Tao Te Ching, Ch 64

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 64

It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure.

It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop.

It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle.

It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute.

Act on a thing when it has not yet begun.

Deal with the situation when it is not yet in disorder.

People, when handling affairs,

often come close to completion but fail.

If they are as careful in the end as in the beginning,

they would have no failure.

 

 

Note: The revised version of this Chapter is much shorter than the original general version. Some of the verses traditional commentators advised to be omitted as not so relevant in this Chapter. Some other verses are advised to be placed in Chapter 63 as we have mentioned there. Our review will base on the revised version to avoid any repetition and irrelevancy.

 

 

 

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us the principle of the Truth which is very practical in our life. It is not some high-sounding philosophy or mythical stories which people cannot practice in actual life. The Tao Te Ching does not tell us to be idle and do nothing in order to be free and joyful in life. Never! On the contrary, the Tao Te Ching tells us how to live and work with success by following the Truth. The success is the real success that people can attain the Truth living well in all affairs.

 

Here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu tells us how to work and deal with any situation according to the Truth. This principle we must bear in mind:

 

“It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure.

It is easy to deal with a situation before symptoms develop.”

 

The sages abiding by the Truth are always very careful and alert. They will never be heedless in their situation from the beginning up to the end. Here Lao Tzu tells us that everything from the start is much easier to handle if it is still secure under our control. Very often, mistakes, misfortunes or any obstacles in our situation will arise when we are handling some work. Lao Tzu tells us not to neglect all the symptoms of worsening situation in the initial period. We should try to work out anything initially and correct our deed as much as we can manage. We should always deal with something easy to handle rather than making things complicated and too difficult to handle, therefore, any remedies of proper action should be done without delay. To delay to act is only to let the situation turn to be problematic. Then Lao Tzu uses two analogies to explain his idea:

 

“It is easy to break a thing when it is yet brittle.

It is easy to dissolve a thing when it is yet minute.”

 

Like a fresh stalk of plant, it is much easier to break it before it becomes dry and hardened. Like something as salt, which is very small and tiny in size, it is much easier to dissolve in water before it crystallizes and becomes bigger and bigger in size. In short, Lao Tzu repeats again what he is going to teach us:

 

“Act on a thing when it has not yet begun.

Deal with the situation when it is not yet in disorder.”

 

This golden rule we must remember if we want to be successful in work. However, many people find hard to be successful. Here Lao Tzu tells us the reason why so many people fail in their work:

 

“People, when handling affairs,

often come close to completion but fail.

If they are as careful in the end as in the beginning,

they would have no failure.”

 

They fail because they have been careless from the beginning or turn to be heedless when they come close to the completion of the task. They think the success is for sure coming soon and become neglectful to the situation which may change in any time. This heedlessness is fatal for people who do not see well. Many people tend to be lazy and heedless. These weaknesses prevent us from being enlightened. They do not learn from the wise and are ignorant to the Truth. The Truth can give us wisdom to enlighten our mind. By reading and studying ancient scriptures, like the Tao Te Ching, our mind can be enlightened. What an enlightened mind we will have if we can work very carefully from the beginning up to the end, but we still feel free like doing nothing though we are the most hard-working and serious worker working all the time! That is the functioning of the Truth!