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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Tao Te Ching · 75 of 81

Chapter 75

The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine.

The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive) agency of their superiors (in governing them). It is through this that they are difficult to govern.

The people make light of dying because of the greatness of their labours in seeking for the means of living. It is this which makes them think light of dying. Thus it is that to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.

Asked of Guide

Why does Lao Tzu say people “make light of dying” because of their labours for living?

Lao Tzu observes that relentless taxation and heavy governance force people into constant toil so survival swallows everything else; their “greatness of their labours in seeking for the means of living” makes death seem trivial because life has become only labor. The chapter argues that attaching excessive value to prolonging life by accumulating goods and protections warps priorities and exhausts people into indifference to death.

He recommends abandoning that single-minded chase for livelihood: “to leave the subject of living altogether out of view is better than to set a high value on it.” This parallels Chuang Tzu’s praise of softness and natural ease, which treats life as openness rather than a thing to be maximized by force.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.

Echoes elsewhere

Chuang Tzu · Taoism76. 1. Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death The Mahabharata · Hinduismattached to his field, his shop, or his home, before he has obtained the fruit of his acts. Death bears away the weak, the strong, the brave, the timid, the idiotic, and the learne The Sayings of Lao Tzu · Taoismand strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness are the concomitants of life. Hence the warrior that is strong does not conquer; the tree that is strong is cut do