Tao Te Ching Chapter 28-8 Protect Darkness

Today's Tao

Protect its darkness. (Ch.28)


Stay with Dark Depth 玄 [gen], which is Tao.

How can we do that?

1. Learn the limit of male attitude. No direct action.

2. Keep female attitude. Do nothing, and your hologram will transform itself.

3. Be the valley. Be void. Being void means accepting all.

4. Then, you will remember that you are Tao. This is constancy.

5. Be like a baby.

6. There is neither black nor white. No dichotomy 二見なし [niken nashi].

(The male and female attitudes above have nothing to do with men and women. They are simply expressions used by Lao Tzu to express certain types of behavior.)


«Related Articles»
-Male 28-1
-Female 28-2
-Valley 28-3
-Valley under the sky 28-4
-Attainment of constancy 28-5
-Baby 28-6
-White 28-7
-Protect Darkness 28-8
-Valley, male, female 28-9
-Under the sky 28-10
-Constancy attainment 28-11
-Uncarved block 28-12
-Vessels 28-13
-Chief officials 28-14
-The greatest control 28-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 28


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.28 text / Next video


-Darkness simply fascinates some. Surely it does the Japanese. In darkness, probably, we find some little fairies profoundly rooted in Shintoism. At the same time, we fear darkness. We transformed Shinjuku from the darkness of water purification plants to the pleasure world of flood of lights. Have the Japanese erased the darkness completely there. Not at all. On the contrary, plenty of people are attracted by the darkness of human existence in illuminated Shinjuku.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-12 Profound truth

Today's Tao

This is called the profound truth. (Ch.27)


Yin and Yang. Satori and Mayoi, which means being lost. Birth and reincarnation.

These paired concepts have confused us, the occidentals and the orientals alike, for hundreds of years.

They are the results of our desperate attempts to convey the concept of the cycle between Tao and hologram. This is the prayer wheel.

Thanks to the invention of holography, we can comprehend it without any metaphors.

But, be careful.

Don't conceptualize it.

That makes it less easy to accept that Tao receives Tao through holograms.


Dogen quoted the words of Nangaku Ejo (Nan-yueh Huai-jang):

"I don't say that practice and the attainment of Satori do not exist, but we had better not tarnish them by meddling with them."修証不無。染汚即不得。(jishozanmai 自証三昧, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-When a Japanese girl hears the word "princess" and is asked to draw a picture of her, almost certainly she creates an image of a Snow White. I personally do not know any Japanese married woman who made a vow of their eternal love solely in kimonos without changing her outfit and putting on a white Western-style wedding dress. Nowadays, blonde Japanese girls are getting more and more banal.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-11 Lost completely

Today's Tao

If you don't value your teacher, if you don't love your resources, no matter how wise you are, you will be lost completely. (Ch.27)


As we have discussed them in the previous entries, "teacher" and "resources" mean a good man and a non-good man.

They suggest a cycle.

It is the cycle where the fundamental energy is emitted and received.

It is the cycle between Tao and your hologram.

But, don't separate the two.

Don't try to understand the cycle intellectually.

Just love the world, which is your hologram in front of you.

Don't despise the world, saying that it is just an illusion.

Otherwise, you will be profoundly lost in the abyss of intellectualization.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-"Sensei!" If you are learning Japanese, you know it. There are too many homophones in this language. If someone says that "sensei" means a teacher, he is right. If another says that "sensei" means a surprise attack, well, he is almost right. "Sensei" can be a leadoff attack. If you want to declare under oath something like peace, it is "sensei" as well.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-10 No bad man

Today's Tao

A non-good man is the resources of a good one. (Ch.27)


Yesterday, we talked about "a good man is the teacher of a non-good one".

Please pay attention to the expression "non-good" man 不善人.

In the original of Tao Te Ching, it is not written as a "bad" man 悪人.

There is neither good nor bad in Tao.

Good is the source of non-good.

Non-good is the source of good.

It shows us the cycle of Yin and Yang.

It doesn't matter whether the hen or the egg comes first.

As long as it cycles, it is perfect.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Hanzo on the left is Hanzo Itami in Goyokiba. Hanzo on the right is Hanzo Hattori in Kill Bill. The latter is not Hanzo the Ninja minister, but his descendent acted by Sonny Chiba (Shin'ichi Chiba), who played the great athlete cop in Key Hunter series. Since I was a kid, I have been wondering what a key hunter means.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-9 No good man

Today's Tao

So, a good man is the teacher of a non-good one. (Ch.27)


Don't judge anyone.

There is neither good man nor bad one.

Zen Master Dogen says:

"It is not that something evil does not exist. Just do nothing. It is not that something evil exists. Just do nothing." (Shoakumakusa 諸悪莫作, «Shobogenzo»)

Today's Tao sentence should be read along with tomorrow's.

«Do nothing» is the creation of Tao's cycle.

If you read just Today's sentence, you will make just a one-way street.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27
-Tao by Matsumoto / Do not judge


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-To a certain generation of Japanese men, Mako Midori (on the left) and Meiko Kaji (on the right) have left a long-lasting trace in their memory. While Meiko Kaji has been given some special place in the heart of some men living outside Japanese islands thanks to Quentin Tarantino, fewer and fewer men remembers the name of Mako Midori because of the diminishing number of baby boomers in the archipelago.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-8 Enter enlightenment

Today's Tao

This is called entering enlightenment, which means knowing the constancy of Tao. (Ch.27)


Absolute acceptance is called Satori in Zen Buddhism.

Satori is not just a state.

Satori is rather an act.

Satori is not a hallucination or an altered state.

It is not just understanding the acceptance of all, either.

In Satori, you actively receive the fundamental energy by accepting the world.

Simultaneously you emit the energy by loving the world.

Thus, you can be aware that you are the very center of the constant circulation of Tao the energy.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Life is a floating world. Why don't we live like floating weeds? Ukiyo means the floating world. Ukikusa means floating weeds. It is a film by Yasujiro Ozu. Machiko Kyo, the phantom princess in Ugetsu, took the leading female role. Nevertheless, the movie is remembered by the juvenile beauty of precocious girl Kayo encarnated by Ayako Wakao. A fantastic film!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-7 Things = Prayers

Today's Tao

He helps things very well. So, he abandons no things. (Ch.27)


Don't break things. They also have souls.

Don't waste their lives when you eat animals or plants. Chew them well and assimilate them into your body completely.

Don't hit the keys on your computer too hard even though you are frustrated.

Don't you hear their cry? "Please, master, don't hit me like your enemy."

Like living beings, objects are prayers.

When you accept them as they are, you turn the prayer wheel.

In order to give you opportunities to turn your prayer wheel, everything exists.

So, don't abandon things, please.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27
-Take time 15-4 Please take time when you eat. Chew food well and appreciate the life that it once had (or still has when you eat sushi or sashimi at a very good establishment).


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Tattoo is beautiful especially when it is engraved on the skin of a beautiful woman. Jun'ichiro Tanizaki wrote a short story called «Shisei», which means tattoo. Later, Yasuzo Masumura made a film called «Irezumi», which also means tattoo. Ayako Wakao, the actress whose back was the shrine of the spider tattoo in the film, was an ideal woman to embody the beauty. Who else can do it!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-6 Jimitokudo

Today's Tao

Therefore, the sage always helps people very well. So, he abandons no people. (Ch.27)


Help others especially when they try to cross their hologram (=the world).

In Zen Buddhism, it is called «Ji mi toku do, sen do ta 自未得度先度他». Though you haven't crossed it yet, let others cross it first.

You don't have to be a super master to help others.

You just help others realize that this world is their hologram projected in their head respectively.

But, please remember there is no difference between you and non-you. Your own self and others are both part of your hologram.

If they have crossed it, you have already crossed it, too.

Don't abandon others, your own self, or your hologram.

Just accept and love them.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Was Yukio Mishima an actor or a novelist? Was he an actor acting the life of a novelist? Or, was he a novelist acting like an actor. His childhood friends may know the answer. His public image deceives us. He tried everything to be what he really was not. Ironically, the image has become his second nature. There could have been a happy ending like a movie if he had been able to convince himself that he had finally become what he was not. His second nature could not allow the first one to exist.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-5 Strings nor cords

Today's Tao

Good tying doesn't need either strings nor cords, but no one can untie it. (Ch.27)


If you want to keep something with you, let it go.

If you want to keep someone with you, let him go.

The best way to tie something is to do it without strings or cords.

The best strings are Dark Depth 玄 [gen].

This invisible string is the most effective of all.

Sounds like the story of «Emperor's New Dress»?

Try it, and you will see how effective it is.

To use Dark Depth, do nothing.

Let everything go.

This is called Dark Depth Female 玄牝 [gen pi].


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-They are the same story. Originally it was written by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki with the title of «Manji» in Japanese. There might have been a certain consideration not to use the original title for the English translation probably because the design of «Manji» reminds most of the readers in English of our dark history during World War Two. Please don't imagine that the film on the left is about two Mata hari women working for some espionage. The novel and film will tell you about love between two women.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-4 Bars nor bolts

Today's Tao

Good shutting doesn't need either bars nor bolts, but no one can open it. (Ch.27)


The best defense is no defense.

Don't try to protect anything.

Protecting something is the best way to lose it.


Chuang Tzu, a distant disciple of Lao Tzu, says in his book:

"Although you hide your boat in a valley and the nets in a swamp, a powerful man may steal them and run away". (The 6th chapter in Inner Chapters, «Chuang Tzu»)


If a thing is supposed to stay with you, it will be there.

If not, let it go.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Jun'ichiro Tanizaki wrote about women. He wrote about tattoos on the back of a woman. He wrote about a man who stung his own eyes not to see his wife's once beautiful but now burnt face. He wrote about women in the classic, the Tale of Genji. He wrote about the key who knows everything.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-3 Counting sticks

Today's Tao

Good reckoning doesn't need counting sticks. (Ch.27)


Don't calculate because our human intelligence is very limited.

Instead, use Tao.

Tao doesn't need counting sticks.

Tao doesn't need anything because you do nothing.

Doing nothing is the best way to activate your Dark Depth 玄 [gen].

Tao is much more reliable than our intelligence.

That's why Lao Tzu asks us to reduce our knowledge.

He knew that our intelligence was not so intelligent.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-Once upon a time Naomi was a cool name in Japan. It was way before the time of Naomi Campbell and Naomi Watts. It was even before World War Two. Jun'ichiro Tanizaki liked the name. That's why he gave his character the name. Naomi that Tanizaki created likes dancing, fooling around with many men, and transforming a man to a slave.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-2 Good speech

Today's Tao

A good speech has no flaws. (Ch.27)


When you say something according to Tao, your speech is perfect.

Then, a question arises.

Can we really say something against Tao?

It is impossible.

So, give yourself a bit more credit.

No matter what you say, you are right.

Your speech has no flaws.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-It is not a competition. It is not a judgement at all. Some still remember the old Zatoichi the blind swordsman. The others don't. Some grew up with watching the TV series. The others don't. Some saw the ones with Katsu, others saw the one with Kitano, and the others saw one with another. But, all of us, who adore this blind man, imitate Zatoichi with a bloom or a scale once in a while.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-9 After Satori

Today's Tao

Therefore, a man with Tao doesn't stay there. (Ch.24)


A man with Tao gets out of his hologram.

A man with Satori breaks his mirror.

Where do they go after that?

They don't go anywhere but right here.

Because no one is captured in the hologram, or the mundane world, from the beginning.

Everyone is with Tao.

All of us are in the state of Satori.

We have simply forgot about it.


Zen Master Dogen says:

Great Satori has neither beginning nor end. Neither has Mayoi (=being lost). Mayoi never interferes Great Satori. (Daigo 大悟, «Shobogenzo»)


Naoto Matsumoto adds:

Getting out of your hologram means accepting all of it.

Mayoi is a catalyst.


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-If you feel as if you were stuck in this world, read «Sansho-uo, Salamander» by Masuji Ibuse. When a frog came into his cave in the water, the salamander was young and smaller. He closed its entrance with his own body. He was not nasty. He just wanted a friend. Some time later, his body got bigger, bigger than the entrance. He was not able to get out of the cave any more.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-8 Frustration

Today's Tao

Things may detest them. (Ch.24)


"Things may detest «excessive food and unnecessary conduct»".

They don't like excess.

Well, Tao prefers to be a minimalist, it seems.

"Things" here mean everything in your hologram.

They do not work as you think.

No worries. Your very thoughts are part of your hologram.

When things don't work out as we wish, we get frustrated.

This is perfectly all right.

Your feelings, including frustration, are like the clouds in the sky. You don't possess them.

Or, if you wish, we can say that you create the most suitable frustration for your spiritual development.


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-To Kafu Nagai, staying in the United States of America was a compromise. He was there to make money like any other economic immigrant. His purpose was not to be a millionaire because he was already one. His family had tons of money. Simply, his father did not give him enough. He was there to save enough money to go to France. It was not so easy for a bon vivant like Kafu. He dreamed of the life in the old continent, the poets in Montparnasse and the girls in Montmartre, while staying in Tacoma, Washington.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-7 Excessive food

Today's Tao

From the point of view of Tao, they are excessive food and unnecessary conduct. (Ch.24)


Well, today, we have an useful short list of no-nos in Taoism (not all, though).


1, Don't show off.

2, Don't live a fast life.

3, Don't try to convince others.

4, Don't judge.

5, Don't brag.

6, Don't tell you are creating your hologram.


All of them are excessive and unnecessary.

They are contrary to the attitude of Dark Depth Female 玄牝 [gen pi], with which you can smooth the flow of the fundamental energy Tao.


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-You can call me conservative. I like a person who invents something. I like Dogen because he was honest and accurate. I like Daruma because he was sincere without bla bla bla. I like Buddha the best because he was a Momofuku Ando of Buddhism. Who is Momofuku Ando? He is the one who invented instant noodles.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-6 Boasting man

Today's Tao

A boasting man is never the best. (Ch.24)


Don't boast. Don't say you are the best.

All right. Conventional teachings say the same thing, but it is more subtle here.

You really have to know that you are the best because you are the creator of your hologram, in other words, the creator of the world.

What's going to happen if you declare:

"I am the creator of the universe"?

Well, you can imagine all sorts of difficulty in your life.

But, why difficulty?

Because this declaration is an act to influence others, that it to say, your hologram.

By boasting that you are the best, you are creating a short-circuit-like effect in your hologram.


Zen Master Dogen says:

In order to practice the heart of Bodhi (Bodai shin), you had better not wish that people will know you have made up your mind to do it and are practicing it. You should try not to let them know it. You must not tell them about it.

This is called "to double your Mayoi while you are in your Mayoi (=being lost)".

(Keiseisanshoku 谿声山色, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Some questions. Can a Zen master be an artist? Can a baseball (or football) player be an artist? Can a chess master be an artist? The answers could vary. Then, how about these? Can an artist be a Zen master? Probably, possible. Can an artist be a baseball (or football) player? Probably no, unless his name is either Ichiro or Zidane. Can an artist be a chess master? Both of the two occupations are time-consuming, so probably no. When you read Kawabata's «The Master of Go», you may have an impression that it doesn't matter to the master of Go whether he will win or not. He seems to have wanted to create beauty on the Igo board.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-5 Bragging man

Today's Tao

A bragging man is not successful. (Ch.24)


"Master Bonbon, have you reached Satori?"

"Of course, yes. That's why I am a master."

"Master Bonbon, tell me what's wrong with me. I haven't reached Satori yet."

"Meditate for 60 years first. Then, I can show you the secret."


Don't brag.

Don't say you are successful.

Remember «Ji mi toku do, sen do ta 自未得度先度他».

It means:

"Though you haven't crossed it yet, let others cross it first".


Naoto Matsumoto adds:

When you are lost and confused, this Zen expression is a powerful spiritual tool to help you.

Say it to yourself, and you will remember that you are already in the state of Satori.

«Caution!»
Master Dogen asks you not to expect to be a Buddha because of «Ji mi toku do, sen do ta». (Hotsubodaishin 発菩提心, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Some people say that Yasunari Kawabata's novels are like picture cards. Other people say that those of Haruki Murakami are like hamburgers. I don't know if they are criticizing or praising them because I personally find it very nice to receive a picture card from a friend on vacation and I do enjoy hamburgers especially when I need a soul food. Well, «Koto, the old capital» of Kawabata has beautiful images of Kyoto. It is a nice read when you travel to Japan.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-4 True righteousness

Today's Tao

If a man think he is right, his righteousness is not visible. (Ch.24)


Don't judge.

There is neither good nor bad in Tao.

The moment you think you are right, you are wrong.

The true righteousness is not something like that.

It is following Tao.

What do you have to do to follow Tao?

Do nothing.

You don't have to do anything to be right.

Because you are always right.

Unless you judge others.


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24
-Righteousness 22-9


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Before he became the creator of the stories in the text books used by most good boys and girls with a decent education, Yasunari Kawabata was a cool and fashionable writer. He wrote about Asakusa, the most a-la-mode place in the islands of the rising sun before World War 2. When you visit it now, it is a bit difficult to imagine. Read the Scarlet Gang of Asakusa. Those boys and girls without education in the story are much more radical than the kids around Akihabara now.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-3 Express nothing

Today's Tao

A man who expresses himself is not clearly seen. (Ch.24)


Don't try to convince others.

It is no use.

No matter how wrong it seems, they are doing the right thing.

"They are doing the right thing in their own world."

Well, you can say that.

If it is useful for you to think so, do it.

But it is not ideal.

Remember everything is one?

Therefore, their holograms are your hologram.

Don't act directly on the world, which is your hologram.


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Odoriko. The dancing girl. These two expressions don't seem to be the same. Kawabata's "odoriko" was a member of a band of poor wandering entertainers. "The dancing girl" is likely to provoke us an image of a well-dressed girl dancing to the Abba songs. Besides, a publishing company might need to hire a good lawyer nowadays if they want to publish a story about an innocent infatuation between a university student and a minor.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-2 Striding

Today's Tao

A striding man doesn't go. (Ch.24)


Don't you have people around you, who are living on the fast track?

Do they bother you?

Or, do you get jealous of their fast lives?

If one is striding, he cannot go far because he gets tired.

"Don't work too hard."

"Don't learn too much."

"Do nothing."

Lao Tzu asks you kindly not to get tired.

Don't we wish that we could have known Lao Tzu's teachings when we were in school?


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Who are you? Who are these people? A national identity is getting to be a serious issue in some countries. If you ask me who the Japanese are, I will answer: "They are happy-go-lucky Tahitians in serious Samurai clothes who want to be someone but a samurai or a Tahitian". Please watch those films. You will see why.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-1 Tiptoeing

Today's Tao

A tiptoeing man doesn't stand. (Ch.24)


When you are tiptoeing, you get tired easily and cannot keep the position for a long time.

Well, Lao Tzu wants to tell you:

"Don't show off".

He also likes the expression:

"Be like dust".

Would you like to be a king in your hologram?

Or, would you like to be reconciled with your hologram, which is the world?


«Related Articles»
-Tiptoeing 24-1
-Striding 24-2
-Express nothing 24-3
-True righteousness 24-4
-Bragging man 24-5
-Boasting man 24-6
-Excessive food 24-7
-Frustration 24-8
-After Satori 24-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.24 text / Next video


-Is the story taking place in Japan? A true fan of Kurosawa's films may wonder about it when he sees Hayao Miyazaki's animation features. A true admirer of Mishima's literature may wonder about it when he reads Haruki Murakami's novels. They are not very Japanese, he may wonder. Probably, he will find in Kenji Miyazawa's works the roots of the strange mixture between Japanese and pseudo-European atmospheres.