Nei-yeh (Chinese Self-Cultivation Manual)

10. A Well-ordered Mind results in a Well-ordered Community

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1   With a well-ordered mind (hsin) within you,

2   Well-ordered words issue forth from your mouth,

3   And well-ordered tasks are imposed upon others.

4   Then all under Heaven will be well-ordered.

5   "When one word is grasped,

6   All under Heaven will submit.

7   When one word is fixed,

8   All under Heaven will listen."

9   It is this [word "Way'] to which the saying refers.1

Commentary

Generally speaking, the first 9 verses of the Nei-yeh introduce some prime concepts and their relationships. The primary focus is upon our internal state. The next few verses illustrate how we are able to exert a positive influence upon our planet. These verses indicate that the Nei-yeh’s main aim is not enlightenment or release from this realm of suffering. Instead the goal is to become a Sage, i.e. someone who exerts a positive effect upon the community.

Verse 10 provides reasons as to why a well-ordered hsin (heart-mind) naturally exerts a positive influence upon the world.

 

Lines 1-4:

   1   With a well-ordered mind (hsin) within you,

   2   Well-ordered words issue forth from your mouth,

   3   And well-ordered tasks are imposed upon others.

   4   Then all under Heaven will be well-ordered.

 

When hsin is well-ordered (aligned), then our words and the tasks that we assign others are also well-ordered. When our speech and behavior are well-ordered, the human world, i.e. ‘all under Heaven’, also becomes well-ordered.

Lines 5-9

   5   "When one word is grasped,

   6   All under Heaven will submit.

   7   When one word is fixed,

   8   All under Heaven will listen."

   9   It is this [word "Way'] to which the saying refers.

 

The verse ends by stating that 'all under Heaven' will both ‘submit’ and ‘listen’ if but one word is both ‘grasped’ and ‘fixed’. Roth suggests that the word is ‘Tao’.

We must both understand and stabilize the Tao. But what is the meaning of the word Tao in this context? Is it a state of mind, a process, or perhaps a behavioral technology? We suggest that the Tao refers to the Way, i.e. the logical sequence that is identified in the first four lines of the verse. A well-ordered mind is the basis of the words and actions that lead inevitably to a well-ordered world.

This significant process permeates Chinese thought. A similar notion is also contained The Great Learning, an incredibly influential Confucian document that we shall examine in more detail. The short text ends with these lines:

“From the king down to the common people, all must regard the cultivation of the self as the most essential thing. It is impossible to have a situation wherein the essentials are in disorder, and the externals are well-managed. You simply cannot take the essential things as superficial and the superficial things as essential.”2

Stated another way: self-cultivation precedes correct and effective socio-political action. Conversely, inner turbulence leads to external turbulence. This is a feature of the Tao, the Way, of the Great Learning.

Self-cultivation is the essential root in The Great Learning. According to this same document:

“Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first corrected their minds.”

It seems that a ‘well-ordered mind’ is one of the aims of self-cultivation. With a well-ordered mind (hsin), we will exert a positive influence upon the world around us. How do we align hsin? Or conversely, what causes our mind to be out of alignment?

Natural, i.e. effortless, for Conservation of Mental Energy

The Nei-yeh frequently employs the ideogram for natural. For instance in this verse, if hsin, our heart-mind, is well-organized, then our words and behavior naturally exert a positive effect upon those around us. One implication of natural behavior is effortlessness. If any action or process is natural, it takes the least amount of energy.

In the quest to conserve or nurture our vitality, energy conservation is of prime importance. The Sage presumably spends his mental energy, his te, upon inner cultivation. Because of this focus, s(he) is able to move effortlessly – naturally. It is not necessary to spend any extra mental energy, as s(he) exerts a positive effect naturally. Minimizing energy expenditure maximizes vitality.

The important Chinese word-concept, wu-wei (non-action in the midst of action) reflects this effortless movement. In the internal martial arts, the master’s goal is to employ the opponent’s energy rather than his own. However, the master is only able to move ‘naturally/effortlessly’ after decades of training. The same condition holds on the political level. After decades of inner cultivation, the Sage’s impeccable social behavior naturally exerts a positive effect upon the world.

Perhaps influenced by or at least partaking of the same tradition, the Chuang Tzu reflects and extends this theme: personal alignment must precede political action; else the action is corrupt. If the individual is unbalanced, presumably his/her thoughts and actions are also unbalanced. This internal imbalance further imbalances the surrounding world. As an example, it is best not to speak when angry, as regrettable words will be spoken, which in turn lead to regrettable consequences.

Summary

Verse 10: A well-ordered mind (hsin) naturally produces well-ordered words and actions, which in turn generate a well-ordered community. In other words, a well-ordered mind is the root of a well-ordered community.

Footnotes

1  Harold Roth, Original Tao, Inward Training (Nei-yeh), Columbia University Press, 1999, p. 70. Each translation of the Nei-yeh's verses comes from this book.

2  The Great Learning translated by A. Charles Muller, 7-4-2013, http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/greatlearning.html

 

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