Extensive interpretation of Tao Te Ching (46) A
道德經演義(四十六) A
When the world lives in accord with Tao,
racing horses are turned back to haul refuse carts.
天下有道，卻走馬以糞。
When the world lives not in
accord with Tao, Cavalry abounds in the countryside.
天下無道，戎馬生於郊。
Xianchi’s interpretation of Tao Te Ching (46)A a。46 A
咸池評述道德經演義(四十六)A a。46 A
1 Of all ages, people who read this
chapter of Tao Te Ching, most of them explained that
when world is peaceful and there is no war, steed and swift horse becomes useless,
then, they are used to furrow field and carry fertilizer cart.
自古以來，讀道德經的人對此章的解釋都是說，當天下太平，沒有戰爭時，那些千里馬，善走的好馬都變得英雄無用武之地了，再好的千里馬，也只能利用來耕田、拉糞車而已。
2 When there is a
war happening and the world is in turmoil, civil horses are insufficient for
impressments. So the army managed to catch the wild horses for war use.
當天下無道，戰火四起時，民間的馬匹都變得不夠提供軍隊使用，因此，哪怕是野馬，人們也得設法去弄幾隻來應付戰爭的需求。
3 The principle is applied on the use of
talent, especially on use of soldier. In peaceful time, the soldier doesn’t
have the chance to show their talent in wars. They are live in the city as
common people. Once war breaks out, it takes heavy toll of soldiers. Thus the
soldiers are essential to meet the need of army.
如果將徵調馬匹引申為人才的運用，特別是將才; 在沒有戰爭的時候，這些武將無法顯示出他們的功能，只有與一般人一樣在市井打混。一旦戰火撩起，兵士們死傷慘重時，這些武將就顯得格外的重要了。
4 This explanation is literally rational
but in the view of theory, it is meaningless.
這樣的解釋從字面上來看應該是講得通的，可是就內在實質涵義來說，似乎就沒有什麼重大的意義了。
5 Tao Te Ching is high concentrated dissertation of philosophy.
It is unnecessary for Laotse to state this shallow
theory. What’s more it has nothing to do with practice.
道德經是一部高度濃縮的哲學論述，老子似乎沒有必要動用一整個章節來講述這樣膚淺的道理，更何況這跟修行又扯不上任何關係。
6 Let’s venture
to read this chapter in the other way and its meaning will be much different.
And it is more close to the principle of practice.
如果我們膽子夠大，能試著從另外一個角度來看待這個章節，那麼，其意義就會明顯的不同，而且更能符合修行的原則。
7 Here, Tao refer
to road, way of doing, path of climbing hill and the principle of practice. Laotse said that if all people under the sun go along the
same way, the following people and horse will step on horse shit left by the
horse going ahead. Stepping on shit is nuisance, and going along with your own
way can avoid stepping on it.
我們說，這裡的道是指道路，指做事的方法，登山的道路，修行的法。老子說如果普天下的人都走同樣的一條道路，那麼跟在後面的人或馬就會踩到前面的馬所遺留下來的馬糞。踩大便是大家所最不喜歡遇到的，要想不踩大便，那就得走自己的路。
8 Laotse said when there is no regular road in the kingdom,
galloping horses are turned back to fertilize certain fields with their manure.
Each horse under the sun goes along its own way, meeting on the different road,
they can avoid inbreeding. Good horses can be propagated.
老子說天下無道，戎馬生於郊。當天下的馬各走各的路，在不同的路上相遇，因而避開了近親交配的機會，優良馬種也就因之得以保存。
9 If we read this
chapter in this view, it is meaningful to apply it on practice.
如果我們是以這樣的角度來看道德經（四十六）A，那麼將它引申到修行上就很有意義了。
10 Man of practice
must know that each one has his own way to practice because of his unique
background, present situation and karma. If all of them are forced to read the
same book and practice the same course and do the same sitting of Zen, it is
difficult to gain good result.
修行的人一定要意識到，每個人的背景、現況，因緣不同，因此彼此修行的道路也各不相同。勉強要求每一位修行者讀同樣的一本書，做同樣的功課，固定地打一樣的禪坐; 幾個人共修，按同樣的課程坐禪、念佛，這樣修法是不容易獲得正果的。
11 He, who
practices calligraphy and painting, knows that it is necessary to learn basic
lesson from teacher. After mastering basic technique, he should leave teacher’s
model to exploit his own way. Only by this way, could he have opportunity to
become a master. Without his own style, a calligrapher or painter or musician
can’t be called master.
練字、習畫的人知道，跟老師學基本功是有必要的。可是當基本功學妥後，就應該離開老師的模式，去走自己的開創之路。只有這樣才能成為一代巨匠。沒有自己風格的畫家、書法家、音樂家都算不上是名家、名師。
12 Way of
practice is so. Supreme yoga doer recognizes in the beginning of practice that
each one’s yoga actions are different so teacher never asked beginner to learn
some fixed actions or to hold beginner’s hand to guide him as Taichi Boxing’s stiff teaching.
It is normal that each one is different from others in learning supreme yoga.
修行的路也是如此。無上瑜伽行者，從一開始就明確的認識到，每－人的瑜伽動作都或多或少的有些不同; 因此老師們絕對不會去硬性規範任何初學者一定要做什麼樣的動作，或著扶著學生的手要他這樣動、那樣動，就如同太極拳老師那樣刻板的教法一樣。在無上瑜珈的學習領域裡，只有與眾不同、異於他人才算是常態。
13 If there is a
fixed way of practice, which means that the way you are learning is wrong. Your
actions don’t correspond to Qi. The ideal that we
seek for in practice is each one has his practice course and way, but reaches a
same goal at last.
天下有道，就表示你學的有問題，你的動作並非是與氣相應而生的動作。在每人不同的修煉課程以及不同的修煉方式下，最後殊途同歸，到達同一目標才是我們共同追求的理想。
14 I think that
this may be Laotse’s original meaning.
按照這樣的推論，我想，老子的原意大概也就是如此吧！
Extensive interpretation of
Tao Te Ching (46)B
道德經演義（四十六）B
There
is no greater curse than the lack of contentment.
禍莫大於不知足。
No greater sin
than the desire for possession.
咎莫大於欲得。
Therefore he who
is contented with contentment shall be always content.
故知足之足，常足矣！
Happy and free excursion (1) (43-45)(46。1) B
莊子演義內篇消遙遊(一)(43-45)(46。1) B
43 To tell the truth, a wren needs only a twig to build
its nest in the forest; how much water does a mole can drink? A full belly of
water at most, isn’t it?
老實說，鷦鷯在森林中築巢，牠只需要一根小樹枝就夠了；偃鼠喝水，最多就是一肚子，牠又能喝多少？
44 My life is very simple. Great wealth is of little use to me. As for my
reputation, I have long had it, or you don’t come and ask me.
我的生活極其簡樸，優厚的薪俸對我而言是多餘的。至於名聲我早就有了，否則你也不會來找我。
45 Be gone, Your Majesty! Your throne is nothing to me. Cookers strike and
don’t cook while the priests will not cook instead.”
回去吧！我最敬愛的君王，你的王位對我是不具任何吸引力的。廚房裡的廚子罷工，不肯燒飯煮菜時，做祭司的也不會親自下廚取而代之。」
鷦鷯巢於深林，不過一枝；偃鼠飲河，不過滿腹。歸休乎君，予無所用天下為！庖人雖不治庖，尸祝不越樽俎而代之矣。」
Xianchi’s interpretation
and remark (46。1) B
咸池評述(46。1) B
1 If we physically knew that
five skandhas are empty and vanity are form, feeling,
perception, impulse and consciousness, which are unworthy of seeking by time
and energy, as long as meanwhile we could maintain basic living condition and
practice hard in our limited life, then we would discover that it is
unnecessary for us to toil all day as horse and that it is not so expensive to
maintain life’s basic elements.
如果我們真正地瞭解到五薀皆空，色受想行識俱為虛妄，不值得我們花太多時間及精力去追求，同時，我們只要能維持基本的生活就能保住性命，並且在有限的時空中努力修行的話; 那麼，從中我們就會發現，維持生命的基本要素其實並不是那麼的昂貴，並且也不需要我們累得像一頭牛似的整天勞動個不停。
2 If only we diminished
desires, let’s say, we might adjust our demands to the level on which we can
maintain basic requirements of life, then we could gain the thought of freedom
and broadness.
只要將欲望降低，將我們對物質的需求調整到能夠維持生命的基本要求即可，那麼，我們就隨時都能擁有海闊天空以及自由自在的感覺。
Xianchi's interpretation of Tao Te Ching(46)B a。46B
咸池評述道德經演義（四十六）B a。46B
1 The four banes deemed by
Buddha are avarice, wrath, obsession and arrogance, among which avarice is the
first one that is thought rather dangerous idea.
貪、瞋、癡、慢是世尊認為人類自尋煩惱的四大苦惱源， 而貪又居其首，由此可見貪心是一種相當危險的念頭。
2 In objective environment,
vast and inexhaustible are official position, glory, title, wealth, opposite
sex, the mass, region and even art level and knowledge, which we can not use
up. Even, so are excellent virtue and meritorious virtue that, Buddhism thinks,
is very worthy of seeking.
在客觀環境裡，官位、榮譽、身份、財貨、異性、民眾、地域，乃至於藝術水準、學問知識等都是浩瀚無邊，永遠攫取不完、享用不完; 更是吃不完、看不完、也瞭解不完的。就是在佛教世界裡所認為非常值得追求的功德、福德等也是取之不盡、得之不完的。
3 From viewpoint of subjective condition, only if our desire is
met, we feel content. So, if his desires are many and enormous, he has large
difficulty to meet them, so that he can’t feel content and happy because the
desires are not met.
站在主觀條件的立場上看，如果我們的慾望是在於得到滿足之後才會覺得快樂，那麼，如果一個人的慾望太高、太深、太廣泛的話，他將永遠無法填滿他的慾望深谷; 也正由於這樣，他也將永遠無法達成那種因慾望滿足之後而生的快樂。
4 If his desire is
simple and minor, it could be neglected even if they are increasing. He just
moils in whole life, bustling everyday for meeting his desires, sweating more
and worrying more.
如果只是單純的、輕鬆的，慢慢的添加，那也罷了。對他自己而言，他只是辛辛苦苦的勞碌了一輩子，每天營營役役，全為了填滿自身的慾望深谷而辛勤勞作，並且為此而多流些汗，多操些心而已。
5 The problem is that there also are many people doing same things
and scrambling for same resource. If the belle who you are chasing was chased
by a stronger guy, let’s say, you were king and he were king too, a
people-scourged and country-scourged war would break out. Such a story happened
in ancient
最大的關鍵還在於這個社會，有那麼多的人在做著相同的事，並且也在爭取著相同的資源。如果你所急於爭取的美女，他剛好也有一位相對強勢的追求者; 你是一國之君，他也是一國之君; 兩位國王共同追求這位美女，一場禍國殃民的戰爭難免就會發生了。古希臘的故事裡就發生過類似的戰事。
6 Businessmen strive for good place to run shops because it is
easy to earn money in the crowded places. Therefore price and rent of some
places are raised intentionally however people who live around those places
would live bitterly since they have to pay multiple-times price and rent, so
that their living quality lowers and they have to live in cramped rooms. To
live a luxury life, some people who can’t earn money by legal ways have to
venture to do evil things, such as robbery, theft, ganging and so on, which
eventually incurs endless disasters to themselves and their family.
做生意的人樂於爭取好的地段開店，在人潮多的地方生意好做，賺錢也容易得多。在這樣的情況及心態之下，最終導致部分地段的租金價位被炒的出奇的高。這樣的結果影響到了生活在附近的人們，他們為此必須付出比別人多出好幾倍的租金，生活品質也為此而降低了，大家都被迫擠在極端狹小的空間裡過日子。而為求豪華的物質享受，一些沒有能力正當賺錢的人，他們就會鋌而走險，為此而幹出偷搶、組幫結派、為非作歹的事; 最終為自己、為家人帶來無窮的禍害。
7 Laotse and Buddha had insight into it,
so they stood out to remind the people of bewaring of and restraining tightly
desire so as to prevent their rampant inflation.
老子及世尊都看清了此點，故跳出來提醒大家，要大家注意慾望這個東西，要大家牢牢地看守著它，緊緊地握住它，不要讓它毫無限制的自由發展。
8 When meeting desire, we
confront with the competitors. Since field of desire is so boundless, if we
couldn’t do self-restraint, we would be overwhelmed by it eventually.
在欲望的追求上，我們永遠會遇上競爭者，而欲望的範圍又是那麼的浩瀚無邊。如果不善加控制自己，終有一天會被自己的欲望所控制住，最後搞得自己深陷於其中而不能自拔。
9 Buddha’s rationale is
extreme: men of practice are asked to do revulsion and cessation so that the
desire is annihilated. Laotse’s is pragmatic since he
knew that desire is the impulsion to maintain human’s life and is the necessary
evilness to propel human’s civilization. So he announced the principle of
content because he knew that desire is endless and that people have to act
according to their abilities. Without ambition, it is easy for us to gain
happiness and content.
世尊的理論看來比較極端。他要求修行人非要做到厭，離，斷，滅，非要將之連根拔起; 老子則比較務實，這是因為，他深深知道欲也是維持人類生命的原動力，也是推動人類文明發展的必要之惡; 因此他才說知足，知道欲海無邊，故此，我們實在應該量力而為。只要欲望不高，快樂的滿足就比較容易達到了。