Tao Te Ching, Ch 53

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 53

When I have firmly got the knowledge,

I would, when walking on the great road,

 fear only paths that lead astray.

The great road is flat, 

yet people prefer narrow by-paths.

The court is corrupt.

The fields are overgrown with weeds.

The granaries are empty.

Yet there are those dressed in fineries, 

with swords at their sides,

filled with food and drink, 

and possessed of too much wealth.

This is known as taking the lead in robbery.

This indeed is far away from the Truth.

Review

    

The Tao Te Ching leads us to the great road, the right path to the Truth, for the benefit of all people which Lao Tzu intends to say here:

 

“When I have firmly got the knowledge,

I would, when walking on the great road, fear only paths that led astray.”

 

First, we must have the right knowledge firmly held in us which the whole Tao Te Ching is telling us again and again in different verses: what is the Truth and what are its virtues. After knowing the Truth, which is the One only, and its virtues, we must hold firmly and be steadfast to live according to the Truth and the virtues as our guidance of life. This is the meaning telling us that we should walk on the great road where there will be no dangers of ditches, traps and poisonous creatures waiting for us, thus Lao Tzu says he is only afraid of walking on the by-paths leading us astray. The by-paths may seem short-cut to the destination, but they are narrow and are not safe to walk through because no one has walked on them before and so leaving no footsteps to show the right and safe path to the destination. It is dangerous to walk on the narrow by-paths.

 

The footsteps of the ancient sages are their words and deeds in their life leading us a good life. The ancient scriptures are the treasure having lasted long years for people to study, to understand and to follow. However, most people, being seduced by material affluence, only want to learn anything new, materialistic and high-sounding. They forget and neglect their own cultural heritage which contains wisdom for material and spiritual life. Anything new and opposite to the ancient teaching for taking as instruction is dangerous. Scientific knowledge is always telling us some findings refuting the old findings. So, what is the ideal life? We should consult the teaching of the ancient sages and get the right guidance rather than living without proper guidance, thus Lao Tzu tells us:

 

“The great road is flat, yet people prefer narrow by-paths.”

 

The flat road means the safe path, easy to walk on without danger, though it seems longer than any short-cuts. The by-paths are the short-cuts which no one has walked on. They are narrow and full of unknown dangers hidden. Why do people prefer the narrow by-paths? It is easy to understand. Their aim is for material success, not for the Truth. They turn to other ways leading to material attainments for their sensual enjoyments. It is the reason why people like narrow by-paths rather than the wide, flat road being walked through by many sages.

 

In the Quran, Allah tells us that we all need to seek for proper guidance. Otherwise, we cannot live in harmony and peace. The First Chapter in the Quran, the Surah al-Fatihah, means the Opening of the Quran. There are seven verses which Allah tells us to recite repeatedly for seeking the right guidance:

“In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds –

The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.

It is You we worship, and You we ask for help.

Guide us to the straight path –

The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour, not of those who have earned anger or those who are astray.”

(Quran 1:1-7)

 

In the Quran, Allah also tells us that He has sent many messengers with scriptures to all nations using their own languages telling people the Truth. All races in different cultures have had guidance for good life since ancient times. We should know the Truth from the ancient times by studying the ancient scriptures. They are our spiritual assets. However, many people only see the material assets and are blind to the spiritual assets. Without the guidance of the Truth, people easily go astray and live in the way only earning anger among people, thus people cannot live in harmony and peace. They only see their own welfare but cannot see the welfare for other people even their closed relatives, friends and neighbours.

 

Here Lao Tzu continues to tell us what has happened in the society when the ruling class walking on the narrow by-paths to accumulate their wealth and neglect the welfare of the whole country. When people do not live in harmony for the well-being of all people, they do not have righteousness and compassion to people. Politically, the government is corrupt. Socially, people are unproductive. They are idle to do any work to lead a good life for all, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“The court is corrupt.

The fields are overgrown with weeds.

The granaries are empty.”

 

Without following the Truth, people will turn astray from righteousness. Even the atmosphere shown in the climate will turn bad in accordance with the human behaviours without harmony, hence famines come forth. This phenomenon is often seen in many corrupted countries even nowadays, not only in the times of Lao Tzu. When there are a lot of poor people in the underdeveloped countries, there are also some extremely rich people as the minority to enjoy their luxurious life. In fact, most of the wealth in this world is possessed by a small group of people. They accumulate a huge amount of wealth which can never be used up no matter how luxurious their life will be. This is exactly what Lao Tzu tells us here:

 

“Yet there are those dressed in fineries, with swords at their sides,

filled with food and drink and possessed of too much wealth.”

 

They are the ruling class with weapons controlling all the treasury and wealth in a country. If they can distribute the treasury and wealth to all people with righteousness and charities, people can live without suffering from hunger and homeless. However, they safeguard their wealth and privilege by strong weapons and even social instructions in the form of laws and regulations. Lao Tzu sees the Truth and cherishes the Truth only. He never serves the authoritative classes to defend for them. He never tells people to be loyal to the ruling classes as if their position cannot be questioned. No! Lao Tzu only tells people to be loyal to the Truth, not any privilege class in any top position without abiding by the Truth. Lao Tzu boldly and straightforwardly tells us who they are:

 

“This is known as taking the lead in robbery.”

 

As the ruling class, they are the head of the robbery only. Why do they not use the wealth to improve people’s livelihood instead of safeguarding their privileged livelihood? See there are five-star-hotels or even more upper-level hotels and holiday resorts for people taking their holidays with extremely high prices, while there are so many people living in extreme poverty without proper food and accommodation. We can see this situation in almost everywhere in the world. However, no one finds anything wrong in this situation. They mostly want to be one of the privileged classes instead of questioning their unrighteous acts in our society. They think the poor people should be poor and the extremely wealthy ruling class should be respected and safeguarded with laws and regulations. However, Lao Tzu laments with the last verse:

 

“This indeed is far away from the Truth.”