When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and non-being produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other
Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes away
What Does It Mean?
Good and evil are just two forms of one idea. It's a coin with two sides. You cannot separate an idea from it's opposite. In fact, you need evil for good to even exist.
The more you gather good things in your life, the more the evil that can happen. Not just the the actual non-good quality about the thing itself. Imagine if that good thing goes away. That vacuum is filled by the non-good that it brings.
And you can replace good with any ideal or virtue. If you make a part of your house more beautiful. it makes the rest of it seem ugly. If you try to force order by creating strict laws, the more likely is someone will break them. The more you want, the more things you have.
This will negatively compound itself if you are emotionally attached to these things. Love, anger, hate, jealousy, fear can all can come from attaching yourself to one side of an opposite and not embracing the entirety of it. Stress and irrationality spring forth if you expect good and get evil.
Emotions are part of the body's response to your view of reality. It's a combination of your brain and your heart. It's really important to recognize them as things that do not have opposites. This is very important to know, because the Tao doesn't talk about emotion directly, but about ideas and virtues.
Emotions are real things, not ideas.
This is why the sage, or someone who embraces the Tao, acts this way.
They use all of reality, but do not force reality to hold to one side of an opposite. They create without attachment. They do things without caring about the outcome. Most importantly, they have no expectation of success. That way, they can do anything with no fear or doubt.
The sage does things for their own sake and is happier for it.
Real World Analogies
Anyone attached to the good a dishwasher brings knows the emotional suffering when it breaks down.
Here's another scenario. Let's say I want to write a philosophy blog with the expectation of praise and wealth. I heard it's a great way to make extra money even though I don't like writing very much. I pour hours of time and effort into making it the best blog I can. I borrow money I think I might make to pay for a new car. And after years of writing, it never gets a single view.
I will suffer from disappointment and lose my new car. I will feel horrible and like a failure, until I get over it. I lose my attachment to it.
However, lets say I just enjoy writing about philosophy. I don't expect it to make me famous and I never expect money out of it. I just do it for it's own sake. After years of writing, it never gets a single view.
When I'm tired of writing and look back at all that time I spent, it was never wasted because I enjoyed it and I was fulfilled by it!
Now think about the last movie you went to that you had high expectations of. Your friends loved it. It received good reviews online. You finally make time to go see it. You are already attached to the outcome of whether the movie is good.
- If the movie is great, then it met your expectations. You get exactly what you went there to see.
- If the movie is awful, then it feels bad. It makes it real easy to not enjoy yourself because you expected it to be better.
- If the movie is great, for me there is a sense of surprise, wonder and joy! It's like finding a penny on the ground.
- If the movie is awful, it doesn't feel too bad. You are more open to the fact that you can enjoy the bad parts as well.
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