Tao Te Ching Ch 15

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna Chor Kok Lam

Chapter 15

The Masters of the Truth in ancient times were minutely subtle,

mysteriously comprehending, too profound to be known.

As they could not be known, they can be only given a makeshift description:

They are careful as if fording a river in winter.

They are alert as if in fear of the attack from four neighbours.

They are solemn like a guest.

They are relaxed like thawing ice.

They are plain like a raw rock.

They are humble like a valley being hollow.

They are murky like muddy water.

They are silent like an ocean. *

They are elegant like breezing endlessly. *

Who can settle the muddy with silence and slowly turn it limpid?

Who can be at rest and slowly turn to life?

Those who hold fast to the Truth,

desire not to be proud.

As they are not proud, 

they can be worn and made anew.

 

*These two verses in italics are in Chapter 20 which scholars commented that they should be placed in this Chapter as the meaning is more coherent here in Chapter 15 than in Chapter 20. Our review will follow the revised version with more verses.

 

 

Review

 

In this Chapter, Lao Tzu tells us what appearance and manners a person abiding in the truth could have. They are the Masters of the Truth in ancient times when the Truth was prevalent unlike in our contemporary world where the Truth becomes almost unknown. Therefore, Lao Tzu tells us how to recognize saintly persons by knowing how they behave. They are very subtle, not easy to be understood if people only know the material world without spiritual knowledge and experience, so does Lao Tzu say,

 

“The Masters of the Truth in ancient times were minutely subtle,

mysteriously comprehending, too profound to be known.

As they could not be known, they can be only given a makeshift description:”

Lao Tzu can only give a “makeshift description” to us:

 

“They are careful as if fording a river in winter.

They are alert as if in fear of the attack from four neighbours.”

 

They are careful and alert. They are always ready to pay heed to what will happen around them, just like fording a river in winter. Each step should be careful to avoid stepping on the cracking ice and fall in the icy water. The situation is so dangerous. It is also like “in fear of the attack from four neighbours”. For people having the Truth know very clearly that this world is a very dangerous place like a dense forest with a lot of ferocious animals, pests and poisons in it. The enemies of the evil desires and intentions are always ready to attack people with heedlessness.

 

Beware of this world. This is the warning and teaching of all saints and religions. Our world is full of defects and dangers that we should protect our body and mind with the Truth abiding in us.

 

“They are solemn like a guest.”

 

This world is a foreign place for people who love the Truth, rather than the darkness of this world. So, they seek the light and the guidance of the Truth. In Islam, Allah tells us that this world is not our permanent abode. Our permanent abode is the Eternal Heaven after the Last Judgment Day of this world. So far from the ancient up to now, this world has been a temporary, testing ground for every one of us to strive hard for the Truth to live a rightful way of life. This world is never a home for all saints as they all have the same idea about this world.

 

They are only guests in this world, so they must behave as a good guest to people. They are polite and always in good manners. They would never enjoy this world eating greedily, lavishly, dancing and laughing like a beast or a fool. They are also abstaining from any malicious gossip and frivolous activities. They never enjoy evil thoughts, words and deeds. To be self-controlled is one of the good signs of a saintly person, thus Lao Tzu says they are “solemn like a guest.”

 

“They are relaxed like thawing ice.”

 

Although they are solemn and well-behaved, they are not stressed under hard pressure. They are calm and relax with discipline. This is the greatness in their personality. People around them will also feel relaxed without tension like thawing ice. This is their holiness to release people with self-discipline. People feel the Truth enacting like the water flowing from the ice. They can be warm and kind to people with self-discipline.

 

“They are plain like a raw rock.”

They are humble like a valley being hollow.

They are murky like muddy water.”

 

People abiding in the Truth are honest and simple without crookedness in their character. They are not complicated but with simplicity like a raw rock not yet carved into any definite shape or form. They are straightforward, never try to tell lies or cheat people with cleverness.

 

They are also humble like a valley being hollow, so that it can contain much water in it. The water symbolizes the Truth. Only a humble person can abide by the Truth in him. People must first be humble before the Truth, then they can be humble to people, knowing that only the Truth prevails, nothing else.

 

Only the Truth prevails, and the Truth never harms. It is like water to nourish creatures to keep them alive. However, most people are polluted by the pollutants of the world, like the mud and dirtiness in the riverbed. They are not like crystal-clear water, while saints are like crystal-clear water. However, the saints would like to deal with people with friendliness. They would never show off their superiority to people. They are willing to be murky like muddy water so that they can get along with ordinary people with harmony. This is their greatness in character. Inwardly they are pure but outwardly they just behave like very ordinary people. They never intentionally isolate themselves with other ordinary good people.

 

“They are silent like an ocean.

They are elegant like breezing endlessly.”

 

Although they become “murky like muddy water”, they also maintain their silence and peace inside them. Their silence is not ordinary. It is as great as an ocean. Inside their heart, there is the silent and peaceful ocean. When behaving friendliness to people, their behavior is elegant, never in foul and vulgar manners. This silence and peace when emitting outwardly is just like breezing continuously without end. This is the harmony of the Truth showing in a person when getting along with people. This breeze is the living energy they are emitting to people, like the sun shining brightly to give light to people. Then Lao Tzu asks two questions which are the answers also:

 

“Who can settle the muddy with silence and slowly turn it limpid?

Who can be at rest and slowly turn to life?”

 

How can the saints purify people from muddy water into clear water? How can the saints give people living energy to revive themselves from being damaged and lethargy? This is their mysterious character. Slowly and silently, they can achieve goodness to people without forceful words and violence. They act so slowly and so naturally that closely resemble the nature when the Truth is prevailing. With silence, they settle the muddy substances down to the earth at the bottom and let the river turn into limpid again. This silence can also activate people to return to life. This is the functioning of the Truth. Who can hold fast to the Truth? Lao Tzu tells us:

 

“Those who hold fast to the Truth,

desire not to be proud.

As they are not proud, 

they can be worn and made anew.”

 

Humility is a must for people to hold fast to the Truth. It is the humility to the Truth, not to the evil force as the latter is cowardice, not humility. That humility is to eliminate the pride and ego of a person. Never feel any pride of any merit, honor or achievement. Allah is the greatest. The Truth is the greatest, not any high-ranking people can be. Therefore, in Islam, Muslims give all the praises to Allah only, not themselves. They should have total submission to Allah without any self-pride.

 

This is the same to the Truth told by Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu tells us the reason why they should not be proud of themselves in order to hold fast to the Truth because “they can be worn and made anew.” It means they can improve themselves every moment by tearing off the defects out of them and renew themselves with even better merits and good deeds. This is the flowing of Tao.