Tao Te Ching Ch 2

 The Door of all Wonders: The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 2

 

When all people in the world know beautiful as beautiful, 

ugly arises.

When they know good as good, evil arises.

Thus, being and non-being are born together.

Difficult and easy bring about each other.

Long and short are formed together.

High and low face each other.

Notes and tones harmonize together.

Front and back follow each other.

Therefore, the sage does the actionless actions, 

conducts the teaching of no words,

facilitates all creatures to arise without showing any authority.

He rears but does not possess.

He serves but does not expect any gratitude.

He succeeds but does not dwell on his success.

Since he does not dwell on his success, 

his merits will never go away.

 

 

Review

 

Lao Tzu tells us that our world we are living is full of pairs of opposite like the beautiful and the ugly as well as the good and the evil. With beauty, we know what is not beautiful and what is ugly. With goodness, we also know what is opposite of goodness, i.e., the evil. If there is only beauty and goodness in our world, our world would be perfect, but it is not so, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“When all people in the world know beautiful as beautiful, 

ugly arises.

When they know good as good, 

evil arises.”

 

We have all the pairs of opposite. We have something and we also do not have something. As we are told in Chapter 1, all beings come from non-being, i.e., something comes from nothing. From nothing, we have something; then we will return to nothing again, thus Lao Tzu continues:

 

“Thus, being and non-being are born together.

Difficult and easy bring about each other.

Long and short are formed together.

High and low face each other.

Notes and tones harmonize together.

Front and back follow each other.”

 

The concept of being difficult implies there is something easy. Without the concept of being easy, the opposite concept of being difficult cannot exist. If everything is easy, how would you know what is easy and what is difficult? The same are the concepts of being long and short, high and low, front and back. The one exists so the other does and so we know their difference. If everything is long, we do not know what is short. If everything is high, we do not know what is low. If everything is in the front, we do not see anything in the front or at the back. Take the example of music and sounds, with different tunes, a melody can be composed. If there is only one note, one tune, music cannot be composed. Our material world is the same as the music with different tunes and melodies.

 

How does a sage see the world with all the pairs of opposite existences? Lao Tzu tells us to be detached from different situations of up and down, good and bad, pleasing and displeasing, high and low, happiness and sorrow and so on. When having fortune, do not feel so happy. When having misfortune, do not feel too sad. Sometimes we are in the front. Sometimes we are at the back. Sometimes you look tall, while sometimes you look short. Sometimes you are respected as higher than someone, while sometimes you may be disrespected as lower than someone. Sometimes you have some easy job at hand, while sometimes the job is difficult for you. After all, no one can escape from dealing with all these situations of differences in this material world. But beyond the material level, we can master our spiritual world beyond all the pairs of opposites. How can we transcend our view in this material world? Lao Tzu gives us the answer:

 

“The sage does the actionless action.”

 

What is actionless action? That is action without desires. The sage acts without desires, just like the sun shines without desiring anything and anyone, just like the rain falls on the earth without demanding for anyone and anything. It is only the functioning of the nature. Since the sage does not have any desires, he also naturally conducts the teaching of no words. He resembles the nature, “facilitates all creatures to arise without showing any authority.” He does not desire any honor and fame when doing good to people. He also does not demand anything as he is just doing his duties only. He is dispassionate when dealing with different circumstances, just like the functioning of the nature, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“Therefore, the sage does the actionless actions, 

conducts the teaching of no words,

facilitates all creatures to arise without showing any authority.

He rears but does not possess.

He serves but does not expect any gratitude.

He succeeds but does not dwell on his success.”

 

Without sunshine and rain, people will all die but the sun and the cloud do not demand anything when being beneficial to the world. People also do not feel that they are controlled by the sun and the sky. This is the same as the person who has the Truth in him. He is well called as the sage described by Lao Tzu with special quality like the pure nature functioning the Truth. Therefore, he is the leader, but he does not stress on the leading role outwardly. “He rears but does not possess.” He does not want to take away anything from anyone for his personal interest or favour. “He serves but does not expect any gratitude.” No gratitude demanded as he is only doing his duties without expecting anything extra. He succeeds but he also does not hold on to the success as his own. After being successful with achievements, he retires. So, the success of him remains success as it cannot be changed into failure. If he holds on to the success and does not leave his position to let other talented people contribute, his success will turn into failure. So Lao Tzu says:

 

“Since he does not dwell on his success, 

his merits will never go away.”

 

Whenever we see different people with different situations, being one of them in this world, we should remember what Lao Tzu tells us in this Chapter. We cannot avoid all the differences among us in the material level, but spiritually we can avoid being affected and disturbed. We should go higher than all the pairs of opposites. We do not need to be jealous or envious thinking that you are better than someone or someone is better than you. Our spiritual level uplifts us to be aware of the eternity of our soul beyond the perishable material level which is always changing. The spiritual world inside us is One-ness without dualities. Everyone is the same in this One-ness, but most people only see the differences among them rather than the One-ness. This One-ness is the Truth Lao Tzu will go on elaborating in the following Chapters. This awareness of being One is everlasting and changeless.

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 1

 

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna Chor-kok Lam

Book I “Tao Ching” ( The Classic of the Truth)

(Chapter 1 to 37)

Chapter 1

The truth that can be spoken is not the Eternal Truth.

The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name.

The Non-being is called the beginning of the Heaven and the Earth.*

The Being is called the Mother of the whole creation.*

Be always in the stage of Non-being, 

so that we can observe its mystery.

Be always in the stage of Being, 

so that we can observe its manifestations.

These two stages come from the Truth but differ in name.

They are both called the Mystery.

Mystery of Mysteries,

the Door of all Wonders.

*Another translation:  

"The nameless is the origin of the Heavens and the Earth.

The named is the mother of all creatures."

Review

    

The Tao Te Ching traditionally is composed of two parts. The first part is the Tao Ching which focuses on the elaboration of Tao from Chapter 1 to Chapter 37. Each Chapter normally is short and clear with few words but conveying far reaching ideas about the infinite, the Truth. The first Chapter of the Tao Ching starts telling the mystery of our whole creation, the origin of the whole universe. It starts with the verses:

 

“The truth that can be spoken is not the Eternal Truth.

The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name.”

 

Lao Tzu tells us that the Truth, i.e., Tao which cannot be spoken, cannot be expressed and explained well but we need to realize and experience this unspoken Truth inside our heart and mind. As the Truth is infinite, how can people tell the infinite in limited words and expressions? Lao Tzu honestly tells us that he can only try his best to tell the Truth as what the Truth is, therefore, in Chapter 25, concerning Tao, Lao Tzu speaks again:

“There is a thing plainly formed, born before the Heaven and the Earth.

So silent, without form, it stands alone and does not change.

It goes round and does not cease.

It can be the mother of the Heaven and the Earth.

I do not know its name.

I call it the “Truth”.

Unable to describe, I style it “Great”.”

(Chapter 25)

 

Coming back to Chapter 1, Lao Tzu continues with the verses:

 

“The Non-being is called the beginning of the Heaven and the Earth.

The Being is called the mother of the whole creation.”

 

Concerning about the origin of the universe, the Sankhya philosophy [1] of Hinduism used a lot of expressions to explain the ideas and knowledge, while in the Tao Te Ching, only few words are given, but both the Sankhya philosophy and the Tao Te Ching tell the same, without the second. The difference between Hinduism and Buddhism can be coarsely said that they stress on the opposite side of a piece of paper, the Hinduism on the front side and the Buddhism on the back side. The front side tells the solid, the substantial that is “Sat” in Sanskrit meaning the existence of beings, while turning another side of the same paper which tells us the emptiness, nothingness as the origin of the whole universe.

 

In the Sankhya philosophy, the Lord of the whole creation is called Brahman (or Parabrahman) which is the pure consciousness or the highest intelligence without any forms. From Brahman starts the Basic Maya. Maya, in Sanskrit, means ignorance. All the creation of names and forms are ignorance only, because all the names and forms of creation are temporary, incomplete and limited which will be destroyed in the ordained time. Only Brahman is the eternal, unchangeable and never be destroyed. Brahman stands for the “Non-being” while the Basic Maya stands for the “Beings”, the same as the terms used in the Tao Te Ching. With another more straightforward translation of the Tao Te Ching, “Being” is “Something” while “Non-being” is “Nothing”. Lao Tzu tells us that Something, i.e., Being, comes from Nothing, i.e., Non-being which is the same as the relation of Brahman and Basic Maya in Hinduism.

 

Lao Tzu says that Non-being is the beginning and origin of the Heaven and the Earth, i.e. the whole creation, and the Being is the mother of the whole creation. In another expression, the “nothingness”, the Non-being used by Lao Tzu is the Higher Brahman (ie. the formless) stated in the Upanishads [2], the ancient Hindus scriptures, while its manifestations of different names, shapes and forms is called “Lower Brahman” in the Upanishads which is the “Being”, or “Something”, the mother of the whole creation. In the Te Ching, Chapter 40, Lao Tzu says the same idea more clearly:

 

“All creatures in the world are born from Something,

and Something from Nothing.”

(Chapter 40)

 

Therefore, Tao, i.e. the Truth said by Lao Tzu is the Brahman in Hinduism, the Non-being is called the Higher Brahman, while the Being is called the Lower Brahman. It is the Universal Truth of different religions and cultures with different names and expressions only. In Islam, Allah is the only One, the Single, the Lord of all creation, the same as referring to Brahman and Tao. In Chinese culture, Allah is Tao (the Truth) described by Lao Tzu, and the Divine Intelligence (the Heavenly Will) depicted by Mo Tzu [3]. Brahman is the Primordial One, without the second in the Upanishads which is the same in Islam that Allah is the only One, without the second, the third or the fourth. The ancient sacred knowledge in Hinduism, the Tao Te Ching and the revelation of the Quran points to the same Truth only.

 

Then Lao Tzu tells us about the relation between “Being” and “Non-being”, how we can understand and experience the Truth by knowing both “Being” and “Non-being”:

 

“Be always in the stage of Non-being, so that we can observe its mystery.

Be always in the stage of Being, so that we can observe its manifestations.”

 

How clear and precise Lao Tzu tells us this Great Truth by only a few words, while all the scriptures in Hinduism and Buddhism elaborating it with hundreds of thousands of words! When we are meditating in the stage of Non-being, we see nothing and we become the emptiness also. This is the most mysterious stage that we can experience beyond all words and ideas. Therefore, Lao Tzu says, “we can observe its mystery.” That is beyond all words and expressions. Then, when we are meditating in the stage of “Being”, we can see all the different forms and names that are the myriad creatures. We can see different manifestations of the Eternal Non-being. Then we can observe the Greatness of this Eternal Truth with countless forms and shapes.

 

Lao Tzu in the opening of the Opening Chapter says,

 

“The truth that can be spoken is not the Eternal Truth.

The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name.”

 

Religions and philosophies in different cultures in different times can only tell the infinite in limited ways which are not the Eternal Truth and the Eternal Name since all are only the limited manifestations of the infinite, but both the infinite and its limited manifestations are called “the mystery, the mysteries of mysteries”. They are the “Door of all Wonders”. The Tao Te Ching tells us this “Door of all Wonders” with the Opening Chapter onwards:

 

“These two stages come from the Truth but differ in name.

They are both called the Mystery.

Mystery of Mysteries,

the Door of all Wonders.”

 

          There is a poem composed by Guru Nanak (1469-1539) in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib which can give a good response to the Tao Te Ching here:

 

“What should I say, or speak or describe?

Only You Yourself know, O Lord of the Total Wonder.

Nanak takes the Support of the Door of the One God.

There, at the True Door, the Gurmukhs sustain themselves.”

(By Guru Nanak in SGGS, p.355) [4]

Note:

 

[1] Sankhya philosophy is one of the six schools of philosophical teaching in India from ancient times onwards.

 

[2] The Upanishads are the last component of the Veda, the oldest and most sacred literature in ancient India. There are totally 108 books of Upanishads, most of them were formed in the later period of 15^th and 16^th century, while there are 13 books of the earliest formation more than 2500 years ago. The word, Upanishad, in Sanskrit, means the mystery of secret knowledge.

 

[3] Mo Tzu was the philosopher, socialist, politician, scientist and military strategist in ancient China. He was the founder of Mohist school (Mohism, a school of thought in the spring and autumn and warring states periods, 770 BC-221 BC). His life was not much known by the historians.

 

[4] The era of the ten Gurus of Sikhism spans from the birth of the first Guru, Nanak Dev in 1469, through the 10^th Guru, the life of Guru Gobind Singh(1666-1708). At the time of Guru Gobind Singh’s death in 1708, he passed the title of Guru to the Sikh scripture, Siri Guru Granth Sahib. The Granth was written in Gurumukhi script, and it contains the actual words and verses as uttered by the Sikh Gurus. It is considered the Supreme Spiritual Authority and Head of the Sikh religion, rather than any living person. Gurumukhi is the official script of the Punjabi language invented by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad (1504-1552).

 The word, “Gurmukhs”, means the people who attain liberation, the highest in spirituality, by the teaching of the Guru of the Truth, not by their own ego.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Door of All Wonders: Overview and Introduction

 “The Door of all Wonders:
The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching”

By Nirguna Chor-Kok Lam

Overview

  

The Tao Te Ching, as a great treasure of spirituality in the aspect of religion and philosophy from ancient China up to now, has been the bestseller among all the authors of classics and books in the whole world ranking the second next to the Bible according to the survey of UNESCO in the past years. It is probably nowadays the largest top bestseller, with many translated versions in different languages. The Bible has been widely spread by the global missionary of Christianity that is the reason for its large circulation. However, the Tao Te Ching has never had this missionary work to publicize itself but its attraction of words of meaning is so great that many scholars of different cultures, especially the western world, have put much effort to translate the Tao Te Ching by their understanding and studies. The Tao Te Ching has been highly valued in China and the whole world for centuries.

 

The Tao Te Ching was not only written for the spiritual guidance of individual life, but also practical guidance of social, economic and political affairs. It can benefit all people in all affairs, such a marvelous scripture which tells us the Truth in about 5000 words only. Whenever I read the Tao Te Ching, I can only thank our Lord for giving marvelous treasury to Chinese people. Nowadays, the Tao Te Ching has been the global spiritual asset for all people.

 

 

Introduction

 

The Tao Te Ching is one of the oldest classics in China. There have been a lot of versions of the Tao Te Ching circulated in China. The original texts of the Tao Te Ching can be concluded by three sources:

 

(1)   The general version widely circulated in history dated back at least as far as the first century B.C.

(2)   The two manuscripts of the Lao Tzu discovered at the Han tomb of Ma Wang Tui in Changsha of Hunan province of China.

(3)   The old texts of the Lao Tzu edited by Fu Wei in Tang dynasty (A.D.618-907).

 

Among these three sources, the two manuscripts of the Lao Tzu discovered at Ma Wang Tui in 1973 are the most original and the oldest scripts available as the texts are free from scribal errors and editorial tempering of a subsequent age. There are also two more archeological findings of the incomplete scripts of the Tao Te Ching in later years.

 

The general version of the Tao Te Ching most widely circulated is also called “the Book of 5000 characters”, as the texts having words about 5000 characters. The present division into 81 Chapters – 37 Chapters in Book I (the Tao Ching) and 44 Chapters in Book II (the Te Ching) was edited and formulated in western Han dynasty (202-8 B.C.). The book was also known by the alternative title of the Tao Te Ching, more specifically, Book I as the Tao Ching and Book II as the Te Ching.

 

 The Chinese word, “Tao” means “Truth” or “Way”, and the word “Te” means “Virtue” which is the embodiment of Truth. “Ching” means scriptures or classics. So, the name Tao Te Ching, as a whole, means the Scripture of Truth and Virtue.

 

 

 

Lao Tzu the most unknown sage in China

 

The traditional view holds that the book, Lao Tzu, was written by a man called Lao Tzu who was an older contemporary of Confucius (551 -479 B.C). Confucius was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. His main interests were in ethics, moral and social philosophy. He was the founder of Confucianism in China.

 

The biography of Lao Tzu first found in the Shih Chi (Records of the Historian), the earliest general history of China, written at the beginning of the first century B.C. by Sie-ma Chien (B.C145-?) as follows:

 

“Lao Tzu was a native of the Chu Jen Hamlet in the Li Village of Hu Hsien in the State of Chu. His surname was Li, his personal name was Erh and he was styled Tan. He was the historian in charge of the archives in Chou dynasty.

 

When Confucius went to Chou Palace to ask to be instructed in the rites by Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu said, “What you are talking about concerns merely words left by people who have rotted along with their bones. When a gentleman is in sympathy with the times he goes out in a carriage, but drifts with the wind when the times are against them. I have heard it said that a good merchant hides his store in a safe place and appears to be devoid of possessions, while a gentleman, though endowed with great virtue, wears a foolish countenance. Rid yourself of your arrogance and your desires, your ingratiating manners and your excessive ambition. These are all detrimental to your person. This is all I have to say to you.” [1]

 

On leaving, Confucius told his disciples, “I know a bird can fly, a fish can swim, and a beast can run. For that which runs a net can be made; for that which swims a line can be made; for that which flies a corded arrow can be made. But the dragon’s ascent into heaven on the wind and the clouds is something which is beyond my knowledge. Today I have seen Lao Tzu who is perhaps like a dragon.”” [1]

 

Dragon is the most mysterious creature symbolizes as the most powerful and auspicious which only refers to the emperors in Chinese history. This is the praise and marvel of Confucius to Lao Tzu after the first meeting. The description of Shih Chi about Lao Tzu continues as follows:

 

“Lao Tzu cultivated the Truth and Virtue, and his teachings aimed at self-effacement (humbleness). He lived in Chou Empire for a long time but seeing its decline he departed. When he reached the Pass, the gate keeper there was pleased and said to him, “As you are about to leave the world behind, could you write a book for my sake?” Therefore, Lao Tzu wrote a book in two parts, setting out the meaning of the truth and virtue in some 5000 characters, and then departed. None knew where he went to in the end.

 

According to one tradition, there was Lao Lai Tzu who was also a native of the State of Chu. He wrote a book in 15 pieces, setting forth the applications of the teachings of the Taoist school, and was contemporary with Confucius. Lao Tzu probably lived to over 160 years of age – some even say over 200 – as he cultivated the truth and was able to live to a great age.

 

A hundred and twenty-nine years after the death of Confucius, it was recorded by a historian that Tan the historian of Chou had an audience with Duke Hsien of Chin…… According to some, Tan was none other than Lao Tzu, but according to others, this was not so. The world is unable to know where the truth lay. Lao Tzu was a gentleman who lived in retirement from the world…” [1]

 

Lao Tzu may be regarded as one of the above three persons that Sie-ma Chien could collect in his times, but they were all conjectures only, hence Sie-ma Chien concluded that “Lao Tzu was a gentleman who lived in retirement from the world.”

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us about the Truth and the Way to the Truth, which is the mystery of the mysteries, the wonder of the wonders. It is the origin of the whole universes. The word “Tao” conveys deep meanings in the philosophy of all the fields, like spiritual, political, military, social and economic fields. Everything lies in the Truth.

 

In this book, the texts of each Chapter would follow the general version of the earliest texts widely used in history and up to now, and the revised texts if any available in some Chapters as advised by  senior scholars of the Tao Te Ching will also be given in italics. Each Chapter will be postulated with insight and solid materials following the mind of Lao Tzu, how he conceives Tao and how he suggests the practice of Tao in the way not any ordinary people can have without really knowing the secret of our whole creation. The marvel work of Lao Tzu will come out with simplicity and clarity by itself which I humbly wish that by reading it people can appreciate and enjoy the light and the bright journey of Tao.

 

 

 

Note:

 

[1] Edited from “Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching” Translated by D.C. Lau, The Chinese University Press, 1963, 1982, 1989, Introduction, x.