Tao Te Ching Ch 12

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna C.K. Lam 

Chapter 12

The five colours make one’s eyes blind;

The five sounds make one’s ears deaf;

The five tastes injure one’s mouth;

Riding and hunting make one wild in the heart.

Goods hard to obtain make one behave wrongly.

Hence the sages are for the belly, not for the eyes.

They discard sensual pleasures but live simply.

Review

    Materialistic life full of desires for bodily pleasure is an obstacle to fulfillment of spiritual life. People can only see the material world by craving for the sensual enjoyment without seeing the spiritual world behind. They think that the material world is the reality and nothing more. They cannot see the Truth which is non-material like a big bellow, i.e. the emptiness, said in the previous Chapter:

“The space between the Heaven and the Earth, is not like a bellow?

Empty, and yet never exhausted.”

(Chapter 5)

    Our spiritual life is to attain the union with the Truth, so we need to be always aware of the Truth which cannot be seen, heard, smelt or touched. The Truth is not a material. It is the One. We should always be aware of the Oneness inside us that is what the Tao Te Ching in Chapter 10 tells us:

“To hold the soul for embracing Oneness,

can you be steadfast without straying?”

(Chapter 10)

    Our soul needs to be always keeping the Oneness inside us and should not get lost in wandering and hankering for the outside world. Therefore,  in this Chapter, we are told to restrain our sensual organs because too many bodily sensual enjoyments will spoil our eyes, ears, tongue and even the heart.

“The five colours make one’s eyes blind.”

    “The five colours” in Chinese mean green, red, yellow, white and black which generally refer to too many colourful visual objects before us.

“The five sounds make one’s ears deaf.”

    “The five sounds” means different melodies of sounds which are used for composing music. Too many sounds, whether good or bad, will distract or even disturb our mind through the ears being damaged or getting spoilt.

“The five tastes injure one’s mouth.”

    “The five tastes” means sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salt which generally refer to the food with too many tastes mixed together in order to get more enjoyment in eating.

“Riding and hunting make one wild in the heart.”

    Entertainment like riding and hunting will spoil our heart because too much bodily and emotional happiness will turn us mad and wild in our heart. We cannot control our heart if it is restless like a wild horse, which is opposite to the spiritual discipline for controlling our sense organs.

“Goods hard to obtain make one behave wrongly.”

    When the material world is so pleasurable, we will indulge in it more and more; then we can only cherish what we obtain materially. We would like to possess beautiful and luxurious items to satisfy our desires for enjoying in this material world. To possess belongings more than our real needs in the worst sense that people would try any means to obtain them, so their behavior can be deviated to rob, to steal or to earn money by all means even illegally to harm our body and mind in order to maintain a good material life.

    Our eyes, ears and mouth can let us enjoy the world by looking at beautiful objects, listening to nice music and eating delicious food. However, Lao Tzu warns us not to indulge in this outside world too much because gradually our eyes, ears and tongue will get damaged which cannot see the subtlety in our inner world. Outside world is not so important comparing with our inner world which is purely spiritual. This inner world is the heart which is the upmost important. When we put our attention always outwardly in the material objects and enjoyments, our heart will follow outwardly and our mind will also follow outwardly. We lose ourselves inside us.

    We do not know what is the most valuable inside us. We think we will become nothing good if we do not have any colourful, beautiful and exciting worldly enjoyments. This is the delusion of the outside world most people do not know. They do not know the Truth which is the most precious inside and outside of us. Worldly enjoyments and attainments cannot make us know the Truth.  The Truth is emptiness, only when we return to simplicity of life, we can return to our pure nature which is nothing but the Truth only, purely spiritual, non-material.

    Hence, Lao Tzu tells us to have a simple life to feed ourselves strong and healthy. It is very enough. Do not hanker for the sensual pleasures over the limits of our real needs. Our belly needs to be fed to keep alive but our eyes, i.e. all the sense organs should not be spoilt by over-feeding, as said by Lao Tzu in the end:

“Hence the sages are for the belly, not for the eyes.

They discard sensual pleasures but live simply.”

    Why do the sages live simple? This is the only way to realize the Truth, the pure nature inside us. This is the most precious inside us which we should not lose and should attain instead. Too complicated time consuming worldly life cannot let us be silent inside our heart and find out the Truth in it. Therefore, Lao Tzu tells us two important ways for attaining spiritual merits, the virtues.

    One is to live with simplicity. The other is to contemplate inside us to keep the silence and peace, do not hanker for the outside world more than necessary. Do not forget the inward attainment of the Truth.

Tao Te Ching Ch 11

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna C.K. Lam

 Chapter 11

Thirty spokes join in one hub.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the cart.

Knead clay to make a container.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the container.

Cut out doors and windows to make a room.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the room.

Thus what we gain is something solid,

yet it is by virtue of emptiness that the solid can be put to use.

Review

    This Chapter tells us the relation between something and nothing, solid and emptiness:

“Thus what we gain is something solid,

yet it is by virtue of emptiness that the solid can be put to use.”

    People mostly see something in solid forms and may neglect its space to contain the solid. Without space, our whole world cannot exist. All the creation needs space. The sky is the large space when we look up and see. The space is so obvious and so appealing to us, though it also seems far away from us. People mostly see the material and neglect something non-material which is even more important than material. Chinese people think that our world is made of five elements, i.e. gold (metal), wood, water, fire and earth. These five elements are all materials which can be touchable and tangible, while we do not include the non-material aspect in our understanding of the creation of our world. Indians also think that our world in material level is made of five elements but a bit different from the Chinese concept. These five elements are earth, water, fire (or light), air and space. All creatures including the whole universe are formed by different combinations of these five elements. Chinese people have not attached any importance to the space as an element in non-material sense while Indian philosophy stresses on it very much. Here in the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu stresses on the emptiness so much as to remind what Chinese philosophy badly needs to be aware of. Lao Tzu explains with three examples that the wheel of the cart needs space to be made and function, a container made by clay needs to make hollow inside, a room with windows and doors also need space for holding all belongings and people living in it. This space is the emptiness. Without emptiness, only material substances cannot work, thus Lao Tzu says:

“Thirty spokes join in one hub.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the cart.

Knead clay to make a container.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the container.

Cut out doors and windows to make a room.

In its emptiness, there is the function of the room.”

    This emptiness closely resembles the Truth (Tao) which is said by Lao Tzu in the previous Chapters:

“Tao is empty. When utilized, it is not filled up.*

So deep! It seems to be the source of all creatures.”

(Chapter 4)

*Another translation: "Truth is like emptiness. Its uses will never be exhausted." The Truth, Tao, is like a big container which can never be filled up, therefore, its use will never be exhausted. 

“The space between the Heaven and the Earth, is not like a bellow?

Empty, and yet never exhausted.”

(Chapter 5)

    The Truth which is called Tao is like the space for all creatures. This space is so subtle that it can never be exhausted. Without this space, nothing can function which is explained in this Chapter. Material must be accompanied with non-material; then it can work out its function. People only see the material as something visible and tangible to us, but may easily neglect something non-material, invisible and intangible to us, i.e. our spiritual life. Without spirituality, material living cannot be kept in proper.

    Buddhism also tells us the same. The Buddhist scripture, the Heart Sutra also describes the emptiness as the Ultimate Reality we need to realize and experience. This emptiness is completely free from any sorrow and delusion but full of wisdom and light. Our material life with our physical body cannot neglect this emptiness; otherwise, we will be suffocated by all the material stuff without air to breathe.

    People always want to gain something more and more, and seldom know that to have nothing is also needed. Therefore,  Lao Tzu explains to us that our instruments cannot lack emptiness, so is our whole life. To make use of the emptiness is to know the relation between Something and Nothing, Being and Non-being. When we see our world, we can see both, not only the beings and something.

“Thus what we gain is something solid,

Yet it is by virtue of emptiness that the solid can be put to use."

Tao Te Ching Ch 10

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 10

To hold the soul for embracing Oneness,

can you be steadfast without straying?

To concentrate your breath,

can you be as supple as an infant?

Can you polish your heart as a bright mirror without blemish?

Can you love people and rule the country with action-less action?

Can you keep your sense organs to open or shut with the gentle principle?

When your discernment penetrates the four quarters,

are you capable of not showing off any cleverness?

Giving all creatures life, rearing them, benefiting them, stewarding them,

yet claiming no possession and authority of them,

such is called the Mysterious Virtue.

 

 

 

Review

 

“To hold the soul for embracing Oneness,

can you be steadfast without straying?”

 

The Truth is defined simply as Oneness in the Tao Te Ching repeatedly. The Truth is One only, without second, third or fourth. For all people in different cultures and times, what they know about the Truth if it is really the Truth, it is One only and the same only without the second. To be Oneness with the Truth is the highest spiritual attainment and the only aim of every aspirant who seeks for the ultimate reality of his or her existence.

In Chinese culture, there is the ideal of the union of the Heaven and the Mankind. In Vedanta [1], there is the supreme knowledge of non-duality, being One as the Supreme Self inside every one of us. As told in the Quran, Allah says:

 

“We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him,

and We are closer to him than (his) jugular vein.” (Quran 50:16)

 

This closeness is the Oneness, but we people do not know it. Most of us are in darkness and become ignorant and cannot see the Truth that we are close to Allah, i.e., Tao, so close that we and Allah are One only. Most people go astray from the Truth. We become many with different names, shapes and forms and lose the One, the source of Light, in our soul. So, people need to be guided and hold fast to the One all the time. To have a spiritually disciplined life is to hold the soul for embracing the One to be steadfast without straying.

 

“To concentrate your breath,

can you be as supple as an infant?”

 

Everyone has body and soul; one is perishable while the other is imperishable. That is all for us. However, for the people who abide in the Truth, having the Truth as Oneness within, they know there is a Supreme Person inside them called the Supreme Self or a newborn baby in the Upanishads. That is their true self, their pure nature which is innately the same as everyone has. This Supreme Self, this newborn baby is the One only.

 

Why is the term, “newborn baby” or “infant” used to depict for the Supreme Person inside us? It is because this Supreme Person is very gentle and mild full of living energy and freshness. Our breath is the vital force of us which is also gentle and calm when the Supreme Person becomes our master inside us. Through the breathing exercise, we can calm down our mind and relax, then be silent.

 

This is the initial stage of meditation. This breathing exercise is called “Pranayama” in the Yoga Sutra [2] which is one of the eight methods to practice to attain the spiritual end, to be Oneness with the Supreme. Yogis are taught to concentrate on their breathing in order to cleanse their mind and body. Finally, the breathing of the yogis will be mild, gentle and slow like being stopped for long duration, i.e., “as supple as an infant” as said here in the Tao Te Ching. An infant is nearest to its purity and living force, so is the person seeking the Truth (Tao) is trained to concentrate their breath. When they have achieved the spiritual attainment, their breaths will be as supple as an infant.

 

“Can you polish your heart as a bright mirror without blemish?”

 

Our heart is the abode for our Supreme Self told in scriptures of the Vedanta (i.e., the Upanishads), Buddhism and Taoism. To purify our heart is the same teaching of every religion and saint. In the Quran, Allah says,

 

“He who purifies himself, who remembers the name of his Lord and prays,

shall indeed be successful.” (Quran 87:14-15)

 

Allah also says,

 

“Verily, among his people was Abraham,

when he came to His Lord with a pure heart.” (Quran 37:83-84)

 

Once Prophet Muhammad told a boy, his follower, Anas ibn Malik,

 “O boy, if you are able every morning and evening to remove any rancor from your heart towards anyone, then do so.” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi #2678) [3]

 

Our heart is like a mirror. If our heart is purified as bright as a mirror, we will have compassion and courage to be rightful and kind to people and to be calm and peaceful inside us. If our heart as a mirror is full of dirt and dust, we cannot see any goodness in anything and anyone but full of evil ideas which is so torturing. This heart is not only the physical heart but also the heart in the subtle sense. Our whole chest is like a mirror as the centre of heart. The purification of the heart is the key for the enlightenment of our soul to achieve the Supreme Stage.

 

“Can you love people and rule the country with action-less action?”

 

The ideal of Lao Tzu is the rule of the Truth for the whole world. If the ruling class can govern their people with the Truth, they will love their people and rule them rightfully. The Tao Te Ching is not only for ordinary people, or monks and nuns in monasteries. It is also proclaimed for the ruling class, the leaders of the world, telling them how to rule their countries in the ideal way. This ideal way is the action-less action.

 

What is action-less action? This is the action without private interest or desire. This is the action without giving trouble with too many regulations to people unnecessarily to control their natural way of being in harmony. To be natural is the ideal stage for people. As a ruling class, what they need to do is to provide the good environment for people to develop themselves in their own way, giving them freedom and space to achieve their tasks in life, without harming people. The ruling class need not do many acts but only do as necessary for people to develop themselves.

 

“Can you keep your sense organs to open or shut with the gentle principle?”

 

Our sense organs are called the “Gateways of the Heaven” in the original Chinese words. They are the seven holes in our head: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and one mouth. They are like wild horses to be trained and disciplined to become tamed. Their functioning is like opening and shutting the Gateway of the Heaven to the outside world. They should be in our control to let us live in harmony without making trouble to ourselves and people. They should be controlled by gentle principle. This gentle principle is the force long lasting. To be gentle is an ideal character for people. This gentleness is used to train and control our sense organs, not letting them fluctuate, jumping up and down without self-control. So, we should open or shut our gateways whenever we need with the gentle principle not by violence or arrogance.

 

“When your discernment penetrates the four quarters,

are you capable of not showing off any cleverness?”

 

Discernment is the light and wisdom for us to know the Truth and the outside world. The four quarters mean the outside world. Though we have wisdom to understand everything, Lao Tzu tells us not to show off. To show off our merits is dangerous for us to be ready to fall. People who have the Truth as their master never need to show off telling people what they know. They will be humble like water in the valley without any pride. To have pride will enlarge our ego and there will be no room for the Truth as the Truth is the master, not the slave. Cleverness is not good for spiritual attainment, only for worldly success. Whatever we achieve and know anything, just let it be as the Truth functioning the whole universe. There is no need to be proud of anything and being cunning to people. Be simple and humble. This is the virtue of people having the Truth.

 

The last part of this Chapter is meaningful to put forth in the end as telling us what the virtue of the Truth is:

 

“Giving all creatures life, rearing them, benefiting them, stewarding them,

yet claiming no possession and authority of them,

such is called the Mysterious Virtue.”

 

Although we have discernment to know everything, Lao Tzu tells us not to show off our cleverness. Be simple and humble, i.e., the virtue of people having the Truth. Then what is the virtue of the Truth? The virtue of the Truth is called Mysterious Virtue that giving all creatures life, rearing them, benefiting them, stewarding them, yet claiming no possession and authority of them. The Truth is the master with gentleness, claiming no authority. To follow the Truth, we need to be gentle, purifying our heart without taints, acting without action and without showing off. This is the virtue of the Truth. The last part is the concluding verses for people to understand the Mysterious Virtue of the Truth that they should follow.

 

 

Note:

[1] The Vedanta is one of the six schools of thought in ancient India. It is about the teaching of the Upanishads, the most sacred scriptures in India. The Upanishads were the last component of the most authoritative scripture, the Veda, in ancient India. The name, Vedanta, composed of “Veda” and “anta”, in Sanskrit, means “the end of Veda”, i.e., the Upanishads. The Upanishads are the collection of many volumes of books telling us the real meaning of the whole Veda. 

 

[2] The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali, is the scripture explaining yoga which can be practiced by eight methods. Pranayama, i.e., the control of breathing, is one of the methods. Through the control of breathing, yogis can purify their body and mind. Prana in Sanskrit means breathing, Yama means control. The Yoga Sutra first appeared from 2^nd B.C. to 2^nd A.D. It was finally fixed in texts in about 4^th to 5^th A.D. All the ancient scriptures in India had developed and formed for a long period of time.

 

[3] The words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad were recorded by different narrations of his close relatives, companions and the companions of companions complied in series of books called hadith and ahadith in Arabic. There are some famous and reliable ahadith like Bukhari and At-Tirmidhi. In Arabic, hadith is the singular noun, while the plural noun is ahadith.

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching Ch 9

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 9

Holding a cup and overfilling it, better to have stopped in time.

Pounding a blade and sharpening it, the sharpness cannot be kept for long.

Gold and jade fill up the house, none can keep them well.

To be arrogant when having wealth and position,

it will bring calamity upon oneself.

To retire when the task is accomplished

is the natural way of the Heaven.

 

 

 

Review

 

This Chapter tells us how to behave to be spiritually benefited which is contrary to what people think in this world. Our world tells us that we should be smart, sharp, clever and always “full” which means to acquire as much as we can to satisfy our desire. Lao Tzu tells us the contrary which saves us from all the calamities of this world. Lao Tzu says:

 

“Holding a cup and overfilling it, better to have stopped in time.”

 

Lao Tzu tells us that we should not keep the cup full when holding it. Too much water pouring inside the cup will overfill it and water will be flowing out. The cup cannot hold too much which beyond its capacity. He further says:

 

“Pounding a blade and sharpening it, the sharpness cannot be kept for long.”

 

The sharpness of a blade can never keep long no matter how hard we sharpen it. It gives us hints that we should never put too much effort to sharpen ourselves outwardly to show off our ability, our brilliance. To show off our merits is not good as told by Lao Tzu in the analogies of a cup and a blade. Showing off means filling the cup too much and it turns to be messy with water flowing out. The blade will be blunt again no matter how hard it has been sharpened as the sharpness cannot last long. The same as our fame and honor recognized by people by showing off or even not showing off, both cannot last long. The real spiritual attainment is achieved by turning our attention inside us not outside us. We should look at ourselves inside, be a witness of how we behave and how we think inside us. If we always put our attention outside us, stress too much on the outward surroundings, care about the outward matters too much, we will be led outwardly by whatever happenings and whoever we contact. Finally, we will lose ourselves inwardly, as we are too much interested in the outward situations.

 

Why do people need to be smart, sharp and clever? Is it the need to deal with the outward situations, to impress people or to please others or to get satisfaction from the winning situations of the outside world? However, can the favourable situations last long? Can our endeavour to be smart and sharp help us close to the Truth that we can return to our purity of eternal being? Having too much outward attention will let us go out and never return to our origin. To return, we need to put our attention inward which is the spiritual teaching of all great masters in different religions.

 

To show off is not good. To be mindful of being smart and clever is also not good for spirituality. Why do people want to be smart and clever? Mostly people want to have worldly success and belongings without knowing the Truth. This desire for worldly success and belongings is an obstacle to our spiritual growth. To desire too much outwardly is harming our pure nature inherent in us. It is how people got polluted by the outward cravings. Lao Tzu further says:

 

“Gold and jade fill up the house, none can keep them well.

To be arrogant when having wealth and position,

it will bring calamity upon oneself.”

 

Most people desire wealth with fame and honor. They want to keep themselves wealthy with a lot of luxurious items or decorations like gold and jade. Luxurious life is harmful for spiritual life. Hankering for luxurious items and precious decorations is no way to the real spiritual attainment. It turns people into troublesome situations dealing with many precious and luxurious items. So Lao Tzu says, “None can keep them well.” People need to beware of robbers and thieves in their houses. They also need to spend much time to maintain well the luxurious items. All our effort will be used for the material affluence which is more than necessary. Then how will we enrich ourselves inside of us by cultivating our soul with calmness, peace, virtues and love for the Truth which cannot be attained outside of us? What a terrible situation that people are very rich materially but very poor spiritually!

 

Nowadays in our contemporary world, material affluence becomes prevalent. More and more people can enjoy wealth and luxurious living and they become a model for those who have not yet got. “To be arrogant when having wealth and position” is common among all people who do not have any spiritual merits. They think they belong to high social class. They think they can be rude to people, and everyone is greedy for their wealth and want to become a slave or beggar before them. Their wrong perception makes their behavior to people very harmful, disgusting and unbearable. They make sin against people and finally they lose themselves inwardly because they have no light to see the Truth. This is the real calamity upon them. Not only people would turn away from them, but the darkness inside them is also the real loss and great calamity.

 

Therefore, Lao Tzu tells us not to be smart and sharp, not to desire for precious belongings. Outwardly even when we have everything good, when we look smart and clever with a lot of worldly achievement and wealth, but if inwardly we do not have spiritual assets, we are poor inside of us; then the outward affluence can become troublesome and even cannot last long. Our material world is always changing. Only our real spiritual stage inside of us is always constant. If we lose our real spiritual contentment, we will have no stability inside of us. We can be easily fluctuated by outward situations.

 

So, the highest spiritual attainment is to renounce from this world, never hankering for the worldly wealth and position without end because it is very harmful for people to get lost easily. The real loss is their real self, their pure nature, hence Lao Tzu in the end says:

 

“To retire when the task is accomplished

is the natural way of the Heaven.”

 

When we have accomplished our task and duty, we should retire in the sense that we should strive hard for our inner attainment. It is to enrich our spiritual life, put much effort inside us, not outside us. This is “the natural way of the Heaven”. Outwardly let other capable people continue the work and develop. We should not occupy any success as our own because it cannot last long. Inwardly we retire from the outside world and strive hard for our inner spiritual life. Then we can attain the Heaven when we leave the world. This is the life planning told by ancient sages in India that people should concentrate on their spiritual life when they are getting old and their duties as a householder have finished. They do not need to bother about their living to nourish their family. They can concentrate on their spiritual growth to prepare for their death. Then they will go to the Heaven instead of going to Hell if they have peace and love inside their soul.

 

Saints choose to retire after their task is accomplished. Prophet Muhammad says, “Never does a Prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise (before his death), and then he is given option.” Prophet Muhammad was given option to live on to enjoy worldly life or to return to Allah after he had successfully united the whole Arabic Peninsular to establish Islam as their religion. Once on some occasion, he vaguely foretold his death that he chose to return to Allah instead of enjoying the worldly life as a leader in Islam. At that time, only one of his close companions, Abu-Bakr, understood and cried. After successfully conquering Mecca without war, Prophet Muhammad proclaimed the establishment of Islam as the true faith chosen by Allah to mankind in his last pilgrimage to Mecca from Medina in 632 AD. After returning to Medina for several months, Prophet Muhammad then became seriously ill. On his last day in his last breath, he said, “Oh Allah! In the company of the Highest! In the company of the Highest!” The life of Prophet Muhammad is exactly what Lao Tzu says:

 

“To retire when the task is accomplished

is the natural way of the Heaven.”

 

 

Tao Te Ching Ch 8

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 8

The Highest Good resembles water.

Water benefits all creatures without contending with them.

It stays in low places that people dislike.

Therefore, it is close to the Truth.

People with the Highest Good are:

Dwelling with the right location;

Feeling with great depth of silence;

Sharing with great kindness;

Speaking with great integrity;

Governing with great administration;

Handling with great capability;

Acting with right timing.

As they do not contend, they are beyond reproach.

 

 

Review

 

“The Highest Good resembles water.”

 

 What is the Highest Good? How can it resemble water? Water nourishes all creatures and never takes away anything from any creatures because of its benefit to them. Lao Tzu says water will never have any competition with anyone. Water would not claim its greatness or talent by contending with anyone, thus Lao Tzu says:

 

“Water benefits all creatures without contending with them.”

 

How is water without contention? How does water never contend with anyone? The answer comes forth:

“It stays in low places that people dislike.”

 

Naturally water flows downward by the law of gravity. So, water is always staying at the low places as in the riverbed at the bottom. Lao Tzu says most people do not like to be at the low position while water is always keeping there. The marvel is the following:

 

“Therefore, it is close to the Truth.

 

Humility is the highest virtue and always auspicious as repeatedly told in the Tao Te Ching. Why is humility so highly valued by Lao Tzu? It is because to be humble is to be closest to the Truth. So, to be in low places that means to be humble. To be humble can never let us forget the Truth as there is always something greater that we should bear in mind. That is the Truth. The nature of water, to be in low places, does not contend with anyone, but always benefits all creatures, is the truth itself manifested in water. Therefore, water is used to symbolize the Truth. When we think of water, we will think of the Truth as “it is close to the Truth”.

 

To be like water does not mean only to be humble. A person who is deep in the Truth is humble and capable of achieving goodness. If we are weak and nothing good, we must be humble to upgrade ourselves to higher level. The highest level is to attain the Truth inside us. Lao Tzu tells us how a person acts like when he is like water himself, which means he is the embodiment of the Truth:

 

“People with the Highest Good are:

Dwelling with the right location;

Feeling with great depth of silence;

Sharing with great kindness;

Speaking with great integrity;

Governing with great administration;

Handling with great capability;

Acting with right timing.”

 

To be like water is to abide in the Truth. This personality would be very talented and auspicious to people. They are in their right position doing their work with peace and silence, never disturb people. When they speak, they would speak honestly, with great integrity and share with great kindness. They will never tell lies, as lies harm the Truth and corrupt their root, their foundation. People abiding in the Truth have compassion which we all need basically as a human. If any moral teaching that makes people abide by a strict code of conduct without compassion in life, it is not the Truth. Those people having the Truth are worth to be at the ruling position to govern people and benefit people. They are the people best at the ruling position in a society. They are very capable of work and know the right time and right place to handle the work as the Truth is auspicious and beneficial to all people. Whenever and wherever they are doing their duties, auspicious time and auspicious place will be there, so Lao Tzu says:

 

“Governing with great administration,

Handling with great capability, and

Acting with right timing.”

 

They are really very rare in our society, so they are called saints as they have benefited people so greatly that people keep remembering them in history. All the saints are humble like water, never to be arrogant aiming to get fame and honor. They are in the low position having the modest living, like Gautama Siddhartha (565 BC-486 BC), Prophet Jesus (6-4 BC? - 30-36AD?) and Prophet Muhammad (570 AD-632 AD). Gautama Buddha relinquished his kingdom to be a monk to find a way of life eliminating all sorrows for people to follow. So, there is his teaching of the rightful way of life to people. Prophet Jesus refused to be exalted as the potential king to revive the kingdom of Israel, and always lived in poverty as he aimed at the spiritual life which was so lacking among all people in Jewish tradition. They had the religion as the Moses tradition, but they did not have spirituality in the real sense. Both Buddha and Jesus were saints to guide people, but they did not govern people in the ruling position. So even rarer and rarer are the saints who abide in the Truth with deep spirituality but also become a ruler to govern people. This is extremely rare, which is the ideal of Lao Tzu: to let the Truth rule the whole world.

 

Prophet Muhammad was this rarest kind of saint who ruled his people by the Truth, by the revelation of Allah. He insisted on living in poverty though he was a ruler highly exalted by his followers, and even after he successfully unified the whole Arabic Peninsular with one religion of God, Islam. He taught the rightful way of life to all Muslims both in the secular and spiritual aspects. He has been always highly honored by all Muslims.

 

This is the ideal of Lao Tzu, to let the Truth rule the people. But they are very rare in history. Mostly, saints do not rule people. Most rulers in our world history are interested in worldly affairs without abiding in the Truth. They want fame and private interest. They accumulate wealth and concern benefits for themselves as much as they can. Therefore, they will be found full of misdeeds after they have gone, and no one wants to memorize them with any admiration. They contend wealth with the general public. They contend honor with other capable people. So, they are to be reproached as they did harm to the general welfare. That is always what is happening in our history. Rare are the saints who can rule the people with the Truth. They never contend with people but only try to benefit them, so does the water. Who can reproach a person with the Truth who is only giving goodness and benefits? It is why Lao Tzu says in the end:

 

 “As they do not contend, they are beyond reproach.”

 

 

 

Tao Te Ching, Ch 7

 The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 7

The Heaven and the Earth are enduring.

The reason for the Heaven and the Earth can be enduring

is that they do not exist for themselves.

Thus they can be long-lived.

Therefore, the sage puts his body last and it will come first.

Regard it as extraneous and it will be preserved.

Is it not due to his unselfishness that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?

Review

“The Heaven and the Earth are enduring.”

    Comparing with human beings, the Heaven and the Earth are far more enduring than any human. We human can have lived for only about a hundred years which is a relatively short period for the Heaven and the Earth. Even if human can have lived for several hundred years or even a thousand years as depicted in mythical stories, this period of life is still not so enduring when having comparison with the life of the Heaven and the Earth. Our Heaven and Earth need to be enduring so long the time that they seem to be eternal for all creatures which cannot last so long. All the creatures cannot last forever because once we are born we are also bound to die one day. All creatures in the material level cannot last forever, so do the Heaven and the Earth. The Heaven and the Earth are also the creation which are the beings from non-being. All the beings will have an end while only non-being itself by nature is eternal, without beginning and end.

    As a human in the individual level, we are living for ourselves. We experience the lifespan of birth, growth, transformation, deterioration and death. While the Heaven and the Earth are not living for themselves, they are living for all the creatures providing them the environment and surroundings. Lao Tzu says it is the reason they can be enduring and long-lived:

“The reason for the Heaven and the Earth can be enduring

is that they do not exist for themselves.

Thus they can be long-lived.”

    If all human can live forever and no one dies, there will be a great problem for the world as our limited world with limited resources cannot bear the continuance of increasing births without the same pace of the deaths. So to give birth and to die is a balance for the environment. It is for the material level that no creatures can live long, and even the Heaven and the Earth also cannot live forever but only far more long-lived than all creatures. It is why Lao Tzu says they are long-lived but not eternal.

    Our body cannot last forever, as the body is made of materials, so are the Heaven and the Earth. All of them are the bodies which have different life-spans. So what is actually having long live is not meant by material level but spiritual level. The sages following the Heaven and the Earth are never eager to live long for themselves deeming their bodies as unimportant so said by Lao Tzu:

“Therefore, the sage put his body last and it will come first.

Regard it as extraneous and it will be preserved.

Is it not due to his unselfishness that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?”

    What will come first? It is the soul living in the body, which is the real master of the body. The body is the servant while the soul is the master, not the vice versa. The soul is eternal without birth and death but people cannot realize this Truth if they can only see the material world which is temporary and partially showing to them. So what is the ultimate goal of the sage? It is the eternity inherent in his soul. This stage of awareness cannot be easily understood and felt if we are deceived that we are only the bodies and nothing else.

    The more selfish we are, the more deception we will have which ties us firmly to our body. This body-identification can never help us to understand the Truth as eternal in us. Allah is eternal. Tao is eternal. Our soul is also eternal but we cannot feel it as we are limited into a body doomed to die one day. After death, we know nothing. Therefore, we cannot see the reality of the eternal life by merely with a limited material body. What Lao Tzu wants to go deep to the Truth is not only to tell people not to be selfish and be helpful to others. This level is not deep enough to experience the Truth and can only be verbal teaching without actual feeling.

    Lao Tzu is not a superficial person. His ultimate goal is not so superficial that many people could think of their private desires and wishes. If a sage does not care about his body and regard it as extraneous, then what is his private desire about himself? Can the body be preserved as long as the Heaven and the Earth? Surely not, no matter how unselfish the sages are. So what does actually come first? What is it that actually be preserved? What is the deepest meaning of “unselfishness” and “ultimate goal”?

    They all belong to the spiritual level. Spiritually we can come first if our eternal soul becomes the master which does not care the limited body for sensual pleasures with or without any fame, honor, achievement, praise or disapproval from people around us. They are all temporary and transient without stability. They will come and they will go. Therefore, to live a full spiritual life is the ultimate goal for the sages to realize the Truth, the ever-existence with Tao, our Lord and our Creator.

“Is it not due to his unselfishness

that is how he can achieve his ultimate goal?”

 Tao Te Ching, Ch 6

The Door of all Wonders: 

The Commentary on the Tao Te Ching

by Nirguna CK Lam

Chapter 6

The Truth as hollow as the valley, its Spirit never dies.

This is called the Mysterious Female.

The Gateway of the Mysterious Female is called

the Root of the Heaven and the Earth.

It seems like flowing continuously, dimly visible.

Its function will never be exhausted.

Review

  

The first Chapter of the Tao Te Ching starts telling us that “Tao cannot be spoken”, “Tao cannot be named”, as Tao is the eternity from nothing to something, from non-being to being. “The nameless is the origin of the Heaven and the Earth” (Chapter 1) which is emptiness, nothingness and indescribable. “The named is the mother of all creatures” (Chapter 1), which is the manifestation of the nothingness, the non-being. Therefore, in this Chapter, Lao Tzu says:

 

“The Truth as hollow as the valley, its Spirit never dies.

This is called the Mysterious Female.”

 

 The Spirit of the Truth is called “Mysterious Female” which never dies. The Truth is like a female animal which gives birth to offspring. This female animal represents the principle of creating all creatures like mother giving birth to her children, but she is not an ordinary creature among us. She is very mysterious we cannot understand much. The Truth is very mysterious, thus in the first Chapter, Lao Tzu says the Truth as:

 

“Mystery of Mysteries,

the Door of All Wonders.”

(Chapter 1)

 

In this Chapter, Lao Tzu mentions “the Door of All Wonders” again:

 

“The Gateway of the Mysterious Female is called

the Root of the Heaven and the Earth.”

How mysterious it is as “the Gateway of the Mysterious Female” which is called “the Root of the Heaven and the Earth.” “The Gateway of the Mysterious Female” means the opening of the womb as the door for delivery of offspring. This is an analogy to depict the relation between the Creator, the Truth, and its creation, like mother and her children. This mother and children relationship is used to describe the functioning of the Truth in various Chapters, for example, in Chapter 52, Lao Tzu says:

 

“The world has a beginning.

This beginning is the mother of the world.

When we know the mother, we can know her children.

After knowing her children, go back and hold fast to the mother.”

(Chapter 52)

 

This mother is the root of the Heaven and the Earth. From the root, the tree will grow up as a trunk with branches, stems and leaves. They are all analogies because the Truth is emptiness, neither male nor female. Only when we are going to understand its mystery, we need to use our concepts and terms whereas the language itself is not the Truth.

 

If we stick to the analogy and do not go deep to the Truth which is indescribable, we still must take a lot of time to understand the reality of Tao. Many cultures and religious cults are fond of the image of mother and son. Like the Mahayana Buddhism and Catholics which both have special favour to the image of their idea of divinity as mother and son. The actual meaning lies on the Tao Te Ching. It tells the relation from Non-being to Being, from Being to all creatures. The union of Non-being and Being is the Truth. Its manifestation is like the Mysterious Mother to create all creatures. But there is no father, mother and son as Islamic faith insist on telling us because Tao is nameless and cannot be spoken without defects. Therefore, if people stick to the images and are not willing to understand the Truth in deeper sense, they are worshipping falsehood only and they become blind in their heart and mind. They do not know the mysterious which is spiritual beyond all material level.

 

Apart from the analogy of mother as the Truth, Lao Tzu also depicts Tao as hollow like a valley. This is also the image of the Truth consistently mentioned in the whole Tao Te Ching. The hollow means the space, the emptiness, the nothingness. There is a hollow in the valley which looks like containing the Truth in it. The valley is holy because it has the emptiness with it, not because of the valley itself. If people only see the valley as holy and cannot see the hollow as the space which is even closer to the reality of holiness, they still need to take more time to understand the Truth. Then Lao Tzu continues with the verses:

 

“It seems like flowing continuously, dimly visible.

Its function will never be exhausted.”

 

People cannot see the Truth easily because “it is dimly visible”. It seems that you can see and also you cannot see. It seems to be visible but also invisible. It is mysterious. It is the subtlety, as you can feel its existence but cannot see it directly, like air, wind and space around us. All these are used by Lao Tzu to describe the Truth. It is also like water “flowing continuously” but much subtler than water as it is “dimly visible” and eternal, never exhausted. Why is the Truth mysterious like a valley with hollow? The answer is in the end:

 

“It seems like flowing continuously, dimly visible.

Its function will never be exhausted.”