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.