Tao Te Ching Ch 22

The Door of all Wonders: 
The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching
by Nirguna Chor-kok Lam

Chapter 22

Bearing to be wronged, 

one can preserve oneself.

Bearing to be treated unjustly,

 one can uphold the justice.

A low-lying place can be filled full.

Things withering can be renewed.

To get little can be benefited.

To get a lot will be perplexed.

Therefore the sage embraces the Oneness as the rule of the world.

He does not show himself, and so is manifested.

He does not consider himself right, 

and so is illustrious.

He does not brag, and so has merits.

He is not arrogant, so is lasting and progressing.

As he does not contend, 

no one in the world can contend with him.

What the ancients said, “bowed down then preserved” is not an empty saying.

Truly preserving oneself,

 one can return to the Truth.

Review

    This Chapter tells us a special virtue of the people who are abiding in the Truth, i.e. to forbear the injustice and suffering. Our society and human relations are full of injustice and hypocrisy. Many people may have experienced to be treated ill and unjustly. What should they do? Do they accept the falsehood of injustice? Do they fight openly for their right and dignity? How about the situation gets so worse that everyone turns against you and no justice is possible? Lao Tzu tells us to have patience in this situation:

“Bearing to be wronged, one can preserve oneself.

Bearing to be treated unjustly, 

one can uphold the justice.”

    This is the way to face the hard situation. It is to bear, to bear to be wronged, to bear to be treated unjustly. Do not do any harm to yourself, just to be patient and bear the bad situation. Let the Truth do the work. Let the Law of Karma reward good or bad deeds by the action of cause and effect. The greatest and the best judge is not any human but the Truth only. In the Quran, Allah tells us that He is the best of all the judges. He will judge every one of us with the best justice. So what we should do is not to wrong ourselves by harming deeds but bear and see what will happen by the act of Truth, i.e. the natural law. What we need is to preserve ourselves and let the justice work later in due course.

    To have patience to forbear with strength  - this quality is some of the names of Allah in the Quran. Actually, Allah is not any person, saint or incarnation. Allah is the Lord of all creatures, i.e. the Truth (Tao) in the Tao Te Ching. In Islam, Prophet Muhammad tells us that there are 99 names of Allah which depict the attributes of Allah, how Allah manifests to us by His Grace. There are two names which mean the quality of forbearing with strength and conviction. The one is, Al-Halim, which means the Forbearing. The other is As-Sabur, which means the Extensively Enduring One. In the Quran, Allah teaches us to have faith and patience the same applied here what Lao Tzu tells us. We should not react wrongly but wait and see in order to preserve ourselves. Here Lao Tzu reminds us:

“A low-lying place can be filled full.

Things withering can be renewed.”

    Lao Tzu tells us to be like “a low-lying place”, i.e. to be humble as an empty vessel to contain the Truth. If we are arrogant and proud of ourselves that we are very good and outstanding, we will be like a vessel full of egoistic thought, where there is no room for filling in the Truth. This is not a good sign of fortune. Lao Tzu tells us that we should let something wither inside us in order to renew ourselves for turning better and better. We are limited in our bodies while the Truth is infinite. How can a limited vessel abiding in the Truth all the time? Therefore, the vessel should always keep empty, throwing away all the impurities of bad and harmful stuff. Then Lao Tzu reminds us some more:

“To get little can be benefited.

To get a lot will be perplexed.”

    Our world tells us to get more and more. Human desires are insatiable. It is greed which is very dangerous and harmful Lao Tzu tells us. The more possessions we have, the more confused and perplexed we will be. Lao Tzu tells us to be contented with little and should not indulge in acquiring much. Greed is one of the enemies leading us astray from the Truth. Simplicity is the principle Lao Tzu tells us to uphold in our life. We will gain much by having little instead of having much. Our attention is to uplift ourselves to embrace “Oneness”, so having little in this material world is better than having much. We need to look up the Oneness, not to look down to see many without bearing the Oneness in mind, so the faith of the sages told here:

“Therefore the sage embraces the Oneness as the rule of the world.”

    We should know the rule of the world, i.e. the Oneness of the Truth. Then we will not behave wrongly which do harm to ourselves. Bearing with the Truth, we do not need to show off to be praised with pampering. Lao Tzu tells us what a sage should behave:

“He does not show himself, and so is manifested.

He does not consider himself right, 

and so is illustrious.

He does not brag, and so has merits.

He is not arrogant, so is lasting and progressing.

As he does not contend, 

no one in the world can contend with him.”

    This is the real sage Lao Tzu tells us. To show off, to consider himself right, to brag, to be arrogant are not the signs of a real sage. He who is a real sage should be humble and also not contend with anyone, which is totally opposite to the way our world encourages us to do. It is why our world is always in chaotic situations. Our mind is always swaying up and down, this or that, without balance. A sage should let the Truth do the work. Gradually his virtues and merits are manifested. Gradually people will know he is right. To be arrogant can never last long. The Truth is the Master so mysterious to us. It does not need to contend with anyone. To behave according to the Truth is what a sage should do. He lets the Truth function smoothly only. This is the real faith of the sage abiding in the Truth. Therefore, he can endure any situation with patience. He has full conviction to know that the Truth will prevail only people have not known yet. So what people should do is to preserve ourselves and let the Truth function. We should not kill ourselves or anyone. This is not the action to be done. We should return to the Truth. Then our mind will be at rest with tranquility.

    This is the strength silently inbuilt in us. This is the wisdom from the experience of ancient sages. Lao Tzu says it is not “an empty saying”. It is really truthful that can be experienced:

“What the ancients said, “bowed down then preserved” is not an empty saying.

Truly preserving oneself, 

one can return to the Truth.”