Tao Te Ching, Ch 60

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 60

Ruling a large state is like cooking a small fish.

When the world is ruled in accordance with the Truth,

the spirits lose their potencies.

Or rather, it is not that they lose their potencies,

but rather, though they have their potencies, they do not harm people.

It is not only that they who having their potencies do not harm people,

the sage also does not harm people.

As neither does any harm, each manifests the merit to the other.

 

 

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us to act without action. People having too many actions will harm themselves and other people. We should act, never be idle, but act in the way not overdone to exceed the limits of our own natural balance. Lao Tzu intends to teach not only ordinary people, but also the rulers of the whole world. They have full ability to act. They are not weak and poor. Lao Tzu wants to tell them to use their strength and power with the Truth, never turning away from the Truth, hence, here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu starts by telling the ruling class again:

 

“Ruling a large state is like cooking a small fish.”

 

Here Lao Tzu advises the rulers of large states, not small states, the same ruling principle throughout the whole Tao Te Ching, i.e., the rulers should not overdo by stipulating many rules, policies, restrictions and regulations to their people. Lao Tzu explains his idea with an analogy of cooking a small fish, which is the most delicate and fragile ingredient for cooking.

 

How can we cook a small fish well without spoiling it? How can we make the small fish intact even after fully cooked? We should be careful and have patience when cooking the fish. First, we should prepare well the fish before cooking. Then we should have patience to wait for the fish well-cooked and do not stir the fish too often, otherwise, the fish will be smashed. In the same way, to rule a large state, the ruler should be careful not to put forth too many policies for people to follow. The ruler should act slowly to let people adapt to the new situation without giving them many restrictions to affect their simple way of life. To do less in need is better than to do many but not in need. This is the ruling principle of Lao Tzu. The people who abide by the Truth are very careful and alert when doing anything. Not to do many does not mean to be idle and lazy but to be alert not to disturb people. Let the people have much freedom to develop themselves by following the principle of the Truth. When the ruler can provide the simple and healthy environment for people to develop their potential abiding by the Truth, everyone and everything will be benefited. How would the world be if the Truth is prevailing everywhere? Why should the world be ruled by the Truth? Lao Tzu explains as follows:

 

“When the world is ruled in accordance with the Truth,

the spirits lose their potencies.

Or rather, it is not that they lose their potencies,

but rather, though they have their potencies, they do not harm people.”

 

Here “the spirits” means the ghosts or any invisible beings which can affect people’s way of life through negative influence. In some religions, we know that we as human are not the only creatures with consciousness in this world. There are many invisible creatures with consciousness existing around us. Some people call them gods, goddesses, demons, fairies, dead souls, angels or Jinn. After all, these invisible living creatures can be classified into many different groups in Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. When people turn to be evil-minded in darkness, they will invite evil spirits to affect their life whether they know their existence or not. When the whole environment is negative without light which means many people wrongly behave with each other, the Truth will be subdued and the darkness with ignorance will spread to harm more people. The potencies of the spirits will become manifested strongly in human life.

 

However, if the environment is bright and healthy, people will naturally act according to the Truth with integrity, righteousness and harmony. The potencies of any evil spirits cannot affect them anymore. When there is light, how can darkness exist? There is no darkness before the light. As the light of the Truth shines through, the spirits will be unable to harm anyone. Their potencies of harming will only go to the negative people who invite them by their darkness. Anyone who abides by the Truth will contribute the light of the Truth for the whole. Then Lao Tzu further explains that not only the invisible spirits fail to harm anyone if the Truth is prevalent, but even the sage, the morally good person, will not harm other people as well:

“It is not only that they who having their potencies, do not harm people,

the sage also does not harm people.”

 

How can the sage harm people? For Lao Tzu, all types of moral teaching will arise when the Truth is lost. When people do not know the Truth, they need moral code to restrict their life by adding numerous dos and don’ts. They follow the dos and don’ts and suppress people by the numerous dos and don’ts, but they have no compassion and kindness, indeed. It turns into a vicious circle that more restrictions by telling people all the examples of evil deeds, the more evil-minded the people will be, though outwardly they act with moral code of conduct. This will be the society when people all become hypocrites. If people have the free choice to do what they like, they will all turn into evil doers. In the same way, if by doing evil, by harming others, people can live well, then they will harm others without feeling any hardship inside them because their inner pure nature is lost. They have no light inside their heart. They act morally only because of the outward instructions; thus, Lao Tzu says:

 

“When the Great Tao falls into disuse, there are benevolence and rectitude.

When cleverness emerges, there is great hypocrisy.

When the six relations are discordant, there are filial piety and kind affection.

When the country is in chaos, there are loyal ministers.”

(Chapter 18)

 

The best situation is that people act naturally according to their pure nature, not to harm anyone as seeing the other as their own being. This is the perfect situation when the Truth is prevalent. Then the sage need not teach with endless words. The more teaching the sage tries to give people, the sage and his followers may only use all the teaching to blame people endlessly. To blame people all the time cannot help people to retain their simple nature for morality. They become more complicated and follow the blaming culture to blindly blame and attack people they do not like.

 

The sage should act with few words rather than to talk much with many words to make people smart and clever to outwit other people and to attack people with morality, therefore, Lao Tzu always tells us that the real sage should act as a model for people to follow a simple good life instead of blaming people all the time with their high standard of morality. We can see many times how the so-called good people collectively punish the so-called bad people because of some minor mistakes. Like in a school, if the teacher punishes pupils severely due to little faults, all the pupils will follow the teacher to have no mercy to people if they think they act wrongly, no matter big or small deeds.

 

In the Quran, Allah tells us not to do anything to exceed the limits, but how many people know this subtle advice even they may read the Quran for thousand times? In this way, the highly elaborated moral teaching of the sage cannot help people but harm people only. This is the highest wisdom Lao Tzu tells us, not only for the bad people but also for the good people to be careful to avoid this harming action.

 

When the Truth is prevalent, people naturally return to their pure nature; then naturally they will have harmony getting along with each other. Even sometimes the harmony may be disturbed, but very soon the equilibrium of human relations will turn back again if people themselves are pure and innocent, like a small child. Children may make mistakes easily, but they can never turn into a horrible criminal. There is no need for the sage to teach all the time with many words. The sage should just live with simplicity, truthfulness and love; then people can follow to have simplicity, truthfulness and love, too, thus Lao Tzu says in the end:

 

“As neither does any harm,

each manifests the merit to the other.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 59

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

Chapter 59

For ruling the people and serving the Heaven,

it is best for a ruler to be sparing.

As he is sparing, he may be said to be well-prepared from the start.

Being well-prepared from the start,

he may be said to accumulate abundance of virtue.

Accumulating abundance of virtue, there is nothing he cannot overcome.

When there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limits.

When no one knows his limits, he can rule the state well.

Having the mother of the state, the state can last long.

This is called deep root and firm foundation,

the Truth of longevity and lasting vision.

 

 

 

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us the basic principle of life, as if the root of the tree, our existence of life. What we need to know essentially is our root. When the root is keeping healthy, the whole of the tree will grow well. However, no matter how beautiful the flowers, leaves and stems of the tree seem to be, once the root is cut or rotten, the whole of the tree will wither soon, hence Lao Tzu always tells us to keep ourselves solid and well inwardly as the firm foundation, not only pay attention to the outward glittering appearance. Then what is the root of our existence as the basic principle of living? Tao Tzu tells us here:

 

“For ruling the people and serving the Heaven,

it is best for a ruler to be sparing.”

 

Here Lao Tzu tells the rulers the basic principle they should be aware of when they rule people and serve the Heaven. To serve the Heaven means to act according to the law of the Heaven, i.e., righteousness and integrity. This basic principle told by Lao Tzu here is not only for the ruling class, but we are all the rulers of our own selves. We should rule our personal affairs well the same as the governor who rules the whole country well. The basic principle is the same but applied in different level of concerns from the individual, the family, the society up to the whole country.

 

The basic principle that we need to bear in mind is “to be sparing” which means we should cherish what we have carefully and do not spend lavishly or waste anything valuable. We should cherish anyone and anything coming in our life. We should treat people of different relations with due concern and do not neglect or disrespect anyone. We should spend less to save more wealth for better use in the future. Lao Tzu tells us to be sparing which does not mean we should be miserly and stingy. For Lao Tzu, to be stingy is to give rise of large loss and wastage:

 

“That is why excessive meanness is sure to lead to great expense.

Hoarding too much is sure to end in immense loss.”

(Chapter 44)

 

Here Lao Tzu tells us the real meaning of being sparing:

 

“As he is sparing, he may be said to be well-prepared from the start.

Being well-prepared from the start,

he may be said to accumulate abundance of virtue.”

 

To be sparing does not mean to hoard wealth without proper use but to be well-prepared for the future expense. To use wealth properly is far better than never using any wealth. Lao Tzu tells us we should be generous to use wealth properly. How can we be generous if we cannot accumulate wealth bit by bit amply? Therefore, we should be well-prepared from the start. Time is wealth also. By the time from the start we should try to be sparing for any material we have, we can save our assets and make them accumulate for future use in need.

 

The wealth can be money, material goods, time, friendship, relationship, speech, deeds and effort to upgrade our life. We try to save all of them bit by bit, not to jump a big step and then stop doing nothing. Then our virtues will be accumulated in abundance. This accumulating effect can be marvelous if we are accumulating our virtues, not only money and material asset. Spiritual asset is far more precious and useful than material asset. One lasts forever, while the other lasts only a certain period. Here Lao Tzu explains:

 

“Accumulating abundance of virtue, there is nothing he cannot overcome.

When there is nothing he cannot overcome, no one knows his limits.

When no one knows his limits, he can rule the state well.”

 

Here virtue is the embodiment of the Truth. “Tao” means the Truth, while “Te” means the Virtue, the embodiment of the Truth. When a person abides by the Truth in life with abundance of virtue accumulated, he can overcome everything. This is the greatness of the Truth. It is infinite which has no limits. The manifestation of the Truth by the sage is widened and can be freely expressed beyond the limits of ordinary people’s capacity. His intelligence goes to the highest which seems without limits. This is the inner potential of human beings which we need to strive hard to attain bit by bit. As a ruler, the sage can rule the state well if he can act with the Truth with his own virtue. As an individual, we all should manage our life well as our own state inside of us. Then Lao Tzu continues:

 

“Having the mother of the state,

the state can last long.”

 

Here the mother means the Truth, the root of everything in the beginning. If we keep the root well, we can last long. It is the role of mother to give birth to her offspring. So, the Truth is also like a mother who gives birth and nourishes every being. The Truth is like our mother, the deep root and firm foundation in us. With firm foundation inside us, we can last long and well and see everything with lasting vision. Our view is wide, and we can see the far reaching, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“This is called deep root and firm foundation,

the Truth of longevity and lasting vision.”

Tao Te Ching, Ch 58

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 58

When the government is loose, people are simple.

When the government is severe, people are cunning.

Misfortune is what fortune depends upon.

Fortune is where misfortune hides beneath.

Who knows their limit?

There is no determined outcome.

The right changes again into the wrong.

The good changes again into the evil.

It has been long since people being confused.

Therefore, the sage is square-edged but does not pierce.

He has sharpness but does not scratch.

He is straightforward but not presumptuous.

He shines but does not dazzle.

 

 

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching is not only written for spiritual guidance of individual life, but also practical guidance of social, economic and political affairs. It can benefit all people in all affairs. Here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu starts with the verses telling us how the government should do to benefit people in order to avoid from harming them:

 

“When the government is loose, people are simple.

When the government is severe, people are cunning.”

 

Simplicity is the ideal life principle for Lao Tzu. To be simple, people can live in peace and harmony without pain and sorrow. People do not need to be aggressive to each other. People do not need to envy or even to take away any belongings of anyone because we all have simple good life. No one needs to be extremely wealthy but sufficient provisions for living only. What the government should do is to provide simple good living environment for people. They should rule the country with integrity by loose measures in order to set a model for people to be simple and loose to each other.

 

This is what an ideal government should be. To be a small government in a country, people can have much freedom to develop themselves naturally for mutual benefit. It is the law of nature that people should have mutual benefit to each other in order to survive better as a whole. However, if the government is very severe and strict which controls all affairs of people’s livelihood, people will live totally under the instructions of the ruling class unnatural to their well-being. How can anyone set all the rules and regulations in details to suit all different situations of different people? The Truth embodying as the Virtue is infinite and cannot be restricted and limited. If people are restricted by endless rules and regulations, they will become artificial and suffocated without simplicity of living.

 

It is also why Lao Tzu tells people not to teach with endless words. The more words people are going to teach people, the more falsehood they are going to lead people to have. Lao Tzu tells us to be simple, to live with simplicity, to teach with simplicity and to govern with simplicity. Then people can be simple dealing with each other. If people tell someone to avoid doing evil by putting endless examples of evil deeds, it will turn into opposite way. They are encouraging people to know numerous evil behaviours which people will never imagine in their life if they have their simplicity of mind and soul, therefore, Lao Tzu tells us it is dangerous and harmful if we lose our simplicity by endless and heavy moral teaching.

 

If the government rules the country with detailed instructions to avoid doing something, people will become more cunning with different types of skills to survive better in the restricted and complicated situations. They will not give mutual benefit to each other but only to avoid doing any goodness to each other for self-defense or for their own self-interest. Since people cannot retain their simplicity, they will turn to be cunning, which is opposite to the Truth, far away from the Truth. Then Lao Tzu tells us more:

 

“Misfortune is what fortune depends upon.

Fortune is where misfortune hides beneath.”

 

People all like fortune and dislike misfortune. They try hard to get fortune and avoid misfortune. However, Lao Tzu tells us that both fortune and misfortune come and go hand to hand, one by one. When we are having fortune, sooner or later, misfortune will come to replace fortune. So do not feel elated when fortune is waving its hands to us. In the same way, when we are having misfortune, sooner or later, fortune will also come to replace misfortune. Therefore, we also should not feel too depressed when we are having misfortune. We should know that this world is ever changing without stability. Ancient scriptures tell us that our world is not the real world but world of delusion only. In Hindus religious faith, our world we are living is made of illusions called “Maya” in Sanskrit. All the pleasures and pains in this world we are experiencing are the delusions which do not have any stability and are subject to change like a wheel turning round and round which can never stay long in a moment. Buddhism borrows the same philosophy from Hinduism, perceives this world in the same way. This world of delusion without actual meaning is what Gautama Buddha says, “Everything is pain”.  So does the same the Yoga Sutra tell us:

 

“Because of the sufferings caused by the changes and anxieties and the samskaras [1] of them, and from the clash of the gunas [2], to the clear-sighted, everything is pain alone.” (Yoga Sutra 11.15)

 

The real meaning of life lies on the Truth only, which leads us to the higher horizon of perception and understanding of this ever-changing world. In the Quran, Allah gives us the guidance in clear words:

 

“Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition increase of wealth and children – like the example of a rain whose (resulting) plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries, and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes (scattered) debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.” (Quran 57:20)

 

This delusion of worldly life Lao Tzu further elaborates:

 

“Who knows their limit?

There is no determined outcome.

The right changes again into the wrong.

The good changes again into the evil.

It has been long since people being confused.”

 

In this worldly life, there is no stability of fortune and misfortune, right and wrong, even good and evil. People can be right at this moment and turn to be wrong at the next moment. People seem good at a moment and will turn to be evil, sooner or later, in different situations. “Who knows their limit?” It is the bewilderment people have in this worldly life. So, what should we behave? How can we follow the sage to live in this worldly life? Lao Tzu tells us to be always honest and straightforward like the sage:

 

“Therefore, the sage is square-edged but does not pierce.

He has sharpness but does not scratch.”

 

For the sage abiding in the Truth, he is honest and straightforward without any craftiness to show off or to outwit anyone. He never tells lies but always keeps his truthfulness. To be truthful is the unalterable principle of the Truth. Telling lies is harmful to our spiritual life, however, to be honest and straightforward does not mean that we can harm anyone by telling the Truth with harsh words. A true sage can tell the Truth to people without harming anyone. This is the marvel of the Truth which only benefits people and will never harm anyone. The sage even benefits people by blaming people with honesty and sincerity, thus Lao Tzu says the sage is “square-edged” which means to be straightforward without any crookedness.

The sage is not cunning, but he does not harm anyone with his “square-edged” character because he “does not pierce”. He will never pierce anyone by his honesty or by harsh words. His harsh words are different from the cunning and crooked people without knowing the Truth. The “sharpness” of the sage is the honesty which is different from evil and cunning people in the way that he does not harm anyone, thus Lao Tzu says the sage “does not scratch” by his sharpness. How does the sage never harm anyone by his “square-edged” and “sharpness”? Lao Tzu continues to tell us the reason:

 

“He is straightforward but not presumptuous.”

 

The straightforward character of the sage is not “presumptuous” which means he will never act to exceed the limit. He will never be excessive in his words and deeds. In the Quran, Allah tells us whatever we are doing anything should never exceed its limit. Everything has its limit we should know and stop doing more. The sage knows when to stop by his words and deeds, therefore, he will never harm anyone by his honesty and sincerity. Instead, the sage must have been protected by the Truth in this worldly life full of crookedness and excessive deeds.

 

The righteousness of the sage also does not harm anyone by telling people’s bad deeds. The sage does not want to show that he is morally better than anyone. He keeps himself ordinary by appearance, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“He shines but does not dazzle.”

 

The sage has light shining outwardly but this light is mild and gentle which does not intend to attract any people. The sage is not a movie star to shine brightly and strongly to dazzle the eyes of people. No one will be jealous of the sage’s merits and shining appearance. This is the maturity of the sage not to seek any attention of anyone. He is always keeping himself gentle and mild.

 

This is the highest spiritual attainment people can have which Lao Tzu tells us in the whole Tao Te Ching. If good people still have intention to shine brightly to impress people to seek any recognition from anyone, they are not reaching the highest stage of spiritual attainment. They need more time to grow and to be mature enough to hide their brightness and sharpness in the proper way.

 

Note:

 [1] “Samskaras” in Sanskrit, means the accumulations of our thoughts, words and deeds life after life in the reincarnations.

 [2] “Gunas” means the three Gunas, the three main attributes which generate all beings, for details, refer to the illustration in Chapter 42.

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 57

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

Chapter 57

Govern the state with upright integrity.

Deploy the military with surprise tactics.

Win the world by not being meddlesome.

How do I know it is like that?

By means of this:

The more restrictions there are in the world, 

the poorer people will be.

The more sharpened tools people have,

 the more chaotic the state will be.

The more skills people have,

 the more strange things will multiply.

The more detailed are the edicts, 

the more thieves and robbers there will be.

Hence the sage says,

“I take no action and people are transformed by themselves.

I prefer quiet, and people are corrected by themselves.

I am not meddlesome and people can enrich themselves.

I am desireless and people by themselves can become simple and plain.”

Review

    

The Truth in the Tao Te Ching is not only for individual need, but also for military affair and the governance of the whole country. Here Lao Tzu tells us the three principles derived from the Truth:

 

“Govern the state with upright integrity.

Deploy the military with surprise tactics.

Win the world by not being meddlesome.”

 

To govern a country with the Truth, we must have upright integrity. The ruling class should be trustworthy and righteous to people. The principle of upright integrity must be enacted for the welfare and stability of the country. If the ruling class does not abide by righteousness and integrity to their people, the country will be corrupted, and chaotic situation will result.

 

Therefore, the Truth in governing a country is righteousness and integrity. In military affair, the Truth turns into mysterious in order to overcome the enemies who threaten the country; thus, Lao Tzu says:

“Deploy the military with surprise tactics.”

 

About 1400 years ago in Arabic Peninsular, Prophet Muhammad who was regarded as the most trustworthy person in Mecca, never told a lie in his life and always kept his promise without fail. He was a well-known absolutely honest man in the Middle East; therefore, he was named “Ahmed” by the people which means the most trustworthy and reliable person. Undoubtedly, Prophet Muhammad abided by the Truth in his whole life in every aspect including military affair. As what has been mentioned in the previous Chapters, Prophet Muhammad started warfare by enacting the principles the same as Lao Tzu tells us in the Tao Te Ching (see Chapters 30 and 31). Prophet Muhammad also told his companions that telling lies was only acceptable during warfare to be exempt from the punishment of Allah in order to cheat the enemies by sending wrong messages. It is truly one of the surprise tactics Lao Tzu refers here.

 

When we see closely the warfare Prophet Muhammad deployed, we can find Prophet Muhammad had used surprise tactics many times to overcome the enemies by minimum armed force. To complete the mission of establishing Islam in Arabic Peninsular, the casualties of both sides, Muslims and pagans, were unbelievably small in number, totally less than 500. Then Lao Tzu tells us the third principle of the Truth:

 

“Win the world by not being meddlesome.”

 

Here Lao Tzu means the rulers should never be troublesome to their people by over acting in all affairs. The government should give freedom for people to develop themselves to live in harmony and peace, thus Lao Tzu tells the rulers not to be meddlesome. To be meddlesome to interfere people’s affairs too much will make people suffer instead of having any benefit. Here Lao Tzu explains:

 

“How do I know it is like that?

By means of this:”

 

First, Lao Tzu tells us:

 

“The more restrictions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be.”

 

What the rulers should do is to provide a healthy environment for governing the country with righteousness and integrity for people to earn their living freely by their creativity coping with different situations. If there are a lot of restrictions telling people not to do with thousand rules, regulations and instructions in different affairs, people cannot use their creativities to deal with different situations for their best. To be flexible to deal with different situations resembles closely the law of nature, while to be rigid is opposite to the law of nature. A highly controlled society will deprive people of their liberty to live well and to have mutual benefit to each other. It is why the free economy in our world is always more successful than the controlled economy. People can get wealthy better in the free economy than in the controlled economy. Our world history in different countries tells us the Truth told by Lao Tzu. How the communist countries planning everything for people turned all of them into poverty.

 

For Lao Tzu, the real life of people is simplicity, not luxurious life, not the life full of endless desires. The more desires people have in their life no matter in the social, economic and cultural aspects, the more problems will arise among the people. People cannot retain their purity and simplicity but are always fond of various enjoyments in living by inventing something new in their life. All kinds of machines and tools are invented for people to enjoy different experiences in eating, drinking, entertaining and sleeping. Some people will be jealous of other people who have more sophisticated enjoyments in life. People start to compare and contend with each other. Such society Lao Tzu describes as the most harmful and troublesome to people:

 

“The more sharpened tools people have, the more chaotic the state will be.

The more skills people have, the stranger things will multiply.

The more detailed are the edicts, the more thieves and robbers there will be.”

 

By being always busy with the external world, people forget to seek the Truth inside them. People turn to be greedy and cunning for acquisition of outward gains. People become robbers or thieves for grasping more by any means. Everyone wants to have more and more outwardly. What they have lost inward them they do not know. They lose their Real Self which is the greatest loss in their life though they may gain much outwardly. People seek and seek the material benefit, fame and pride outward them, while they know nothing valuable inward them. How can this happen? It is due to the encouragement in outward pursuit of lifestyle with varieties and complex. People lose simplicity which is the key for realizing the Truth inherent in them.

 

Nowadays, our modern sophisticated lifestyle makes people stick into material life to enjoy more and more. People have no room to be quiet and contented with nothing, the emptiness of life. For Lao Tzu, the ideal sages are the embodiment of the Truth, the model for people to follow to return to their purity and simplicity like a raw rock, the rock not yet carved into different forms and shapes. This is the origin of our real self that we all should return naturally if we have a simple and quiet life. People should be natural and simple, not artificial and complicated; thus, Lao Tzu gives us the conclusion in the end:

 

“Hence the sage says,

“I take no action and people are transformed by themselves.

I prefer quiet, and people are corrected by themselves.

I am not meddlesome, and people can enrich themselves.

I am desireless and people by themselves can become simple and plain.”

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 56

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

Chapter 56

One who knows does not speak.

One who speaks does not know.

Block the openings.

Shut the doors.

Blunt the sharpness.

Untangle the knots.

Soften the glare.

Mix the dust.

This is known as Mystic Oneness.

Hence you cannot get close to it, nor can you be estranged from it.

You cannot bestow benefit on it, nor can you do it harm.

You cannot ennoble it, nor can you debase it.

Therefore, it is valued by the world.

 

 

Review

 

“One who knows does not speak.

One who speaks does not know.”

Here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu tells us how a person who knows the Truth will behave. If a person knows the Truth, he will not speak much. Being talkative all the time to express one’s ideas is not a good sign in spirituality. Those who like giving long lectures are not the people knowing the Truth. A person, who knows the Truth, will not speak more than necessary because the Truth is unspeakable. All languages will admit failure when trying to express the Truth, so does Lao Tzu tell us in the beginning of the Tao Te Ching:

 

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

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

(Chapter 1)

 

The Truth is inside us, not outside us. To understand the Truth inward us, we should keep silent and contemplate on ourselves without any outward hankering. Once we know the Truth, we will not speak. We attain the Truth we understand at the moment with silence because we experience the emptiness right at the moment. How can we keep on talking about the Truth when we feel deep inside at the moment? It is why Lao Tzu says those “who speak does not know.” Lao Tzu tells us to keep silent and talk less in some other Chapter:

 

“Too many words hasten failure.

Better hold fast to the emptiness.”

(Chapter 5)

 

The “emptiness” is the Truth here. What we need to do is to be introvert to understand the pure nature, i.e., the Truth inside us, therefore, here Lao Tzu tells us to block the openings and shut the doors:

 

“Block the openings.

Shut the doors.”

 

Here the “openings” and the “doors” mean our sense organs to sense the objects outside us, which means we should close our eyes, our ears and our mouth to feel what happens inward us, not only all the time to see and to hear what happens outward us. To lose our real nature inward is the biggest calamity in life.  Lao Tzu tells us the same Truth in another Chapter also:

 

“Block the openings.

Shut the doors.

We would live without toil all through life.

Unblock the openings.

Meddle in the affairs.

We cannot be saved for the whole life.”

(Chapter 52)

 

Here Lao Tzu tells us even more than to block the openings and to shut the doors. He further says:

 

“Blunt the sharpness.

Untangle the knots.

Soften the glare.

Mix the dust.”

 

People who realize the Truth will never show off to be smart and clever. They behave as ordinary people to be plain and simple. A true sage under the depiction of Lao Tzu is plain, simple, and humble with ordinary appearance. To be smart and clever to outwit other people is not a good sign in spirituality but many people do not know and being easily misled to act aggressively to show they are better than other people. In this way, human relationship will easily fall in different types of competitions and comparisons which will upset the harmony among people. A true sage does not want to make any competitions with anyone. A true sage is the embodiment of the Truth to be beneficial to everyone only. How can a sage think that he or she should be better than someone and hides the Truth for their private use?

 

Here “to blunt the sharpness” means the sages are plain and simple in words and deeds. They will never outwit anyone to show they are better. There is no need to have any competitions among the sages and anyone. The sages will never contend with anyone. Here “untangle the knots” means the sages are beneficial to people with their presence. Any conflicts or irritations will be gone when the sages are dealing with people. Peace and harmony will come instead. Like some tied knots which bring tensions to people are untangled by the truthfulness and the easy-going character of the sages.

 

The light of the sage is mild and gentle, never shining brightly to attract anyone or to harm anyone. As the sages are plain and simple, they can get along with people like one of them without showing that they are very outstanding, therefore, Lao Tzu says the sages “soften the glare” and “mix the dust”.

 

All the characteristics that Lao Tzu says here are known as “Mystic Oneness”. To be the Oneness with the Truth is very mystic which people do not understand, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“This is known as Mystic Oneness.

Hence you cannot get close to it, nor can you be estranged from it.”

 

The Truth is the mystic lordship of all beings. The sages who abide in the Truth will become the same as the Truth. They become the Oneness. People can neither get close to them nor become estranged from them. The sages have no attachment to anyone, but they are also always kind and friendly to anyone. They are not cold-blooded without any good feeling to anyone. They have natural emotions to people, but they do not stick to anyone’s relationship as their private property. They do good deeds to people, but they will never expect any return. If people do wrong to them, they will not retaliate excessively. They just do the minimum to avoid being harmed, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“You cannot bestow benefit on it, nor can you do it harm;”

 

No one can benefit the Truth. Only the Truth can benefit people instead. No one can harm the Truth, but people harm themselves by turning away from the Truth.

 

“You cannot ennoble it,

nor can you debase it.”

 

In the same way no one can ennoble the Truth or debase the Truth. The Truth is the Oneness, the emptiness of emptiness, also the fullest of the fullest. For people who realize the Truth inside them, how can other people ennoble them or debase them? They are the embodiment of the One, no duality of being high or being low.

 

This Mystic Oneness is Allah in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad tells us the words of Allah recorded in the Hadith Qudsi [1]. There is a beautiful revelation how Allah tells us in His own words, the same as what the Tao Te Ching tells us here:

 

O, My Servants

I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you,

so do not oppress one another.

 

O, My Servants

All of you are astray except for those I have guided,

so, seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you.

 

O, My Servants

All of you are naked except for those I have clothed,

so, seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you.

 

O, My Servants

All of you are hungry except for those I have fed,

so, seek food from Me and I shall feed you.

 

O, My Servants

You commit sins by night and day, and I forgive all sins,

so, seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you.

 

O, My Servants

You will never attain harming Me, so as to harm Me,

nor will you ever attain benefiting Me, so as to benefit Me.

 

O, My Servants

Were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn [2] of you,

to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man amongst you,

it would not increase My Kingdom in anything.

 

O, My Servants

Were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you,

to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man amongst you,

it would not decrease My Kingdom in anything.

  

O, My Servants

Were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you,

to gather in one place and make a request of Me, and I were to give everyone what he requested, it would not decrease what I have any more than a needle decreases the sea when put into it.

 

O, My Servants

It is your deeds that I charge you with and then recompense you for them,

so, whoever finds good then let him praise Allah.

Whoever finds other than that, should blame no one else but himself.

 

The Oneness is the Supreme Lordship. It is mystic because most people do not know anything about it, unless they seek and strive hard to realize and experience the highest stage of human beings to be oneness with the Truth, thus Lao Tzu says in the end:

“Therefore, it is valued by the world.”

 

 

Note:

[1] In Arabic, hadith means “news” or “story”. Hadith is the singular noun, while the plural noun is ahadith. They are many ahadith, the collection of books about the words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad from different traditions. Hadith Qudsi is one of the traditions.

[2] Jinn, in the Quran, means the being created by Allah with smokeless fire, while human was created with black clay. Jinn can refer to all the gods, goddesses, fairies and demons in other religions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 55

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 55

One who possesses virtue in abundance is comparable to a newborn babe:

Poisonous insects will not bite it.

Ferocious beasts will not claw it.

Predatory birds will not swoop down on it.

Its bones are weak, and its sinews are supple, yet its fists hold firmly.

It does not know the union of male and female, yet its penis is erect.

This is because its virility is at its height.

It can cry all day, yet the voice does not become hoarse.

This is because its harmony is at its height.

To know harmony means to know the constant.

To know the constant is called enlightenment.

Excessive enjoyment is called to be ill-omened.

For the mind to boast on the breath is called aggressive.

A creature becomes strong and will soon grow old.

It is known as going against the Truth.

That which goes against the Truth will come to an early end.

 

 

Review

 

A person who is abiding in the Truth is like a newborn baby. How is a newborn baby? A newborn baby is in the beginning of its life. From the very beginning, the life force of the newborn baby is in its purity having no contact with the outside world. The newborn baby knows nothing, whether good or evil. It has no intention to do goodness or to do harm to anyone. It has no intention to please or displease anyone. It just holds its purity as the pure living force full of freshness and gentleness. Who can be a person abiding in the Truth? Lao Tzu says this person is like a newborn baby full of the virtue of the Truth in abundance:

 

“One who possesses virtue in abundance is comparable to a newborn babe:”

 

What is the virtue of the Truth? Lao Tzu tells us much in other Chapters. Here Lao Tzu tells us how the person who possesses virtue in abundance is comparable to a newborn baby:

 

“Poisonous insects will not bite it.

Ferocious beasts will not claw it.

Predatory birds will not swoop down on it.”

 

When the vital power of the Truth is prevalent in a person, that person is the embodiment of the Truth which is full of protection. Even poisonous insects like scorpions and spiders, ferocious beasts like tigers, lions and wolves, and predatory birds like eagles, vultures and condors, are all moved by the Truth turn into non-violence to that person, as the power of the Truth is harmlessness and full of benevolence. The Truth can only nourish and accomplish all beings. How can a mother kill her newborn baby? When the Truth is pervasive, even poisonous insects, ferocious beasts and predatory birds turn into their motherhood to have kindness to their newborn baby. It is how we can find cases that a newborn baby being left in the forest was nourished by the she-wolf and became a wolf with human body. The mother-wolf does not want to eat the human baby but nurtures the baby instead. What enforces the she-wolf to do so? It is the power of the Truth that the wild animals prefer to nourish rather than to kill and destroy.

 

Then Lao Tzu tells us how the vital force empowered in a newborn baby that we all can observe. There is no need to imagine in a mythical story because we all can see newborn babies in our actual life:

 

“Its bones are weak, and its sinews are supple, yet its fists hold firmly.”

 

The newborn baby is mild and gentle with vital force; hence its bones are weak and its sinews are supple for growing, not hard and dying. The baby’s fists hold firmly showing the vital energy is growing. This power is the purity of energy. It starts to grow and bloom.

 

“It does not know the union of male and female, yet its penis is erect.

This is because its virility is at its height.”

 

The newborn baby is full of living energy without greed and lust. Its sex organ is full of vital force, but it knows nothing about sexual gratification. It does not have any desire to pursue sexual pleasure. It is the purity of life only. A spiritually advanced person is the same who is full of vital force in gentleness but does not have any sexual desire because he or she sees everything in purity, therefore, to be a monk or nun is a natural process of a person in spiritual advancement. There is no need to restrict or to enforce by any doctrine. Naturally the person does not like the low-level sexual pleasure but prefer the high-level spiritual tranquility. Psychologists can tell us that the sexual desire is the primitive desire near animal instinct in our human being. When we return to our purity in the beginning of life, we do not have any need for sexual gratification. We become a newborn baby that we have something better and higher to experience.

 

“It can cry all day, yet the voice does not become hoarse.

This is because its harmony is at its height.”

 

The crying of a newborn baby is clear, not hoarse, unlike an old dying person. The voice of a person can tell us about his spiritual level. A person with spiritual attainment will have a clear voice with gentle speech. His voice is not hoarse like an unhealthy man. He or she can speak gently with clear sweet voice, no shouting and cursing all the time when speaking. From the voice, we can see a person is near life or death. A newborn baby is at the beginning of life full of purity. An old man is near death with destruction.

 

In the Gospel of Thomas, narrating the words of Prophet Jesus by his disciple, Thomas, which is the oldest script being discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945, Jesus tells us the same Truth:

 

“Jesus said, “The man old in days will not hesitate to ask an infant seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same.”” (Verse 4)

 

“The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.”

Jesus said, “Have you already discovered the beginning, so that now you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will stand at the beginning, he will know the end and will not taste death.” (Verse 18)

 

Here “they will become one” in verse 4, the “one” means the Truth. What Jesus says is the same as Lao Tzu says, “One who possesses virtue in abundance is comparable to a newborn babe”. Then Lao Tzu tells us how we can attain our purity as in the beginning of life:

 

“To know harmony means to know the constant.

To know the constant is called enlightenment.”

 

The power of the Truth is harmony, which is always constant, not changing. Our world is ever changing from good to bad, from up to down, from fortune to misfortune. All the sensual objects are always changing, highly unstable and perishable. They cannot last long and forever. Only the Truth is unchanging, imperishable and immortal. The Truth is the harmony inside of us, not outside of us. The outside world does not have any stability; however, we can control ourselves inside of us with stability. This stability is the constant as said by Lao Tzu. If we can control ourselves keeping ourselves always in harmony, we are enlightened. We have the light to see the Truth and to live according to the Truth that is how Lao Tzu means “enlightenment”. Then Lao Tzu tells us more how we cannot attain the enlightenment. What is wrong with most people?

 

“Excessive enjoyment is called to be ill-omened.

For the mind to boast on the breath is called aggressive.

A creature becomes strong and will soon grow old.

It is known as going against the Truth.”

 

Most people are going against the Truth. They turn away from the stage of newborn baby heading for death. How are they approaching to death? Lao Tzu tells us the “excessive enjoyment” will bring us misfortune. Our body, mind and soul will go downward if we are craving for the enjoyment of eating, drinking, sleeping and entertaining all the time like an animal. A person living without enlightenment is very close to the animal stage. Such person can only feel satisfied and happy if he or she can have sensual enjoyment in full. However, the spiritual power will be neglected, and ill-omens will come. Our body will have a lot of diseases. Our mind will have imbalance. People will get aging very soon if they do not have spiritual growth inside of them. They look old, ugly and unkind which shows the ill-omens.

 

With excessive enjoyment, people will easily turn into aggression to pose strong outwardly to make the mind agitated to boast forcefully on the breath, which is harmful for the body and soul to be arrogant instead of being gentle. They roar and act like a tiger which consume their energy unnecessarily. To be always excited is harmful to health, while to be mild and gentle like deep sleep or meditation is beneficial to our health. The aging process will slow down if we can always keep ourselves in harmony. On the contrary, the aging process will be fast if people always consume their energy in excessive enjoyment and over-elated emotion losing the balance of life, therefore, Lao Tzu tells us to be always mild and gentle in our body and mind. To pose strong is harmful instead. The stronger the people turn to be, the faster in aging the people will have.

 

To be strong and stronger will turn us to the end of death, which is opposite to the Truth. The Truth is in the beginning, not the end. The end is the destruction, the death. So, we should return to our beginning, like the same as what Lao Tzu and Prophet Jesus say, thus Lao Tzu ends with the verse to warn us:

 

“That which goes against the Truth will come to an early end.”