Indian stream·Tao Te Ching·Chapter 19 — Renouncing Cleverness
Abandon sageliness, discard wisdom
Renounce learning and the people will benefit a hundredfold; renounce humaneness as virtue and filial piety returns. Hold the uncarved block; lessen desire.
Source context
- Theme
- abandonment of outward social roles and cultural trappings in favor of return to natural simplicity
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Vedanta / Upanishadic traditionThe Upanishadic injunction to strip away false identification with social designation (varna) and scriptural performance in favor of direct apprehension of Brahman presents a structural cross-tradition congruence with Chapter 19's call to abandon sagehood and benevolence as externally imposed categories.
- Zen BuddhismZen's iconoclastic stance toward doctrinal formulation and moral performance as obstacles to direct realization parallels Chapter 19's instruction to relinquish learned virtue and social cunning as preconditions for authentic simplicity.
- Platonic philosophyPlato's distinction in the Republic between civic virtue grounded in convention and genuine virtue arising from the soul's alignment with the Good presents a structural cross-tradition congruence with Chapter 19's contrast between performed benevolence and spontaneous inner goodness.
Chapter 19
If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness, the people would again become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our (scheming for) gain, there would be no thieves nor robbers.
Those three methods (of government) Thought olden ways in elegance did fail And made these names their want of worth to veil; But simple views, and courses plain and true Would selfish ends and many lusts eschew.