult for such a person to achieve true liberation.

As for corporals, they listen to the virtues of preaching, and after listening to them, they completely deny the existence of the Dao, and they mock the enlightened, not to mention using the true meaning of the Dao to guide practice and guide their own behavior.

"Not smiling is not enough." For the ignorance and ridicule of the corporal, Lao Tzu showed extreme tolerance. Lao Tzu believed that if he had not been ridiculed by the lower ten, the Avenue could not be called the Avenue.