Chapter 23

Original Text

希言自然。飄風不終朝。驟雨不終日。孰為此者天地。天地尚不能久。而況於人乎。故從事於道者。道者同於道。德者同於德。失者同於失。同於道者。道亦樂得之。同於德者。德亦樂得之。同於失者。失亦樂得之。信不足有不信。

Translation

Spare words — accord with the natural. A whirlwind does not last the morning; a cloudburst does not last the day. Who brings these about? Heaven and Earth. If even Heaven and Earth cannot sustain them, how much less can human beings?

Therefore, one who devotes oneself to Dao: with those of Dao, becomes one with Dao; with those of De, becomes one with De; with those who have lost, becomes one in their loss. One with Dao — Dao, too, is glad to have them. One with De — De, too, is glad to have them. One with loss — loss, too, is glad to have them. Where trust is lacking, there will be distrust.

Word Notes

• 希 — "spare": Few, infrequent.
• 飄風 — "whirlwind": A fierce gale.
• 驟雨 — "cloudburst": A sudden, violent downpour.

Chapter Explanation

Be sparing in argumentative words and follow the course of the natural. A fierce gale does not blow through an entire morning. A sudden downpour does not last an entire day. Who sends the gale and the downpour? Heaven and Earth. When Heaven and Earth act unnaturally, even they cannot sustain it. How much less so for human beings?

Therefore, one who devotes oneself to Dao: when meeting those who have Dao, becomes one with them in Dao. When meeting those who have De, becomes one with them in De. When meeting those who have lost the way, becomes one with them in their loss. Being one with those of Dao, Dao itself is content and at ease. Being one with those of De, De itself is content and at ease. Being one with those who have lost, loss itself is content and at ease. Otherwise, if one's trust is insufficient, no amount of forceful argument will make people believe.

Discourse

The preceding chapter taught non-contention between the crooked and the whole, the bent and the straight, and all such dualities — this was to quiet the contending of people in the world at large. This chapter teaches sparing words to accord with the natural — this is to quiet the contending of people who study and teach.

For among scholars and students, once there is the slightest thread of illumination, each clings rigidly to his own view. Not only do they divide into sects and factions, attacking those who differ while sheltering those who agree — the ardent look at the scrupulous and call them too rigid, while the scrupulous look at the ardent and call them too reckless. Those of the lesser vehicle do not accept the greater vehicle. Those of the greater vehicle do not accept the lesser vehicle. And toward ordinary people in the world, they are even less able to make room. So they argue back and forth, disputing without end, their writings running on page after page, their books so numerous they make the ox sweat and fill the house to the rafters. Yet the more they argue, the more entrenched each side becomes, and Dao grows only more obscure. Scholars who come after have no way to tell which side to follow, and people of the world dare not even approach. Is this not the very harm caused by contention?

Therefore, the consummate sage who stands above all others practices the teaching without words. Meeting those who have Dao, he becomes one with them. Meeting those who have De, he becomes one with them. Meeting those who have lost the way, he becomes one with them too. Not only does he become one with them — self and other dissolve, and all alike forget themselves in a shared contentment. He makes them feel as though seated in a warm spring breeze — drawing close to him, growing fond of him — until without knowing it they are quietly transformed in their very nature.

The Doctrine of the Mean speaks of acting from one's present station and being content in any circumstance. The Bodhisattva Guanyin manifests in every manner of form to teach the Dharma. In the Zhuangzi, there is Wang Tai, the footless man of Lu — he did not teach while standing, did not deliberate while seated, yet those who followed him went empty and returned full, without outward instruction yet inwardly transformed. Confucius called him a sage. All of them used this very method.

Otherwise, when people do not believe, forcing the point through argument only makes an already difficult thing more difficult still.