Tao Te Ching, Ch 75

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 75

The people are hungry

because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

So the people are hungry.

The people are difficult to govern

because those in authority are too fond of action.

So the people are difficult to govern.

The people treat death lightly

because their ruler pursues too much for luxurious life.

So they do not fear death.

Therefore, those who do not strive for high living are better

than those who highly value living.

Review

    Like the last Chapter, in this Chapter, Lao Tzu also teaches the rulers how to rule their countries, and what they should avoid doing. First, they should not “eat up too much in taxes” which means they should not deprive of the good livelihood of people:

“The people are hungry

because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

So the people are hungry.”

    Lao Tzu tells the rulers to make people live in a simple way of life with satisfactory provision of basic needs. They should be well-fed to enjoy their life with simplicity, is the living philosophy of Lao Tzu. He warns the rulers not to take away too much from people but let people keep their own resources for their needs. This is the value of humanity nowadays people all embrace. No one should be hungry in living.

    Second, the rulers should not do too much to govern people by acting too much, which will turn into a kind of interference and disturbances to people. People should be given the freedom to start their own life the most suitable for them. Lao Tzu advises the rulers should do as little as possible to maintain a good environment for people to live and work. The authority should not take too many actions to control people in every aspect of life. This wisdom has proven so well by our human history in different countries. Those totalitarian countries which controlled people in every aspect of life could never last long. They were overthrown by people within short period. Those rulers who were eager to reform to respect people’s livelihood and choice of living can last long up to now. This is the wisdom of Lao Tzu who told us more than 3000 years ago in China:

“The people are difficult to govern

because those in authority are too fond of action.

So the people are difficult to govern.”

    For Lao Tzu, the best authority is to do as little as possible which means to govern people with basic rules and regulations to make life simple for people to follow. The best authority should not pose as a very strong leader to oppress people to follow him or her. Yet this authority should do work to guarantee people’s livelihood. No one will offend the government who intends to improve people’s livelihood as a whole. On the contrary, if the government intends to benefit some people and neglect the basic needs of some other people with a lot of rules and regulations to make games difficult for living, discontentment among people will arise. Conflicts among people and chaotic situations will come soon.

    Third, the rulers should never oppress people to ensure the luxurious life of the privileged class. Lao Tzu encourages simple living for all people including the rulers. However, in our history, all the ruling classes were fond of very luxurious life. When they oppressed people so much, they would be overthrown by people in the end. The rulers were overthrown because they oppressed people so much to the extent that they made people no long fear oppression and death, thus Lao Tzu says:

“The people treat death lightly

because their ruler pursues too much for luxurious life.

So they do not fear death.”

    If people do not fear death, there will be great disasters for the ruling classes as warned by Lao Tzu in the previous Chapter, which helps explain more here:

“When people no longer fear oppression, 

the great disaster will come.

Do not constrict people’s living space.

Do not oppress their livelihood.

If the ruler does not oppress people,

 people will not reject the ruler.”

(Chapter 72)

    After elaboration of these three advices for the rulers, Lao Tzu tells all of us how to treat our living which is contrary to what people think in our materialistic society:

“Therefore, those who do not strive for high living are better

than those who highly value living.”

    In our materially affluent society, people tend to live with much comfort. We eat and drink too much. We have machines to help us do nearly all the manual work. We even do not need to walk too much as we have vehicles for us to travel long or short distance. Obesity is commonly seen among many people nowadays, which was very rare in our world in the last century. To live too well without proper exercises of the body causes a lot of chronic diseases in our contemporary living as there are more and more scientific researches and findings going to tell us.

    Surprisingly, more than 1400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad foretold a lot of signs at the ending period of our world. One of them is obesity among people. Prophet Muhammad was the sage who ruled his people with truthfulness and simplicity with the same principle told by Lao Tzu. More than 1400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad foretold and warned his followers and all people:

    “Rejoice and hope for what will please you! By Allah, I am not afraid of your poverty but I am afraid that you will lead a life of luxury as past nations did, whereupon you will compete with each other for it, as they competed with each other for it, and it will destroy you as it destroyed them.” (Bukhari, Vol IV, no. 3158)

    Prophet Muhammad is exactly the sage who rules with the Truth as Lao Tzu wishes. He always lived in modesty and poverty for his 23 ruling years before death. He kept regular fasting for himself. He and his family members never ate full meals more than three successive days. He gave his followers a lot of health advices. He tells us to fast when needed which is beneficial for curing diseases as proven by modern scientific work. Prophet Muhammad also teaches people to have small meals during the day. Should someone like to eat more, the belly must not be more than two-thirds full. He tells his companions to keep one third of their stomach’s space for food and one third for drink and the last third should be kept empty for breath.

    For Prophet Muhammad, there was no way for luxurious life in his lifetime even when the nobles and ruling classes were all living with luxury. He was strict to himself to live in poverty but kind and gentle to people to improve their livelihood. He left no private property for himself and even his family members after his death. His companion, Omar Ibn Al’khattab narrated his experience with the Prophet:

“…..I put on my clothes and went to Allah’s Apostle’s dwelling. He was staying in an upper room belonging to him, to which he ascended by a ladder. There was a black slave of the Messenger of Allah (sitting) on the first step. I said to him, “Tell the Prophet that Omar Ib Al’khattab is here.” Then the Prophet admitted me. I related the story in full to him. When I came to the item of Ommu’salama, the Messenger of Allah smiled while he was lying on a mat made of palm tree leaves with nothing between him and the mat. Under his head there was a leather pillow stuffed with palm fiber, and leaves of a palm tree were piled at his feet, and above his head a few water skins were hung. On seeing the marks of the mat imprinted on his side, I wept.

He said, “Why are you weeping?”

I replied, “O Allah’s Apostle! Caesar and Khosrau* are leading to (luxurious) life, while you, in spite of your being the Messenger of Allah are living in destitute.”

(*Note: Caesar and Khosrau refer to the kings of Roman empire and Persian empire.)

The Prophet said, “Won’t you be satisfied that they enjoy this world and we enjoy the Hereafter?””

(extract from Bukhari, Vol V no.4913)

For Lao Tzu, to live in austerity is much better than to highly value living for all comforts which is also the teaching in the Upanisad-s for physical, mental and spiritual health. Our Prophet acted as a model to live in modesty and also with contentment within his heart. Our life in this world is a preparation for the real life hereafter which is promised by Allah in the Quran:

    “The life of this world is nothing but sport and a diversion. It is the life of the Hereafter which is the only true life, if they but knew it” (Quran 29:64)

    “(This is) God’s promise. Never does God fail to fulfill His promise – but most people do not know this; they only know the outward appearance of the life of this world, and they are neglectful of the Hereafter.” (Quran 30:6-7)

Tao Te Ching, Ch 74

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

Chapter 74

When people are not afraid of death, 

how can they be threatened with death?

Were the people always afraid of death,

and were I able to arrest and put to death those who commit evils,

who would dare to commit evils?

There is a regular executioner whose charge is to kill.

To kill on behalf of the executioner is what is described as

chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter.

To chop wood on behalf of the master carpenter,

there are none who can escape hurting their own hands instead.

Review

    Some contemporary scholars comment that the Tao Te Ching was written for the rulers of the Chau Dynasty about 3000 years ago to rule the country in accordance with the Truth. We can see there are many Chapters telling the rulers how to rule the country well for the people to live with good sustenance and simplicity, without many desires and clever tricks among people. Here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu also tells the rulers again how to rule the country well by making people enjoy living well rather than willing to die at any moment:

“When people are not afraid of death,

how can they be threatened with death?”

    If people are fond of living which means they have  good life with good sustenance, they dare not do anything wrong which will end up with death penalty. In this sense, the punishment by the government will be effective to warn people to observe the law. However, if the government rules the country with crimes, corruptions and oppressions, people suffer so much in life that they dare do any crimes though they may turn to die at any moment. They may think to die is better than to live. They will do whatever they like to turn down the society, therefore, Lao Tzu says, “how can they be threatened with death?” In this way, when the ruler governs the country to the worst extent, all the oppressions and severe penalties will have no deterrent effect to people. Then, what will happen? Lao Tzu tells us in the following verse in Chapter 72:

“When people no longer fear oppression, 

the great disaster will come.”

(Chapter 72)

    The country will collapse at any moment when people are not afraid of any oppression, therefore, Lao Tzu tells the rulers to follow the sages to rule the country with the Truth, making people cherish their good living in society rather than destroying the society heedlessly. Lao Tzu tells us the best way to uphold the law and order of the society by making people fear of death. They do not want to commit crimes to destroy their good life, thus Lao Tzu says:

“Were the people always afraid of death,

and were I able to arrest and put to death those who commit evils,

who would dare to commit evils?”

    Actually, we can see this Truth in our empirical world. There are a lot of crimes, corruptions in the poor and backward countries even within the government where people dare commit crimes to rob and steal and kill at any cost. In the western countries where law and order are stressed, corruption within the government is eliminated by giving high salary and welfare to the officials and also people of the grassroots. They are the affluent countries where the values of humanity are well concerned which exactly what Lao Tzu wants to tell us.

    Then Lao Tzu tells us another issue about the execution of penalty and punishment. First, the ruler should make people law-abiding by giving them good and stable life, so that there is no need for them to do corruption and crime to threaten their good life which we can see how the affluent countries do to rule their people. Then, Lao Tzu tells all of us how to deal with injustice among people. Lao Tzu tells us not to take revenge because it is not our task to do so. There should be some specialists doing this task of retaliation to punish the wrong doers. In our society, we have the judicial system to deal with the criminals which people cannot do by themselves as Lao Tzu tells us the reason with the parable of chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter:

“There is a regular executioner whose charge is to kill.

To kill on behalf of the executioner is what is described

as chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter.”

    In our society with law and order, there is the judiciary to uphold law and order to punish the criminals with justice without corruption. Furthermore, the Heavenly Tao, the Truth, is also the greatest judge and executioner to recompense all our deeds. This is what we believe in Chinese culture that the Heavenly Tao will recompense all our deeds whether good or bad. Buddhism is also telling us the same, so do other religious faiths in our world.

    This Heavenly Tao is Allah in Islam. There are some names of Allah in the Quran which mean the Absolute Ruler (Al-Malik), the Judge (Al-Hakam), the Accounter (Al-Hasib) who takes the account of deeds of every one, the Retaliator (Al-Muntaqim), the Just One (Al-Muqsit), the Preventer of harm (Al-Mani), the Creator of the harmful (Al-Darr) and the Giver of benefit (An-Nafi). In the first Chapter of the Quran, Allah says He is the “sovereign of the Day of Recompense”(1:4).

    Here Lao Tzu tells us why we should not do the retaliation by ourselves:

“To chop wood on behalf of the master carpenter,

there are none who can escape hurting their own hands instead.”

    We should hand over this task to the judiciary and also the Heavenly Tao if even the judiciary does not work to uphold the justice. To do harm to other people will also harm ourselves as Lao Tzu tells us because we are not the regular executioner. We should trust our Lord, the Creator, the Sovereign of the Day of Recompense to uphold the justice among us. Here what we need is the faith in Allah, the One God. As we human cannot know everything, how can people judge everything rightly? Therefore, the real executioner, ultimately, is Allah only, as Lao Tzu explains in the previous Chapter:

“The net of Heaven is cast wide.

Though it is loose, yet nothing ever slips through.”

(Chapter 73)

Tao Te Ching, Ch 73

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 73

He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death.

He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.

Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.

The Heaven hates what it hates.

Who knows the reason why?

Therefore, even the sage finds it difficult to understand.

The Truth of Heaven excels in overcoming though it does not contend,

 in responding though it does not speak,

 in attracting though it does not summon,

 in planning though it appears slack.

The net of Heaven is cast wide.

Though it is loose,

yet nothing ever slips through.

 

 

 

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching is the teaching for strong people how to use their power of mildness and gentleness. We human should have strength inward us but this strength should not pose as very strong and powerful outwardly because we would easily tend to be proud and arrogant to the outward situation, hence Lao Tzu says:

 

“He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death.

He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.”

 

A brave person should be fearless but Lao Tzu tells us that this fearlessness should not turn into unscrupulous without being controlled. Even the quality of bravery, fearlessness, should be properly controlled to see what we should fear and what we should not fear. In the Quran, Allah tells us that we should not fear anyone and anything except to fear Allah only. We should not commit sins for fear of someone but fear the punishment of Allah only, we should not fear the punishment of any authority which may enforce us to do wrong.

 

According to the Quran, the Arabic word, “Taqwa” means those who have piety, righteousness, fear and love of Allah, and who take great care to avoid His displeasure. It is the ultimate result of all forms of worship. “Taqwa”, the consciousness of Allah, including the fear of Allah, is the only force that can restrain man from evil and wickedness. It is the fear of Allah that keeps a person’s heart awake and enables him to distinguish right from wrong, as Allah says in the Quran:

 

“That is only Satan who frightens (you) of his supporters.

So, fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (indeed) believers.” (Quran 3:17)

 

Here what Lao Tzu tells us to be “fearless in being timid” is well explained in the Quran that we should fear Allah only in order to do the right and avoid doing evil because Allah will recompense everyone in the end. Those who do wrong and evil will have severe punishment ultimately as stated in the Quran:

 

“And let not those who disbelieve ever think that (because) We extend their time (of enjoyment) it is better for them. We only extend it for them so that they may increase in sin, and for them is a humiliating punishment.” (Quran 3:178)

 

What Lao Tzu says “he who is fearless in being bold will meet his death” is also elaborated more in the Bhagavad Gita as the form of desire and anger which ruins a person if he does not control his emotion to do harmful things:

 

“The man thinking of sense objects develops attachment for them; from attachment, the desire for them arises and (if desire is not fulfilled) from desire, disturbance and anger arise.” (Bhagavad Gita, 2:62)

 

“From anger, confusion arises, from confusion, loss of memory, and from loss of memory, destruction of intellect takes place, which in turn destroys the man.”

(Bhagavad Gita, 2:63)

 

A person losing his intellect will fail to do rightful discrimination and judgment. He will act wrongly. Therefore, to keep calm and clear in mind is a must for our benefit which is easy to say but is not easy to act if we are overcome by the desire and anger in the spontaneous situation. Then Lao Tzu tells further:

 

 

“Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.

The Heaven hates what it hates.

Who knows the reason why?”

 

Why do some people act rightfully to lead to good while some people will act in the opposite way to harm themselves? What is the reason behind? Lao Tzu elaborates further:

 

“Therefore, even the sage finds it difficult to understand.”

 

We human cannot know everything. What we do not know is far more than what we know. All the sages are human only. They also cannot know everything and understand everything. Only Allah knows the best and has full accounts of all our thoughts, words and deeds as told in the Quran:

 

“Battle has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing, and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing, and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.” (Quran 2:216)

 

“In whatever activity you may be engaged, and whichever part of the Quran you recite, and whatever deed you do, We are witness to it when you are engaged in it. Not the smallest particle on the earth or in heaven is hidden from your Lord; and there is nothing smaller or bigger but is recorded in a clear Book.” (Quran 10:61)

 

Allah, our Creator Lord in Islam is the “Truth of Heaven” in the Tao Te Ching. What Lao Tzu describes the Truth of Heaven is the same as the Quran tells us. Here Lao Tzu says:

 

“The Truth of Heaven excels in overcoming though it does not contend,

 in responding though it does not speak,

 in attracting though it does not summon,

 in planning though it appears slack.”

 

In the Quran, Allah tells us that He is the One only, in Arabic, called “Ahad”. He is ever self-sufficient. He does not contend with anyone while all beings rely on Him for existence. Allah is also called “Al-Mujib”, the Responsive. He responds all our prayers though we do not know. We human need sense organs like eyes and ears to help us see and hear, while Allah does not need any sense organs but can see and hear. Allah is the Inner Controller in every one of us. We human cannot understand Allah while Allah knows everything about us. In the Quran, Allah tells us that He does plan much better than we human do:

 

“And they (i.e., the disbelievers) planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners.” (Quran 3:54)

 

How is Allah the best of planners? For Lao Tzu, he explains well in the following:

 

“The net of Heaven is cast wide.

Though it is loose, yet nothing ever slips through.”

 

The act of the Truth of Heaven, i.e. Allah, is like the net cast wide around us. It seems loose because the Truth does not summon like what human do but there is nothing missing in His planning, “nothing ever slip through” the net. No one can escape from Allah’s recompense. This is the mystery.

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 72

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 72

When people no longer fear oppression, 

the great disaster will come.

Do not constrict people’s living space.

Do not oppress their livelihood.

If the ruler does not oppress people,

 people will not reject the ruler.

Hence the sage knows himself but does not show off himself.

He loves himself but does not exalt himself.

He discards the way to show off and to exalt himself,

but takes the other to know and to love himself.

Review

   

The Tao Te Ching tells us to practice the Truth, Tao, in all aspects of life. It is not only for the individual spiritual attainment but for the whole world especially in the political aspect, how the ruling class should rule the country by abiding in the Truth. Lao Tzu always reminds the ruling class to rule the country well in accordance with the Truth in many Chapters. Here in this Chapter, Lao Tzu reminds us once again how the ruling class without abiding in the Truth turn into destruction. It is the fact happening again and again in our human history, how the oppression and corruption of the rulers’ act like digging the tombs for people and also for themselves. They both turn to death in the end. Here Lao Tzu begins with the following verse:

“When people no longer fear oppression, the great disaster will come.”

 

In our human history, many rulers tended to oppress people to enslave them for their own advantages to enjoy more in the society. Oppression is opposite to the Truth. The Truth is beneficial to all classes. All people will be benefited by the Truth and can live with satisfaction without being oppressed and exploited. Lao Tzu warns the tyrants that the oppression of people when turning into the extreme will return to the tyrants only. Great disaster will come when people are no longer afraid of any oppression. They are threatened to die at any moment by extreme oppression. In this sense, they will be rebellious to pose against the tyrants by all means; therefore, all the oppressive ruling dynasties could not last long in our history. The tyrants would be overthrown very soon. Then Lao Tzu tells all the rulers how they should rule:

 

“Do not constrict people’s living space.

Do not oppress their livelihood.”

 

It is a must for the ruling class to ensure the good life for people basically with the good living space and livelihood. Let all people live without hardship. It is the duty of the ruling class to do so. If the rulers can do their duty well to ensure the good livelihood for all people, they will never oppress people. In the same way, they will also last long as people will not reject the rulers who can do well for the benefit of all people. Thus, Lao Tzu continues:

 

 “If the ruler does not oppress people, people will not reject the ruler.”

 

With the Truth practicing for ruling that humanity comes first to safeguard the livelihood of all people, there will be no chaos in our society. We can see how the chaotic situations happen when the countries only want to fight and oppress certain class of people. There are a lot of wars in different parts of the world although the two world wars were gone. People should listen to the Truth told in the Tao Te Ching.

 

From the political point of view, after giving warning to the tyrants, Lao Tzu turns to the individual level, how all of us should behave to be close to the Truth, how we can practice the Truth by following the sage:

 

“Hence the sage knows himself but does not show off himself.

He loves himself but does not exalt himself.”

 

Lao Tzu tells us to realize our pure nature inward us, not to hanker for the outward vanity and pride of any kind. All the pomp and shows are harmful for people who forget their true nature, which is the same for everyone, but many people wrongly think that they are more superior. This sense of superiority is harmful and dangerous. How can some people be more superior to oppress other people? How can they get more resources and privileges to lead a very good life while some other people cannot do so? Therefore, we should learn to know more about the sages. The sages know themselves, but they will never show off because they do not want any pride and any recognition from anyone. All the fame and honor are not useful when we know the Truth is higher than all these outward appraisals. Fame, honor, pride and being egoistical are all opposite to the Truth.

 

Here Lao Tzu tells us a very important message that we all should love ourselves but do not exalt ourselves as someone more important or greater than other people. By the Truth, all people belong to the One only. How can some people be more important and deserve more than other people? How can some people exploit other people in order to ensure their luxurious life? Therefore, basically we all should practice the Truth by loving ourselves to make ourselves better in life but do not oppress other people thinking that we are greater than them. All the exploitations in the form of caste system and social classes are evil in nature to enable someone to do harm to other people. Lao Tzu reminds us to learn the Truth that we all should love ourselves, not to expect the love from other people, not to wait for other people to love us and help us. We should act actively to love ourselves, but we should never exalt ourselves. The real confidence of the sage comes from the Truth only, nothing else.

 

It is the subtlety of knowledge, to love ourselves but do not exalt ourselves. Do not think that we are great or greater than other people. Do not have any idea to show that we are well off and better than anyone. Do not have any intention to seek outward recognition from some people. We should learn to act like the sage who is always abiding in the Truth:

 

“He discards the way to show off and to exalt himself,

but takes the other to know and to love himself.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 71

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam

 Chapter 71

He who knows what he did not know originally and

also knows what he does not know is the highest.

He who forgets what he originally knew and

what he does not know but he thinks he knows is sick.

The sage is free from this sickness

because he recognizes this sickness as the sickness.

Only when one recognizes this sickness as the sickness, one can be without sickness.

 

 

 

Review

 

Here in this Chapter Lao Tzu tells us about the concept of “knowing”. The original texts in Chinese are very simplified with only three words in the first phrase, literally means “know not know” (知不知). So, what is meant by the one who knows while does not know? There are two possibilities of meaning here, so do the translated texts tell us:

 

“He who knows what he did not know originally and

Also knows what he does not know is the highest.”

 

The first sentence means a person now knows what he did not know. He now has more knowledge than before. The second sentence means he knows what he does not know. He will not claim what he has no knowledge of. This person is great because he is honest and humble before the knowledge. He will not boast that he knows very much and very well what he does not know. In this way, he knows more than many people who do not know they have no knowledge of many things. This person is of the highest level in spiritually, while most people are sick in their character claiming what they do not know:

 

“He who forgets what he originally knew and

what he does not know but he thinks he knows is sick.”

 

Actually, the original Chinese texts are also very simplified here with only three words, “not know know” (不知知) which can also imply two possible meanings.  The first implies the meaning that the person who should have known something, while he does not know. He is an ignorant worse than an ordinary person who has known what he should know. The second implies the meaning that he does not know but he wrongly thinks that he knows. After all, these two implications mean that a person who cannot know properly.

 

Lao Tzu describes this person as the sick people who do not know the fact that they do not know but claim that they know very well. They are not honest to the Truth. They are also ignorant to the Truth. There should be no lies, no falsehood in the Truth. A person who is dishonest to himself and to others to boast himself as a knowledgeable person is a sick person. Truthfulness is the quality of the sage who abides in the Truth. He knows himself so well that he sees both the merits and demerits he may have, therefore, he can be always humble and is not arrogant. He has no pride because he does not commit the mistakes of most people who are sick. He knows they are sick in their character; thus, Lao Tzu says:

 

“The sage is free from this sickness

because he recognizes this sickness as the sickness.”

 

If people are blind, they will not know what is wrong with them. They may even boast their demerits as very honorable and being proud of, like some people who bully others thinking that they are very great to have the power to bully other. If people do not know their sickness, how can they intend to cure themselves with the right treatment? Therefore, Lao Tzu says:

 

“Only when one recognizes this sickness as the sickness,

one can be without sickness.”

 

The sage knows what the sickness of people, so he can warn himself to prevent from catching the same sickness. Most people do not know the sickness, so they cannot prevent themselves from catching the sickness. Even worse, they embrace the sickness as something they should be proud of, like a person who imagines he or she is very rich and great without civilized manners acts rudely to people, treating all people as beggars begging anything from him or her.

 

Honestly the writer can tell by observation that the evil of caste system in India make many people sick in character. People tend to imagine they are of high caste to be rude to the people they imagine they are of low caste, in which they have no knowledge of the fact who they are and whom they are going to treat badly. They do not know themselves very well. They also do not know other people. All outward behaviors arise from their wrong imagination which they act wrongly to people. All the sickness in our outward behaviours comes from the wrong perception of knowing for a person who does not know what he should have known and also does not know but thinks he knows.

 

 This sickness is called ignorance which makes people blind to the Truth. The idea of knowing is very important for our spiritual growth. We should know ourselves very well. If we know that we do not know many things, we are closer to the Truth than those who always think that they know everything.

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 70

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 70

My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice,

yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice.

Words have an ancestor.

Affairs have a sovereign.

Since people are ignorant, 

they fail to understand me.

Those who understand me are rare.

Those who follow me are precious.

Therefore, the sage, while wearing homespun, 

conceals with  priceless jade.

Review

   

The Truth tells us to return to our natural purity which will make easy for us to live rightfully. What Lao Tzu tells us in the Tao Te Ching is nothing but the Truth, how we should act with the Truth in every aspect of our life politically, economically, socially and individually. Our life will be simple, easy and good if we follow what Lao Tzu tells us in the Tao Te Ching. There is no difficulty and hardship required for us to abide by the Truth. On the contrary, our hardship will end if we know the Truth and act according to the Truth, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice,”

 

What will be easier for us to lead a simple life with truthfulness? Simplicity and Truthfulness should have been easy for people than being complicated and hypocritical, however, why do people tend to be cunning and dishonest in our society? How come people cannot be satisfied with simple living? How come people want to have endless desires in order to enrich their life to be luxurious and fruitful with a lot of belongings and achievements? Therefore, Lao Tzu says with the second verse:

 

“Yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice.”

 

People turn into another way opposite to the Truth. They do not understand the value of simplicity which is the most natural to them. They make a lot of rubbish items to fill in their bellies and their homes with over-production and over-consumption in our society in order to boost up our economy to destruction when our natural environment cannot bear the over-exploitation of our future life.

 

People do not want to say truthful words to other people because no one is trustworthy in our society. Everyone wants to get more interest from other people but fail to understand the feeling of other people in their own situation. People cannot feel a sense of belonging called brotherhood among people even within a family. This feeling of One-ness, i.e., humanity, originally is innate in us but people lose it without knowing. Someone plots to harm another one becomes more normal for people than to do good deeds to others in our society, therefore, our society is full of crimes. Many rules and regulations are resulted in order to make people more sophistical to defend oneself or annex people with skills.

 

How should we speak? How should we act? Lao Tzu tells us in the following:

 

“Words have an ancestor.

Affairs have a sovereign.”

 

Our ancestor is our beginning. Our beginning is the Truth. We should speak only the Truth. We should not intend to tell lies to anyone. Integrity is a must for the society to uphold righteousness. Ancient scriptures in different cultures tell us to speak truthful words only because falsehood will ruin our root of spirituality, like a tree which will die soon if the root is spoilt. Therefore, Lao Tzu tells us to return to our root. We, as a tree, should take care of our root rather than only caring the outward blossom of flowers and leaves. Lao Tzu tells us not to be smart and cunning but simple and truthful in order to safeguard our root.

 

This root is also our “sovereign”. This root is the Truth, our sovereign to govern us well in order to be beneficial to all beings. We should act with the Truth in the way that we regard the Truth as our sovereign for us to follow. As the Truth is our Lord which holds the sovereignty of our life, we should strive hard to know the Truth and act in accordance with the Truth. Do not forget the sovereign of our affairs. We should obey the sovereign.

 

It is the core faith in Islam that Muslims should obey Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, in every aspect of our life. Therefore, there are a lot of teaching, guidance and instructions in the Quran and through the words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad to tell people how to deal with all the affairs in life. Our ancient scriptures in different cultures also tell us a lot how we should live a good life. They all tell the same Truth to uphold humanity, righteousness and compassion among people.

 

Lao Tzu tells us each affair has its own sovereign that we must follow. This sovereignty has been told by ancient scriptures. In the Quran, Allah tells us He is the owner of Sovereignty:

 

“Say, “O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty,

You give sovereignty to whom You will and

You take sovereignty away from whom You will.

You honor whom You will, and You humble whom You will.

In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.”

(Quran 3:26)

 

Allah is “Tao”, the Truth fully described in the Tao Te Ching, however, people do not like to study ancient scriptures which are their hidden treasures. Even the Quran is not encouraged for people to study apart from Muslims. People like worldly knowledge rather than spiritual knowledge. Why do people not understand what Lao Tzu tells us while it is very easy for us to practice? Lao Tzu gives us the answer:

 

 “Since people are ignorant, they fail to understand me.”

 

Most people are interested in worldly affairs to enjoy their life with materialistic view. They concern what they eat and drink, what they clothe and live, what they are going to entertain. They only see the many without knowing the One which is the origin of the many. People become ignorant. They do not know the Truth, which is the one behind many, while Lao Tzu tells us to embrace the One-ness always:

 

“In holding the soul for embracing One-ness,

can you be steadfast without straying?”

(Chapter 10)

 

How can people understand what Lao Tzu says? What is One-ness? People do not have any concept about it. People can only see things in material level. Who cares to study ancient scriptures to find out the Truth revealed? People only care to study in order to earn more money and get more fame and honor. They study degree, master and doctor in order to gain qualification and recognition from the society. Who will strive hard to study the Truth for its own sake? Who will be eager to find out the hidden treasures in our heart? Who will not be fond of getting better material life? Who will be more interested in spiritual attainment without certificates of approval to show off to gain more money and fame? Who will understand the fame and honor are not worth to pursue but poison only for people to go astray from the Truth? Therefore, Lao Tzu says:

 

“Those who understand me are rare.

Those who follow me are precious.”

 

 

Those who are interested to know the Truth are very rare in our human society. They are very precious like gems and diamond, but people cannot see their real value. They are not sharp and smart in outward appearance. They do not want to impress anyone. Their wisdom is inside themselves not outside themselves. They embrace the One-ness all the time without any time to go astray to seek the outward brilliance of bodily life. Their soul is great while their body is very ordinary without any decoration of luxurious accessories. They look so plain, but they are always pure and natural that makes everyone feel comfortable, as Lao Tzu describes:

 

“Therefore, the sage, while wearing homespun,

conceals with  priceless jade.”

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 69

The Door of all Wonders:

 The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna, Chor-kok Lam 

Chapter 69

In using military force, there is a saying,

“I dare not be the host but be the guest.

I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot.”

This is called marching in formation without formation,

raising arms without arms, holding weapons without weapons,

grappling enemies without enemies.

There is no greater disaster than to under-estimate the enemy.

Under-estimating the enemy almost makes me lose my treasures.

So, when the two evenly matched armies meet,

the side that is sorrow-stricken that wins.

Review

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us the use of military force which is not only applied in actual warfare but also our daily life confronting unfriendly situations with a lot of enemies around us. Ideally people should be kind and friendly to each other as it is the virtue the Truth tells us to do so. However, people in our world mostly have turned away from the Truth. We should be realistic to deal with unpleasant situations in accordance with the Truth. Some people naturally are friendly to us, while some people may not. Conflicts and disharmonies among people are easily seen in our life in different situations. Here Lao Tzu tells us the principle of using military force to fight against the enemies:

 

In using military force, there is a saying,

“I dare not be the host but be the guest.

I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot.”

 

Here Lao Tzu tells us not to take an active role to confront the enemies by retaliated actions. We should not bring disharmony and hatred to anyone first in whatever situation; hence Lao Tzu says we should be the guest rather than the host in warfare. We should not take the initiative to act against people. We should never be unrighteous to people. Unless we have been harmed by unrighteous act, then we should act to protect ourselves by righteousness and wisdom.

 

          In the Quran, Allah also teaches Prophet Muhammad the same principle dealing with evil people who always said abusive words to him:

 

“Bear patiently with what they say and ignore them politely.” (Quran 73:10)

 

We should first give way to people to enhance harmonious relation rather than being arrogant and aggressive to take away anything from anyone. If both parties can give way to each other, there will not be any antagonism among them. Therefore, the principle of following the Truth is to “retreat a foot” and “dare not advance an inch”.

 

We should retreat a foot, so that we can escape from dangerous situation rather than approaching further to endanger our life. We should ensure our safety first in any confrontation with people. The best way is to nullify the warfare rather than to aggravate the confrontation. To make your enemies fail to become your enemies is the best way. To make the antagonism become impossible among people is the best way of using force, therefore, Lao Tzu says:

 

“This is called marching in formation without formation,

raising arms without arms, holding weapons without weapons,

grappling enemies without enemies.”

 

During warfare, the formation of army is the strategy for victory. The two opposing parties have their formations of army to fight against each other. The best is to make warfare impossible in the way that we can defeat the enemies by making them fail to fight. This is the wisdom in warfare not merely by physical strength. The mental power is more important to outwit the enemies. This mental power is the intelligence in using military force. Intelligence is the key point for our success to retain the situation. However, only intelligence is not enough. We must be very careful and alert all the time. People who abide in the Truth are very alert and careful as Lao Tzu has described much:

 

“They are careful as if fording a river in winter.

They are alert as if in fear of the attack from four neighbours.

They are solemn like a guest.”

(Chapter 15)

 

They will never be heedless to their situations. To be heedless makes people blind to the reality, what is happening, therefore, Lao Tzu tells us not to under-estimate our enemies even they seem weaker than us because we may be blind to the facts we do not know, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“There is no greater disaster than to under-estimate the enemy.

Under-estimating the enemy almost makes me lose my treasures.”

 

There are three treasures of Lao Tzu mentioned in Chapter 67, i.e. “compassion”, “frugality” and “not daring to be ahead in the world” (humility). Our enemies can refer to anyone or anything that can harm us. We should try to identify the enemies and overcome them. The enemies may take away our treasures before they are going to fight against us, therefore, we should safeguard our treasures, i.e., our virtues, all the time even though we seem very strong and victorious before the confrontation. If we lose our treasures, our compassion, frugality and humility, there will be a great disaster for us because we will act without the Truth. Without the Truth, we will be destroyed in due course. We are surely the loser because only the Truth can prevail. If we feel very delightful to harm people even though they are our enemies, we are not having the Truth. We become violent to people and may act over the limits we do not know when to stop the force, thus Lao Tzu has told us:

 

““The violent will not come to a good end.

I shall take this as the principal of all teachings.”

(Chapter 42)

 

To fight against people is only permissible when there is no other better way to end up persecutions. With the Truth, Lao Tzu tells us we should feel sad to fight against our enemies even though we are going to win the battle. In this way, we will not lose our treasures of compassion, frugality and humility. We will try to end up the war as soon as possible rather than to prolong the war to cause more causality and hatred because we feel sad to harm anyone and anything. We just act in accordance with the Truth; therefore, Lao Tzu tells us with the ending verse:

 

“So, when the two evenly matched armies meet,

the side that is sorrow-stricken that wins.”