Verse 31 - Living Without Weapons

[Eva Libre]

31st Verse

 

Weapons are the tools of violence;

all decent men detest them.

Therefore, followers of the Tao never use them.

 

 Arms serve evil.

They are the tools of those who oppose wise rule.

Use them only as a last resort.

For peace and quiet are dearest to the decent man's heart,

and to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.

 

 He who thinks triumph beautiful

is one with a will to kill,

and one with a will to kill

shall never prevail upon the world.

 

It is a good sign when man's higher nature

comes forward.

 A bad sign when his lower nature comes forward.

 

With the slaughter of multitudes,

we have grief and sorrow.

Every victory is a funeral;

 when you win a war,

you celebrate by mourning.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

I allow my highest nature to come forward,

         by bringing love to the places,

where I used to live in hatred.

 

 

Do The Tao Now

 

Say a private prayer today for every person you read or hear about who's a victim of killing by a weapon, no matter how distant.

 

Source - Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life (Living the Wisdom of the Tao)

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Begin to see the use of physical or verbal
weapons as unwanted responses.

 

Change you need to defend yourself to a stance of realizing that this is evidence you're ignoring the teachings of your Source of being.  Refuse to consider using weapons of violence in any form by noticing your language and abolishing hatred from your vocabulary.  Replace defending your right to possess and use arms with an attitude that all deaths from such instruments are signals of detachment from the wisdom of the Tao.  When enough of us reach a critical mass in our thinking so that it disallows the existence of weapons, we'll be moving the direction of our world.  No longer will we be able to evaluate the planet's level of civilization by the sophistication of our weapons; instead, the measurement will be on the Tao scale of how well we're able to feed and love each other.  Then being civil will authenticate the root word found in civilization.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Discontinue celebrating death or violence in any form.

 

Distance yourself from as many images of death as possible, including watching movies or TV shows that depict killing as a form of entertainment, along with news reports that emphasize the extinguishing of life.  Teach your kids, and any children you can, to sanctify life.  Encourage them not to take pleasure in the demise of so-called enemies, terrorists, or insurgents -- all of these kinds of death, be they on a battlefield or an urban street, are evidence of our collective will to kill.  And don't demonstrate hatred and outrage; rather, teach yourself and others that every victory accomplished with weapons is a funeral that should be mourned.

 

Here are some sensitive lines from Saint Thomas Aquinas, a holy man who attempted to teach us what Lao-tzu offered in this verse of the Tao Te Ching:

 

How is it they live for eons in such harmony --

the billions of stars --

 

when most men can barely go a minute

without declaring war in their mind against someone they know.

 

There are wars where no one marches with a flag,

though that does not keep casualties

from mounting.

 

Our hearts irrigate this earth.

We are fields before

each other.

 

How can we live in harmony ?

First we need to

know

 

we are all madly in love

with the same

God.

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

Now arms, however beautiful,

          are instruments of evil omen,

Hateful, it may be said, to all creatures.

Therefore they who have the Tao

          do not like to employ them.

 

The superior man ordinarily considers the left hand

          the most honorable place,

But in time of war the right hand.

Those sharp weapons are instruments of evil omen,

          and not the instruments of the superior man -

He uses them only on the compulsion of necessity.

Calm and repose are what he prizes;

Victory by force of arms is to him undesirable.

To consider this desirable would be to delight

          in the slaughter of men;

And he who delights in the slaughter of men

          cannot get his will in the kingdom.

 

He who has killed multitudes of men

Should weep for them with the bitterest grief.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "War" (address)

 

The instinct of self-help is very early unfolded

          in the course and merely brute form of war.

To men of a sedate and mature spirit,

          in whom is any knowledge or mental activity,

The detail of battle becomes unsupportably

          tedious and revolting.

Nothing is plainer than that the sympathy

          with war

Is a juvenile and temporary state.

The standing army, the arsenal, the camp

          and the gibbet

Do not appertain to man.

They only serve as an index to show

          where man is now;

What a bad, unorganized temper he has;

What an ugly neighbor he is; how low his hope lies.

 

Cannot love be, as well as hate ?

Cannot peace be, as well as war ?

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

31

ANGER

 

When you feel angry with your

child, know that something

rational must be done.  State your

feelings honestly, then withdraw

to process your emotions and

make a plan.

 

Striking out, either physically

or emotionally, may succeed in

getting through to the child, but

it will also plant the seeds of guilt.

Guilt is followed by resentment

and bitterness.  A victory can

therefore end in failure.

 

Too many such victories and you

will witness the death of your

child's trust.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

Even the finest warrior is defeated

          when he goes against natural law

By his own hand he is doomed

          and all creatures are likely to despise him

 

One who know Tao

          never turns from life's calling

When at home he honors the side of rest

When at war he honors the side of action

Peace and tranquility are what he holds most dear

          so he does not obtain weapons

But when their use is unavoidable

          he employs them with fortitude and zeal

 

Do not flaunt your excellence

Do not rejoice over victory

With the loss of others

          weep with sorrow and grief

After winning a battle

          do not celebrate,

          observe the rites of a funeral

 

One who is bound to action, proud of victory,

          and delights in the misfortune of others

will never gain a thing

          from this world below Heaven

[Eva Libre]

Tao Te Ching - The Classic Book of Integrity and The Way by Lao-Tzu

A New Translation by Victor H Mair

based on the recently discovered Ma-Wang-Tui Manuscripts

 

31 (75)

 

Now,

          Weapons are instruments of evil omen;

          Creation abhors them.

Therefore,

          One who aspires to the Way

               does not abide in them.

 

          The superior man

               at home honors the left,

               on the battlefield honors the right.

Therefore,

          Weapons are not instruments of the superior man;

          Weapons are instruments of evil omen,

               to be used only when there is no other choice.

 

          He places placidity above all

               and refuses to prettify weapons;

          If one prettifies weapons,

               this is to delight in the killing of others.

Now,

          One who delights in the killing of others

          Cannot exercise his will over all under heaven.

 

For this reason,

          On occasions for celebration,

               the left is given priority;

          On occasions for mourning,

               the right is given priority.

 

Therefore,

          A deputy general stands on the left,

          The general-in-chief stands on the right.

In other words,

          They stand in accordance with mourning ritual.

 

          The killing of masses of human beings,

               we bewail with sorrow and grief;

          Victory in battle,

               we commemorate with mourning ritual.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

SECTION 31 (1)

 

Weapons (2) are instruments of ill omen.  The people always hate them, so one who has the Dao has nothing to do with them.  When the noble man is at home, he honors the left and, when employing troops, honors the right.  Weapons are instruments of ill omen; they are not the instruments of the noble man, who uses them only when there is no choice.  It is best to be utterly dispassionate [tiandan] about them, and, even if they bring victory, one should not praise them.  Nevertheless, to praise them means that one delights in slaughtering people, and one who delights in slaughtering people, of course, can never achieve the goal of ruling all under Heaven.  For auspicious matters, one honors the left, and, for inauspicious matters, one honors the right.  A deputy general takes his place on the left, but a general-in-chief takes his place on the right, where mourning rites are observed.  When masses of people are slaughtered, one should weep for them with utmost sadness, so, when victorious in war, one should observe it with mourning rites.

 

 

deb's note - This one is REALLY different in "style" than all the others I have done for there is NO Text, in Italics above, which is where Wang Bi's commentary usually appears.

 

The notes below, are from the translator, Richard John Lynn -

(deb's note - "section" is used for verse in these notes.  I usually omit that but there was a "note" along with the section number in this verse's offering.)

 

(1)  Section 31 and 66 have no commentary by Wang Bi.  Although throughout the ages many have speculated about these two omissions, the most likely reason for them is that Wang probably considered the two sections self-explanatory and so in need of no commentary.  The speculation that the two sections are spurious has now been refuted by the discovery of the two Mawangdui texts, which contain them both.  In any case, the phrase "it is best to be utterly dispassionate [tiandan] about them" is echoed in Wang's commentary to section 63, first passage, which suggests his familiarity with section 31.  Another possibility, of course, is that Wang did write a commentary to these two sections but the texts were lost at some early date.  The text of section 31 used here is the base text as given in Lou, Wang Bi ji jiaoshi, 80.

 

(2)  The base text reads jiabing, "beautiful weapons", but both Mawangdui texts simply read "weapons"; see Mawangdui Hanmu boshu, 122.  I suspect that if jiabing had occurred in the text he knew, Wang would have commented on it, perhaps along the lines of the Heshang Gong commentary: " 'Auspicious' refers to good things, but weapons alarm the spirit and muddy an aura of harmony.  They are the instruments of bad men, and one should not decorate them" (Heshang gon zhu Laozi Daodejing, 2:13 (15657A); cf. Erkes,Ho-shang Kung's Commentary on Lao-Tse, 62). 

[Eva Libre]

From Stephen Mitchell - tao te ching - A New English Version

 

Weapons are the tools of violence;

all decent men detest them.

 

Weapons are the tools of fear;

a decent man will avoid them

except in the direst necessity

and, if compelled, will use them

only with the utmost restraint.

Peace is his highest value.

If the peace has been shattered,

how can he be content ?

His enemies are not demons,

but human beings like himself.

He doesn't wish them personal harm.

Nor does he rejoice in victory.

How could he rejoice in victory

and delight in the slaughter of men ?

 

He enters a battle gravely,

with sorrow and with great compassion,

as if he were attending a funeral.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

Weapons are the tools of fear.

 

Defense is the first act of war.  When people used to say, "Katie, you don't listen", I would immediately bristle and respond, "Of course I listen !  How dare you say that !  Who do you think you are ?  I listen !"  I didn't realize that I was the one making war by defending myself.  And I was the one who could end it.  It doesn't take two people to end war; it takes only one.

 

The personality hates criticism and loves agreement.  Actually, for the personality, love is nothing more than agreement.  A relationship is two people who agree with each other's stories.  If I agree with you, you love me.  And the minute I don't agree with you, the moment I question one of your sacred beliefs, I become your enemy; you divorce me in your mind.  Then you start looking for all the reasons why you're right, and you stay focused outside yourself.  When you're focused outside and believe that your problem is caused by someone else, rather than by your attachment to the story you're believing in the moment, you are your own victim, and the situation appears to be hopeless.

 

Your partner is your mirror.  Except for the way your perceive him, he doesn't even exist for you.  He is who you see he is, and ultimately it's just you again, thinking.  It's just you, over and over and over, and in this way you remain blind to yourself and feel justified and lost.  To think that your partner is anything but a mirror of you is painful.  So, when you see him as flawed in any way, you can be sure that that's where your own flaw is.  The flaw has to be in your thinking, because you're the one projecting it.  You are always what you judge us to be in the moment.  There's no exception.  You are your own suffering; you are your own happiness.

 

There's no way to truly join your partner except by getting free of your belief that you need something from him that he's not giving.  Nothing can cost you someone you love.  There's nothing your husband can possibly do to keep you from loving him.  The only way you can lose him is by believing what you think.  You're one with your husband until you believe that he should look a certain way, he should give you something, he should be something other than what he is.  That's how you divorce him.  Right then and there, you have lost your marriage.

 

Of course, sometimes it's best to physically leave.  If your husband is abusive, question your thoughts about why you stay.  As you enlighten yourself to what's true, you may come to see that the only sane choice is to leave him.  You may love him with all your heart and simply know not to live with him.  We don't have to be fearful, bitter, or angry to end a marriage.  Or, if you're not ready to leave, you may stay in the marriage, but with a greater awareness of how you're abusing yourself by allowing him to abuse you.  It's like a yard with a big sign on the gate: THIS DOG BITES.  If you walk into the yard once and are bitten, the dog has bitten you.  If you walk into the yard a second time and are bitten, you have bitten you.  This very awareness can change everything.  By questioning your mind, you begin to realize that ultimately no one can hurt you -- only you can.  You see that you are 100 percent responsible for your own happiness.  This is very good news.

 

If my husband were to have an affair and that were not okay with me, I would say, "Sweetheart, I understand that you're having an affair, and I notice that when you do that, something inside me tends to move away from you.  I don't know what that is, I only know that it's so; it mirrors your movement away from me, and I want you to know that."  And then if he were to continue his affair, to prefer to spend his time with another woman, I might notice that I was moving away, but I wouldn't have to leave him in anger.  There is nothing I can do to stay with him, and there is nothing I can do to divorce him.  I'm not running this show.  I might stay with him, or I might divorce him in a state of total love, and think, This is fascinating: we promised we would be together always, and I'm divorcing him now, and I would probably laugh, love that he has what he wants, and move on, because there is no war in me.  And someone else would divorce her husband thinking, "He shouldn't have had the affair", "He hurt me", "He doesn't deserve me", "He broke his promises", "He's heartless".  Either way, the movement is the same; the only difference is the story.  You're going to make the trip either way.  The question is, Are you going to go kicking and screaming, or are you going to go with dignity, generosity, and peace ?  You can't dictate this, you can't fake it, you can't make yourself be spiritual or loving.  Just be honest and question your thinking.  Then, eventually, when people say, "Oh, it's a terrible thing, this divorce", you might respond, "I understand how you see it that way, and that's not my experience at all".

 

It doesn't take two people to end war in a marriage; it takes only one.  And if two people have ended it, life can be twice as beautiful.

 

I come in after work and open the refrigerator door.  My favorite snack is waiting for me.  I know the exact place where I put it: on the top shelf, to the right . . . It's not there !  He ate it !  I feel an inner chuckle.  There are no stressful thoughts, such as "He's inconsiderate, he knew it was mine.  I was so looking forward to eating it, and he ruined it all".  Not a snack attack: a thought attack !  If I had these thoughts and believed them, I'd begin to feel annoyed at Stephen, maybe even angry and resentful.  the reality is that I instantly understand it's better for me that he did eat my snack.  In fact, I'm glad he ate it.  I can't help smiling.   Even though I wasn't aware of it at the time, it turns out that I bought it for him.  I'm delighted to know that I was so considerate.  And I'm also considerate to myself in seeing things this way.

 

When Stephen comes home, I tell him.  We both laugh.  He says he didn't realize I had bought the snack for myself.  I tell him how glad I am that he ate it, and I also ask him to check with me the next time, to see if in fact it's for him.  He agrees.  I realize that he might remember this and he might not.  I'm thrilled to see that what I planned fell short of reality.  I had imagined eating the snack myself, and something even sweeter happened.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 31 -

 

The 31st verse of the Tao Te Ching unequivocally states that implements of violence serve evil.  Lao-tzu clearly knew that weapons designed to kill are tools of futility and should be avoided if you choose to live according to the principles of the Tao.  This includes the design, production, marketing, distribution, and of course, the use of weapons in the business of killing.  The Tao is about life; weapons are about death.  The Tao is a creative force; weapons are about destruction.  Humanity has failed to learn this profound teaching of the Tao Te Ching, which was written when weapons consisted mainly of bows and arrows, spears, hatchets, and the like.

 

From his position as an observer and a being of Divine wisdom, Lao-tzu recognized that there's no victory in any activity where killing takes place.  Why ?  Because all people, regardless of their geographic location or belief system, are connected to each other by their originating spirit.  We all come from, retain, and return to the Tao.  When we destroy each other, we're destroying our opportunity to allow the Tao to inform us, to flow freely in and through the form we're in.  What appears to our ego to be a victory to celebrate is really a funeral, a time to mourn.  Lao-tzu reminds us that taking pleasure in winning a battle is aligned with an ego will to kill.  The Tao has only a creative, nurturing, and loving will.  On this physical plane, our highest nature expresses itself through the percepts of the Tao, while our lowest nature expresses itself by engaging in the business of killing.

 

The written history of humankind involves wars as far back as it can go, and we measure our supposed march toward civilization by the sophistication of our weapons.  We've advanced from simple spears used in close individual combat to bows and arrows that kill from a short distance, rifles and explosive devices that execute from farther away, and bombs that decimate when dropped from the air.  We've reached the level where we have to invent terms like megadeath and weapons of mass destruction to describe our current ability to annihilate millions of people and other life-forms with one nuclear blast.

 

The current level of presumably enlightened sophistication means that we have the capacity to destroy all life on our planet with the weapons we've amassed.  This perilous state has emerged because we've ignored the basic tenet of the Tao Te Ching, particularly as stressed in the infinite wisdom of this verse: "Arms serve evil.  They are the tools of those who oppose wise rule."

 

I believe that Lao-tzu was not only speaking about physical weapons, but also nonphysical behaviors that are just as destructive.  These include violent words, gestures, and threats that aren't a part of humankind's higher nature.  If you change the way you look at your world, you must include noticing your language and your demeanor.  Do you demonstrate that you're a person who values life in all of its costumes ?  Are you someone who wouldn't take up any type of arms -- be they physical or not -- against another, unless alternative means had been exhausted ?  And then, if forced to injure another, are you able to feel compassion for your so-called enemy ?  Weapons designed to kill are inconsistent with the very essence of the Tao.  Thus, you must make every effort to be peaceful and harmonious with its life-giving energy.

 

The massive proliferation of guns in our modern society is a giant step away from humankind's highest nature.  So replace defending the right to own and use weapons with the Tao consciousness.  Seek instead to aspire to a time when our collective human energy is elevated to such a high status that even the contemplation of killing is impossible.  You can begin to do so by changing the way you look at the necessity for weapons.  It begins with each and every one of us, and we can start by taking heed of what the Tao Te Ching teaches us.  By making this verse your personal calling, you have the ability to save our planet from becoming a lifeless one.