Sacred Texts Taoism Index Previous Next
Buy this Book at Amazon.com
The Tao Teh King: A Short Study in Comparative Religion, by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, [1905], at sacred-texts.com
Abandon knowledge, discard wisdom—the people will gain a hundred fold.
Abandon the humanities, discard righteousness—the people will return to filial love.
Abandon cleverness, discard gain—robbers and thieves will be no more. 1
These three, 2 being considered not sufficiently aesthetic, therefore many other devices 3 were added. Better observe simplicity, 4 encourage primitiveness, lessen the number of private projects, and moderate desire. 5
"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," says Paul.
"Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the kingdom of God," is one of the forgotten sayings of the Christ.
34:1 Virtues which are exotics and not habitats are dangerous freaks, diverting the mind from inner realities. The teaching is eloquently set forth by J. B. of "The Christian World." "What a remove," … he writes, "from the thing we call 'cleverness,' the element which made Jesus supreme in the hearts of his followers! Was it by 'cleverness' that, in Ullmann's striking words, 'His mere presence passed a silent but irresistible sentence upon those by whom he was surrounded,' Was it a mere trick of the intellect that his look could break a strong man's hearts In this highest example we have demonstration of the fact that the crowning endowment of humanity is beyond and behind intellect, using that only as a tool. … We are in an age of culture and of general knowledge grinding. More than ever necessary is that for every teacher, but it is only a beginning. Our qualification for any grade of spiritual office is in the incessant cultivation of our central innermost. It is when we find our Higher Self, our greater Ego, the infinite Ground of our being, to be more and more filling us and making our life, that we can speak of progress."
34:2 viz.: The three duplicates, knowledge, wisdom; benevolence, righteousness; cleverness, gain. Standing alone they are painted fruits which arouse expectations but fail to satisfy hunger. Cf. Matt. xxi. 17-19.
34:3 Once let the outer usurp the inner, and, like uncontrolled competition in business, it will end in bankruptcy.
34:4 Tsaio-ju-ho observes that primitive simplicity embraces the very essence of knowledge, wisdom, benevolence and righteousness.
34:5 The way of the Christ, as of all great religious leaders, is to discourage monopoly and practice spiritual socialism.
See notes to chap. 38.