玄德 · 知者不言与玄同

Xuán Dé

Classical Chinese Text

知者不言，言者不知。塞其兑，闭其门；挫其锐，解其纷；和其光，同其尘，是谓玄同。故不可得而亲，不可得而疏；不可得而利，不可得而害；不可得而贵，不可得而贱；故为天下贵

Translation & Meaning

真正彻悟大道的人不逞口舌高谈阔论，夸夸其谈炫耀言辞的人往往并未真正悟道。 收摄感官嗜欲的孔窍，闭守外逐纷扰的门径；磨去傲慢的锋芒，消解内心的纠结，收敛耀眼的光彩，混同于朴素的尘世——这就叫做与大道浑然冥合的“玄同”境界。 达到玄同境界的人，外人无法靠拉拢去偏私亲附他，也无法靠排挤去孤立疏远他；无法用厚利去诱惑他，也无法用祸害去威吓他；无法用权位使他自高，也无法用贬抑使他自卑。正因如此独立超然，才成为天下最尊贵的人格。

Commentary

青禾散人评注：“不可得而亲疏、利害、贵贱”——这是何等绝对的精神主权！当一个人内在无欲无求、与道玄同，世间一切操控筹码在他面前皆归失效。

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
  • 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 言 (yán): words / speech
  • 塞 (sāi): classical character (sāi)
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 兑 (duì): sharpness / apertures
  • 闭 (bì): classical character (bì)
  • 门 (mén): gateway / portal of reality
  • 挫 (cuò): classical character (cuò)
  • 锐 (ruì): classical character (ruì)
  • 解 (jiě): untangle / resolve
  • 纷 (fēn): turmoil / entanglement
  • 和 (hé): accord / harmonize
  • 光 (guāng): light / radiance / shine
  • 同 (tóng): identical / unified / same source
  • 尘 (chén): dirt / dust / mundane
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 玄 (xuán): mystery / fathomless depth
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 可 (kě): can / capable of being
  • 得 (dé): obtain / acquire / gain
  • 而 (ér): yet / and / but
  • 亲 (qīn): classical character (qīn)
  • 疏 (shū): classical character (shū)
  • 利 (lì): benefits / nourishes
  • 害 (hài): classical character (hài)
  • 贵 (guì): prize / cherish / valuable
  • 贱 (jiàn): classical character (jiàn)
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble