Verse 20: Different Approaches
Introduction
This verse is a classic example: “I know what it says, but what does it mean?! How can this possibly be good advice for my life?!”
The structure creates a strong contrast between two different approaches to life: on the one hand, what is “typical” and on the other, Weaving the Way. The counter-cultural component of practical meditative living is usually either downplayed or ignored. What happens when we live this way is pretty wild. Today’s Mindfulness-based world, where everyone is “finding their Zen” and meditation is mainstream, has normalized the concept but only scratched the surface of what Weaving the Way entails.
Here are some of the more challenging aspects laid bare.
Translation
“Yeah” and “YES!”
how far apart are they?
Delightful and repulsive,
what really makes them different?
That which people fear,
can’t help but scare them.
Look! This is endless!
Everyone is so excited,
as if they’re feasting
or sightseeing on a Spring day.
I am tranquil and bland,
like an infant yet to smile.
My simpleton’s heart; it’s ignorant.
Ordinary people seek bright clarity,
I alone am in confused darkness.
Ordinary people are so curious,
I alone am bored to death.
Ordinary people are useful,
I alone am stupid and uncivilized.
Momentary, it is like the sea.
Indistinct, it has no center.
My needs differ from those of others;
the Mother’s nourishment is all I need.
Commentary
“Yeah” and “YES!”
how far apart are they?
Delightful and repulsive,
what really makes them different?
The opening stanzas invite us to consider that we project distinctions onto information based on personal experience and social conditioning. “Yeah” and “YES!” are entirely different! Aren’t they? One is reluctant, while the other is enthusiastic. But aren’t they both just affirmations of something? Couldn’t it be that the “Yeah” was said with complete sincerity but less energy, and the “YES!” was that person fooling themselves or us? The meanings of the words themselves are identical. The context clues help us make decisions about what they mean. Yet, we make the mistake of assuming the meaning we attribute to things is always accurate. Dangerous.
The above becomes even more apparent when we use “delight” and “repulsion” in our thought experiments. The most straightforward approach is to think about a food you like. Now, think of someone you know who feels the same food is gross. Just like that, we have a perfect example of how we, entirely within ourselves, determine that something is delightfully delicious or repulsively disgusting. The meaning we give to the “world out there” expresses “the world in here.” It’s a little more complicated than that, as seen in the next stanza.
That which people fear,
can’t help but scare them.
Look! This is endless!
Fear identifies the potential for danger. It persists over time and concerns events in the past or future. Fear may be rational or irrational. Scared is a temporary experience related to a present-moment situation, which may also be rational or irrational.
For example, I had a horrifying experience with a giant wolf spider when I was young. After that moment, I was afraid of spiders. Even tiny house spiders would result in screaming and running to Dad so he could get it. A scary moment led to a deep imprint of fear that colored every other spider I saw for years. The relationship to what I sensed in the “world out there” created a “world in here” that colored my spider-related experiences—each of those scary moments reinforced how disgusting and terrifying spiders are. (Yes. In case you’re wondering, applying these principles has completely resolved my fear of spiders.)
Throughout our lives, we constantly create closed loops of fear. While there are many explainable and unexplainable forms of disgust and fear related to certain things, most of those can be avoided or coped with quite well. There are also those that close our hearts, placing us in a fear-based mindset that permeates our lives, often without us being conscious of it.
Everyone is so excited,
as if they’re feasting,
or sightseeing on a Spring day.
We seek pleasure and comfort in the “world out there” to distract us from our fragile mortality. Being caught up in the swirling chaos of life is effortless; finding true peace and immortality through an ordered “world in here” requires disciplined effort. The good news is that it’s remarkably simple.
I am tranquil and bland,
like an infant yet to smile.
My simpleton’s heart; it’s ignorant.
Ignorance in this context means letting go of all the clever ways we distract ourselves. It means no longer living from a place of self-preserving contrivance. It means no longer giving up our power to the meaning we attribute to our sensory experience. We can see this state in newborns. When they are awake and alert and have their needs met, they simply stare at the world. Through their eyes, we can experience open consciousness without the conditioning to create unnecessary inner turmoil. They let us know when they need anything, and when we meet their need, they are content.
The idea of being tranquil and bland like a newborn is challenging to accept for those of us raised in a world where neutral engagement created the term “resting b***h face.” Dispassionate and calm presence is often appreciated, but it can also be a little weird in a world obsessed with excitement and emotionality.
Ordinary people seek bright clarity,
I alone am in confused darkness.
Ordinary people are so curious,
I alone am bored to death.
Ordinary people are useful,
I alone am stupid and uncivilized.
The above lines bring the counter-cultural concepts presented in the previous stanza to fruition. The distinction between “ordinary” and “alone” has multiple layers of meaning. There is a distinction between being caught up in social norms (ordinary) or not (alone). There is also the experience of operating from a socialized mind (ordinary) to a self-authoring or self-transforming mind (alone). A third distinction is our relationship to the meaning-making part of our mind; does it consume us and keep us preoccupied with trivia (ordinary), or do we use it when we need it while being capable of “turning it off” to be silent and connect within (alone)?
Specifically, this verse emphasizes how weavers of the way let go of the need for certainty, knowledge, or conceit. These three coping mechanisms keep us from entering into union with the Dao, discovering the natural laws of our world, and true peace. The experience of being in flow is just as the verse states:
Momentary, it is like the sea.
Indistinct, it has no center.
A constant ebb and flow of unity experience unfolds before us. A me/we that is aware of its nature as a single drop melted into an ever-evolving ocean.
My needs differ from those of others;
the Mother’s nourishment is all I need.
Finally, the most counter-cultural statement of the whole experience. Do not seek to have your needs met by the “world out there.” Connect with the “world in here,” where you can receive the constant attention and nourishment of the Divine Mother, the Dao. We met “her” in verse 6:
The fertility of the spirit is eternal.
The profound and mysterious creatress.This generative mother’s womb
is the origin of Heaven and Earth.A Subtle, continuous existence
its functions are inexhaustible.
When we are well-nourished in spirit, surrendered to the flowing powers of cosmic law, there’s nothing to fear and nothing to seek. It may be a return to our natural state, but it’s far from “ordinary.”