Tao Te Ching Ch 16

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna Chor Kok Lam

 Chapter 16

Attain the ultimate emptiness.

Hold firmly to tranquility.

All creatures rise together.

I can watch their return.

The teeming creatures, each returns to its root.

Returning to its root is called tranquility.

This means returning to one’s nature.

Returning to one’s nature is called constancy.

Knowing constancy is called clarity.

Not knowing constancy, act recklessly will cause disasters.

Knowing constancy can have tolerance.

By having tolerance, one can have impartiality.

By having impartiality, one can be all-around.

To be all-around is the Universal Law.

The Universal Law is the Truth.

The Truth is eternal.

One will have no danger in his whole life by abiding in the Truth.

Review

“Attain the ultimate emptiness.

Hold firmly to tranquility.”

    This Chapter tells us to “attain the ultimate emptiness.” This emptiness is the Oneness in Chapter 10:

“In holding the soul and embracing Oneness,

can you be steadfast without straying?”

(Chapter 10)

    Here in this Chapter Lao Tzu tells us how to “embrace Oneness" to be "steadfast without straying”. That is to “hold firmly to tranquility.” This is the key, to be silent with tranquility. Being silent and calm, we become a silent witness to our inner mind. It is meditation which is a must for all spiritual practices in order to upgrade our consciousness to higher level. The highest level we should attain is to be one with the Supreme, i.e. Tao, the Truth, in the Tao Te Ching.

    Lao Tzu tells us the way of meditation. It is to be quiet in our mind watching ourselves as one of all creatures returning to their real nature. Slowly, silently we observe our inner mind, how all the creatures nourishing and growing, and finally each returning to its root. Meditation is to watch inside ourselves. The root is our origin, i.e. the Truth. Lao Tzu tells us to return to our real nature which is our Supreme Person inside us as the One with the Truth. All creatures originally have the same real nature but they go far away from that and forget their real nature. Therefore, to  keep silent in contemplation inwardly is the way to return to our simple and pure nature. Without silence, we cannot return to our root. All the hustle and bustle of the outside world is only to distract us to be more complicated and artificial in personality which is not our pure nature. They are all man-made, not the roots, but the stems and leaves only. Our root is the Ultimate Reality, pure and constant, which is changeless. To be constant means not to be changeable. Here Lao Tzu says:

“All creatures rise together.

I can watch their return.

The teeming creatures, each returns to its root.

Returning to its root is called tranquility.

This means returning to one’s nature.

Returning to one’s nature is called constancy.”

    Our world is highly unstable. Everything tends to change at any time. Our body and our environment all keep changing slowly. After all, they cannot be the same for long and forever. Only our pure nature, i.e. our root, cannot change. To return to our pure nature is to attain our constancy. To be constant means we are eternal being stable with the Truth. We will not be moved and disturbed inside us. We are always keeping our silence and peace inside us. This is our root. This is the constancy, never change or lose.

“Knowing constancy is called clarity.”

    This is the spiritual attainment we need to strive hard for. To attain this constancy, our mind will be absolutely clear. We are alert with our sense organs, not being disturbed and distracted from the root. We are no longer an ignorant living in darkness. This clarity is the light, i.e. we are enlightened. Our root is the source of light, which is the wisdom of our highest consciousness. Without the light, living in darkness, people become ignorant and may easily act “recklessly” to harm themselves and other people, thus Lao Tzu says:

“Not knowing constancy, act recklessly will cause disasters.”

    Our inner light, i.e. our root, the pure nature, the wisdom, the clarity, can help us control ourselves to face the outward uncertainty and misfortune with calmness and peace. We will have tolerance and patience to cope with any difficulties. Lao Tzu always warns us not to make decisions or act too fast without full and clear understanding. This tolerance can prevent us from committing mistakes or harmful deeds which we may not know from the very beginning. To be tolerant and act slowly is far wiser than to act recklessly without considering the possible consequence. Only when we return to our root, we can have the patience, the tolerance with strength to cope with all possible situations, thus Lao Tzu says:

“Knowing constancy can have tolerance.”

    Tolerance is a virtue, i.e. the outward embodiment of Truth. “Tao” is the Truth. “Te” is the Virtue. People having their virtues act outwardly by first having the Truth inwardly. Having tolerance, Lao Tzu says we can develop our virtues further to be impartial to people that is what Lao Tzu further says:

“By having tolerance, one can have impartiality.

By having impartiality, one can be all-around.

To be all-around is the Universal Law.”

    To be impartial, we can deal with people righteously. We will not discriminate people into different classes and backgrounds. We are impartial to all these outward differences among people and act with the rightful way to let all people treat in their proper ways. Truth is impartial to all creatures as everything get nourished or destroyed by the Universal Law only. Truth will not have any special favour to anyone. This is called “all-around”. Truth sees all people together, never neglect some and care some only. Truth enforces itself in every being by the Universal Law only. Good deeds will be rewarded with beneficence while bad deeds will be rewarded with punishment. This is the Law of Karma. Karma is a Sanskrit term means our deeds in speech, thought and action. The Law of Karma is also called the law of cause and effect. It is one of the manifestations of the Universal Law. This Universal Law is all-around, with impartiality, seeing all people, all creatures with the same eyes. Lao Tzu further says:

“The Universal Law is the Truth.

The Truth is eternal.

One will have no danger in his whole life by abiding in the Truth.”

    Our root is the constancy which is eternal. This is our pure nature, the Truth inherent in everyone before getting polluted with outward ignorance. This Truth is also the Universal Law enforcing all beings outwardly and inwardly. If we hold fast to this eternal law, our whole life will not be in danger. To know the Truth is the most important. Then our whole life will be safe.

    This is what in the Quran, the Surah Heifer tells us. Adam and Eve were in the Paradise. There was a tree Allah warned them not to come close to it. This Tree symbolized the world full of darkness, ignorance, delusion and lies. They finally embraced the worldly Tree which was prohibited and told by Allah. They believed a stranger, a snake which symbolized the quality of cunningness, cleverness and dishonesty, telling them to come close to the tree and did not trust their Lord, their benefactor, Allah, the God. So Allah told them to leave the Paradise and lived on the earth. They needed the guidance for them to get back the Truth as Allah said to them:

    “We said, “Go down, all of you, from here: then when guidance comes to you from Me, anyone who follows My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (Quran 2:38)

    This guidance leads us to the Truth which has been preserved in ancient scriptures. The Tao Te Ching is one of them.

“By abiding in the Truth, one will have no danger in his whole life.”

What Lao Tzu says is the same in the Quran here: 

“Anyone who follows My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (Quran 2:38)