Those dwelling in the house of virtue may be lonely at times,
But those who prosper by the fawning upon the powerful,
Are forlornly lonely for ten thousand ages.
The Master looks to matters beyond matters,
Muses on the body that is beyond the body
It is better to be lonely at times than to face ten thousand ages of forlornness
Commentary
The essence of this passage talks about Integrity though implicit concept of karma (doing) and vipaka (effect). To spend our time, "fawning (doing)", chasing, seeking attention or favor from the wealthy or powerful leads to eons of forlornness (effect). How is this so? The negative karma created in these actions can build up quickly. In daily context he is emphasizing to us not to forsake our virtues for the pursuit of the "mundane", whether it be wealth, status, fame, power. "Mundane matters never ends" instead the Master liken to a sage, or person of virtue sees beyond the mundane goals of life and dwells on the body that is beyond mundane body and life. His is only interested is seeking the bright true self. He says it is better we hold on our virtues even though others may distance from us, even though we may not be liked. People may resent us, or think we are abnormal, tease us, and then do away with us because we may not follow the normal, because we refer to hold on to our morals, but this type of loneliness (at times) is nothing compared to the future longer lasting forsaken state of loneliness and misery found in the karma of "fawning". Do not doubt that even the tiniest action is recorded and is not forgotten, whether righteous or unrighteous, that is why it is paramount to hold on to our integrity. (Hem, 2010)
Glossary
Fawning is "To seek favor or attention by flattery and obsequious behavior."
Forlorn is "1. desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance, 2. lonely and sad; forsaken."
Muses is "to meditate, or absorb in ones thought of"
Caigentan in Chinese combines cai 菜 "vegetables; greens; (non-staple) food; dish; course (in menu)", gen 根 "roots (of plants); bottom (of mountains)", and 譚 "talk; conversation; discourse". Literally "Vegetable Root Discourse", it was written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng 洪自誠. This compilation of wisdom based on the teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), the three major religion that flourish at the time of China.
Caigen 菜根 "inedible root of a vegetable; cabbage stalk" is a literary metaphor meaning "bare subsistence" (originating in Zhu Xi's Xiaoxue 小學 "Minor Learning"). The Chinese proverb Jiao de caigen, baishi ke zuo 嚼得菜根, 百事可做 (Rohsenow 2002:66) literally means "[One who has] chewed vegetable roots [for lack of anything better to eat] can accomplish anything", or figuratively "One who has gone through hardships can do anything". "By vegetable roots, food such as turnips, radish, carrots and sweet potatoes is meant", says Vos (1993:172).
English translations of the Caigentan title range from literal to figurative:
Musings of a Chinese Vegetarian (Isobe 1926) Discourses on Vegetable Roots (Chao 1959) The Roots of Wisdom (Wilson 1985) Discourses on a Simple Life (Vos 1993) Tending the Roots of Wisdom (White 2000) Zen of Vegetable Roots (Li and Fu 2002) Vegetable Roots Discourse (Aitken and Kwok 2006)
Hi All,
Hearing of the book, and being a fan of ancient eastern wisdom, I was compelled to buy it, thus purchased it from Amazon. I have found the book poetic, inspiring and in tune with my own way seeing things thus I wish to start this blog and slowly share with the public some of it's contents.
There are two parts, book 1 contains 225 chapters, book 2 contains 135 chapters. When transcribing the passages I will do a few things that diverges from the original. I will title each chapter depending on how I best interpret the teachings. I may change words slightly or add my own additions in square brackets to allow it to make more sense to me. I may add a small commentary section at the end of the passages and relate my own interpretations of the teachings, wisdom, text. I apologize in advance if I offend, as that is never my intention. Other than that i cannot think of anything else.
If your planning to wait until I put up each chapter this may take years. If you enjoy the excerpts please buy the book, it is not very expensive and worth having in your inventory.
