Artificial Intelligence Issues

 

Dao De Jing, Chapter 18

Dao De Jing by Laozi, Chapter 18

"When humankind strayed from the natural way of life,
Relative social disciplines began to appear. 
When intelligence and cleverness of mind are admired,
Great hypocrisy is born. 
When disharmony manifested in family relations,
Children who respected their parents
And parents who respected their children
Became rare examples. 
When chaos prevailed in the county,
Only a few loyal ministers were recognized. 
Let all people return to their true nature. 
Love, kindness, wisdom, family harmony, and loyalty
Should not be taught one by one,
Separately from an honest life. 
Then, once again,
People will regain the natural virtue of wholeness. 
The world will be naturally ordered.  
There will be no one who singly and cunningly
Works for personal interest alone."
-   Translated by Hua-Ching Ni, 1979, Chapter 18  

"When the great Reason is obliterated, we have benevolence and justice.
Prudence and circumspection appear, and we have much hypocrisy.
When family relations no longer harmonize, we have filial piety and paternal devotion.  When the country and the clans decay through disorder, we have loyalty and allegiance."
-   Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 18    

"Therefore;
when the Heavenly Way was forgotten,
there arose 'humaneness' and 'righteousness;'
when cunning and Wit arose,
there came great falsity;
when the loving relations between people, as if all of one family,
was lost, there arose Religions in the world.
Once the state and royal house were in disarray,
there arose 'upright ministers!'"
-   Translated by Jerry C. Welch, 1998, Chapter 18   
 

"When the Way of the Great Dao ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue.
Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy. 
When harmony no longer prevailed throughout the six kinships, filial sons found their manifestation. 
When the states and clans fell into disorder, loyal ministers appeared."   
-   Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 18   

"When the Great Way is abandoned,
we get benevolence and righteousness.

When wisdom and knowledge appear,
we get great deception.

When there is no harmony in the family,
we get family values and kindness.

When the homeland is in chaos and confusion,
we get loyal bureaucrats."
-   Translated by Roderic and Amy Sorrell, 2003, Chapter 18   

"Wherever the cosmic order is neglected,
Goodness and morality are born.

When the heart’s awareness is repressed,
The intellect is led into hypocrisy.

When the family loses its natural harmony,
The rules of duty and honor are enforced.

When the natural society is disrupted,
The dragon of state arises,
And powerful leaders take over."
-   Translated by Brian Donohue, 2005, Chapter 18   

"When Tao is abandoned,
Benevolence and morality arise.
When wisdom and knowledge arise,
Hypocrisy flourishes.

When there is discord in the family,¹
Filial piety and parental affection arise.
When the country is in darkness and turmoil,
Loyal ministers appear."
-   Translated by Keith H. Seddon, Chapter 18   

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  Each webpage includes a Google Translate drop down menu at the top that enables you to read the webpage in over 100 languages.

Chapter 18, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter Indexing for the Tao Te Ching

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

Concordance to the Tao Te Ching (2018 Project)

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

   

Harmonica: Another Day in Paradise

Another Day in Paradise

By Phil Collins
1989

Diatonic Harmonica
Key of C Major

 

VERSE 1

6    -6    7  -6  6  -5  5  -4    5 

She calls out to the man on the street 

  7    -6   6  -5   7 

"Sir, can you help me? 

  6   7   -6    6   -5   5  -4    5 

It's cold and I've no-where to sleep, 

 6   6    -6   7    -6   6   -5   7 

Is there some-where you can tell me?" 

VERSE 2 

 6    -6    7   -6  6     -5       4 

He   walks on,  doesn't  look    back 

 7    -6   6   -5   5    6     7

He   pre tends he  can't hear her 

 6      7  -6   6   -5  5   -4   5  -6    6

Starts to whis tle  as  he cros ses the street 

 6     6   -6    -6    6   -5   7

Seems  em  bar rassed to  be  there 

 

CHORUS

-7   6   6        -4    5 

Oh Think twice, 'cause it's  

 5 6   6  -5   5   -5  5 -5  5   -5  6   6 

An oth er day for you and me in  par a dise 

-7   6    6     -4    5 

Oh Think twice cause it's  

5  6   6  -5  5   -5    -5   6   -5   5  5 

a no ther day for you, you  in par a dise 

   4   -4   4 -4   5 

 just think about  it 

 

VERSE 3

6    -6    7  -6  6   -5  5  -4   5 

She calls out to the man on the street 

 7  -6   6   -5     5    6     7

He  can see she's been  cry ing 

6      7  -6   6   -5  5   -4   -5  -6    6

She's got blisters on the soles of her feet 

6    6    -6    7   -6   -5  7

She can't walk but she's trying 

 

 [CHORUS]  

 

 VERSE 4

 6    -5   5  -5   5 

Just think a-bout it 

 7  -6 

Oh lord! 

-5   6   -5   -5   -5     -5 5  -5  5    7   7 

Is there noth ing more    a  ny bo dy   can do? 

-7   7 

Oh lord! 

  5   -5    6  -5   -5   -5    5   7 

There must be some thing you can say 

 

 VERSE 5

6    -6   7  -6    6   -5    5  -4   5 

You can tell from the lines on her face 

 7   -6   6  -5   5     6        7

You can see that she's been there 

6    7    -6    6    -5   5    -4  -5  -6    6

Pro bably she  moved  on  from  ev ‘ry  place 

 6      6  -6   7   -6   6  -5   7

Cause  she did n't  fit  in  there 

 [CHORUS]

 

Positive Psychology and Secular Ethics: Good Reads

Lately, I have been reading for many hours each day as I recover and heal my knee from my fall last Sunday (10 Sep 2023).  Here are some of the better books I have read:

The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time, Do Everything Better.  By Thatcher Wine. Little Brown Spark, 2021, index, notes, 263 pages.  VSCL, Hardbound + FVRLibrary.

If you want good ideas, tips, techniques, exercises, and methods for enabling yourself to focus, concentrate, and fully engage yourself in specific tasks in your daily life then read: "The Twelve Monotasks: Do One Thing at a Time, Do Everything Better" by Thatcher Wine, 2021. He gives specific recommendations for "monotasking" in the areas of reading, walking, listening, sleeping, eating, travel, learning, teaching, playing, seeing, creating, and thinking. A fine book in positive psychology!

Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics.  By Mark A. Smith.  University of Chicago Press, 2015, index, notes, 287 pages. FVRLibrary.

A sociological and historical study about how the secular society in America has moved away from traditional religious anti-progressive and oppressive values regarding slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women's rights.  A very good analysis and careful research into how the Christian religion supported slavery, rejected divorce, persecuted homosexuals, rejected birth control, and treated women unfairly and denied women rights; and how secular compromises changed our views and laws regarding these issues and practices in American society over the past three centuries. A respect for individual liberties, rights, and freedom are more popular in American secular culture in 2023. For example, despite the Moral Majority, Christian Coalition, and fundamentalist "family values" agendas in the ongoing Culture Wars; all States now have "no-fault" divorce options, and these religious groups these days place a low priority on trying to restrict or make divorce illegal or persecute divorcees, as they did in the past.

The Existentialist's Survival Guide;  How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age. By Gordon Marino. Harper One, 2018, bibliography, notes, 260 pages. FVRLibrary.

A philosopher and librarian and boxer digs deeply into real life issues such as anxiety, depression, despair, death, authenticity, faith, morality, and love.  Strong on Kierkegaard and similar authors. Hope, courage, and honesty but little emphasis of facile happiness. Existentialism has a gloomy demeanor, and life can be very gloomy.

Being and Nothingness: An Essay in Phenomenological Ontology. By Jean-Paul Sartre.  Translated by Sarah Richmond.  Washington Square Press, 1943, 2018, bibliography, index, 853 pages.  VSCL, Paperback. 

This complicated, obtuse, lengthy, difficult, and noted book will take me four months to read and study.  I have read a number of essays and fictional books by Sartre, and studied him in college in 1964, but have never challenged myself to study his magnum opus until 2023.  I'm not sure if I am up to understanding his complex views in my old age, but I will try. 

Breakfast With Seneca

Eight Core Teachings of Roman Stoicism

1.  Live in agreement with nature to find happiness.

2.  Virtue, or excellence of one's inner character, is the only true good.

3.  Some things are "up to us," or entirely under our control, while other things are not.

4. While we can't control what happens to us in the external world, we can control our inner judgments and how we respond to life's events.

5. When something negative happens, or when we are struck by adversity, we shouldn't be surprised by it, but see it as an opportunity to create a better situation.

6. Virtue, or possessing a excellent character, is its own reward.  But it also results in eudaimonia or "happiness." This is the state of mental tranquility and inner joy.

7. Real philosophy involves "making progress."

8. It is essential that we, as individuals, should contribute to society.

- David Fideler, Breakfast with Seneca, 2022, pp. 4-9.

Stoic Principles for Virtuous Living

Stoicism: Bibliography, Quotations, Links, Information

Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living. By David Fideler. W. W. Norton, 2022, index, bibliography, notes, appendix, 265 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

Letters on Ethics: To Lucilius. The Complete Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Translated by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. University of Chicago, 2017, 604 pages. Complete collection of Seneca's Letters. VSCL, E-Book Kindle.

Letters From a Stoic. By Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Translated by Richard Mott Gunmere. Compass Circle, 2019, index, 351 pages. Complete collection of Seneca's Letters. VSCL, Oversize Paperback.

My recent reading of the Stoics in the Spring and Summer of 2023 includes:  

The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. By Rayan Holiday. Portfolio, 2013, 224 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Skeptical Age.  By Antonia Macaro. Icon Books, 2018, 208 pages. VSCL, Paperback.

Stillness Is the Key. By Ryan Holiday. Portfolio, 2019, 288 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.  Excellent, insightful, relevant biographies, clear writing, practical, positive psychology.  Maintaining calmness, courage, consistency during the challenges of life.  

Ego is the Enemy. By Ryan Holiday. Portfolio, 2016, 256 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2020, 352 pages. FVRLibrary.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2016, 416 pages. VSCL, Hardbound. Outstanding commentary.  

My reading of the Stoics in the Summer and Autumn of 2022 included:  

Meditatons: The Annotated Edition. Translated, introduced and edited by Robin Waterfield. New York, Basic Books, 2021, 326 pages. Introduction, bibliography, notes, annotations. VSCL. 

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2016, 416 pages. VSCL. 

How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life. By Massimo Pigliucci. 288 pages, 2013. VSCL.

The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual. By Ward Farnsworth. Goldine, 2018, 256 pages. VSCL. 

Virtue Ethics

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Stoicism: Bibliography, Links, Quotations, Notes

Ten Transformative Practices (Paramitas)

 The Essence of the Ten Transformative Practices

"Generosity arises from unselfishness and nonattachment.

Ethics involves virtue, integrity, and self-discipline.

Patience requires resilience, acceptance, and fortitude.

Effort means courage in joyous perseverance.

Meditation implies mindfulness, concentration, reflection, and introspection.

Transcendental wisdom includes discernment and self-knowledge.

Skillful means arise from resourcefulness and imagination.

Spiritual aspirations include noble intention and resolve.

Higher accomplishments require leadership, powers, and positive influence.

Awakened awareness means pristine realization.

These are the ten arms and legs of the radiant body of the Bodhisattva,
Whose heart is Bodhicitta, selfless love and compassion.

- Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living By Lama Surya Das, 2007.

Virtue Ethics Studies
Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Philosophers
By Michael P. Garofalo

 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Virtue Ethics

Paramitas

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

The Ten Grave Precepts (Rules, Guidelines, Principles of Behavior)

Pragmatism

Taoism

Buddhism

 

Taoist Monk Yun Rou (Soft Cloud), AKA Arthur Rosenthal

 Arthur Rosenthal, Taoist Monk Yun Rou (Soft Cloud), is a Tai Chi and Taoist Master teacher, author, and television personality at Tai Chi for Longevity.

"I work to bring harmony and balance to my community and the world. I believe we must evolve rapidly to help all sentient beings survive and thrive.

Daoist teachings and practices offer a uniquely effective, powerful and effortless path through life.

Love, wisdom, charity, and insight arise in the individual and spread outward to the community, country, and world.

An enlightened mind requires a foundation in a strong, healthy body.

A plant based (vegan) diet is a gift to our own health as well as millions of tortured animals and a warming world.  

Discrimination based on race, gender identity, religious beliefs, or sexual preference is a cancer best cut from society.

Always do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

The morally bankrupt destruction of the natural world doom sentences us all to a life of disconnection and suffering.

Acting with compassion, frugality, and humility benefits the world and gives us each an all-important sense of purpose.

A regard for all sentient beings, health, justice, and spiritually must replace speed-and-greed materialism.

In engaging virtual worlds over the real one, we become less human and loose the life we evolved to life.  

Arthur Rosenthal, Taoist Monk Yun Rou (Soft Cloud)

Taoism.  Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo 

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 49, Verse 1, Translations

Daodejing by Laotzu
Chapter 49
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE

Translations into English of Chapter 49, Verse 1



The Wise Person has no Ego,
He identifies himself with the universe.

The Sage has no set heart.
Ordinary people's hearts
Become the Sage's heart.

The wise man has no fixed opinions to call his own.
He accommodates himself to the minds of others.

The sage has no mind of his own.
He takes the minds of the people as his own.

A wise ruler has no preconceived ideas,
He adopts the people's ideas as his own.

The sage has no mind of his own.
He is aware of the needs of others.

Sages never have a mind of their own;
they consider the minds of the common people to be their mind.

The sage has no mind of her own.
She is at one with all of humanity.

The Tao–Master does not have his heart set on anything in particular.
He wants to understand the hearts of the people.

The Sage is free of the law of fixed belief;
It reflects the heart of every seeker.

The Complete Thinker has no interests of their own,
But takes the interests of the people as their own.

The Sage is without a set mind.
He makes the mind of the people his own.

The Taoist has no opinions
He simply listens, and acts

The wise man has no fixed opinions to call his own.
He accommodates himself to the minds of others.

sheng ren wu chang xin.
yi bai xing xin wei xin.

shêng jên wu ch'ang hsin.
yi pai hsing hsin wei hsin.

The Sage has no decided opinions and feelings,
But regards the people's opinions and feelings as his own.

The wise leader does not impose a personal agenda or value system on the group.
The leader follows the group's lead and is open to whatever emerges.

The sage's heart is not unchangeable,
He makes his own the people' s heart and will,

The Sage has no interests of his own,
But takes the interests of the people as his own.

The sage has no set mind.
She adopts the concerns of others as her own.

The Saint has no fixed mind.
He makes the mind of the people his own,

The sage is never opinionated,
He listens to the mind of the people.

Sages have no mind-set.
They take common people's concerns as theirs.

The wise man hath no fixed principle;
he adapted his mind to his environment.

The Heart of the self-controlled man is always in the Inner Kingdom.
He draws the hearts of all men into his Heart.

The Sage’s heart is not immutable;
he regards the people’s heart as his own.

The wise have no mind-set.
They regard the people's minds as their own.

Der Berufene hat kein eigenes Herz.
Er macht das Herz der Leute zu seinem Herzen.

Der Weyse hat kein selbstsüchtiges Herz,
unvoreingenommen nimmt er die Herzen
der anderen in sich auf.

The great men did not have a fixed will;
they made the people's will their own.

The Sage has no self to call his own.
He makes the self of the people his self.

El Sabio no tiene intereses propios,
Hace suyos los intereses del pueblo.

El Sabio no tiene intereses propios,
pero hace suyos los interesesde la gente.

A sound man's heart is not shut within itself
But is open to other people's hearts:

Evolved Individuals have no fixed mind;
They make the mind of the People their mind.

Le Saint n'a point de sentiments immuables.
Il adopte les sentiments du peuple.

El sabio es constante en su mente,
hace de la mente del pueblo su propia mente.

El sabio carece siempre de espíritu propio,
hace suyo el espíritu del pueblo.

The best ruler has no personal ideas
And what the people think is what he/she thinks.

The sage has no invariable mind of his own;
he makes the mind of the people his mind.


Process Philosophy

Positive Psychology



Mind, Self, and Society: The Definitive Edition. By George Herbert Mead. Originally published in 1934 by his students. Edited by Charles W. Morris. Annotated Edition by Daniel R. Huebner and Hans Joas. University of Chicago Press, 2015, index, bibliography, appendix, supplementary essays, notes, 515 pages.

Reality as a Social Process: Studies in Metaphysics and Religion. By Charles Hartshorne. Free Press, 1953, 223 pages.

Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion. By David Ray Griffin. Cornell University Press, 2000, 440 pages. 

Our minds are, indeed, formed and evolved from our habits of body-mind and our existing social/educational life.
Your family is one key root of your personality.    
We need to have an open, flexible, modifiable approach to learning and knowing.
Our changing personal needs are furthered by good social relations.
We ride the surf of change in life always with others.
Avoid inflexible and "certain" attitudes and opinions.    
Adapt your thinking to your environment.  

-  Michael P. Garofalo, Chapter 49, Verse 1

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage includes a Google Translate option menu for reading the entire webpage in many other languages.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching [246 CE Wang Bi version] includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms (concordance) for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, links, research leads, translator sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  

     A Top Tier online free resource for English and Spanish readers, researchers, Daoist devotees, scholars, students, fans and fellow travelers on the Way. 

Chapter 49, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu  Chapter 49

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

Process Philosophy

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Daodejing  Chapter Number Index Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Daodejing Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE Chart by Mike Garofalo Index
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
81

Process Worldview: Twenty Key Ideas

Twenty Key Ideas in the Process Worldview

By Jay McDaniel 

Open Horizons

Process Philosophy

Twenty Key Ideas in the Process Worldview

"1. Process: The universe is an ongoing process of development and change, never quite the same at any two moments. Every entity in the universe is best understood as a process of becoming that emerges through its interactions with others. The beings of the world are becomings.

2. Interconnectedness: The universe as a whole is a seamless web of interconnected events, none of which can be completely separated from the others. Everything is connected to everything else and contained in everything else. As Buddhists put it, the universe is a network of inter-being.

3. Continuous Creativity: The universe exhibits a continuous creativity on the basis of which new events come into existence over time which did not exist beforehand. This continuous creativity is the ultimate reality of the universe. Everywhere we look we see it. Even God is an expression of Creativity.

4. Nature as Alive: The natural world has value in itself and all living beings are worthy of respect and care. Rocks and trees, hills and rivers are not simply facts in the world; they are also acts of self-realization. The whole of nature is alive with value. We humans dwell within, not apart from, the Ten Thousand Things. We, too, have value.

5. Compassion and Justice: Humans find their fulfillment in living in harmony with the earth and compassionately with each other. The ethical life lies in living with respect and care for other people and the larger community of life. Justice is fidelity to the bonds of relationship. A just society is also a free and peaceful society. It is creative, compassionate, participatory, ecologically wise, and spiritually satisfying - with no one left behind.

6. Novelty: Humans find their fulfillment in being open to new ideas, insights, and experiences that may have no parallel in the past. Even as we learn from the past, we must be open to the future. God is present in the world, among other ways, through novel possibilities. Human happiness is found, not only in wisdom and compassion, but also in creativity.

7. Thinking and Feeling: The human mind is not limited to reasoning but also includes feeling, intuiting, imagining; all of these activities can work together toward understanding. Even reasoning is a form of feeling: that is, feeling the presence of ideas and responding to them. There are many forms of wisdom: mathematical, spatial, verbal, kinesthetic, empathic, logical, and spiritual.

8. Relational Selfhood: Human beings are not skin-encapsulated egos cut off from the world by the boundaries of the skin, but persons-in-community whose interactions with others are partly definitive of their own internal existence. We depend for our existence on friends, family, and mentors; on food and clothing and shelter; on cultural traditions and the natural world. The communitarians are right: there is no "self" apart from connections with others. The individualists are right, too. Each person is unique, deserving of respect and care. Other animals deserve respect and care, too.

9. Complementary Thinking: The process way leans toward both-and thinking, not either-or thinking. The rational life consists not only of identifying facts and appealing to evidence, but taking apparent conflicting ideas and showing how they can be woven into wholes, with each side contributing to the other. In Whitehead’s thought these wholes are called contrasts. To be "reasonable" is to be empirical but also imaginative: exploring new ideas and seeing how they might fit together, complementing one another.

10. Theory and Practice: Theory affects practice and practice affects theory; a dichotomy between the two is false. What people do affects how they think and how they think affects what they do. Learning can occur from body to mind: that is, by doing things; and not simply from mind to body.

11. The Primacy of Persuasion over Coercion: There are two kinds of power – coercive power and persuasive power – and the latter is to be preferred over the former. Coercive power is the power of force and violence; persuasive power is the power of invitation and moral example.

12. Relational Power: This is the power that is experienced when people dwell in mutually enhancing relations, such that both are “empowered” through their relations with one another. In international relations, this would be the kind of empowerment that occurs when governments enter into trade relations that are mutually beneficial and serve the wider society; in parenting, this would be the power that parents and children enjoy when, even amid a hierarchical relationship, there is respect on both sides and the relationship strengthens parents and children.

13. The Primacy of Particularity: There is a difference between abstract ideas that are abstracted from concrete events in the world, and the events themselves. The fallacy of misplaced concreteness lies in confusing the abstractions with the concrete events and focusing more on the abstract than the particular.

14. Experience in the Mode of Causal Efficacy: Human experience is not restricted to acting on things or actively interpreting a passive world. It begins by a conscious and unconscious receiving of events into life and being causally affected or influenced by what is received. This occurs through the mediation of the body but can also occur through a reception of the moods and feelings of other people (and animals).

15. Concern for the Vulnerable: Humans are gathered together in a web of felt connections, such that they share in one another’s sufferings and are responsible to one another. Humans can share feelings and be affected by one another’s feelings in a spirit of mutual sympathy. The measure of a society does not lie in questions of appearance, affluence, and marketable achievement, but in how it treats those whom Jesus called "the least of these" -- the neglected, the powerless, the marginalized, the otherwise forgotten.

16. Evil: “Evil” is a name for debilitating suffering from which humans and other living beings suffer, and also for the missed potential from which they suffer. Evil is powerful and real; it is not merely the absence of good. “Harm” is a name for activities, undertaken by human beings, which inflict such suffering on others and themselves, and which cut off their potential. Evil can be structural as well as personal. Systems -- not simply people -- can be conduits for harm.

17. Education as a Lifelong Process: Human life is itself a journey from birth (and perhaps before) to death (and perhaps after) and the journey is itself a process of character development over time. Formal education in the classroom is a context to facilitate the process, but the process continues throughout a lifetime. Education requires romance, precision, and generalization. Learning is best when people want to learn.

18. Religion and Science: Religion and Science are both human activities, evolving over time, which can be attuned to the depths of reality. Science focuses on forms of energy which are subject to replicable experiments and which can be rendered into mathematical terms; religion begins with awe at the beauty of the universe, awakens to the interconnections of things, and helps people discover the norms which are part of the very make-up of the universe itself.

19. God: The universe unfolds within a larger life – a love supreme – who is continuously present within each actuality as a lure toward wholeness relevant to the situation at hand. In human life we experience this reality as an inner calling toward wisdom, compassion, and creativity. Whenever we see these three realities in human life we see the presence of this love, thus named or not. This love is the Soul of the universe and we are small but included in its life not unlike the way in which embryos dwell within a womb, or fish swim within an ocean, or stars travel throught the sky. This Soul can be addressed in many ways, and one of the most important words for addressing the Soul is "God." The stars and galaxies are the body of God and any forms of life which exist on other planets are enfolded in the life of God, as is life on earth. God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere. As God beckons human beings toward wisdom, compassion, and creativity, God does not know the outcome of the beckoning in advance, because the future does not exist to be known. But God is steadfast in love; a friend to the friendless; and a source of inner peace. God can be conceived as "father" or "mother" or "lover" or "friend." God is love.

20. Faith: Faith is not intellectual assent to creeds or doctrines but rather trust in divine love. To trust in love is to trust in the availability of fresh possibilities relative to each situation; to trust that love is ultimately more powerful than violence; to trust that even the galaxies and planets are drawn by a loving presence; and to trust that, no matter what happens, all things are somehow gathered into a wider beauty. This beauty is the Adventure of the Universe as One."  

Michel de Montaigne's Essays - Still Worth Reading

Lately, I have enjoyed rereading the interesting essays by Michel de Montaigne.  I read the essays for the first time in 1963, and now, as an old man, I still appreciate their insights, skepticism, readability, humanism, range, humor, irony, ideas and opinions, and their relevance for me.  Montaigne's writing style is conversational, engaging, and enduring.  

I have never visited France.  However, I have watched the Tour de France bicycle race each summer on television for the past 15 years.  The television coverage is outstanding with beautiful helicopter and ground camera visuals.  It is like taking an actual tour of different areas in France every year.  This year, the tour started later in the summer, and all the spectators are wearing masks because of the cronovirus pandemic.  

Michel de Montaigne   (1533-1592, French Essayist) 

How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne; In One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer.  By Sarah Bakewell.  New York, Other Press, 2010.  Index, bibliography, notes, 399 pages.  An outstanding biographical and intellectual history study.  VSCL. 

The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne.  By Charles Cotton.  Translated from the Latin into English in 1685.  I prefer the Kindle Edition.  1981 pages.  2018.  VSCL. 

The Complete Works of Michel de Montaigne.  Translated by Donald M. Frame.  Everyman's Library, 2003.  1392 pages.  Unfortunately, this translation is only available in a heavy hardbound volume with smaller print; with no e-book options.  Originally published in 1957.  VSCL. 

Me, Myself, and I: What made Michel de Montaigne the first modern man?  By Jane Kramer.  

Virtues and Vices: Notes, Quotes, Sayings, Links, Good Reads.  By Mike Garofalo.  

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 17

Daodejing, Laozi

Chapter 17

"Those of preeminent wisdom and purity 
knew this Tao intuitively from their birth,
and so possessed it.
Those of the second rank—the men of virtue—approached it nearly,
and eulogised it.
Those of the third rank—who were still
above the commonalty—stood in awe of it.
Those of the lowest rank held it in light esteem.
Their belief in it was superficial, or imperfect;
while there were even some who did not believe in it at all.
The first spoke only with forethought and calculation,
as though honouring their words.
When their public labours were achieved,
and affairs progressed unimpeded, the  people all said,
"This is our natural and spontaneous condition.""
-  Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 17


"A leader is best
When people barely know that he exists,
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him,
Worst when they despise him.
'Fail to honor people,
They fail to honor you;'
But of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'"
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 17  


"In the highest antiquity people scarce knew
That rulers existed among them; In the next age attachment and praise for them grew, In the next people feared they might wrong them;  And then in the next age the people despised The rulers whom fate set above them, For when faith by the rulers no longer is prized, The people no longer can love them. Those earliest rulers! what caution they had In weighing the words they were using; How successful their deeds! while the people all said We are what we are by our choosing."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 17


"With the highest rulers -
Those below simply know they exist.
With those one step down -
They love and praise them.
With those one further step down -
They fear them.
And with those at the bottom -
They ridicule and insult them.

Who does not trust enough
will not be trusted.
Hesitant and undecided!
Like this is his respect for speaking.
He completes his tasks and finishes his affairs
Yet the common people say,
"These things all happened by nature."
-  Translated by Bram den Hond, Chapter 17 



太上下知有之.
其次親而譽之.
其次畏之.
其次侮之.
信不足焉有不信焉.
悠兮其貴言.
功成事遂百姓皆謂我自然.  -  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 17


t'ai shang hsia chih yu chih.
ch'i tz'u ch'in erh yü chih.
chi tz'u wei chih.
ck'i tz'u wu chih.
hsin pu tsu yen yu pu hsin yen.
yu hsi ch'i kuei yen.
kung ch'êng shih sui pai hsing chieh wei wo tzu jan.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 17


"Of great rulers the subjects do not notice the existence.
To lesser ones people are attached; they praise them.
Still lesser ones people fear, and the meanest ones people despise.
For it is said: 'If your faith be insufficient, verily, you will receive no faith.'
How reluctantly the great rulers considered their words!
Merit they accomplished; deeds they performed; and the hundred families thought: 'We are independent.' "
-  Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 17    


"Of the best ruler,
The people only know he exists.
Next comes one the love and praise.
Next comes one they fear.
Next comes one they abhor.
When you are lacking in trust,
Others have no trust in you.
Of the work of one who is short with his words,
The hundred families say,
We have done it ourselves!"
-  Translated by Herrymoon Maurer, 1985, Chapter 17 


"Acerca de los antiguos todo lo que se sabe es que existían.
Los sucesores fueron amados y alabados, y los siguientes fueron temidos.
Los que vinieron después aborrecidos.
Sí no te tienes plena confianza, otros te serán infieles.
Entonces las palabras rituales estaban medidas.
El mérito de las obras tenía plenitud.
Todo el mundo decía:
"Estamos en armonía con nosotros mismos"."
-  Translation from Logia Medio Dia, 2015, Capítulo 17


"In ancient times
The people knew that they had rulers.
Then they loved and praised them,
Then they feared them,
Then they despised them.
The rulers did not trust the people,
The people did not trust the rulers.
The rulers were grave, their words were precious.
The people having finished their work,
and brought it to a successful issue, said:
"We affirm the Self.""
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 17 



A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, and other resources for that Chapter.  Each webpage includes a Google Translate drop down menu at the top that enables you to read the webpage in over 100 languages.

Chapter 17, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter Indexing for the Tao Te Ching

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

Concordance to the Tao Te Ching (2018 Project)

   

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey