Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-2 High wind II

Today's Tao

Therefore, a noisy high wind doesn't last all morning. (Ch.23)


Nature gives us a very good example.

A noisy high wing doesn't last long, even all morning.

It is about a Nine Days' wonder. We all know it.

In Japan, we say:

hito no uwasa mo sichi juu go nichi 人の噂も七十五日.

Literally it means "people's rumor lasts only for seventy five days".

Nine days and 75 days!

Certainly, the Japanese have learned Lao Tzu's patience for more than one thousand years.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 23


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-Without Ishiro Honda, we would not have had Godzilla. He was the one who directed the very first Gojira black and white. He was a magician of cinema who made the impossible possible. He was a friend of Akira Kurosawa. To the eyes of the Japanese kids in 60', the name of Ishiro Honda was more brilliant than that of his worldly known friend.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-1 Say no words / video

Today's Tao

Saying no words makes things come about by themselves. (Ch.23)


Japan stories


Who is the best novelist ever in Japan?

Surely, the answers vary.

Some might say Murasaki shikibu (Lady Murasaki) who wrote «the Tale of Genji».

Other might say Yukio Mishima who committed Harakiri.

Haruki Murakami, the author of «Norwegian Wood», is certainly an up-and-coming star in Japanese literature.

It is a question without one definite answer, isn't it?

So, let's paraphrase the question.

Which Japanese novelist might you miss the most if he or she had not written any works?

My answer is Yasunari Kawabata and I guess that many fans of Japanese literature share the opinion.

Before his «Snow Country», the Japanese word Geisha was a pejorative. After his invention of the heroine Komako, the word has gained some divine power.

Komako the Onsen geisha (hot spa geisha) is the symbol of the pure and sacred womanhood in the collective consciousness of many Japanese and non-Japanese men and women.

"Not all the Japanese, though", I have to admit.



Mishima might have preferred a samurai boy to a geisha girl. Murakami may fancy a glass of gin and tonic with the author of «the Cather in the Rye» more than having Sake with Kawabata, served by a Komako at a snowy onsen ryokan (Japanese style inn).

But look at Japanese boys hanging around Akihabara who adore girls in a Maid Cafe. Aren't they looking for a Komako in a fantasized maid's cutsie wootsie costume?

Thank you, Mr. Kawabata. We are glad that you wrote it.


No matter how much Mishima tried to create his public image resembling the photo, his classmates at Gakushuin high school know who he was. Tough luck, Mishima-san.

-To read the text of Today's Tao, please visit Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-1 Say no words.


Tao answers your question!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-14 Return it!

Today's Tao

Truly, he returns it completely. (Ch.22)


"Return", "go back", "twisted", and "complete".

What did Lao Tzu want to tell us with these words?

First, we "twist", or swap, the cause and the result. It is Reverse Thinking. The Yin Yang circle gives you some image.

Then, we can return our hologram to the state where it was projected.

In Taoism, the state is matriarchally called the mother.

In Zen Buddhism, it is called Bumo misho izen (Before Father and Mother are born).

They mean Tao, which can be also called Buddha, Zen, or Love.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22
-Tao by Matsumoto / Eat mother


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-Osamu Dazai's expressions in Japanese seem to be more difficult to translate into another language, compared to, for example, those of Yukio Mishima. Dazai's words have got rhythm. They are the animated souls of his ancestors. «No Longer Human» has a Japanese title «Ningen Shikkaku人間失格». It literally means "human" "disqualification". If you are qualified as a human, we cry out "Ningen Goukaku!"

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-13 Empty words

Today's Tao

There is an old saying "Twisted therefore complete". How can it be empty words! (Ch.22)


Being twisted is perfect.

Chaos is perfect.

Chaos is perfectly organized in a fashion beyond our comprehension.

So-called human capacities are very limited.

The most advanced science in the 19th century was a laughingstock in the 20th century.

What's gonna happen to the most advanced science in the 20th century.

Lao Tzu, supposedly an old man in the 6th century BC, said: "Twisted therefore complete".

Look at the Yin Yang circle. It is twisted therefore complete.

How can it be empty words!

But, wait a minute!

All words are empty, aren't they?


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22
-Words are not good enough 1-1


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-Ran, a war or a revolt; a commotion or a chaos. Kurosawa's Ran is beautifully organized. You have a yellow team, a red team, and a blue team. It was not like that in the real history, but it is easier to distinguish one from another especially if you are not familiar with the Japanese samurai era.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-12 Aikido

Today's Tao

Simply, he doesn't compete. That's why no one under the sky can compete with him. (Ch.22)


Do not compete.

Then, no one can beat you.

This is the essence of Aiki-do 合気道.

Ai 合 means synchronizing.

Ki 気 energy.

Do 道 Tao.

The Tao of synchronizing the energy.

We do not fight. We just create harmony with our opponent.

In the Today's Tao sentence, we have the expression "under the sky". It means your hologram.

It is useless to compete with characters or images you create in your hologram.

This world is already in the state of Ai-ki 合気 the synchronized energy.

We just forget it sometimes.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22
-Aikido and Tariki / Other people's power 68-6


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-Tatsuo Kimura on the left, an Aikido budoka of Daito-ryu, one of the highest disciples of late Yukiyoshi Sagawa, is the author of «Transparent Power». Some people say that Sagawa may be the greatest budoka ever lived in Japan, who might be much stronger than Miyamoto Musashi, the author of «The Book of Five Rings». Tatsuo Kimura on the right, a mathematician of the highest degree, working with Fourier transforms and Reimann's zeta function, is a professor at University of Tsukuba and the author of Introduction to Prehomogeneous Vector Spaces (Translations of Mathematical Monographs). Are they the same person? Yes, they are. If you are scientifically skeptical about Aikido, ask this genius.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-11 No boasting

Today's Tao

He doesn't boast. So, he is the best. (Ch.22)


Do not boast.

Just remember that you are always the best.

Remember what the baby Buddha is supposed to have said at his birth.

"Above heaven, below heaven, I am alone, who is the only respectable being. 天上天下唯我独尊 [ten jo ten ge yui ga doku son]"

It is totally logical because you are the only one who projects your hologram, which is the world.

Give yourself a bit more credit. You are doing a very good job.

Look! You create a perfect world in front of you.

Don't judge it. Just love it.

Accept it, but just don't boast that you have created it.

By creating and acting on it at the same time, boasting will cause a short-circuit-like effect on your hologram.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-I don't know if they are the best collections, but at least they are complete collections. Akira Kurosawa's films and Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix. The latter could be a very good introduction to understand oriental philosophies.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-10 No bragging

Today's Tao

He doesn't brag. So, he is successful. (Ch.22)


"Don't brag."

"Excuse me, sir, but it is rather conventional as a supposedly eccentric Taoist wisdom"

Taoism is not against conventional wisdom.

We just look at it a bit differently.

Bragging is a waste of energy.

If you want to transform your hologram (=the world) as economically and efficiently as possible, bragging is not recommended.

Being jealous is not recommended, either.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-Yasunari Kawabata, the author of Snow Country and a Nobel prize winner, Hiroshi Yamauchi, the ex-president of Nintendo Corp., and Ichiro Ozawa, a Democratic Party of Japan member, have one thing in common. All of them adore playing the game of Go. Kawabata wrote a novel about the last game of a Go master.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-9 Righteousness

Today's Tao

He doesn't think he is right. So, his righteousness is visible. (Ch.22)


"You are wrong!"

"I am right!"

"When you eat Sushi, you must not put your ginger between the rice and the fish."

"I know what I'm doing. This is the authentic way!"


You don't have to convince anyone, do you?

Do you still want your righteousness to be recognized?

All right. Use Dark Depth Female technique.

Don't think you are right.

What does it mean by being right, anyway?

There is neither right nor wrong in Tao.


Naoto Matsumoto adds:

We always need innovation and open-mindedness, but, if you put the ginger between the rice and the fish at a high class Sushi establishment in Japan, chances are that they will ask you to leave unless your Japanese friend explain to the Sushi chef that you are an important political figure from Timbuktu.

In a Tokyo-style Sushi bar, ginger is served to erase the aftertaste between a piece of Sushi and another.

At a belt-conveyer Sushi bar, they are less strict, and almost all reasonable bad manners are accepted, including belching and slurping the soup. Nevertheless, talking too loud and sprinkling saliva on the small dishes on the belt-conveyer is considered offensive. Besides, please do not forget that, once you have taken a dish with sushi from the belt-conveyer, you are not allowed to bring it back on it. It is not a question of manners, but it is a question of hygiene.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-8 Clearly seen

Today's Tao

He doesn't show himself. So, he is clearly seen. (Ch.22)


Impressive! Fantastic! Amazing!

All these adjectives excite us, don't they?

But we don't need to impress others, do we?

For politeness or resignation?

Oh, no, on the contrary, it is to be "seen".

Contradictory as it sounds, it is exactly because you are showing nothing that you will be recognized.

This is how you use Dark Depth Female 玄牝 [gen pi].

Try the technique. It is impressive.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-Kyogen 狂言 literally means «crazy words». Only a fool can tell the truth, Sir William? It doesn't matter if it is true or not. Let's laugh. Just laugh like a fool or a crazy Kyogen actor. This young gentle man in the photo above is a well-know Kyogen actor. You cannot become a Kyogen actor. You have to born as the scion of a Kyogen family. A nice can of coffee he sells might warm you up on a cold day. A nice laughter of a Kyogen actor will loosen your Cartesian mind a bit.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-7 Canon

Today's Tao

That's why the sage holds Tao and is the canon under the sky. (Ch.22)


There are some easy tips to decode Tao Te Ching (道徳経 in Kanji, characters from Kan).

"Under the sky 天下 [ten ka]" often means "the world", which is your hologram.

The word "sage 聖人 [sei jin]" is important because it means you. You are the sage. Therefore, you are the canon.

It is quite natural because you project the world, so who else can be the canon?

But be careful. Please do not think that you are going to be a sage one day after all the hardships and learnings.

This is a trap.

You are already the sage and canon of the world.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-Kyoka Izumi was one of the Bun-shi 文士, which means «a samurai who has a pen instead of a sword» in the post-samurai and modern era in Japan. He wrote a novel about mysterious seduction between a phantom woman and a monk. It is called Koya Hijiri 高野聖 / Saint of Mt. Koya. Hijiri 聖 means sacred. Therefore, Seijin 聖人 in Tao Te Ching literally means a sacred person. In the film on the left, Seijun Suzuki, a magician of visual images, made a film based on one of Kyoka Izumi's works.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-6 Not "more"

Today's Tao

More therefore tempted. (Ch.22)


More money. More success. More home runs. More goals. More sugar. More toppings on my ice cream. More romance.

More is always better, right?

Not necessarily. Some people want to lose weight.

Lao Tzu asks you to reduce everything, not just weight.

When we increase our income, achievements or knowledge, we feel successful.

But where does the success take place?

In our hologram!

It is just a catalyst to stimulate us.

More choices, more confusion.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-Junko Miyashita once was one of the most under-rated Japanese actresses because she started her career with films publicly despised. In the film on the right, she plays Abe, Sada (Abe is her family name). She was the famous woman who cut the male urinal organ of her lover. Nagisa Oshima made a film out of her life and Quincy Jones composed a song out of the film.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-5 Shinran / Jodo Buddhism

Today's Tao

Less therefore attained. (Ch.22)


With "less", you can attain Dark Depth. (The attainment of Dark Depth is called 玄得 [gen toku])

"Thank God! I am alive."

It is not a bad attitude, but, if we want to attain Dark Depth, we will do it differently.

Instead of "Thank God! I am alive", why don't we say:

"I live to thank everyone and everything".

This is what Master Shinran 親鸞 asked us to do some eight hundred years ago.

Shinran (1173-1263) is not a Zen Buddhist. (☞See also Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe 62-3)

He is the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in Japan. (And he is a contemporary of Zen Master Dogen.)

Instead of wishing to gain something, he asked the believers to cite prayers as a form of thanking Buddha.

It is a very intelligent way to reduce the resistance of your ego.

That's how we stop disturbing our hologram to transform itself.

Dark Depth will be attained.


Shinran@wiki


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-In a rough understanding; Tariki 他力 (other-power) = Shinran; Jiriki 自力 (self-power) = Dogen; Some think that Jiriki and Tariki are contrary to each other. Not exactly. If you know that "Self" is just a concept and does not exist. The idea of Tariki is a very useful tool to reduce your resistance. Besides, Hiroyuki Itsuki, a good novelist, talks about his experience of evacuation from Manchuria at the end of WW2, relating it to Tariki of Amida.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-4 Before parents' birth

Today's Tao

Worn out therefore new. (Ch.22)


It is exactly the same as breaking the mirror in Zen. (☞See also Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 15 / Man who knows Tao)

If you want to be new, you should wear out your hologram.

Then, you can return to Tao, or Bumo misho izen 父母未生以前 in Zen.

Bumo misho izen means «Before Father and Mother are born».

It is a very important concept describing the state before holographic images are projected.

To "return" to the state, Reverse Thinking is useful.

Some people thank someone up there for letting them live.

With Reverse Thinking, you live in order to say: "Thank you".

Then, you are as new as a newborn baby whose father and mother have not yet been born.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-Misora Hibari was a Judy Garland of Japan. On the left, "musume" means a daughter or a girl. "Tabigasa" literally means a Japanese straw hat for travelling. So, the song is about a young woman travelling alone. On the right, the kanji character for "Yawara" is the same one for Ju of Judo. Judo is "yawara no michi / the soft Tao".

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-3 Hollow

Today's Tao

Hollow therefore filled up. (Ch.22)


Do you remember "Thirty spokes share one hub. (Ch.11)"?

Hollow and filled. It is about holography.

If you want to be full, empty yourself.

Reduce and reduce. Particularly reduce your knowledge.

If you have nothing, you have everything.

Those words have confused many.

All right. Let's make them clear once and for all.

First, the so-called world is a hologram. That's why it is called nothing or emptiness.

Second, to learn it, your knowledge simply bothers you. Reduce it and stop analyzing.

Third, then, you will realize that the world, including your own self, is a hologram. Don't look down on it because it is a manifestation of the fundamental energy Tao. That's why it is called everything or all.

If you can love the world, you don't have to listen to all the gibberish, mine included.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-On the photo of «In Praise of Shadows», can you see a katakana character Mu ム? Shadows are nothing. Shadows are plenty. Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the most prominent writers in modern Japan, explains the importance of shadows. There is another important one-syllable expression Ma 間. It means space/void.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-2 Bent

Today's Tao

Bent (like an inchworm) therefore straight. (Ch.22)


In Taoism, returning to Tao is important.

What does "returning" mean?

One can say that it means getting out of his hologram and going into the state of Tao, or Bumo misho izen 父母未生以前, in Zen.

Another can say that it means turning around the Yin Yang circle, which is equivalent to a Tibetan prayer wheel.

How can you return to Tao, then?

One of the answers is to use Reverse Thinking.

If you want to be straight, bend yourself.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


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-One of the biggest contributions to Japanese literature by Master Dogen is to have written a chapter of Hokke Ten Hokke 法華転法華 in Shobogenzo 正法眼蔵. It is a literary equivalent to the Tibetan prayer wheel. Please look at the five Kanji characters carefully. It is, in fact, two sets of the identical pair connected by the character 転 [ten], which means "to change / to turn". It is a visual presentation of the prayer wheel. Traditionally, the Japanese are awed by Kotodama 言霊, the spirits of words, in other words, the phonetical aspests of their expressions. Zen monks and their calligraphy changed the tendency a little.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-1 Twisted / video

Today's Tao

Twisted therefore complete. (Ch.22)

Japan stories


When you visit a Buddhist temple or a Shintoist shrine, you will surely see it.

It is a piece of paper called "Omikuji".

You will find a bunch of them tied on the braches of the trees in its precincts.

Japanese men and women pay a few dollars or euros to a young lady working in vermilion and white traditional costume if it is at a Shinto shrine. In exchange, they receive this piece of paper.

As all the good students of Japanese know very well, the prefix "O" expresses politeness.

Though only advanced students of Japanese know it, the prefix "Mi" is an old way to express politeness.

The word "kuji" has plenty of respect, it seems.

It means "lottery".

Although it does not win you money or anything, it will tell you about your future.

Each piece of paper has detailed descriptions concerning your money, love, family, education, job, and others.

If you like what it is written, you keep it.

If you don't like it, you tie it on the branch. Then, divinity will take care of the purification of your bad luck.


To read the text of Today's Tao, please visit Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-1 Twisted. You will find a little article about Shohei Imamura's films, too.


Tao answers your question!



-They are based on a true story. In 1950 Kinkaku-ji / Golden Pavilion was burnt down. A young monk set fire. Yukio Mishima thought the temple was too beautiful for the monk to face. Another Japanese writer Tsutomu Minakami made up a totally different story. The young monk was having affair with a girl from the same village, who was now working in the quarter Gobancho, a district of pleasure.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 21-10 By Tao's name

Today's Tao

How do I know that all the roots of material beings are like that?


By the name of Tao. (Ch.21)


"I!"

"You!"

What do we mean by that?

These individual selves are not ours.

They are just holograms.

Our personal feelings are part of our hologram, which is an illusion.

So, who are you?

True You are Tao.

It doesn't matter what you call it.

The name is not important.

Tao, Love, Buddha, Zen, or whatever you like. You can even call it "you".


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 21


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-Dogen means "the root of Tao". Shobogenzo Zuimonki (the book on the right) was not written by the master himself. It is much easier to understand. There are quite a few English translations of Shobogenzo. They may be helpful to understand Dogen's teachings, but I cannot recommend any, the one on the left included. My best and honest recommendation is, though I know it is too demanding, to learn Japanese and read the original. A Japanese man can learn English and read Shakespeare. Why can't an English-speaking person learn Japanese and read Dogen? Shobogenzo is written in old Chinese and Japanese. It is an amazing mixture of two different grammars. While Chinese has a word order closer to English (in principle, Subject - Verb - Object and others), Japanese has the one completely different from English (Subjets, Object, or others followed by a suffix which functions as a preposition - Verb often followed by suffixes which function as an auxiliary verb or "not") Dogen is truly a Jackson Pollock of Japanese literature.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 21-9 Tao supervises all

Today's Tao

And it serves, supervising all the roots of material beings. (Ch.21)


Tao is the headquarters.

It supervises all the aspects of creation.

Our brains project the world in the head.

The world defines our own self, or what we are.

There are many "roots of material beings".

There are many holograms.

Tao is the source of the energy for all.

As Zen Buddhists say, life is the mirror where Buddha (=Tao) manifests itself.

Trust Tao.

He is a good supervisor, much better than bank managers.


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-Tao supervises all 21-9
-By Tao's name 21-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 21


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.21 text / Next video

-Yukio Mishima was once hired as a bureaucrat by the ministry of finance, the headquarters of all the Japanese bankers. You never know. He could have been a saviour of financial crises.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 21-8 Tao's name

Today's Tao

From now to the olden days, Tao's name does not go away. (Ch.21)


"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

The word "Tao" is definitely worse because it never goes away.

But "from now to the olden days"?

Isn't it supposed be "from the olden days to nowadays"?

Never mind.

Time doesn't exist in Tao.

It is a concept we create in our mind.

We use the concept of time in order to reconstruct the world in a comprehensible way.

In Zen Buddhism, they say that past, present, and future are being created simultaneously.

Plus, the function of Tao had existed even before Lao Tzu or someone invented the word "Tao".


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 21


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.21 text / Next video


-He initiated a land reform in Japan. Some rich got poorer. Some poor got richer. Other rich stayed the same. Other poor stayed the same. The Japanese middle class enjoyed Hello Kitty and Mario Brothers some decades later.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 21-7 Sure thing

Today's Tao

There is something sure inside it. (Ch.21)


Some are afraid of believing.

"There are plenty of traps, religious or financial," they might say.

Others are afraid of doubting.

You've got to believe what you believe no matter what its name is.

Whatever the name is, we are talking about the same thing.

It is about the fundamental energy which constitutes everything.

Are you afraid of admitting that true You are the energy, which I happen to call Tao?

Don't worry.

It is a sure bet.

I guarantee you.


«Related Articles»
-Tao only 21-1
-Object 21-2
-Formed objects 21-3
-Images 21-4
-Essence 21-5
-Genuine 21-6
-Sure thing 21-7
-Tao's name 21-8
-Tao supervises all 21-9
-By Tao's name 21-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 21


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.21 text / Next video


-Sure thing in a different sense, but could be as good as any.