Tao Te Ching, Ch 63

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 63

Act without action.

Manage without meddling.

Taste without tasting.

Therefore, the sage desires not to desire,

does not value goods that are hard to come by

and makes good the mistakes of the multitude

in order to help all creatures 

to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.

Make the small be big and the few be many, and vice versa.

(Respond to hatred with virtue.) *

Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult 

before it becomes difficult.

Make something big by starting with it when small.

The difficult tasks of the world must be handled 

through the simple tasks.

The large tasks of the world must be handled 

through the small tasks.

Therefore, as the sage never attempts to be great, 

he succeeds in becoming great.

A tree that can fill the span of a man’s arms 

grows from a downy tip.

A terrace nine storeys high rises from a heap of earth.

A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one’s feet.

One who makes promises rashly rarely keeps integrity.

One who is in the habit of considering things easy

 meets with frequent difficulties.

Therefore, even the sage treats things as difficult,

so in the end no difficulties can get the better of him.

 

 

Note: The general version which has long been widely circulated is shorter than the revised version recommended by traditional commentators with the extra verses shown in Italics. Traditional commentators advise that some verses (shown italics) in Chapter 64 are closely related to the main content of Chapter 63, so they should be placed in Chapter 63 here to complete the meaning. Our review here will base on the revised version in order to give a complete picture for viewing the meaning of the Tao Te Ching in this Chapter.

 

*This verse, “Respond to hatred with virtue” is misplaced here as commented by traditional scholars. It should be placed in Chapter 78 for the meaning will be more relevant and complete in Chapter 78 instead of Chapter 63 here, therefore, it is omitted and will not be illustrated in the review.

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us to be natural which means to be simple and truthful in our life. People should not be crooked and pretentious. The philosophy of the Truth in the deepest sense is concluded here in the very beginning:

 

“Act without action.

Manage without meddling.

Taste without tasting.”

 

Here the first verse, “act without action” means we should do our work, our ordained duty by our best without idleness but we should not insist on anything according to our desire or preference which is not compatible with the Truth. Our desire or preference should give way to the Truth. We should act according to the Truth. Let the all-pervading Truth do the work functioning smoothly without any obstruction from all the individuals who turn the way opposite to the Truth. For “Tao on the way it is naturally so” (Chapter 25), what we need to do is to act according to the law of nature, the purity inside us, not the cunningness and crookedness outside us.

We should learn to talk less and work more, so Lao Tzu says, “manage without meddling”. Our attention should be always inward us which is peaceful and silent. To meddle too much is not good to make things done well. Let all people come together to work without being disturbed. This is the Truth in management which is without meddling: to manage less and keep all people work in harmony.

 

How can we act according to the Truth? Ancient scriptures tell us that we should learn to detach from the like and dislike and see the Truth only. We should not have too much attachment in worldly affairs to enjoy too much worldly life without knowing the Truth hidden in our world, thus Lao Tzu says, ‘taste without tasting”. When we taste the food, we do not have too much attachment to the food, whether it is very yummy or not. We eat to nourish ourselves, not for enjoying sensual stimulation to the extreme. It is not good for us to attach to the taste only. The sages who are always in the trance of contemplating on the Truth do not feel anything especially good when eating because they are actually “taste without tasting”. Their level of existence goes upper than the animal instinct, the lowest self in human beings.

 

Kabir Jee [1], the 15^th century Indian mystic poet and saint, composed the poem concerning about the taste, like explaining what Lao Tzu means here, “Taste without tasting”:

 

“I have found tastes to be tasteless.

Becoming tasteless, I have realized that taste.

Abandoning these tastes, I have found that taste.

Drinking in that taste, this taste is no longer pleasing.”

(SGGS, p.342)

 

Then what do the sages think in their mind if their level of consciousness is rising toward the Truth rather than degenerating themselves to the animal instinct? They are truthful and simple in their mind. They do not want many. They want the One only. They do not hanker for outward material enjoyment. They can act as a good model for people to follow, how a person can live in contentment and peace without hankering for outward material prosperity to the extreme. Simplicity with honesty is enough for them, so Lao Tzu says:

 

“Therefore, the sage desires not to desire,

does not value goods that are hard to come by

and makes good the mistakes of the multitude

in order to help all creatures 

to be natural and to refrain from daring to act.”

 

We all should observe our law of nature. With less desire, we will have less sorrow unnecessarily bothering us. If we do not want any precious items that are hard to obtain, then how can we have the idea of stealing or robbing? To sustain our life, what we need can be very simple. Then why do we need to bother so much about our simple life? Life will be easy for us if we can have the inner contentment. This is the real treasure inward us, to be spiritually a rich person. The sages show this path of life to the multitude. Tell them that they can be very simple and natural. There is no need for them to act anything harming to their simplicity of living. The multitudes can correct themselves naturally if they can see the sages’ words and deeds. They will not dare to act opposite to the Truth. Then Lao Tzu tells us the wisdom of the Truth, how we should act:

 

“Make the small be big and the few be many, and vice versa.

Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult 

before it becomes difficult.

Make something big by starting with it when small.

The difficult tasks of the world must be handled through the simple tasks.

The large tasks of the world must be handled through the small tasks.”

 

What is meant by “making the small be big and the few be many, and vice versa”? Our world is ever changing, unlike the Truth, which is constant, this world is highly unstable. Good can become bad, normal can become abnormal, happiness can become sorrow, sorrow can turn into happiness, fortune can become misfortune, misfortune can also turn into fortune, small can become big, big can become small, many can become few, while few can also become many. Therefore, Lao Tzu tells us to do our duty with simplicity and honesty without any special attachment. No matter our role and our duty are big or small, we just do our best. Do not overlook small tasks or put too much importance on big tasks only. Whatever big or small, we do our best. Whatever situation we are going to have, we must be careful and alert. We must lay plan carefully to do our task bit by bit. Lao Tzu tells us to act without action which means to act with extra care with the Truth. The sages who are abiding in the Truth are very careful. They will never be heedless to their situations they are coping with; therefore, Lao Tzu tells us here to start our work bit by bit carefully making the big task into small tasks and complete each small task with caution and go on completing the whole task. Then any difficult task can be completed if we first make it into tiny, small parts and achieve each small task step by step. In this way, any difficult work can be well-done by the success of all its small tasks. We should not jump a big step trying to achieve something great in a short time. Lao Tzu tells us not to do so. It will only lead to failure; thus, Lao Tzu continues to elaborate his philosophy of getting work done:

 

“Therefore, as the sage never attempts to be great, 

he succeeds in becoming great.

A tree that can fill the span of a man’s arms grows from a downy tip.

A terrace nine storeys high rises from a heap of earth.

A journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath one’s feet.”

 

The sage always starts to achieve work bit by bit without being proud of claiming anything great. He will never want to be great. He just starts to do his work step by step carefully from the beginning up to the end; hence he can achieve the great task finally. Here Lao Tzu uses three analogies to explain why we should start our great work with many small tasks first. The accumulation of all the successful small tasks will become great at the end, like a big tree grew with a tiny sprout first, like a high terrace built by gathering baskets of earth first, like a long way journey we start by walking step by step. It is the law of nature for a sprout to grow slowly and gradually into a big tree. We must have patience and strength to continue our work with small easy tasks bit by bit. Any great and difficult task can never be achieved in short time; therefore, Lao Tzu further tells us:

 

“One who makes promises rashly rarely keeps integrity.

One who is in the habit of considering things easy 

meets with frequent difficulties.”

 

There are two warnings we should avoid from committing the same mistakes. First, we should not make promises to people easily without considering whether we will fulfill or not. Any promise unfulfilled will harm our integrity. Without integrity, people will become cunning and crooked. They will tend to cheat people easily, whether the cheating is big or small. It will encourage corruption. A person without honesty is a corrupted person no matter how successful he or she seems to be. The corrupted people cannot know the Truth because they cannot be truthful and straightforward. Integrity is truthfulness, the most important for all the ancient sages.

 

The second is to be careful to deal with any situation. We should not under-estimate anything and become neglectful. We should not overlook even a tiny task. Being heedless to do small tasks will lead people to fail to complete the further task. Being heedless in the beginning will make things turn to be more and more difficult, therefore, we must be mindful when starting with small tasks. We should treat our small easy task as the difficult task with care. By achieving well with small tasks, we can move on to the more and more difficult tasks with the same cautious mind. Then we can be successful. It is the wisdom told here:

 

“Therefore, even the sage treats things as difficult,

so in the end no difficulties can get the better of him.”

 

 

Note:

[1] Kabir Jee, like Lao Tzu, whose birth and death were unclear, 1398-1448 or 1440-1518, was a 15^th century Indian mystic poet and saint. His writing influenced Hinduism’s bhakti movement and his verses are found in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (see Note in Chapter 1). Bhakti, in Hinduism, means “devotion” and “love”. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti leader, Ramananda. Kabir is known for being critical of both Hinduism and Islam, stating followers of both were misguided. During his lifetime, he was threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views. When he died, both Hindus and Muslims he had inspired claimed him as theirs.