Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honor and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind).
What is meant by speaking thus of favor and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favor). The getting that (favor) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity): this is what is meant by saying that favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared.
And what is meant by saying that honor and great calamity are to be (similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the body, what great calamity could come to me?
Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honoring it as he honors his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it.
(Tao Teh King 13)
Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honor and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind).
This is going to be explained later, but here at the beginning we have the assurance that such things as favor and disgrace, gain and loss, etc., are simply so from the way that we view them. Of themselves they are nothing, but our valuation of them gives them a character. Many people have found that calamities were good for them and that successes were burdens and miseries. It is all according to our personal view of them, a view that can change with time. This is a valuable piece of knowledge because it can help us to be even-minded in times of intense change.
What is meant by speaking thus of favor and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favor). The getting that (favor) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity): this is what is meant by saying that favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared.
This is quite reasonable. When we are high on the ladder we fear a fall, and when we are low on the ladder we scramble to climb higher. Both are a torment to us. Realizing this, if we develop indifference to them and put our attention on inner cultivation, we will not suffer.
And what is meant by saying that honor and great calamity are to be (similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the body, what great calamity could come to me?
Relative existence is a great calamity if we do not know how to deal with it, how to make it an instrument for wisdom and peace. But once we do know how to use it meaningfully, then the disaster becomes great good fortune.
Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honoring it as he honors his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it.
If only we could find such people in government! For now we will be wiser to turn our attention to our own life and make sure that we live it with honor and integrity, placing the highest value on this chance for higher consciousness and the freedom it brings.
Next in the Tao Teh King for Awakening: Prehistoric Origins