Chapter 22.1: Restoration and Renewal on the Way

 

Broken yet made whole, twisted yet straightened out, 

hollowed out yet filled up, tattered yet renewed, 

among the few yet obtaining, among the many yet confused.

This is why the sages embrace and hold on to unity 

as the shepherd of the world.

The metaphors used in this passage to describe our journey of becoming sages (wise people) on the Way are all about restoration and speak to deep-seated emotional needs.  In our own ways, each of us feels misshapen, crooked, twisted, and broken at times as we go round and round riding on that roller coaster of relative worth with its corkscrew of constant comparison.  We get all screwed up and bent out of shape about things that don’t really matter.  Sometimes we feel heavily burdened and weighed down with regret, remorse, guilt, and shame, dragging the past around with us like a weight around our necks.  We feel empty inside, hollowed out, and tattered, and alone even as we feel like we are just a number, one of a meaningless many, another hunk of flesh on the meat market of life, left feeling dazed and confused about our place amidst the confused masses trapped in the maze of life.

The essential invitation and promise of the Way is that we can be made whole again – like pure jade.  We can look up, look around, and move forward.  We can stand up, stand out, and stand tall again amidst the confused masses.  We can be renewed and restored whole-cloth.  We can refuel, rekindle the spark of our lives, and rediscover our destinies.  We can find our Way, embrace our place in the universe, and lay hold of our true worth as precious beings and priceless treasures.  

This is why the sages embrace and hold on to unity.  There are things in this world that drive us apart from each other – beliefs and worldviews, politics and propaganda.  There are things that fracture our souls.  Yet, the Way can bring us back together, back to ourselves and to each other.  Reuniting our divided selves and divided societies back into a single flock where all are nurtured, protected, and equally valued is the Way.  Unity can shepherd us to greener pastures in life.  This metaphor is familiar to Jews and Christians who have read of the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  As individuals and as communities and societies, we can experience a beautiful homecoming and restoration.  We can return to the wellspring of our souls, reconnect with the taproot of our true selves, and strengthen the constants of our core being.  We can embrace unity in diversity within ourselves and all those around us.  ~ DCB

Translation & Etymology Notes: This section is rich in imagery.  The character for “whole” or “perfect” 全 (quan2) contains a simplified form of jade 玉.  The Shuowen jiezi 说文解字, China’s earliest etymological dictionary completed in 100 CE during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), states that 全 refers to “pure jade.”  The Chinese character 新 (xin1) depicts an axe 斤 chopping down a hazelnut tree 亲 and carries the idea of replenishing firewood.  From this I have extrapolated the idea of rekindling a fire.  The character 多 (duo1) meaning many or numerous refers to two racks of ribs or hunks of meat.  Additionally, I have incorporated the Mawangdui manuscripts variant for the last line, which replaces 包一, to embrace unity, with 执一 "to hold on to unity" and I have followed the Mawangdui reading for 牧 (mu4) shepherd instead of 式 (shi4) a model.

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