The Wise Have No Fixed Mind
The Text
圣人常无心，以百姓心为心。善者，吾善之；不善者，吾亦善之，德善。信者，吾信之；不信者，吾亦信之，德信。圣人在天下，歙歙焉，为天下浑其心，百姓皆注其耳目，圣人皆孩之。
The wise have no fixed mind; they take the people’s mind as their mind. To the good I am good; to the not-good I am also good — that is how goodness is earned. To the trustworthy I am trustworthy; to the untrustworthy I am also trustworthy — that is how trust is earned. The wise, facing the world, contract their mind with the world. The people all fix their eyes and ears on them, and the wise treat them all as children.
Reading it
A radical operational definition: no position to defend, so nothing can be strategized against. The doubling toward the not-good is not naivety — it is refusing to let other people’s conduct set your conduct. The closing image is parental, not paternal: care without requiring reciprocity.
一个激进的操作定义：没有要守的立场，于是无从被算计。对不善者的加倍善待不是天真——是拒绝让别人的行为设定你的行为。收束的意象是父母式的：照护，但不索求回报。
Meet one difficult person this week without pre-loading a stance. Notice how much of the difficulty was yours.
这周不带预设立场地见一个难相处的人。看那份难有多少是你自己带的。