Chapter 49第49章

The sage has no fixed mind — he takes the mind of the people as his mind. Those who are good, I treat with goodness. Those who are not good, I also treat with goodness — and thus goodness is attained. Those who are trustworthy, I trust. Those who are untrustworthy, I also trust — and thus trust is attained. The sage draws all minds into his mind. He treats everyone as children. This is not naivety or foolishness. It's like water that conforms to every vessel — taking the shape of goodness when goodness is present, and pouring goodness into the very places where it's absent. You don't make people good by treating them as bad.

The sage has no fixed mind — he takes the mind of the hundred families as his own. The good I treat with goodness. The not-good I also treat with goodness. Virtue is goodness. The faithful I treat with faith. The unfaithful I also treat with faith. Virtue is faith. This is not moral relativism — it's something far more radical. It's the recognition that consciousness precedes behavior. If you treat the untrustworthy with distrust, you CREATE more untrustworthiness. If you treat the unworthy with indifference, you perpetuate unworthiness. The sage's mind is like a field — it nourishes whatever is planted in it without discrimination. The hundred families all turn their ears and eyes to him, and the sage treats them all as children. This is what the shaman does — holds the space of unconditional presence in which transformation becomes possible.

Wang Bi says the sage has no fixed mind of his own — he takes the minds of the hundred surnames as his mind. This is not weakness but the ultimate capacity. Each person is affirmed in their proper use: the good are not abandoned, and even those who are not good are met with goodness, so that goodness itself is not lost. The trustworthy are met with trust, and even the untrustworthy are met with trust, so that trust itself is not lost. The sage makes his heart vast for all under heaven, merging and blending everything together. The people all strain their ears and eyes — everyone employs their cleverness and sharpness — but the sage treats them all as children. That is to say, the sage causes them to be harmonious and without desire, like infants. He does not impose a fixed standard but responds to each according to what they are.

Wang Bi’s commentary here is a theory of radical responsiveness. The sage has no fixed heart-mind; he takes the hundred surnames’ heart-mind as his own. This is not self-erasure but infinite adaptability. Good people are met with goodness; those who are not good are also met with goodness — thereby goodness is attained. Trustworthy people are met with trust; the untrustworthy are also met with trust — thereby trust is attained. Wang Bi is describing a non-reactive, non-judgmental mode of engagement that creates the very qualities it responds with. The sage 'makes his heart vast for all under heaven, merging and blending.' The people employ their sharpness and cleverness, but the sage treats them all as children — which is to say, returns them to the state of harmoniousness and desirelessness. Then the deeper layer: 'He does not govern through particular standards but responds to things without fixed position.' This is governance as pure mirror — reflecting each situation without distortion. The moment you have a fixed position, you have a blind spot. The sage has no blind spots because he has no position. This is the political application of the ego-death experience.