by Guan Zi
79 庸能棄功與 名 , 而還反無成，
Who can abandon merit and fame and return to what is beyond achievement?”
80 無成有貴其成 也 ,
(To value what is) beyond achievement is to value achievement;
81 有成有貴其無成也。
What has achievement values what is beyond achievement.
Our fear of losing something often gets in the way of obtaining it. The Sage is not afraid of continuing on as he is, and so is not afraid of failing to obtain something new. This, paradoxically, affords him success in obtaining something that escaped others of the same abilities.
Lines 73-75 travel deeper into the nameless, the ineffable, arriving at the “untrodden” purity in the “depths of the heart (衷 ).” Such a description is reminiscent of what later Daoist teachings on cultivating the Internal Elixir (Nei Dan) referred to as the Mysterious Pass. Perhaps the clearest description of the Mysterious Pass is found in Li Daochun’s (circa 1300 AD) Collected works on Central Harmony (aka The Book of Balance and Harmony , circa 1300 AD).
The Mysterious Pass ( 玄 關 , xuan guan) is the pass of the most mysterious, most subtle, of mechanisms... Why do none of the Nei Dan texts give the exact location of the Mysterious Pass? It is because it is difficult to describe, and no attempts to do so will succeed that they call it the “Mysterious Pass.” Therefore, the Sages simply wrote of it with the single character, “center,” and had (students) understand that “center” referred to the Mysterious Pass. So “center” meant neither inside nor outside, upper nor lower. It was not this sort of center.
When Buddhists say, “thinking neither good thoughts nor bad thoughts, see the face of your original self ( 不思 善, 不思 惡, 正恁麼 時, 那箇是自己本來面 目 ),” this is the “center” of Chan Buddhism. When Confucians say, “when euphoria, anger, sadness, and pleasure have not yet come forth, this is called ‘the center’,” this is the door of Confucians ( 此儒家之 戶 ) – their “center.” When Daoists say, “the place where thinking does not arise is called ‘the center’,” this is the “center” of Daoism. This is how “the center” applies to the three teachings.
When the Yi Jing (I Ching) says “tranquil and unmoving,” this refers to the “center.” “Sensing and accomplishing,” is the employment the center. Lao Zi says “Arrive at supreme emptiness; embrace deep silence. Myriad creatures arise together. I thereby observe them returning.”
The Yi Jing says: “Returning, see the heart of Heaven and Earth.” The Yi Jing hexagram “Returning” shows one yang line arising under 5 yin lines. Yin is stillness (and silence). Yang is movement. At the extreme of stillness there is movement. This point (before) movement is the Mysterious Pass.
Put your mind to the place from which thinking arises. Persevering in this, the Mysterious Pass will naturally appear. Upon seeing the Mysterious Pass, the medicinal substance, firing process, timely operation, subtracting and adding, and final release through emergence of the spiritual embryo, collectively come from nowhere but this single opening. [84]
The Nei Ye uses similar terminology to the Bai Xin , and describes the pristine oasis found in the “heart of the heart-mind” as such:
Within the center of the heart-mind, there is another heart-mind
In this heart of the heart-mind
There is a resonance (intent) which precedes words
(lines 165-167)
While sayings such as “(To value what is) beyond achievement is to value achievement” likely carry an internal meaning meant to help one transcend the mind and find their way towards this Mysterious Pass, in characteristic proto-Daoist fashion, they carry additional wisdom in their surface meanings. Discovering and exploring the center of the heart requires a purity and sincerity that can easily escape those who seek renown, and so the Bai Xin teaches the importance of first abandoning this superfluous interest. This is reflected in the opening lines of DDJ2, often interpreted to mean that when someone is appreciated by all, they become full of themselves and thus no longer merit such praise. These lines, again, read:
When all know the beautiful to be beautiful
This ends in ugliness
When all know the good to be good
In the end there is “not good”…
Note, too, the understanding shared between line 78, and the end of DDJ77:
… Heaven’s Way diminishes what has excess
And restores what lacks sufficiency
The way of man, however, is not this way
Diminishing what suffers lack
And assisting where there is excess
Who can have in excess, and care for all under Heaven?
Only those who have Dao…
The phrase “(what is) 無成 beyond achievement” in line 79 suggests an appellation similar to “the nameless.” The Dao encompasses all things and thus all names. It encompasses all achievements and is, thus, beyond all achievements. Dao encompasses all action and, in a sense, it is action; thus, it is beyond all actions, and said to be “without action” (wu wei). “ 無 Wu, without” can therefore also be understood in these phrases similar to the way it is understood in “ 無數 numberless” and “ 無限 limitless” when describing infinitude.
To borrow the conclusion from line 81, then: In action, heed what is ‘beyond action.’
Lao Zi’s DDJ48 helps to clarify these lines further:
The pursuit of learning requires daily accumulation
The pursuit of Dao requires daily reduction
Reducing and reducing
Until arriving at effortlessness
Effortless, yet without inaction
Conquering all under Heaven
Is best done without the endeavour to do so
Perpetually, this endeavour will continue without satisfaction
Even when all under Heaven has been conquered
These lines serve to show that, while anxieties and insecurities compel the mind to bolster the ego with thoughts of achievement and strength, we can also simply focus on removing these thoughts of achievement from our minds, and allow all things to unify in the emptiness therein.
82 日極則 仄 ,
The sun reaches its zenith and then declines;
83 月滿則虧。
The moon reaches fullness and then wanes;
84 極之徒 仄 ,
The zenith is followed by decline;
85 滿之徒 虧 ,
Fullness is followed by loss;
86 巨之徒滅。
Enormity is followed by elimination.
87 庸能己無己乎？
Can the self be without the (separation of) self (and other)?
88 效夫天地之紀。
Various replications of this compose the history of Heaven and Earth.
The Sage is unencumbered by any need to be admired. He enjoys the long road of life, and does not try to win the race.
This imagery of the sun and moon’s rise and decline was also used in Heshang Gong’s commentary on the Dao De Jing to caution against the error and consequences of arrogance. [85] The Bai Xin can be read here as making the same point by suggesting that the rise and fall of nations and rulers follows the rise in their self-satisfaction. Thus, the proceeding lines (89-96) provide guidance on avoiding this self-satisfaction.
Lines 87-88 bring to mind DDJ7, which might be further explained by the lesson on restraint and longevity in lines 82-86:
Heaven has longevity, Earth has continuity
Heaven and Earth have the power of longevity and continuity because they do not live for themselves
This is how they can live for so long
Therefore, sages leave themselves behind
And they end up in front
They do not cater to themselves
Yet they persist
Is it not because they are without selfishness and wickedness
That they are able to fulfill themselves?
Parallels to this rise and
fall are also apparent in DDJ2, as discussed above.
89 人言 善 , 亦勿聽。
When other’s say good words, do not listen to them;
90 人言 惡 , 亦勿聽。
When others say bad words, do not listen to them.
91 持而待 之 , 空然勿兩 之 ,
Hold firm while receiving them, remaining empty, hollow, and not divided.
92 淑然自清。
Remain pure; clarify yourself.
93 無以旁言為事成。
Without taking words from either side as the completion of affairs,
94 察而徵 之 , 無聽 辯 ,
Examine evidence without listening to eloquence.
95 萬物歸 之 ,
The myriad things will then return to (their true state),
96 美惡乃自見。
And naturally reveal their desirability or undesirability.
The Sage does not wish to get caught up in narcissistic sentiments of his wisdom and perception. He only wishes to keep his virtue and perceptions pure. Being taken in by other’s opinions about him, good or bad, will only diminish his ability to do this.
Lines 89-96 counsel self-reliance and not giving undue power to external validation and the opinions of others. They are particularly evocative of DDJ13 in light of the question “Can the self be without the (separation of) self (and other)?” in line 87:
DDJ13:
Favour and disgrace are both startling
Appreciate the great worrying that both of these cause in your body
… What does it mean to say “Appreciate the great worrying
That (favour and disgrace) cause in your body?”
The reason I have great worries is because I have a self
If I did not have a self, what worries would I have?
Therefore, those who (govern) the self as the world
And cherish it as such
On them the world can rely
Those who (govern) the self as the world
And love (care for) it as such
To them the world can be entrusted
Good words and bad words can be used to manipulate the ego and steer one’s decisions according to the manipulator’s agenda. For a true leader, this is like giving the executive passwords to anyone who knows how that leader would like to view themselves. Sages, therefore, took care to warn those with the virtue to lead of this common vulnerability for the safety of the masses who had vested their power in such leaders, knowing that a leader who is not capable of ruling themselves will have great difficulty ruling the world.
DDJ81 (“True words are not beautified; beautified words are not true words …”) could also be compared to lines 89–96.
97 天或維 之 , 地或載之。
Something always keeps Heaven together; something always supports Earth.
98 天莫之維則天以墜矣。
If Heaven was not held together, then Heaven would fall;
99 地莫之 載 , 則地以沈矣。
If Earth was not supported, then Earth would sink.
100 夫天不 墜 , 地不沈，
But Heaven does not fall and Earth does not sink.
101 夫或維而載之也夫。
They are always held together and supported!
102 又況於 人 ,
It is the same for human beings.
103 人有治 之 ,
There is something that governs them.
104 辟之若夫雷鼓之動 也 ,
Their laws, like rolling drums of thunder
105 夫不 能自搖 者 ,
Cannot incite themselves.
106 夫或搖之。
There is something always inciting them.
The Sage sees the larger picture. In his wisdom and perception, he knows that he is only taking orders from the higher order. He does not establish anything, but only helps return things to the natural state of balance demanded by laws of harmony.
Lines 97-101 are, in fact, largely supported by the theory of ether, held by Nikola Tesla, and also later held by Albert Einstein. Tesla quotes himself in a letter to the editor of the New York Times, April 21, 1908:
What I said in regard to the greatest achievement of the man of science whose mind is bent upon the mastery of the physical universe, was nothing more than what I stated in one of my unpublished addresses, from which I quote: "According to an adopted theory, every ponderable atom is differentiated from a tenuous fluid, filling all space merely by spinning motion, as a whirl of water in a calm lake. By being set in movement this fluid, the ether, becomes gross matter. Its movement arrested, the primary substance reverts to its normal state. It appears, then, possible for man through harnessed energy of the medium and suitable agencies for starting and stopping ether whirls to cause matter to form and disappear. At his command, almost without effort on his part, old worlds would vanish and new ones would spring into being. He could alter the size of this planet, control its seasons, adjust its distance from the sun, guide it on its eternal journey along any path he might choose, through the depths of the universe. He could make planets collide and produce his suns and stars, his heat and light; he could originate life in all its infinite forms. To cause at will the birth and death of matter would be man's grandest deed, which would give him the mastery of physical creation, make him fulfill his ultimate destiny.
Einstein at first denied the existence of this ether, but later changed his position. In “Ether and the Theory of Relativity” (1922), Einstein wrote:
Recapitulating, we may say that according to the general theory of relativity, space is endowed with physical qualities; in this sense, therefore, there exists an ether. According to the general theory of relativity, space without ether is unthinkable; for in such space there not only would be no propagation of light, but also no possibility of existence for standards of space and time (measuring-rods and clocks), nor therefore any space-time intervals in the physical sense. But this ether may not be thought of as endowed with the quality characteristic of ponderable media, as consisting of parts which may be tracked through time. The idea of motion may not be applied to it .
107 夫或者何？ 若然者也。
What is this constant thing? It is present at all times.
108 視則不 見 ,
Looking for it with the eyes, it will not be seen;
109 聽則不聞。
Listening for it with the ears, it will not be heard.
110 灑乎天下 滿 ,
Scattered throughout, it fills all under Heaven.
111 不見其塞。
Though not seen on the surface,
112 集於顏 色 ,
It is collected in the harmonious shape of the face;
113 知於肌膚。
It is known in the muscles and the skin.
114 責其往 來 ,
Dutifully, it comes and goes,
115 莫知其時。
Yet no one knows its timing.
116 薄乎其方 也 ,
So small, it is (within) the square (of Earth);
117 駼乎其圜 也 ,
So expansive, it (exceeds) the circle (of Heaven).
118 駼駼乎莫得其門。
Expanding and expanding, no one can reach its gate.
The Sage recognizes order in harmony and thereby learns the laws and principles governing even the Imperial Emperor – the “Son of Heaven.”
Lines 107-118 speak of the ineffability of Dao, a topic touched upon in many Daoist texts, including of course the Dao De Jing . This ineffability is said to manifest in the principles of harmony, noted throughout the myriad things, and likely suggested in DDJ1’s discussion of finding the principles of Dao in “outer surfaces.” Note too, the shared mention of an ever expanding gate (see line 118):
… The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The Named is the mother of the myriad things
Thus, always without desires
Observing its i
nner subtlety
Always with desires
Observing its outer surface
These two were born together, yet differ in name
Together, they are called Fathomless Mystery
This mystery, ever more mystifying
Is a multitude of gates
All leading to the subtlety within
Similar language, in respects to the ineffability of Dao, is also found in DDJ14::
By looking, it is not seen. It is known as Clear
By listening, it is not heard. It is known as Inaudible
What cannot be obtained when seized is known as Infinitesimal
These three things cannot be inspected
And are merged into one
Above, it is not bright
Below, it is not dark
Immeasurable and unnameable
It is again nothing
This is called “having no form or appearance”
Without a materialized image
This is called “absent-minded”
Greet it and you do not see its front
Follow it and you do not see its rear
Hold to the ancient Dao and ride it until you possess the present
Then you will have the power to know the ancient beginning
This is called “the thread of Dao”
119 故口為聲 也 ,
The mouth utters,
120 耳為聽 也 ,
The ears listen,
121 目有視 也 ,
The eyes observe,
122 手有指 也 ,
The hands gesture,
123 足有履 也 ,
And the feet walk.
124 事物有所比也。
These functions all have respective things (which enable them).