Heaven and Earth are Long Lasting

In my internet travels I ran across a quotation from chapter 7 of the Dao De Jing (a.k.a. Tao Te Ching):

Heaven and earth are long lasting. [or, "last forever"]
The reason why heaven and earth are long lasting:
Because they do not live for self.
Therefor they last long.

Thus the sage puts his body behind,
Yet his body is in front.
He regards his body as external,
Yet his body remains in existence.
Is it not because he is selfless,
That he can fulfill himself?

It reminds me of the teachings of Jesus about being selfless and rejecting those things which can lead to conflict and violence—wealth, lust, even personal security and love for one's own life:

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

The commentary on the passage from the Dao De Jing in my translation of it also sounds in keeping with Jesus' teachings:

Wan Pi comments on "pu tzu sheng" [living for self] this way: "To live for self, a thing has to contend against others; in not living for self, a thing will be that to which all things return." The former, the mode of being of particulars, leads to conflicts, while the latter, the mode of being of universals, is conducive to peace. Whatever lives for self necessarily comes into conflict with others.

…

Harmony among the many is attained by dismantling the boundaries separating individuals and by forgetting the self in Tao. Taoism believes that peace resulting from clear territorial demarcations does not lead to long life. The very maintenance of such boundaries and the struggle against violators demand an expenditure of energy which hurries individuals to their death. For long life it is better to forget the self. By imitating the selflessness of heaven and earth, the Taoist has no territories to maintain and thus does not conflict with others.

Both Taoism and Christianity speak of "eternal life" (often translated as "long life" ) and I think in both cases it is a mistake to limit our understanding of it to the literal, personal meaning, as in "I'm going to live forever if I do such and such." I think that in both cases it may also point to a larger flow of life—perhaps God's plan for salvation or the flow of the Tao—that will continue forever as long as we don't interfere with it through our selfishness and "contention" or violence. If "the many" could live in peace, whether through oneness in the Tao or oneness in Christ, then life would be free to continue and grow and develop according to it's nature, which is God's nature, which is good.

—

Like the Bible, translating the Dao De Jing into English is difficult. Literal translations (and interpretations) can lead to error due to the loss of cultural context and word connotations. A translation that attempts to address these issues is The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary by Ellen M. Chen. It is thought to be one the very best translations to date, and is one of the few I've found that translates the chapter in question here in such a way as to make it's meaning clear and coherent.

A beautiful, though differently translated presentation of the Dao De Jing is found at The Big View.

Comments

[Casey Kochmer]

Hmm I noticed you were talking about etrnal life and taoism. I just rewrote my immortality and taoism chapter. Would be curious on your feedback on it.

I like the quote you post:
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life

in many ways this ties to my experiences in Taoism.

Peace in your meanderings
Casey

[The Cloudwalking Owl]

I'm a bit sceptical about these attempts to read Xian theology into the DDJ. I looked up my copies of the Hendricks and Mair translations---which I believe are the most scholarly and rigorous of the translations---and they seem to have a more prosaic focus.

Hendricks:

----
Therefore the Sage:
Puts himself in the background yet finds himself in the foreground;
Puts self-concern out of his mind, yet finds that his self-concern is preserved.
Is it not because he has no self-interest,
That he is therefore able to realize his self-interest?

Mair:

----
For this reason,
the sage,
withdraws himself
but comes to the fore,
alienates himself
but is always present.

Is this not because he is free of private interests?
Therefore,
he can accomplish his private interests.

My belief from long study is that the DDJ is a collection of "wisdom sayings" that were edited together and made into a book of state-craft based on Daoist principles. Chapter 7 is, to my reading, two different wisdom sayings that are somewhat related and as such jammed together.

The first half is about selflessness, whereas the second refers to the truth that "you can accomplish a lot more in life if you are willing to let someone else get the credit for it".

IMHO people interested in the DDJ can really benefit from reading the scholarly research that has gone into it in exactly the same way that Xians benefit from reading Biblical scholarship. Both dramatically deepen our understanding of the text and serve as a wonderful corrective to wooly thinking. :-)

[Sylvia]

It took me a while to figure out what you meant by "Xian"--was Xian some famous Chinese philosopher I should know about? :D

I wouldn't say this has much to do with theology. It's an observation that giving up concern for self seems to get better practical results than striving. Jesus knew it, the Daoist sages saw it, I've experienced it. It is very hard for most people to hear, though, since it goes against our biological imperative to look out for number one.