Chapter 21

Commentary::

This chapter brilliantly expresses the ease of Laozi’s wuwei, linked to all contemplative and alchemical cultivation in Chinese Daoism. It explains how de (all things/beings) arises in Dao like a crystal in the light of the sun, not to generate any sort of abiding self/world dichotomy, but only to demonstrate the quintessential nature’ of the capacity to reflect (Daode)-the capacity of Dao.

Chapter 14/58 gives us the same lesson in an alternative rendering. Both of these chapters are clearly linked to Chapter 01/45.

The opening poetic statement, possibly a quote, describes the meditation, cosmology, and conduct facets of wuwei. The vast nature of Qi demonstrates the capacity of Dao. Here we have Qi as the heart of Laozi’s non-dualism-wuweidao. Qi, as a universal bridge between subject/object, is none other than and inseparable from Reality (Dao, Nature). Because Qi is the Dao’s capacity, the dual world can be seen as a film, a documentary: a light show rather than something solid. We might say that Qi is the capacity to appear, to arise, and the capacity to perceive. This bridge-like continuity can be called Daode or the capacity of Dao.

What can be said about this natural capacity-this arising, perceiving, and returning? What can be said about the capacity of Dao? It is elusive and nebulous! We cannot “find” it in any ordinary sense. It is mysterious. We cannot tell whether it is coming or going, waxing or waning.? We cannot get our hands on it. It is intangible and elusive. What would happen if we let go of conventional “seeing and holding?” What would we “experience” if we did not cling to our usual sense of experience? Laozi may be talking about what is called the “mystical experience,” but not an arduous transcendence produced by effort. According to Laozi, no real obstacle, self, or “world” need be overcome.

Yet within it, there is limitless qi potential. Elusive and nebulous! But within it rise the many appearances of form. When we relax our struggling, our compulsive need to know and do, we experience the qi potential of beings/ things. This limitless potential is the non-volitional and unintentional rhythm pattern of qi that precedes form, self, and world. Each being/thing that appears in our field of perception} is an artistic representation of a limitless4 “qi field.” In this qi environment, subject and object are united; not put back together,§ but simply relaxed into their indistinguishable nature or naturalness. When we experience subject (self) and object (world) arising together, we are actually resting inS the field of “things-as-they-are.” Resting in this soft environment, we are inti. mate with qi potential. This is Laozi’s zuowang.?

When form takes shape, it is more or less the tempo of a dance, not the “creation” of solidity. Like breathing, form and formless are not volitional creation and destruction, but simply qi rhythm. When we misapprehend this dance, we are entangled in False Views of Reality that lead to Conflicting Emotions (hope/fear, etc.).

Deep and dark! Each appearance/form carries jing tenuity.& Qi and jing are aspects of the nature of beings/things. These aspects are tenuous, delicate; neither being nor non-being in their relationship. Beings/things are not exactly what they appear to be because they are also in some sense non-being, just as we can say solidity exists in open space without conflict. This relationship is said to be deep and dark because, with a vision of dualism (self vs. world), our compulsive need to “have/do” exhausts our qi and inhibits appreciation.

Jing is genuine quintessence-a foundation. It is jing that demonstrates the capacity of Dao. What is jing?9 In this case, jing is not an aspect of a specific being,’° but the common capacity everything has to self-arise, to reproduce. This is called “foundation.” In early Chinese Daoism, jing often referred to a tal-isman, something that “carried qi.” Jing, like qi, is the capacity of Dao, because all beings /things mutually self-generate using a shared capacity (jing/qi).”

Through all Time, the capacity of Dao has been unchanging. It is selF-arising; it is so-of itself. What appears as time is the changing appearance of things, but the capacity of Dao itself is unchanging. All Time and all transformational appearances rest in the unchanging present, where Time and Space, Form and Formless, are indistinguishable. Inherent in Dao is the raw relatedness that includes all potential changes, like a mirror’s capacity to reflect.

The jing/qi relationship is the “mechanism” that demonstrates Dao’s com-pleteness. Change does not alter Dao, form does not obscure Dao, and the interplay of qi and jing is none other than the constant capacity of Dao. This constancy is also the conduct, 12 alchemy, ‘3 and zuowang’4 of Adepts.

How do I know the true capacity of Dao? Dao is all that there is and the Openness that tolerates it. It is self-evident right now. ‘S This certainty, this trust, is not linked to some sort of special knowledge gained or to a leap of faith. It is simply an appreciation of our situation as-it-is, without the strenuous compulsion to have and/or do, to fix or improve. This is Laozi’s wuweidao.

Footnotes::

1. jing
2. For an explanation of the tern xiang (image/dark/nebulous/elusive/obscure), see Robinet, Taoist Meditation, p. 50.
3. through our senses, thoughts, and feelings
4. vast, incomprehensible by measure
5. improved or corrected
6. ziran
7. Xiang Er says that this qi potential is Celestial Qi (the Three Principles, the Three Celestial Worthies). Heshang Gong says that this qi potential is mystical ecstasy (medita-tive stability)-a union (yoga) that arises from qi (and breath) regulating cultivation.
8. The thin association between energy and matter, here used also as a natural ever-present tendency of being/non-being (wu/you).
9. See Robinet, Taoism: Growth of a Religion, p.30 on "trustworthy essence."
10. as in the clinical definition of jing in traditional Chinese medicine
11. Xiang Er says that jing (gi of the Da) is apportioned out to the ten thousand things. In what is believed to be a rare fragment of the original Tianshi's commentary (1st century CE), Zhang Dao-ling says, "Jing is like water, form is its embankment and de (shen) is its source. If the heart/nature (shen) is not expressed or there is no embankment (body), water disap-pears. Without caution and rectitude, the reservoir becomes a dry ditch. Since ancient times, Adepts treasured their jing and lived to their full capacity. Today it seems common to squander your jing and die recklessly from exhaustion." Xiang Er further says, "Our jing and gi are variants of the Qi of Dao. Qi of Dao enters into human form at conception and is its root source. Conserving jing is half of our alchemy practice. To refine the 'other half (true elixir), one must practice authentic conduct. One must balance the five spirits by abandoning false views (desire) and conflicting emotions. When we abandon the 'left tally' (conduct that forms fate [entangle-ment]), the jing/qi is automatically conserved and refined. "The heart/mind is like a lo-pan (magnetic geomantic compass). It regulates all potentials through the three 'luminous halls' (ming tang). In the first hall, yang defects are rejected (volition abandoned). In the second hall, yin injuries are healed (our nature is honored). In the central hall the Qi of Dao self-regulates."
12. naturalness, spontaneity
13. normal bi-directional physiology
14. meditative state, naturalness
15. The certainty that comes from this recognition of Dao's constancy is, in Zhuangzi, often referred to as "Trust in Dao."