Chapter 13

Commentary::

This chapter centers on the character “shen,” which meant a wide variety of things in the era of this classic’s composition. Often translated as “body,” it can also mean “self,” “lifespan,” “identity,” or “spirit.”¹ The chapter focuses on going beyond the dualism of self (a self-centered experience), and allowing for the direct expression of our original nature (Daode).

The path shown in this chapter is not so much what we do?² as what we don’t do.³ The fruition of the spiritual path is not the ultimate prestige. It is the abandonment of the trap of praise and blame; the abandonment of reward and the false notions of self it nourishes.

The first verse is possibly a quote from another text. Praise and blame form a trap. Dualistic thinking is the trap. Loving praise and hating blame, we experience life like a predatory animal, obsessed with bagging game. Desire blurs the real situation we are in. Predatory focus makes the world look barren. Why is it that we hold and cherish false notions of reality? We dream of getting what we want, but even when we succeed, what happens? Prestige is a great affliction. When we get what we want (prestige), the hunger does not subside; it grows stronger and more focused. This is the essential nature of life’s afflictions: all afflictions are based on attachment to a dualistic appreciation of reality. “I am because I want.”

In the Chinese teaching tradition, a teacher quotes a classic and then repeats it by asking the most predictable question. What is meant by, “Praise and blame form a trap?” Then the teacher answers: It means there is nothing worse than praise. There is nothing worse than getting what you selfishly want because it strengthens the false notion of an abiding self. The stronger the false notions get, the more pain and suffering we experience. Gaining it or losing it, there is always fear and tension. Whether successful or not, we are trapped. When we hold and cherish false views of an abiding self, we are only truly cultivating fear, stress, and strain. Upholding any false view is painful, exhausting, and arduous. When we get what we want, we fear losing it. When we don’t get What we want, we fear the unknown. In this trap, desire and fear hold all our qi as ransom, whether we win or lose. This is the meaning of, “praise and blame is a trap.”

Changing from desire for selfish sensory pleasures to desire for personal spiritual fulfillment does not address the basic false views of self. For Laozi, even “spiritual attainments” are a great affliction. Another predictable question then arises: What is meant by, “Prestige⁴ is a great affliction?” Then he answers: It means prestige creates false notions of an abiding self. The real issue is not what you desire or even desire itself. The question is, who desires? What is the basis of false views? If we strenuously maintain obsessive fantasies with the discipline of compulsive action, we forget that there is no abiding self. Compulsive action has no true reflection in it. Wuwei makes it clear that there is no abiding basis for satisfaction and no treasury of possessions. Without a self, how could pain arise? Unlike the false view of an abiding self that leads to alternating “praise and blame,” satisfaction and disappointment, reality (Dao) has great continuity. The situation as-it-really-is is neither good nor bad. It is like a mirror. If we simply stand before it without compulsion, we return to the real: its calm and clear capacity to reflect. This is called the natural condition. The “action” of Wuwei is not “seen” in doing nothing; it is seen moving along with things as they are. There is nothing to do or get spiritually. This is the meaning of, “prestige is a great affliction.”

The next section may be an add-on or footnote that applies the above idea to the world. How do those who do not practice false views fit into the “world?” What is their natural place? Wuwei is not merely a matter of social or political responsibility (the common Confucian interpretation). In this sec-tion, Laozi gives us a sense of natural influence and natural placement-what might be called spiritual elegance or dignity. Those who treasure their shen⁵ as a common source of all things under Heaven may be given charge of (lead) all things under Heaven. Those who express Dao in their actions⁶ are “in charge of the world.” The world of Daoist cosmology is huntun, an endless sea of interactive and indistinguishable fragments without knowable goal or purpose. This “world” is found in the natural condition. It is not a “master plan” known by masters. It is not God, or managed by gods. It is not a central power, dispersed through administrative departments. It is an inscrutable mystery of co-factors. Only those who are seamlessly at ease with this chaos of things-as-they-are have “charge” of it. This is how Chinese Daoists define the term “Celestial Immortals.”

Those who treasure their shen as a common source of all beings under Heaven, teach all beings. Those who truly cultivate Dao⁷ in their actions are models for being in the world. Within each of the countless substrata of beings in the universe, there are immortals whose “actions” (wuwel) constantly inspire and recalibrate the actions of all beings/things. They are not beings that show an abiding self; they are beings that appear as an apparently inconsistent series of inspirational images. They live in the natural condition with dignity. If we abandon praise and blame, they are easy to follow. If we hold them up with praise, we are bound to later blame them for our failures. Their teachings are not convincing or argumentative; they are primarily about elegant acceptance. This is how Chinese Daoists define the term “Earthly Immortals.”

Is there a difference between Celestial and Earthly Immortals? No. Their influence and placement give them different appearances. Can you see one in the mirror?

Footnotes::

1. as a dimension of experience that is continuous with our ancestors
2. wei
3. wu wei
4. satisfaction, confidence
5. nature
6. wuwei
7. wuwei