Chapter 49
Original Text
聖人無常心，以百姓心為心。善者吾善之，不善者吾亦善之，德善矣。信者吾信之，不信者吾亦信之，德信矣。賢人在天下惵惵，為天下渾其心。百姓皆注其耳目，聖人皆孩之。
Translation
The Sage has no fixed heart — he takes the heart of the hundred families as his own.
Those who are good, I treatmeet with goodness.
Those who are not good, I also treatmeet with goodness.
Thus De becomesperfects itself as goodness.
Those who are trustworthy, I meet with trust.
Those who are not trustworthy, I also meet with trust.
Thus De becomesperfects itself as trust.
The worthy personone inmoves through the world iswatchful and apprehensive,
gathering all cautionhearts and concern.
For all the world he mergesinto his heart with theirs.own.
The hundred families all fix their eyes and ears upon him —
theand Sagehe treatscherishes them all as his children.
Word Notes
- 惵惵 — "all caution and concern":
fearful,Fearful, apprehensive.
Chapter Explanation
The Sage has no fixed heart — he takes the heart of the hundred families as his own heart. Among the hundred families, those who are good, he treats well, guiding them onward. Those who are not good, he also treats well, coaxing and shepherding them along. In this way, one can bring goodness to all under Heaven and perfect one's great De of goodness. Among the hundred families, those who are trustworthy, he meets with sincerity.trust. Those who are not trustworthy, he also meets with sincerity.trust. In this way, when those above value trust, the people will all become sincere,trustworthy, and one perfects one's great De of trust. The Sage, in the world, is all caution and apprehension, fearing that the divisions between self and other among the people run too deep for harmony. Therefore, for all the world, he merges his heart with theirs, eliminating the marks of distinction. The hundred families all direct the attention offix their eyes and ears toon scrutinizescrutinizing who is good and who is bad,not, who is sinceretrustworthy and who is false.not. But the Sage treats all the people of the world as children — no matter what, he delights in them.
Discourse
The world knows more times of strife than of peace. On the small scale, this person cannot get along with that person. On the large scale, this nation contends with that nation. If we trace the root of this disease,disease to its root, it is always because ego-attachment runs too deep — knowing only the self, not knowing others — so that people cannot harmonizelive within one another.harmony. At first they wage war with tongues and pens. In the end it comes to guns and cannons. And once they contend with guns and cannons, the cruelty becomes extreme. By that point, even binding them with public law and governing them with penal statutes can only treat the exterior but not the interior, and can rescue the moment but not the future.
Therefore the Sage resolves the matter at the root.
Confucius said: "No presuppositions, no certainties, no rigidities, no self."
The Buddha said: "No mark of person, no mark of self, no mark of being, no mark of life-span."
Jesus said: "Love those who are your enemies; treat with goodness those who assail you."
As for the Patriarch of Islam, who said that the Lord practices goodness and forgiveness — this too accords with the meaning of this chapter, which teaches us to look uponcherish all people of the world as children. When children are well-behaved, of course one delights in them. When children cause mischief, one delights in them just the same. Raise them up, educate them gradually, and naturallyin time they will turn out well. When this is so, what boundary between self and other remains? Is this not all under Heaven as one family, ten thousand states as one person?