Chapter 3 - Doing By Not Doing - Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

Hi Internet family,

This is Chapter 3 of a series where I post, and provide commentary, on the 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching, or “Way of Virtue”, contains the essence of Taoism - a fundamental influence in Chinese thought and culture, in roughly 5 000 English words. It was written 2 500 years in sixth century B.C. by Confucian contemporary and keeper of imperial archives, Lao Tsu (Laozi). Whereas Confucianism is concerned with day-to-day rules of conduct, Taoism is concerned with a more spiritual level of being. The book I’ll be using is translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English.
Side note – I recommend reading the original text of the chapter first, and then the commentaries for each section. I’m still studying this text and may err with some passages, but I hope you enjoy the analysis provided--feedback and discussion is always welcome. :)

The Tao Te Ching original text

• Imerick commentary

Three

Not exalting the gifts prevents quarreling.

• If you elevate the position of an item, or person, others will fight to get on the same level. If you don’t praise one thing over another, there will be no contest.

Not collecting treasures prevents stealing.

• If you have a collection of anything, it must mean the individual units that compose it are valuable. This creates a desire in others to, also, acquire a collection of their own, and to begin it, they might just have to start with one of yours.

Not seeing desirable things prevents confusion of the heart.

• The function of your heart, at least in a metaphorical sense, is to love. When you desire anything, you create the illusion that it deserves your love over other things. This is confusing to the heart because love is unconditional and indiscriminate, it doesn’t make sense to reserve love for one and not the other. Therefore, to not confuse your heart, see everything as worthy of your desire.

The wise therefore rule by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies,
by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.

• Good leaders (as in, leaders with many followers, not necessarily people doing “good” work) obtain their position by removing desire from those who would follow them and satiating them. With no desire, “[strengthened] bones” and someone to feed them, followers will support their leader and keep whomever it may be in charge.

If people lack knowledge and desire,
then intellectuals will not try to interfere.

• Those who “lack knowledge and desire”, usually aren’t very interesting people. “Intellectuals”, people who pursue complex ideas and abstract or philosophical matters, would have no desire to interact with what would appear to be uninteresting so there would be less manipulation in the world.

If nothing is done, then all will be well.

• There are no mistakes in Nature, and Nature doesn’t require orders, it simply occurs. When we let things be without force, “then all will be well”.