The Tao Te Ching

[soma]

The gentlest thing in the world

overcomes the hardest thing in the world.

That which has no substance

enters where there is no space.

This shows the value of non-action.

 

If we think of the Tao or God as what ties everything together in some form of harmony, then everything is in a relationship with everything, God or the Tao. When everything is in a relationship with everything else then nothingness or no thing exist in isolation or separate from everything so there is nothing. Therefore everything inseparable even opposites are one. In our body we have opposite muscles that complement one another. One muscle straightens the arm and the opposite muscle bends the arm. We have opposites in the body that complement each other for the health and well being of the entire body. It seems it was designed to co-operate and work with opposites that are inseparable. In other words opposites are just two parts of one whole and are not separate. In silence, we have no point where heat ends and cold begins. I think this dialog is talking about the cooperation and oneness of everything working together. We have two eyes and they see one vision and our two ears hear one sound. To see the value of non-action, one needs to realize and be aware of the Oneness of All things. Non-action implies that there is no one doing the action so there is no-action, just Oneness. I find this passage leading to the stillness of the mind where we understand and find our One True Love, the Tao, or God.

 

Teaching without words,

performing without actions:

that is the Master's way.

Silence seems to speak volumes on the infinite, as our theories and knowledge are finite and only explain a part. I feel if a teacher says that a theory is the only true or possible one then it is a sign that this master does not understand the theory or the dilemma. Our minds are limited like words and can’t grasp all possibilities; therefore to look for understanding I think the Tao is saying one needs to look beyond the mind without words or actions. I feel in pure being one finds and can understand the One True Love. Therefore; religion would not be about believing in things, words or rules, but about being sacred and holy, whole-ly.

[tariki]

Just reflecting upon the "silence" of truth, and of how such silence relates to the preferences of our own ego driven false self, linking this with the words of Wei Wu Wei in the Harlequinade.....

 

Every time we happen on a statement or sentiment that fits in with our conditioned

notions we adopt it, perhaps with enthusiasm, at the same time ignoring, as though they

did not exist, the statements or sentiments which either we did not like or did not

understand.

 

The danger is that the false self draws its lines early in life, and then "life" and "truth" and "reality" flow only from the lines drawn.

 

I turned to Merton again and looked up some words on silence he had written, this time in the introduction to his "Collected Poems". For me they are insightful and beautiful, and in speaking of "all things" he touches upon the non-discriminatory nature of our true selves and true reality.

 

There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom, the Mother of all, creating nature. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humilty. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator's Thought and Art within me, speaking as Holy Wisdom, speaking as my sister, Wisdom

 

These words speak of the humilty of Christ, who came to serve, not to be served...........and of Amida, whose eons of selfless "practice" issued from compassion for all and not from any seeking to gain "merit" for "self".

[JosephM]

Chapter 44 now open for dialog or discussion...

 

Fame or integrity: which is more important?

Money or happiness: which is more valuable?

Success of failure: which is more destructive?

 

If you look to others for fulfillment,

you will never truly be fulfilled.

If your happiness depends on money,

you will never be happy with yourself.

 

Be content with what you have;

rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking,

the whole world belongs to you.

 

 

Sounds like something Jesus himself could have said....

Joseph

[tariki]

This last chapter seems - mainly - to lack that paradoxical element that so many of the chapters have. But the success or failure question digs deeper, and the words of that so eloquent bard Bod Dylan spring to mind. The enigmatic........

 

 

She knows there's no success like failure

And that failure's no success at all.

 

...from his song Love Minus Zero/No Limit. (Which is full of imagery that I havent the foggiest notion about!.... )

 

Maybe when we think the "whole thing" has been "sorted", when it "all" begins to make "sense", when we have more answers than questions.............rather than "success" we've hit failure big time? There realy does seem to me to be a great potential in "unknowing"

 

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom

[soma]

Fame or integrity: which is more important?

Money or happiness: which is more valuable?

Success of failure: which is more destructive?

 

I feel this is a concrete teaching not abstract like the other stanzas. It seems in the physical world many invest a lot of time becoming famous, and to earn money, but on the way they lose their integrity and happiness. Gaining fame or money a materialist would consider this success, while a person with spiritual leanings would see that as destructive if they lost their integrity and happiness. Their success would be measured in integrity and happiness.

 

If you look to others for fulfillment,

you will never truly be fulfilled.

If your happiness depends on money,

you will never be happy with yourself.

 

I think the Tao is reiterating the importance of the first stanza.

I feel it is teaching us how to be happy 7 days a week and not just on the weekends.

 

Be content with what you have;

rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking,

the whole world belongs to you.

 

I think many see the ocean currents as individual things and barriers, but in reality they are interconnected ecosystems and are continuous. Our individual lives are also like the ocean currents because they tell of one history that is interwoven, and in this knowledge that we are part of something larger I think we find contentment, satisfaction and happiness in life.

[JosephM]

Chapter 45 now open for discussion/dialog ......

 

True perfection seems imperfect,

yet it is perfectly itself.

True fullness seems empty,

yet it is fully present.

 

True straightness seems crooked.

True wisdom seems foolish.

True art seems artless.

 

The Master allows things to happen.

She shapes events as they come.

She steps out of the way

and lets the Tao speak for itself.

 

 

Let the Tao speak for itself. I like that . God doesn't need judging or defending or people to speak for God. Especially things vainly puffed up by ones own mind. IMO, It is enough to point the way as the day is and will come when ALL will know God for themselves.

[JosephM]

Comments on chapter 45.....??? if not i will move on to 46 in a few days,

 

Joseph

[soma]

All I can say is that perfection is similar to the color white. We think white is the absence of other colors, but it includes all colors.

[rivanna]

I always liked this chapter, seems partly on appearance vs reality, and partly on living without preconceptions of how life should be.

 

Mitchell’s notes on chapter 45:

 

True perfection: A cracked coffee cup. The sound of traffic outside your window.

(sort of bewildering)

True fullness. Attention, for example.

(that I get)

 

It’s interesting that Mitchell translates the last verses quite differently from almost everyone else – usually they’re about movement being the remedy for cold and stillness the remedy for heat – and the final line is most often like Feng/English,

 

"Stillness and tranquility set things in order in the universe."

[tariki]

 

True perfection: A cracked coffee cup. The sound of traffic outside your window.

(sort of bewildering)

 

rivanna, there are many things that bewilder me, but the search for perfection is not one of them. I don't even try.

I remember the story of a famous Zen master who came to the West (the USA) and took classes. On one particular occasion he stood at the front during one meditation session and the extent of the fidgiting and discomfort of everyone was obvious. He said......"These feelings of inadequacies, this sense of discomfort, these constant irritations will........."( at which point all present anticipated the encouraging words of "will soon, with practice, disappear" ) but he continued....."will be with you for the rest of your life!!"

 

A clearly enlightened person falls into the well. How is this so? (Traditional Zen Koan)

 

Perfection is an illusion, and the thought that it exists somewhere beyond the present moment is the source of untold misery.

 

 

Anyway, thats my take on it.

 

[tariki]

Joseph has asked me to kick off another chapter. I have agreed (for a small fee)

 

Chapter 46 now open for comments....

 

When a country is in harmony with the Tao,

the factories make trucks and tractors.

When a country goes counter to the Tao,

warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.

 

There is no greater illusion than fear,

no greater wrong than preparing to defend oneself,

no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

 

Who ever can see through all fear

will always be safe.

[soma]

I feel the subjective part of the mind is a connecting link between the present self-awareness and the unconscious instinctive naturalness of the past. This dual process can be observed through out history where there is progress in human aptitude and achievements. This expresses the potency of man's intellect, but on the other hand, we see in the world an increasing isolation, an escalation of animosity and mutual fear, culminating in conflict and mutual destruction. But the man or woman who is balanced between the present awareness and the unconscious instinctive past achieves a psychic wholeness and is not affected by these negatives because he rules nature. This person has meaning because he or she becomes a meaningful part of the future and achieves a consciousness I like to call Christ consciousness where nothing is found in heaven or earth, which is not found in being. For this person not only is everything possible, but everything is present within his consciousness. These people have learned once again how to experience life directly. A country is a group consciousness so instead of naming our missiles Peace Keepers, we need to develop ourselves and others as peace keepers.

[rivanna]

Mitchell’s note on chapter 46:

 

“Whoever can see through fear: This is the only real defense. President Roosevelt said, We have nothing to fear but fear itself. I would say, Not even that.”

 

Again, I find it interesting to compare translations. This one changes the idea significantly from others, where the theme is that discontent, envy and greed are the worst evils. Mitchell’s version focuses on fear being an illusion, dropping unnecessary defenses. Actually I think the way Mitchell has it is more in keeping with the first part. Seems like this ideal is easier for individuals than for nations --probably just as true in Lao Tzu’s time.

[soma]

Yes, instead of finding peace within we build missiles that can kill and call them Peace Keepers.

[JosephM]

"Who ever can see through all fear

will always be safe. "

 

 

I do think that sums it (the chapter) up quite nice. I don't understand it but somehow i believe it.

 

Joseph

[JosephM]

Chapter 47 now open for dialog/discussion...

 

Without opening your door,

you can open your heart to the world.

Without looking out your window,

you can see the essence of the Tao.

 

The more you know,

the less you understand.

 

The Master arrives without leaving,

sees the light without looking,

achieves without doing a thing.

 

------------------------------------

 

This particular translation to me makes it rather difficult to understand the intent but someone (don't know the author) , summed it up as...

 

"You don't need to go anywhere as the core of it all is deep within you."

 

"The way to do is to Be."

 

which to me seems to follow what we have previously covered in earlier chapters.

Joseph

[tariki]

Looking for Christian parallels, it seems to suggest the contrast between the law written on human hearts - as opposed to tablets of stone. We can see our ego - false self - as a "tablet of stone", and seek to write upon it our experience and all the consequences of our "knowledge", and secure in ourselves, full of ourselves, judge the world around us and those within it. The Bible itself can contribute to this, becoming the "letter of the law" which is referred to to justify our judgements.

 

"They search the scriptures daily for in them they think they have life."

 

There seems to be no prescribed path for going beyond such a false self, all I can put into words is perhaps a degree of self judgement and vulnerability, and a true faith and trust in infinite compassion in which we live and move and have our being.

 

The Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor speaks of responding to a moral dilemma by just repeating "the gestures and words of a parent, an authority figure, a religious text". Yet, "while moral conditioning may be necessary for social stability, it is inadequate as a paradigm of integrity."

 

It seems that the Tao is the way of spontaneity, where "no working is true working".

[JosephM]

Looking for Christian parallels, it seems to suggest the contrast between the law written on human hearts - as opposed to tablets of stone. We can see our ego - false self - as a "tablet of stone", and seek to write upon it our experience and all the consequences of our "knowledge", and secure in ourselves, full of ourselves, judge the world around us and those within it. The Bible itself can contribute to this, becoming the "letter of the law" which is referred to to justify our judgements.

 

"They search the scriptures daily for in them they think they have life."

 

(snip)

 

 

Thanks Derek,

 

I like your contrast . I didn't see that in the writing until you mentioned it. The Tao is very abstract at times and a correlation to another way of looking at it really helps.

 

Joseph

[soma]

I feel this chapter is talking about the intimate union of non-being and being. This starts within so there is no need to go outside to find knowledge because wisdom is seeing from within this union of being and non-being. In the center of our being we are united with everything so everything is within our consciousness. To go outside to me means to leave our center of consciousness and the love and unity in our heart. This causes us to judge, label, contrast and compare instead of accepting and being. The former causes us to react and not see things as they are.

 

Hypocrisy is the practice of preaching beliefs that we do not hold so going outside to change the world without being in our center with the world is hypocrisy. Therefore, sitting in a church does not make one a Christian similar to sitting in a garage does not make one a car so it doesn’t matter what church we go to, but what matters is what is felt inside; the heartfelt, joy, and peace. Centered in that pure being of God, love and unity, I feel we can venture outside because everything is at that time within our consciousness and we would not hurt or harm something within our being. John said, “The truth shall make you free.” I feel the truth is inside and when one is centered one is free to go and be anywhere with out disruption, or separation from being and non-being.

[rivanna]

Mitchell’s note on the more you know – the more you know without knowing yourself.

 

There almost seems to be a contradiction between gaining information vs. understanding or wisdom…similar to the verses in Ecclesiastes, that much study leads to sorrow, etc.

 

Also Emily Dickinson, though she could hardly be called a Taoist, wrote many poems that resonate with this chapter….

 

1052

I never saw a moor,

I never saw the sea;

Yet know I how the heather looks,

And what a wave must be.

 

I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in heaven;

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the chart were given.

 

827

 

The Only News I know

Is Bulletins all Day

From Immortality.

 

The Only Shows I see—

Tomorrow and Today—

Perchance Eternity—

 

The Only One I meet

Is God…..

 

832

 

Soto! Explore thyself!

Therein thyself shalt find

The "Undiscovered Continent" —

No Settler had the Mind.

 

433

 

I went to School

But was not wiser

Globe did not teach it

Nor Logarithm Show

 

"How to forget"!

Say—some—Philosopher!

Ah, to be erudite

Enough to know!

[JosephM]

There almost seems to be a contradiction between gaining information vs. understanding or wisdom…similar to the verses in Ecclesiastes, that much study leads to sorrow, etc

 

Rivanna,

I would agree.

I do think that in our pursuit of knowledge we do indeed learn 'much about' which in my experience is a detractor of "true knowing". One is IMO usually ego based and focused on 'doing' and much study which has the appearance of much reward but does lead to sorrow while the other is focused on 'not doing' and subjective experiences leading more to peace.

 

Just a personal view,

Joseph

[JosephM]

Chapter 48 now open for discussion/dialog....

 

 

In pursuit of knowledge,

every day something is added.

In the practice of the Tao,

every day something is dropped.

Less and less do you need to force things,

until finally you arrive at non-action.

When nothing is done,

nothing is left undone.

 

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It can't be gained by interfering.

 

 

 

It seems to me, in following the Tao, that which is to be dropped is our conditioning and certainty of preconceived ideas and thoughts concerning reality, meaning, and judgements based on appearances.

[soma]

Since Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, the principles of consciousness are contained within man in ideal equilibrium. To relate this Chapter to the Bible, I compare it to the tree of knowledge of good and evil that puzzled Adam. I feel that is when he lost his spiritual connection with the whole. Adam saw everything through the veil of the individual knowledge of his ego so he saw things menacing him and separate from God as the balance of the universe became blurred in his limited knowledge. After leaving the Garden of Eden and the state of pure consciousness, Adam tried to regain his original state by creating his own balance and knowledge. This creation of individual consciousness is not reality because it is a state of isolation on the physical level, not a working together in harmony with the whole. The unit consciousness focused outwardly on the knowledge of the physical level, for me turns out to be the first phase of evolution.

The second phase of evolution for me seems to be a conscious development or rising above the external, physical world. The mind is very remarkable how it creates and maintains the illusion of ego and hides our real self with knowledge. I feel our real self is the pure consciousness, the ‘pure I' or the soul as it exists in its original, pure, spotless and perfect state. I feel this perfect state is hidden to such an extent that we live the greater part of our lives not knowing that it exists, and in our beings we don't experience who we really are. This ignorance I relate to the fall of Adam and Eve. This fall of man is the fall from our higher consciousness to our lower consciousness, to knowledge, where we lose our awareness of freedom and immortality and become subject to our senses and the impermanent material world. As we let go of our ideas and concepts knowledge seems to fall away and the soul is realized. I seems to be the clouds clearing away to reveal the sun.

[JosephM]

Thank you Soma, for that wonderful and enlightening explanation of what you see and how it relates.

 

Joseph

[Marsha]

Great comments here.

 

I was thinking a comparative from a Christian perspective (regarding following the Tao) is that simple assurance that God is in control of his creation and all is as it should be..even when there are appearances to the contrary. An acknowledgement or awareness of unity, wholeness, perfection, on some level.