The attachment to the self denote subjective obsession with an illusory ego. Liberation arises solely through relinquishing egoic attachment.
Favor and disgrace both cause alarm;
great misfortune is feared as much as one’s own body.What does it mean to be alarmed by favor and disgrace?
Favor is a lowly thing:
to gain it startles you, and to lose it startles you—
this is what is meant by being alarmed by favor and disgrace.What does it mean to regard great misfortune as seriously as one’s own body?
The reason I suffer great misfortune is that I have a body.
If I had no body, what misfortune could touch me?Thus, only one who values the world as his own body may be entrusted with the world;
only one who loves the world as his own body may be charged with the world.
Note
Egoic attachment generates artificial suffering through:
Creating duality
- Separation of the self from the whole;
- Confrontational dynamics: Self vs. Others.
Generating distortions
- Illusions of hierarchical superiority;
- Pathological pursuit of external validation.
The delusional attachment to personal identity fuels existential anguish. The false dichotomy between “self” and “others” breeds confrontation, perpetuating illusions of supremacy and dependence on external affirmations.
Further Reading
Chapter Thirteen’s statement that “favor and disgrace are both alarming” is directly related to Chapter Forty-Four’s “knowing contentment avoids disgrace; knowing when to stop avoids danger.” Chapter Forty-Four explicitly identifies “knowing contentment” as key to avoiding misfortune, while Chapter Thirteen, through the phenomenon of reacting to favor and disgrace, demonstrates the dangers of not knowing contentment. Together, they form a complete “theory-practice” logical chain.
The line in Chapter Thirteen, “If I have no self, what calamity can befall me?” resonates with Chapter Eighty-One’s “The sage does not accumulate. The more he does for others, the more he possesses.” Chapter Thirteen presents a state of self-cultivation that transcends the “small self,” while Chapter Eighty-One elevates this to the ultimate philosophy of “selflessness achieving self-fulfillment.” Together, they further refine the Daoist system of dialectics.
寵辱若驚，貴大患若身。何謂寵辱若驚？寵為下，得之若驚，失之若驚，是謂寵辱若驚。何謂貴大患若身？吾所以有大患者，為吾有身，及吾無身，吾有何患？故貴以身為天下，若可寄天下；愛以身為天下，若可託天下。
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