14.4

[nicky_p]

Hiya,

I was wondering if someone could explain the connection between the text of this line:

He makes a difference
Between himself and his neighbour.
No blame.

and the commentaries please?

Most of the commentaries I read suggest that this line is about not bragging and not vying for attention but it's not how I see it. To me it looks like differentiating yourself from another and marking out those differences. The only commentary that touches on this is Brian Browne Walker:

Do not indulge in looking at those around you and trying to match them tit for tat. You elevate yourself by disengaging and holding firmly to what is quiet and correct and good.

Even here though there is the stress on not competing with others.

Am I missing something?
Thanks
Nicky

 

[willowfox]

I suppose that if one knows his place in society and is not jealous of others then no blame is accorded him.

But if the person makes a difference between himself and other people, saying that he is better than them, then he would be boasting and surely that would lead to blame.

Therefore, not envying and not boasting results in no blame, no guilt, nothing wrong.

But I tend to think of this line as suggesting not to envy people better off than oneself.

 

[bradford]

Wilhelm doesn't do a great job here, but some of the meaning survives.
Fei qi peng, wu jiu, as literally as I can render it -
It is not one's own domain, no blame.
There's a big fat clue in the Fan Yao, about the young bull in his corral.

For 14.4, You are not the king here.
That means you can relax, enjoy and appreciate the things that you have no
ultimate control over. You have some of the run of the kingdom without the
king's headaches.

 

[nicky_p]

It is not one's own domain, no blame....

For 14.4, You are not the king here.

So whilst 14 is possession in great measure you have no possession in this line and should recognise that fact? But it isn't through any fault of your own that you have no possession?

 

[bradford]

So whilst 14 is possession in great measure you have no possession in this line and should recognise that fact? But it isn't through any fault of your own that you have no possession?

Sort of-
14 as a whole tries to tell us about the nature of wealth, and that there are many unexpected forms of it. In this line it's talking about a form of wealth that lies in acceptance, in not struggling against what you can't change, in not thinking you're someone you're not. This sets you free to focus on what you really have access to.