Verse Forty-FiveA great accomplishment might seem to be lacking - its usefulness hasn't declined.~ Nina Correa translation ~
A great fullness might seem to be washed away in an instant - its usefulness hasn't ended.
Great skill might seem to be awkward.
Great gains might seem like retreats.
Great straightforwardness might seem distorted.
Moving quickly overcomes the cold.
Keeping still overcomes the heat.
A clarifying stillness occurs when everything in the world has been settled.
In today's society, there is no shortage of people who will tell you how great they are. You can see this mentality at work on scores of blogs in which the author spends an inordinate amount of words detailing their many accomplishments and amazing feats. Then there are the various athletes and entertainment celebrities who promote themselves and their lifestyles whenever and wherever they can find a microphone and a camera.
People seeking political office are sometimes the worst of the lot! Their campaign ads attempt to make us believe these people are saints.
But truly great people don't need the hype. They do what needs to be done without fanfare. They don't need your praise to feel good about themselves. They don't crave standing ovations and plaudits. They don't want statutes built in their likeness nor awards presented for their compassion. It is precisely because they shun the label of greatness that they are, in deed, great.
While surfing the internet earlier today, I found an orphaned blog, The Categories Within, which provided a brief analysis of Verse 45. Part of what this fellow wrote is:
People seeking political office are sometimes the worst of the lot! Their campaign ads attempt to make us believe these people are saints.
But truly great people don't need the hype. They do what needs to be done without fanfare. They don't need your praise to feel good about themselves. They don't crave standing ovations and plaudits. They don't want statutes built in their likeness nor awards presented for their compassion. It is precisely because they shun the label of greatness that they are, in deed, great.
While surfing the internet earlier today, I found an orphaned blog, The Categories Within, which provided a brief analysis of Verse 45. Part of what this fellow wrote is:
If you are great, then there is no need to advertise. The people behind the products don't trust our judgment, so they make it for us. That's the commercial world we live in. How much greatness is contained in our commercial world? Not much.
Most greatness is contained in our spiritual world. But we don't "see" people attracted to it because it doesn't advertise. The opposite of advertisement is discovery. Greatness is found from within. Our heart or soul recognizes greatness, and when it tells the brain, the brain realizes its been duped the whole time in the commercial/material world.
I really like the way he differentiated between advertising and discovery. The former is a means of conveying "information" to you (external); the latter is something you do yourself (internal).
So, my hope for today is that we can discover the greatness that resides within each of us. It's there underneath our all pretenses and hubris. It can be very difficult to find because, unlike our egos, it doesn't run around announcing itself screaming, "Look at me! Look at me!"
We can only find it and allow it to nurture us when we are still. It is only when we can cast aside our cravings for recognition, status, and self-importance that we are ready to claim greatness.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
So, my hope for today is that we can discover the greatness that resides within each of us. It's there underneath our all pretenses and hubris. It can be very difficult to find because, unlike our egos, it doesn't run around announcing itself screaming, "Look at me! Look at me!"
We can only find it and allow it to nurture us when we are still. It is only when we can cast aside our cravings for recognition, status, and self-importance that we are ready to claim greatness.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Duke Wen Hui after all, sought out Cook Ding.
ReplyDeleteI'll be completely honest. I don't have the foggiest notion what that sentence means or refers to.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Inner Chapters of Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu), comes one of my favorite Daoist stories, about Cook Ding:
ReplyDeleteA cook was butchering an ox for Duke Wen Hui.
The places his hand touched,
His shoulder leaned against,
His foot stepped on,
His knee pressed upon,
Came apart with a sound.
He moved the blade, making a noise
That never fell out of rhythm.
It harmonized with the Mulberry Woods Dance,
Like music from ancient times.
Duke Wen Hui exclaimed: "Ah! Excellent!
Your skill has advanced to this level?"
"What I follow is Tao,
The cook puts down the knife and answered:
Which is beyond all skills.
"When I started butchering,
What I saw was nothing but the whole ox.
After three years,
I no longer saw the whole ox.
"Nowadays, I meet it with my mind
Rather than see it with my eyes.
My sensory organs are inactive
While I direct the mind's movement.
"It goes according to natural laws,
Striking apart large gaps,
Moving toward large openings,
Following its natural structure.
"Even places where tendons attach to bones
Give no resistance,
Never mind the larger bones!
"A good cook goes through a knife in a year,
Because he cuts.
An average cook goes through a knife in a month,
Because he hacks.
"I have used this knife for nineteen years.
It has butchered thousands of oxen,
But the blade is still like it's newly sharpened.
"The joints have openings,
And the knife's blade has no thickness.
Apply this lack of thickness into the openings,
And the moving blade swishes through,
With room to spare!
"That's why after nineteen years,
The blade is still like it's newly sharpened.
"Nevertheless, every time I come across joints,
I see its tricky parts,
I pay attention and use caution,
My vision concentrates,
My movement slows down.
"I move the knife very slightly,
Whump! It has already separated.
The ox doesn't even know it's dead,
and falls to the ground like mud.
"I stand holding the knife,
And look all around it.
The work gives me much satisfaction.
I clean the knife and put it away."
Duke Wen Hui said: "Excellent!
I listen to your words,
And learn a principle of life."
thanks for sharing that story rick :)
ReplyDeletei find it particularly applies to martial arts...
unfortunately i'm still very much an "average" cook... :P especially when i had to butcher chickens this summer!