Sages have no constancy
When it comes to their thoughts and feelings.
They take all that from the minds of others.
They are good to people who are good.
They are good to people who are not good. 5
This is the goodness of De.
They are truthful with people who are truthful.
They are truthful with people who are not truthful.
This is the truth of De.
Being present throughout the world, Sages unite with it. 10
Their thoughts and feelings are only droplets
In the ocean of the minds of others.
That’s why Sages regard other people as family.
***
NOTES
lines 11–13: More literally, “(The Sage) becomes everyone’s oceanic heart-mind. All are the Sage’s children.” For the ancient Chinese, the heart was the organ of all thoughts and feelings.
COMMENTARY
Not knowing constancy is delusion, Laozi warns in poem 16, and he exalts the power of constancy there and in poems 1 and 55. Yet here is the exception that proves the rule, with poem 49 announcing where Sages lack constancy: their thoughts and feelings. Because Sages are constant in remaining empty, thoughts and feelings no longer occupy them. Yet they remain available to the world, acknowledging and responding to and empathizing with the thoughts and feelings of the people around them. And in doing so, supported by the self-realizing effect of De, they show constancy. In relating to the world and whomever that may entail, the Sage is always the same person. Following Dao and remaining empty, the Sage can readily join into the environment – the hearts and minds of others – the same way water takes the shape of its container.
Links To:
The Classic of Dao and De by Laozi: Contents
For more on Daoism, see:
Film Dreams: Frank Capra
Music: KALW Radio Show #3, Ancient China in 20th-Century Music
Music: SFCR Radio Show #8, Daoism in Western Music, part 1
Music: SFCR Radio Show #9, Daoism in Western Music, part 2
NICOLE V. GAGNÉ 