第三章
原文：不尚贤，使民不争；不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；不见可欲，使民心不乱。是以圣人之治，虚其心，实其腹，弱其志，强其骨。常使民无知无欲，使夫智者不敢为也。为无为，则无不治。
罗汉乱弹琴：
不尚贤，使民不争——不把有才能的人捧到至高无上的地位（比如我们曾经把毛捧为红太阳那样），这样，人就不会因羡慕而起争竞高位之心。
不贵难得之货，使民不为盗——不把稀有的东西高标其价，人就不会因此而起盗心。
不见可欲，使民心不乱——不张扬人贪得无厌的欲望，社会人心就不会动乱（“不见可欲”的“见”字，在古汉语里作“现”字讲）。
是以圣人之治，虚其心，实其腹，弱其志，强其骨——因此，圣人治理社区、国家的方法，就是让人有谦虚的心，让他们衣食无虑，让他们的志向不外求而内省。并且强身健体。
我在这里和一般学者的论调又大相庭径了。庭径在一个“虚”字和一个“志”字的解说上。一般学者将“虚其心”讲成让老百姓无欲无求，好一点的讲成“净化人民的心”，应当说老子的确有这层意思。但更多的是让百姓的心保持谦虚宁静状态的意思。“弱其志”，有很多学者都讲成抑制、消磨、消弭人的斗志，如此一来，老子的思想被打上消极保守的标签，也就成了必然。如此误解，源于对“志”字的理解，按照以斗争哲学为自己指南的革命党人来说，这志就是积极向上，为理想为目标努力奋斗的意思。我要说，这样的理解，只对了一半。我们仔细看这个“志”字的写法：上面是“士”，下面是“心”，很多人将此字的含义讲成，凡是“士”（男子），都应该是有心（思想、理想、抱负）的人。但他们没有仔细看这“士”，原来是一干倒竖的“干”——古代的一种兵器。现在这兵器不是向外，而是倒指其心。这就说明古人在造这个字时，是要告诉后人，只有那种敢于把兵器对准自己，而不对向外人，也就是敢于挑战自我，严厉要求自己的人，才是有志的男人。现在我们来看老子说的“弱其志”，分明用的是“弱”字，显然不是要消弭人的志，只是要弱化人的志——那种对自己设定过高人生目标，提出超出生命极限要求的“志”。在现实生活中我们看到，无论是教练还是刘翔本人，都在不停地树立我是第一，我要永远保持第一的“志”，姚明就是为了在上届奥运会要把中国男篮带进八强，脚伤未彻底痊愈就上球场，硬拼了个死去活来，勉强进了八强，为国争了光，实现了自己的“志”，但却最终不得不过早地结束自己的球场生涯。应当说姚明的这种“志”，在个人英雄主义、锦标主义同样看得很重的美国NBA，却是绝对不提倡的。他们宁肯姚明照拿工资也不要他上场。我们不难看出，那种锦标主义第一的运动员，能长寿的，确属少见。伤残、短寿的，倒是层出不穷。由此，大家想想，老子提倡“弱其志”，是否是对生命的保护。
常使民无知无欲，使夫智者不敢为也——常使百姓处于无非分思想和过度欲求的状态，这样就可以让聪明过度的人不敢有所作为了。
这里要说明我是怎样乱弹“知”和“智”两个字的。“知”是由“矢”和“口”组成。在古代这个“知”就是等同于“智”的。这个字的初义是：一口咬定像箭矢那样笔直明确目标不放的人。以后“知”逐渐专用于“知道”的意思，那么这个“知”的含义就成了知道目标的意思，从而在“知”字下面再加一个“目”，就成了“智慧”的“智”。“知”和“智”于是有了如下的区别：知，仅仅是知道；智，则不仅仅知道，还是看得很清楚的知道。因此，前者仅是知其然的知道，后者则是知其所以然的知道。
请注意，我在这里将“知”和“智”，讲成“非分”和“过度”，是根据上下文整体意思而传递老子的思想。或者，这也是我的乱弹琴。
为无为，则无不治——其实这个“为”字，若还原成繁体字，也一下看得出，是画的一种似马非马的四蹄动物。这种动物常常逆风而行。只有明白了这点，才会真正体会老子说的“无为”，原来有不要逆风而行，也就是不要逆自然趋势，逆社会潮流而动的意思。因此，这里的“为无为”就是只要我们做不逆潮流而动的事，则无论是对自然生态环境，还是参与社会活动，就没有说作不好的事啦。
Luohan comprehension：
不尚贤，使民不争——Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves.
不贵难得之货，使民不为盗——Not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves.
不见可欲，使民心不乱——Not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder.
是以圣人之治，虚其心，实其腹，弱其志，强其骨——Therefore the sage，in the exercise of his government，empties their minds，fills their bellies，weakens their wills，and strengthens their bones.
The argument is quit different between the general scholar. The differences of explanations are at the word “虚”and“志”. “虚其心”means without desire by some of the general scholars，it 's better to say that“purity their minds” but it is more pf a peaceful and humble status. “弱其志”has been said to depress and sap their spirits. So the thoughts of Lao-Tzu would be marked with the labels negative and inhibited are necessary. The cause of misconceptions is from the understanding of“志”. For the revolutionaries“志”means to be a positive person and striving for the ideal. To this understanding，I may say that half of this is right. When we look carefully we can see the writing of the character“志”：Above it is the word“士”and the below is the word“心”. Many people explain the meaning of the word is each man（士）should has the heart （the thought、ideals and aspirations），but they did not really look at the word“士”. It originally from the word“干”what has been set vertically. —— A weapons of ancient times. Now the weapon is not outwars but point towards the center. This illustrates the descendant that only the braves who point at themselves rather than the innocent should be dare to challenge，to be self-discipline and perseverance. Now we talk about “弱其志”of Lao-Tzu. Here use the word“弱”，it is not to sap your spirits，but to weaken the will——set high targets for youself and transcend their limits. In the real life we can see，whether Liuxiang or the coach of him，continues to establish the concept of “being the number one. In order to reach the quarterfinals of the last Olympic Chinese basketball，Yao Ming struggle in the game with his foot injury had not yet well and barely into the quarterfinals，had won our country honour in the Olympics，but he finally ended the career prematurely. In America's NBA where emphasis on individual heroism do not advocate this“志”because it overdraft the life. They would rather pay a salary to Yao Ming instead of push him into the game. It's not hard to see that the athete of the conpetitions of cups and medals will not live long，and the disabled ones are endless.
常使民无知无欲，使夫智者不敢为也。—— He constantly （tries to）keep them without knowledge and without desire，and where there are those who have knowledge，to keep them from presuming to act（on it）.
It needs to be stressed the word“知”and“智”. “知”is consist of“失”and“口”. In ancient times，“知”was equated with the word“智”. The primary interpretation is：a man who has a target went off like an arrow. Then the word“知”means“知道”，also means understand the goals，so add a word“日”below the“知”change to the word“智”（ bright sunny shine around）. The difference between“知”and“智”is：知，only means knows；智：not only means knows but also means know clearly. Therefore the former one means know the knowledge while the last one means intellence and wisdom.
So notice the words “知”and“智”in here is said to be“lack”and“excessively”，this is my understanding of Lao-Tzu.
为无为，则无不治—— Actually if the word“为”revert to the tradional character，we could easily recognize it's a four-legged horse-like animal. The animal always running against the wind. Only we know this point，we will really understand“无为”by Lao-Tzu，it is means not to run against the wind，not to inverse the laws of nature，not to adverse the trend of the society. So “无为”in here means if we do not adverse the trend of society，so no matter the ecological management or the social management that can do well.
2011年12月22日星期四于富力湾
