Lao Tzu for Everyone
Students, Scholars
& Seekers
Peter Gilboy, Ph.D.
Tao
the Way
Line 4 禍莫大於不知足
Line 5 咎莫憯於欲得
Line 6 知足之足恆足矣
▲ likely scribal error, loan character or corrupted character
LESSON 46
Never Enough
Our greatest fault, Lao Tzu tells us, is not a crime against others. It is a transgression against ourselves, namely, "not knowing what is enough."
Lao Tzu touched on this crucial trespass in Line 5 of Lesson 44:
Therefore, knowing
what is enough
saves you from humiliation
And knowing
when to stop
saves you from danger.
But is "not knowing what is enough" the root of our problem? Or is it, perhaps, ingratitude and an insecurity which lead to our anxious minds.
A person who is ungrateful and insecure will always imagine something more, something better, something more satisfying. There is no end to the seekings of the anxious mind.
Normally we think we are our mind; that we are our thinking. But that is not so. If we were our minds, then we would be unable to turn our attention to our minds, to what we are thinking. We would be unable to catch our anxious thoughts in action. That we can actually catch our thoughts in action, means there must be "some-thing," or "some-one," who is "catching" the thoughts and observing them.
When we catch our thoughts in action, an odd thing occurs. Our mind immediately quiets. Distress disappears. We can test this out for ourselves.
So, who or what is this observer of my thoughts? And, does this observer suffer from the same anxiety that my "me" does?
Click on each line number
for Chinese-English interlinear
& commentary
When all are in
accord with the Way,
then fleet-footed horses are
used for their dung.
When all are not in
accord with the Way,
then war horses
multiply in the countryside.
No offense
is greater than
seeking more
No calamity
is greater than
not knowing what
is enough.
Of our faults,
none brings us more
grief than than our
desire for more.
Know what is enough,
and always
have enough.
. . . . . .