Verse 49 - Living Beyond Judgment

[Eva Libre]

49th Verse

 

The sage has no fixed mind;

he is aware of the needs of others.

 

Those who are good he treats with goodness.

Those who are bad he also treats with goodness

because the nature of his being is good.

He is kind to the kind.

He is also kind to the unkind

because the nature of his being is kindness.

He is faithful to the faithful;

he is also faithful to the unfaithful.

The sage lives in harmony with all below heaven.

He see everything as his own self;

he love everyone as his own child.

All people are drawn to him.

He behaves like a little child.

 

 

Contemplation/Meditation Verse

 

It is my choice to be kind

         to those that are kind.

It is my choice to be kind

         to those who are unkind. 

because the nature of my being

         is kindness,

and that's all I have to give away.

         

 

Do The Tao Now

 

Vow to spend a day looking for opportunities to practice kindness in circumstances that usually provoke judgment.  Notice what you think or say about a panhandler, a relative whom you feel animosity toward, or even a politician or TV commentator speaking in terms that send you off in a flurry of critical thoughts.  Take that opportunity to become a "noticer", decreasing your criticism while increasing the amount of courtesy and goodness in your world.

 

 

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

by Dr Wayne W Dyer

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Change the way you look at yourself. 

 

If you pride yourself on having a fixed mind, realize that it relies on conditioning that generally shows up as prejudice.  Instead, see yourself as flexible, since being open is the higher virtue.  Pride yourself on extending your goodness and kindness to all sides, even when they oppose your preprogrammed learning.  Begin to see yourself as a person who notices instead of judges.  Avoid taking one position and sticking to it no matter what the circumstances are; rather, be in harmony with all people, especially those whose opinions conflict with yours !  And remember to include yourself when dispensing kindness and nonjudgment.

[Eva Libre]

Advice from Dr Dyer -

 

Change the way you look at other people.

 

One version of this verse says: "I trust men of their word, and I trust liars.  If I am true enough.  I feel the heartbeats of others above my own."  Whether you call it "judging" or "labeling", notice when you think of others as evil, lazy, dishonest, stupid, or ugly.  

 

Then affirm:

I see myself in this person,

and I choose to be in a space of goodness

rather than judgement.

 

There's a Sanskrit word, Namaste, that can help you with this.  When used as a greeting, it roughly translates to: "I honor the place in you where we are all one."  So silently or verbally begin telling others "Namaste" in order to remind yourself to love everyone as your own children.

[Eva Libre]

From Richard Grossman - The Tao of Emerson

 

From James Legge - The Texts of Taoism, 1891

 

The sage has no invariable mind of his own;

He makes the mind of the people his mind.

 

To those who are good to me, I am good;

And to those who are not good to me,

          I am also good -

And thus, all get to be good.

To those who are sincere with me,

          I am sincere;

And to those who are not sincere with me,

          I am also sincere -

And thus all get to be sincere.

 

The sage has in the world an appearance

          of indecision,

And keeps his mind in a state of indifference to all.

The people all keep their eyes and ears directed to him,

          and he deals with them all as his children.

 

 

From the Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson - "Education", "Self-Reliance" and "Spiritual Laws"

 

By the permanence of nature, minds are trained alike

          and made intelligible to each other.

Good and bad are but names very readily

          transferable to that or this.

I ought to go upright and vital

          and speak the rude truth in all ways.

My life is for itself and not for spectacle.

 

The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd

Keeps with perfect sweetness

          the independence of solitude.

The wise man shall make men sensible

          by the expression of his countenance,

That he goes the missionary of wisdom and virtue. 

[Eva Libre]

From Vimala McClure - The Tao of Motherhood

 

49

THE PARTICULAR

 

Be open to your child's individual

needs and expression.  One child

needs stimulation, the next needs

quiet.  One needs to be carried all

the time, another likes to play

nearby with the freedom to

extend his limbs.

 

A wise mother knows:  There is no

good child and no bad child.

[Eva Libre]

From Tao Te Ching - The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star

 

The Sage has no fixed heart of his own

Those who look at him

               see their own hearts

 

Those who are good he treats with goodness

Those who are bad he also treats with goodness

               because the nature of his being is good

Those who are truthful he treats with truth

Those who are not truthful he also treats with truth

               because the nature of his being is truthful

 

The Sage lives in harmony with all below Heaven

He sees everything as his own self

He loves everyone as his own child

All people are drawn to him

               every eye and ear is turned toward him

[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

 

49 (12)

 

The Sage never has a mind of his own;

He considers the minds of the common people to be his mind.

 

Treat well those who are good,

Also treat well those who are not good;

              thus is goodness attained.

 

Be sincere to those who are sincere,

Also be sincere to those who are insincere;

              thus is sincerity attained.

 

The sage

              is self-effacing in his dealings with all under heaven,

              and bemuddles his mind for the sake of all under heaven.

 

The common people all rivet their eyes and ears upon him,

And the sage makes them all chuckle like children.

[Eva Libre]

Lynn's - Daode jing of Laozi

 

The sage has no constant heart/mine [changxin] but takes the heart/mind of the common folk as his heart/mind. (1)

 

Such a one always acts in accordance with things.

 

The good I regard as good; those who are not good I also regard as good.

 

If one always handles people in accordance with their usefulness, the good involved will not be lost.

 

This is to transform goodness into virtue.

 

No one is discarded.

 

The trustworthy I trust; those who are not trustworthy I also trust.  This is to transform trust into virtue.  The sage resides among all under Heaven with perfect equanimity and impartiality and for the sake of all under Heaven merges his heart/mind with theirs.  [The common folk all fix their ears and eyes on him,] (2)

 

Each one uses that which is sharp [cong, ie, the ears] and that which is clear [ming, ie, the eyes]. (3)

 

And the sage treats them all as his children.

 

1.  All are made harmonious and rendered free of desire, so they are just like infants. (4) "Heaven and Earth established the positions of things, and the sages fully realized the potential [neng] inherent in them.  Whether consulting with men or consulting with spirits, they allowed the ordinary folk to share in these resources [yuneng]." (5)  One of such resources shares them, but one who hoards goods takes them.  If such resourcefulness is important [to the ruler], it will be thought important [by the people]; if goods are valued by him, they will be thought valuable by them. (6)

 

2.  Matters have their progenitor, and things have their master. (7)  If one acts accordingly, cap tassels may cover his eyes, yet he need not fear deception; yellow embroidered car flaps may block his ears, yet he need not worry about trickery.  So why should such a one ever again belabor all the intelligence that he can muster to investigate what tendencies [qing] are at play among the common folk ?  If one tries to use the power of bright scrutiny to investigate the people, they will compete with each other to find ways to escape that scrutiny. (8)  If one makes demands on the people in a spirit of mistrust, they will compete with each other to find ways to respond in kind. (9)  The hearts/minds of all under Heaven are not necessarily the same, so if people dare not differ in the ways they respond, none will be willing to act in accord with their innate tendencies [qing].  How terrible !  For nothing causes greater harm than such use of bright scrutiny ! (10)

 

3.  If one relies on intelligence, people will join in litigation with him.  If one relies on force, people will contend with him.  If his intelligence comes not from others but one still takes a stand on the field of litigation, it will mean exhaustion !  If his strength comes not from others but one still takes a stand on the field of contention, it will mean danger !  There has never been a ruler who was able to ensure that no one used his intelligence and strength against him, and, if one follows this source, he has just his one person to pit against others, while they have thousands and tens of thousands to pit against him.  If one then increased the net of the law and made punishments more exacting, blocked up the smallest avenues of escape, and assaulted the most hidden refuge, the myriad folk would have to act in violation of Nature, and the common people would be left with nowhere to place a hand or foot, like birds frightened into confusion above or fish scared into chaos below.

 

4.  This is why "the sage resides among all under Heaven with perfect equanimity and impartiality".  His heart/mind free of any control, he "for the sake of all under Heaven merges his heart/mind with theirs", so his thought is without tendency to favor or slight. (11)  If there is nothing he investigates them for, what hiding must the common folk do ? (12)  If there is nothing that he demands of them, what response must the common folk make ?  Free of the need to hide or respond, none will fail to act in accord with his innate tendencies [qing].  None will be forced to discard what he is able to do and made to do something he cannot do or forced to discard a strength and made to employ a weakness.  If one follows this course, those who speak will talk about things they know, and those who act will do things for which they are capable.  The common folk will fix their ears and eyes on me, and I do nothing but treat them all as my children.

 

 

Text, in Italics above, is Wang Bi's commentary.

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

(deb's note - "section" is used for verse in these notes.)

 

(1)  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 28, last passage.  "Constant heart/mind" means fixed, preconceived ideas about how things should be done.  Note also that the first five passages of section 49, along with Wang's commentary, bear comparison to section 27, fourth, fifth, and sixth passages, along with the commentary, and to section 62, second and fourth passages.

(2)  The base text lacks the text inside the brackets, which occurs in its entirety in the Mawangduui A text, partially in Mawangdui B, and again entirely in Fu Yi's composite text.  See Mawangdui Hanmu boshu, 104.  Wang's commentary to both this and the last passage of section 49 clearly indicates that the text of the Laozi he knew included these words.

(3)  Cf. Wang's commentary to the Tuanzhuan (Commentary on the Judgments) in Hexagram 50, Ding (The Cauldron) in the Yijing (Classic of changes): "When sages and worthies receive nourishment, then the sage himself [ie the sovereign] accomplishes things without purposeful action [wuwei].  This is why 'it is through Sun [Compliance] that the ear and eye become sharp and clear' [ie sage and worthy ministers become his eyes and ears]" (Lynn, The Classic of Changes, 452; see Lou, Wang Bi ji jiaoshi, 469).

(4)  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 10, second passage.

(5)  The quotation is from section 12 of the Xici zhuan (Commentary on the Appended Phrases), Part Two, of the Yijing (Classic of changes), to which Han Kangbo's (d. ca 385) commentary reads:

The sages availed themselves of the rightness of Heaven and Earth and so had each of the myriad things realize its potentiality [cheng qineng].  "Consulting with men" is equivalent to discussing things with the mass of people in order to determine the chances for failure and success.  "Consulting with spirits" is equivalent to resorting to divination in order to examine the possibilities for good fortune and misfortune.  Without enslaving their [the sages'] capacity for thought and deliberation [power of inference], failure and success thus came to light by themselves, and, without belaboring their capacity for study and examination, good fortune and misfortune made themselves known.  They categorized the innate tendencies of the myriad things and thoroughly explored the reasons that underlie the most obscure and most profound of things.  This is why, as the ordinary folk were allowed to share in these resources [yu neng], they "delighted in being their [the sages'] advocates and never tired of doing so."

(Lynn, The Classic of Changes, 94; see Zhouyi zhengyi [Correct meaning of the Changes of the Zhou], 8:24a, or Lou, Wang Bi ji jiaosi, 574) 

The quotation at the end of this passage from Han's commentary is from the Laozi, section 66 (note that this volume does not use that translation).  Although Wang's commentary suggests that he read yu neng as something like "share in these resources" - and I think Han Kangbo read yu neng this way, too - Kong Yingda (574-648) started a tradition of reading yu neng as ju neng, "elevate/promote the resourceful/able", which results in: "Whether for consulting with men or consulting with spirits, the ordinary/common folk promoted the resourceful/able [ie worthies]."  See Zhouyi zhengyi (Correct meaning of the Changes of the Zhou), 8:24a.

(6)  Cf. Wang's commentary to section 3, first passage; section 12, second passage; section 27, fifth passage; and section 64, seventh passage.

(7)  Cf.  Wang's commentary to section 47, first passage.

(8)  Cf.  Wang's commentary to section 17, fourth passage; section 52, seventh and eighth passages; and section 58, last passage.

(9)  Cf.  Wang's commentary to section 17, fifth passage.

(10) Cf. Wang's commentary to section 65, third passage.

(11) Cf. Lunyu (Analects) 4:10: "The noble man among all under Heaven finds nothing to favor, nothing to slight."

(12) Cf. Wang's commentary to section 10, fourth passage.

[Eva Libre]

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

 

The Master has no mind of her own.

She works with the mind of the people.

 

She is good to people who are good.

She is also good to people who aren't good.

This is true goodness.

 

She trusts people who are trustworthy.

She also trusts people who aren't trustworthy.

This is true trust.

 

The Master's mind is like a space.

People don't understand her.

They look to her and wait.

She treats them like her own children.

 

 

From Byron Katie - A Thousand Names For Joy

- Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

 

The Master has no mind of her own.

She works with the mind of the people.

 

Freedom means living in kindness, as kindness.  It means never having a moment of fear, anger, or sadness - living totally exposed, as a gift.  There's nothing personal in it.

 

You don't need to let go or understand or forgive.  Forgiveness is realizing that what you thought happened didn't.  You realize that there was never anything to forgive, and that's what The Work makes evident.  It has all just been a misunderstanding within you.  When you can see that, someone else has to say, "Oh, you're so forgiving", because you wouldn't have a clue yourself.  That's true forgiveness.

 

I love helping you see that.  It's just a matter of making the obvious more obvious.  I don't do anything but join you wherever you have attached to a belief, and the only reason I do The Work with you is that you think you need it.  I don't have any such thought; I love you just the way you are.  You are my internal life, so your asking is my asking.  It's just me asking myself for my own freedom.  That's self-love.  It's perfectly greedy; it wants you to have everything.  I am so melded into you that when you breathe, it's my breath; when you sit, it's me sitting.  You'll say something, and I am absolutely there at that moment.  It's as if I own you and you own me.  Your voice is my voice, literally.  And it doesn't have any meaning for me, so that, without prejudice or separation, I can join you wherever you are.

 

The Master has no mind of her own.  All she has to work with is the mind of the people.  The mind of the people is her mind, because it's the only part of mind that is still identified, still believed.  The people have her old mind, the mind she survived.  She's only working with her own unenlightenment, the spell she herself cast and is now awake to.  She cast the spell, she work up to it, and as she works with the people, they wake up, too, as her very own self.  Their freedom is hers.  To work with the mind of the people is her joy and her only life.

 

She is good to people who are good, because all she can see is goodness - she has no reference for anything else.  So she's also good to people who apparently aren't good.  She sees them as confused children who are having a very hard time.  It's painful to be mean and selfish.  She knows from experience what that feels like, and when she's kind to people who reach out to her, however "good" or "bad" they have been, it's herself she is being kind to.  She acts as a kindness to herself.  For her, it's always goodness meeting goodness, the steady, unbroken flow of her own nature.

 

She trusts people who are untrustworthy, as she trusts people who are trustworthy.  She trusts them all, completely, to do what they do.  And since they always do exactly that, she can never be disappointed.  People do what they do - she can depend on that.  It's good that this one told the truth; look at the gifts that came out of that.  It's good that that one lied; look at the gifts that came out of that.  And because the Master understands that truthfulness is the key to her own heart, she is delighted when anyone else comes to realize it.

 

My friend said that he'd meet me at the restaurant at 7:00 pm, and he's not here.  I walk in anyway, sit down, wait for fifteen minutes, then order a meal.  I notice that the waiters keep their commitment, they wait on me.  The meal is wonderful.  I don't wonder where he is, because I know that wherever he is, that's where he's supposed to be.  There's nothing out of order.  I'm not worried about him or annoyed that he's late, I haven't been thinking of him at all, I don't need to bother; all my thoughts return to the source they came from.  The waiter is slow in bringing the check, and that's how I'm detained long enough to see my friend rushing to the table.  Perfect timing !  He sits down beside me, breathless, and proceeds to tell me his story.  What could be better than one meal ?  Two: one for me and one for him.  Good that he broke his word.  Good that he wasn't trustworthy.  What could be more fulfilling than that ?

 

This doesn't mean that I'm a doormat, though.  When people keep breaking their commitments, I notice that I mirror their movement by moving away myself.  I don't make a third dinner date with someone who hasn't shown up for the first two.  If someone cancels twice, I trust him to do what he does, and making a third date is not efficient.  If he invites me a third time, I might say, "I hear that you want to show up, I know you did your best, I realize that your mind can't remember when it doesn't remember, and because we're together now, let's use this time.  I don't want to make a date with you, but let's talk now.  I'm totally available.  Tell me everything."

 

When you become a lover of what is, the war is over.  Since I don't believe my thoughts, I have no hopes, fears, or expectations; I'm a woman without a future.  I live in the open space where everything comes to me.  Reality is a very fine place to be.  And guess what ?  Any time you question your mind, you discover that that's where you are, too.

[Eva Libre]

Dr Dyer's Essay for Verse 49 –

 

In this gently powerful verse, we're encouraged to change the way we view virtually everyone on the planet.  Lao-tzu saw the potential for existing harmoniously through living beyond judgment; thus, this 49th verse of the Tao Te Ching invites us to explore that peaceful world.  It's encouraging us to replace our idea of criticizing them with an acknowledgment of us without criticism.  Imagine the possibilities for all of humanity if we simply eliminated prejudice and could live "in harmony with all below heaven".

 

You can begin changing your view of judgment as a valuable or important activity by being aware of when you're doing it to yourself.  Then simply start substituting noticing for judging; from this perspective, you'll realize pretty quickly that you prefer to observe what you're doing or feeling rather than critiquing yourself.  Calling your behavior "bad" or "good" just pits you against yourself and others by using competition, punishment, or dislike as your motivational markers - hatred, anger, and threats become necessary because love, acceptance, and kindness can't be trusted.

 

As you move away from judging yourself, you'll no longer need or want what Lao-tzu calls the "fixed mind"; thus, allegiances that pitted you against the people you thought of as them will begin to dissolve.  The innumerable categories that helped you organize your labels become totally superfluous and unimportant when you change the way you look at their so-called value.  In spite of having been conditioned by the country you were born in, the religion you were assigned at birth, the culture you were immersed in, or even the family who raised you, living beyond judgment becomes your preference.  You exist in harmony with the Tao that excludes no one and has no conception of division or loyalties.  The oneness of the Tao entices you away from any belief that others are separate.

 

This is the basic solution to wars and conflicts.  You see, when you stop judging and instead begin to see yourself in others, you can't help but love the uniqueness of everyone as though they were your own children.  Then instead of exclusions and allegiances, the oneness of the Tao graces all, unimpeded.  Rather than God bless America(or whatever country you happen to reside in), Allah save our people, or Krishna bless those who believe in you, there's God bless humanity - let me do all that I can to treat everyone, without exception, with goodness and kindness, as all of those whom we revere as spiritual masters taught us by their example.

 

As your worldview changes, you'll extend goodness to everyone you encounter.  You'll find that you can feel nonjudgmental compassion for the mistreated, even when their way of seeing things causes you and yours pain.  You can send out kindness not only in response to kindness, but especially when you're the recipient of cruelty.  Why ?  Because, as Lao-tzu reminds you in this poignant verse, "the nature of [your] being is kindness".  It's impossible to give to others what you are not, and you are not judgmental.  You see yourself in everyone, without the need to criticize them or yourself.

 

Change your thoughts and live beyond judgment - and don't see yourself as "bad" when you falter in this view or as "holy" when you succeed.  Keep in mind that you're a mix of infinite openness and finite limitation, as we all are.  So sometimes you just need to notice yourself judging, without then judging yourself !