#50 Principles for a Self-Designed Life
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 50: Discover Lao Tzu’s perspective on leading a conscious and proactive approach to life
Welcome back to The Wisdom of Lao Tzu.
This week, we're delving into Chapter 50 of the Tao Te Ching, where Lao Tzu offers his insights on preserving and prevailing in life.
In fact, his ideas in this chapter can guide our personal and professional paths.
Let’s dive in.
**50**
出生入死，生之徒，十有三；
死之徒，十有三；
人之生，動之於死地， 亦十有三。
夫何故？以其生生之厚。
蓋聞善攝生者，陸行不遇兕虎，入軍不被甲兵；
兕無所投其角，虎無所用其爪，兵無所容其刃。
夫何故？以其無死地。
Border-crossing: English translations
#1 Lin Yutang’s version
Out of life, death enters.
The companions (organs) of life are thirteen;
The companions (organs) of death are (also) thirteen.
What send man to death in this life are also (these) thirteen.
How is it so?
Because of the intense activity of multiplying life.
It has been said that he who is a good preserver of his life
Meets no tigers or wild buffalos on land,
Is not vulnerable to weapons in the field of battle.
The horns of the wild buffalo are powerless against him;
The paws of the tiger are useless against him;
The weapons of the soldier cannot avail against him.
How is it so?
Because he is beyond death.
#2 Edmund Ryden’s version
We come out into life and enter into death:
Life’s adherents are one third;
Death’s adherents are one third.
People who strenuously pursue life,
By their activities, are likewise one third adherents of death.
Why is this so?
Because they strenuously pursue life.
Perhaps you have heard about those who are good at keeping hold of life:
They walk on land and do not meet rhinos or tigers;
Joining the army they do not wear armour or carry weapons.
The rhino finds no place to stick its horn;
The tiger finds no place to sink its claws;
Weapons find no place to catch their blade.
Why is this so?
Because there is no place for death in them.1
#3 D. C. Lau’s version
When going one way means life and going the other
means death, three in ten will be comrades of life, three in
ten will be comrades of death, and there are those who
value life and as a result move into the realm of death, and
these also number three in ten.
Why is this so? Because they set too much store by life.
I have heard it said that one who excels in safeguarding his own life does not meet with rhinoceros or tiger when travelling on land nor is he
touched by weapons when charging into an army.
There is nowhere for the rhinoceros to pitch its horn;
there is nowhere for the tiger to place its claws;
there is nowhere for the weapon to lodge its blade.
Why is this so?
Because for him there is no realm of death.2
Deeper dive
Living in a dark and turbulent time (the Spring and Autumn period), Lao Tzu was primarily concerned with the fate of the ordinary person. That’s why he laid out a few ideas to assist us in navigating life.
Specifically, preserving life has implications for personal and professional endeavors.
Know the circumstances
Knowing what is happening around us is crucial for handling our own stuff, running a business, or even governing a country.
In our modern life, myriad distractions exist that could divert us from the essence of living if we let them. Thus, being conscious of unnecessary engagements is fundamental to finding clarity and purpose.
On the societal level, the specter of conflict is always present. It manifests in fights and wars.
But if we pay attention to what is happening and better understand people and circumstances, we can better position ourselves amid uncertainties and underlying problems.
In business, problems always arise. That’s why having a crisis management team ready to deal with these issues is critical. They are like the firefighters of the business world, ready to tackle any emergencies.
Navigate turbulences with a proactive approach
Many of us waste our precious time without thinking much about it. We act without knowing why, like ships drifting around in a stormy sea, which can lead to many problems.
Some troubles and chaos in life are caused by external circumstances beyond our control.
Yet some are created by us. Thus, if we can keep ourselves safe from potential troubles, we won't have much to worry about.
In the words of Wang Bi (226-249 AD), "if one can keep weapons from lodging their blades and points and rhinoceros and tigers from applying their claws and horns, then his body is not burdened by desires. Then where are his grounds for death?"3
So, the trick to living well isn't just fixing problems when they arise but also preventing them from happening in the first place.
Thus, a proactive approach to life requires cultivating a heightened awareness of what is happening around us and controlling how we respond when things get tough. It is like a good sailor who can avoid crashing into rocks.
By adhering to the principles of knowing the circumstances and proactively navigating turbulences, we can forge a path toward a future imbued with resilience, wisdom, and grace.
Spiritual Taoism
In navigating life's uncertainties, Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu offer two pieces of profound insights:
embracing change
and transcending circumstances
1) Consider change as our ally
Change is the only constant in life, a reality that often brings fluctuations and challenges that test our resilience and adaptability.
Embracing change requires a mindset shift from passivity to proactive acceptance.
We observe what has happened (accept) and then act with clarity and purpose to craft a different reality.
In doing so, we never allow ourselves to be broken or twisted by unfortunate events.
Instead of blaming circumstances or bad luck, we take responsibility for our responses and actions.
The journey of Andy Dufresne in "The Shawshank Redemption" is an excellent example of this principle.
He endured 28 years of unimaginable hardships in prison. Yet, he did not blame the circumstances or passively resist his fate with a defeatist attitude.
Instead of succumbing to the pervasive social structures within the prison, he carefully guarded his inner freedom by being conscious of the danger of being “institutionalized.”
Moreover, he takes responsibility for his mistakes and remains steadfast in having hope.
He does not let his fate be defined by someone else’s opinions and actions.
So he strategizes with precision, charges forward silently, and executes his prison break plan with subtlety and consistency, with the sheer will to prevail.
Eventually, he could forge a different reality for himself.
This resilience mirrors accepting circumstances while actively shaping one's destiny.
2) Transcend above circumstances
Our immediate circumstances can largely influence our perceptions of who we are.
To connect with who we could become requires going beyond our environments.
The problem is that we may have become accustomed to the allures of social and cultural arrangements in specific circumstances.
If we are not conscious of the state of chasing endless material desires and attachments, essentially allowing our independent will to be subject to meaningless pursuits, we will not be able to control our destinies.
Therefore, the essence of living indicates going beyond transient pleasures, external labels, and unnecessary recognition, knowing that they are fleeting phenomena.
As Lao Tzu suggests, using the wu-wei mindset to find inner calm and clarity,
“In the pursuit of learning one knows more every day; in the pursuit of the way one does less every day. One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone.” (Chapter 48)
Seeing life from a holistic perspective, we can realize that chasing happiness and gratification is less important than inner peace and simplicity.
And we need to guard our inner freedom and not subject ourselves to limiting beliefs and restrictive circumstances.
At the end of the day, we cannot escape the challenge of how we treat life and death.
Chuang Tzu's perspective challenges conventional notions by highlighting the interconnectedness of life and death.
“Life is the companion of death, and death is the beginning of life. Who can appreciate the connection between the two? When a man is born, it is but the embodiment of a spirit. When the spirit is embodied, there is life, and when the spirit disperses, there is death. But if life and death are companions to each other, why should I be concerned? Therefore, all things are one. What we love is the mystery of life. What we hate is corruption in death. But the corruptible in its turn becomes mysterious life, and this mysterious life once more becomes corruptible.4
Instead of fearing death as the end, Chuang Tzu tells us that it can be viewed as a natural transition similar to the cycle of seasons.
This perspective invites us to embrace the mystery of existence and appreciate the inherent beauty in life's impermanence.
We feel liberated when we reflect on death this way because we trust that mysteries can be discovered in the winding journey of life.
Thanks for reading!
Wishing you peace and wisdom,
Yuxuan
Daodejing, trans. Edmund Ryden. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 105.
Tao Te Ching, trans. D. C. Lau. (London: Penguin Classics, 1963), 57.
「兵戈無所容其鋒刃，虎兕無所措其爪角，斯誠不以欲累其身者也，何死地之有乎！」See Wang Bi et al., Four Kinds of Laotse 老子四種 (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2016), 43.
Yutang, Lin. The Wisdom of Laotse (Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2009), 177.