In New Orleans we have a special relationship with water. We are surrounded and suffused by it. It clings to our bodies and fills our lungs. It makes our vegetation lush, so much so that I swear I can see the plants growing. Though Lao Tsu focuses on the benefits of water and on its nature as gentle flow, we know that it can have devastating effects. Hurricane Katrina hurled a twenty foot wall of water that indeed found its way into every nook and cranny of a great deal of our beautiful city. She pummeled my house with sheets of water at 100 mph hour and flung a tree on my roof. So when I think of water, it is more than just a gentle flow that is content to run into every low place. But my experience does not take away the gentleness of water or the gift of life that water brings. Lao Tsu says that water is like the Tao in that it brings life to the ten thousand things, but it does not struggle. It flows gently down to the places we shun. Even there, the Tao flourishes.
Comparing the different translations I have linked in the first post of this blog, we find stark differences in how the second stanza of this chapter is translated. There is clear variance in meaning that results from these differences in translation. I think, though, that the final sentence of the chapter can help us with the meaning of the stanza above it. Lao Tsu writes, “No fight: no blame” (Feng and English) or “If you do not wrangle, you will not be blamed” (Charles Muller’s translation). I think that Lao Tsu is giving us an imperative in this chapter about how we should lead the good life. Therefore, I think that the stanza above this line is a list of similar imperatives (somewhat like the Noble Eightfold Path of the Buddha). Some of the translators lose the imperative voice. Feng and English make the imperative explicit:
“In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In business, be competent.
In action, watch the timing.”
As a set of imperatives, I don’t think you can go wrong with Lao Tsu’s list. I especially like Feng and English’s translation of the first item of this list. Other translators emphasize the idea of building a house on firm ground, but when I think of how Feng and English phrase this imperative I make a nice connection with the idea of our stewardship of the planet and its biosphere. Living one’s life close to the land carries with it a clear responsibility to recognize the interconnectedness of all life on earth. I have always deeply felt this interconnectedness. I am thankful that my parents chose the name Clay for me because it carries with it the very idea of earth. My own name is a constant reminder of my responsibility to our planet.
