Dao De Jing 55 – Those rich in virtue are like baby
Those well established in Virtue, are like babies.
Bees and snakes won’t bite, fierce animals won’t claw, and large birds won’t hunt.
-> when the body and mind are purified into peace and non-self, negativity are melt into divine love and peace.
(Their) bones and ligaments are soft but when they hold their fists are tight.
They don’t have sexual desire but their sexual organs often harden, as their bodily essence remains full.
-> When the spirit (what underneath-beyond the mind) is at peace, mind is clear and body is healthy.
They cry all day but their voices won’t soar, as they stay harmonized at all time.
-> watch baby cry, they cry with their whole body, not over push nor suppress. When they get tired, they rest and go to sleep.
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Those who know harmony is normal, those who know normal is bright.
-> Do we value harmony? The Chinese does. Harmony in our body, in our self, with others, in the world. When we value harmony and see it as normal, we are wise.
Those who have excess desire brings hazard, those who let their desires to use their energy is to show off.
-> note the word “excess”, Laozi does negate desire as a human condition, just not indulge in them. When we indulge in them, we are enslaved and not free.
Things when get too strong will get old, are against the Dao, and will soon disappear.
-> cycle of life, inevitability of change.. When we try to hold on to something temporary, we are not flowing with the Dao and bringing to ourselves sufferings.
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Chapter 55 Discussion:
This Chapter Laozi describes the tangible benefits of living in the Dao: One’s body is healthy, energy is abundant, in harmony in oneself and with the world, and is filled with and protected by love and peace. Why? Because harmony is what all originally is, is normal. We just failed to see it when we are entangled in our self and its various desires. When we let go of our attachments (including aversions) of and to our self, we become more free, and more able to see harmony in the world.
Bilingual version of Ch55: https://www.lisiming.net/chinese-philosophy/daoist/daoist-philosophy/dao-de-jing-core-33-chapters/ddj55-79/
Is the harmony of the Dao analogous to the Chung Yung (Zhong Yong), the middle way, of Confucius?
Slightly different.
Confucius’s harmony is of the self. Laozi’s harmony is beyond (yet inclusive of) the self.
In Chung Yung, space prior to emotions arising is center. In Daodejing, space prior to the self arising is center.
Is this analogous to the different between Early Heaven and Later Heaven (Primordial Bagua and Manifested Bagua) from a Daoist perspective?
There are different interpretations of the 2 Baguas from different traditions. Although the all main streams call for going inward as as a general direction in cultivation.
Thank-you kindly for sharing with us your wisdom.