Tao Te Ching, Ch 7

 The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 7

The Heaven and the Earth are enduring.

The reason for the Heaven and the Earth can be enduring

is that they do not exist for themselves.

Thus they can be long-lived.

Therefore, the sage puts his body last and it will come first.

Regard it as extraneous and it will be preserved.

Is it not due to his unselfishness that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?

Review

“The Heaven and the Earth are enduring.”

    Comparing with human beings, the Heaven and the Earth are far more enduring than any human. We human can have lived for only about a hundred years which is a relatively short period for the Heaven and the Earth. Even if human can have lived for several hundred years or even a thousand years as depicted in mythical stories, this period of life is still not so enduring when having comparison with the life of the Heaven and the Earth. Our Heaven and Earth need to be enduring so long the time that they seem to be eternal for all creatures which cannot last so long. All the creatures cannot last forever because once we are born we are also bound to die one day. All creatures in the material level cannot last forever, so do the Heaven and the Earth. The Heaven and the Earth are also the creation which are the beings from non-being. All the beings will have an end while only non-being itself by nature is eternal, without beginning and end.

    As a human in the individual level, we are living for ourselves. We experience the lifespan of birth, growth, transformation, deterioration and death. While the Heaven and the Earth are not living for themselves, they are living for all the creatures providing them the environment and surroundings. Lao Tzu says it is the reason they can be enduring and long-lived:

“The reason for the Heaven and the Earth can be enduring

is that they do not exist for themselves.

Thus they can be long-lived.”

    If all human can live forever and no one dies, there will be a great problem for the world as our limited world with limited resources cannot bear the continuance of increasing births without the same pace of the deaths. So to give birth and to die is a balance for the environment. It is for the material level that no creatures can live long, and even the Heaven and the Earth also cannot live forever but only far more long-lived than all creatures. It is why Lao Tzu says they are long-lived but not eternal.

    Our body cannot last forever, as the body is made of materials, so are the Heaven and the Earth. All of them are the bodies which have different life-spans. So what is actually having long live is not meant by material level but spiritual level. The sages following the Heaven and the Earth are never eager to live long for themselves deeming their bodies as unimportant so said by Lao Tzu:

“Therefore, the sage put his body last and it will come first.

Regard it as extraneous and it will be preserved.

Is it not due to his unselfishness that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?”

    What will come first? It is the soul living in the body, which is the real master of the body. The body is the servant while the soul is the master, not the vice versa. The soul is eternal without birth and death but people cannot realize this Truth if they can only see the material world which is temporary and partially showing to them. So what is the ultimate goal of the sage? It is the eternity inherent in his soul. This stage of awareness cannot be easily understood and felt if we are deceived that we are only the bodies and nothing else.

    The more selfish we are, the more deception we will have which ties us firmly to our body. This body-identification can never help us to understand the Truth as eternal in us. Allah is eternal. Tao is eternal. Our soul is also eternal but we cannot feel it as we are limited into a body doomed to die one day. After death, we know nothing. Therefore, we cannot see the reality of the eternal life by merely with a limited material body. What Lao Tzu wants to go deep to the Truth is not only to tell people not to be selfish and be helpful to others. This level is not deep enough to experience the Truth and can only be verbal teaching without actual feeling.

    Lao Tzu is not a superficial person. His ultimate goal is not so superficial that many people could think of their private desires and wishes. If a sage does not care about his body and regard it as extraneous, then what is his private desire about himself? Can the body be preserved as long as the Heaven and the Earth? Surely not, no matter how unselfish the sages are. So what does actually come first? What is it that actually be preserved? What is the deepest meaning of “unselfishness” and “ultimate goal”?

    They all belong to the spiritual level. Spiritually we can come first if our eternal soul becomes the master which does not care the limited body for sensual pleasures with or without any fame, honor, achievement, praise or disapproval from people around us. They are all temporary and transient without stability. They will come and they will go. Therefore, to live a full spiritual life is the ultimate goal for the sages to realize the Truth, the ever-existence with Tao, our Lord and our Creator.

“Is it not due to his unselfishness

that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?”