Tao Te Ching Chapter 65-8 Return to Tao

Today's Tao

You return to Tao with things. (Ch.65)


There are two key functions here.

1. "Return".

The word indicates the energy cycle.

This cycle is Tao, therefore, true You.

Everything returns to Tao.

This is Big Natural Flow, that is to say, Tao's perfect integration 大順 [taijun]. (☞See Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8)


2. "With things".

The word "things" suggests a hologram.

The key is the preposition "with".

This implies a hologram's function as a catalyst.


Your mind and body are part of your hologram along with mountains, rivers, flowers, and stars, in short, with all other elements of what you see (and you cannot see).

All of them return to the neutral state of Tao (=the state before your hologram is projected, =Bumo misho izen).

What we call "one life" is the emission and return of a hologram.

But, remember there is no time in Tao.

The moment something begins, it ends.

The moment something ends, it begins.

No life, no end of life.

不生不滅 [fusho fumetsu].


«Related Articles»
-Ignorant 65-1
-Too intelligent 65-2
-Harmful intelligence 65-3
-Not by intelligence 65-4
-Rules of Tao 65-5
-Miracle rule 65-6
-Miracle attainment 65-7
-Return to Tao 65-8
-Perfect integration 65-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 65


Tao answers your question!



☞There was a band called "Japan". There is a band called "Tokio Hotel". A few decades ago, it seemed that Japan had abandoned being "Japan" and was transforming all its territory into "Tokyo". All the provincial areas wanted to be as sophisticated as Tokyo, and the country was on the verge of a successful transition from "lost Japan" to "Greater Tokyo". Old soldiers did not disappear easily, and now it seems that the pendulum has changed its direction completely. The fastest aging industrialized nation is creating a bigger and bigger mass of post-comsumers. The younger Japanese haven't got cash to spend for sure, but they are still happy because spending money is no longer "sexy" there.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-17 Rare coins

Today's Tao

He doesn't value rare coins. (Ch.64)


Lao Tzu says in Chapter 3:

"If they don't value rare coins, people will stay away from theft."

(☞See No rare coins 3-2)


He also says in Chapter 12:

"The coins hard to get make man's behavior bothered."

(☞See Coins 12-5)


Then, what does Lao Tzu mean by the words "rare" and "coins"?

Economy?

Of course, yes, but we need a more specific answer.

Well, the answer is intellectual analysis.

"The sage" does not value analyses.

It is no use analyzing your hologram.

It is waste of time wondering where it comes from.

That's why Zen Buddhists call it Inmo butsu 恁麼物, or a what-on-earth thing.


«Related Articles»
-Something stable 64-1
-Before materialization 64-2
-While fragile 64-3
-While minute 64-4
-Before existence 64-5
-In order 64-6
-Tree from a hair 64-7
-Nine-story tower 64-8
-A thousand league travel 64-9
-Do and Defeat 64-10
-Stick and Lose 64-11
-Defeat nothing 64-12
-Don't stick 64-13
-Before completed 64-14
-Careful end 64-15
-Desire no desire 64-16
-Rare coins 64-17
-Learn no learn 64-18
-Excess 64-19
-Transformation 64-20
-Don't dare 64-21
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 64


Tao answers your question!



☞"Lao Tzu's «Tao Te Ching» is too scanty. I want something with more detail!" "How about Zen Master Dogen's «Shobogenzo»?" "Oh, no, it's too bulky. Besides, it is too abstract. I can't use his teachings in life!" "Well, I've got a perfect book for you. It is neither too bulky nor scanty. It is relatively pragmatic." "What is that?" "«Chuang Tzu». It you don't have much time, you can read only «The Inner Chapters», but there are many interesting things to learn in the other chapters, too." "For example?" "Did you like the passage you read Tao by Matsumoto video blog 42-8 Chuang Tzu's teachings?" "Yes, I did. It is about the creation of the hologram." "You can find the passage in «The Outer Chapters» of «Chuang Tzu»."

Tao Te Ching Chapter 62-8 Why Taoism?

Today's Tao

Why did they appreciate this Tao in the old days? (Ch.62)


It is a very interesting question, isn't it?

Lao Tzu or the person who inserted this sentence is saying something important.

Once Chinese people had appreciated the original Taoism a lot;

then, at the time of writing, they no longer did so, he lamented.

Why?

Has anyone distorted its teachings?

Well, who knows?

But one thing is historically clear.

In Japanese there are two words, Doka (Doke) 道家 and Dokyo 道教, although they are translated with the same word: Taoism. (cf. 道家 [daojia] and 道教 [daojiao] respectively in Chinese)

The former is the philosophical study of Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu.


«Related Articles»
-Hidden Tao 62-1
-Treasure 62-2
-Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe 62-3
-Adorned words 62-4
-Adorned acts 62-5
-Don't abandon 62-6
-An emperor enthroned 62-7
-Why Taoism? 62-8
-Guilty? 62-9
-Highly appreciated 62-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 62


Tao answers your question!



☞There is no doubt about it. The best Japanese actor ever is Toshiro Mifune. Of course, we have some Japanese actors who contributed to the establishment of "Japanese" theaters such as Zeami, the banished founder of Noh, and Izumo no Okuni, the shamanic actress of Kabuki. Nevertheless, who on earth knows these names outside Japan? Along with Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune will remain in the hearts of many people who adore and admire Samurai and their way of living. The life is a floating world, not the one and only objective world. Please watch the Japanese duo's masterpiece «Rashomon» for explanation.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 62-7 An emperor enthroned

Today's Tao

Therefore, when an emperor is enthroned or three dukes are assigned, instead of holding jadeite disks in both arms in front of four horses, it is better to tell them about Tao, being seated. (Ch.62)


Don't flatter.

Do nothing.

Don't expect anything in return.


I repeat Chuang Tzu's maxim:

"Don't move until you are forced to".


Be still.

That's the way.

Let's talk about Taoism instead of doing something for someone.

But you don't try to convince him.

Enjoy the conversation and be content to give him an opportunity to know about Tao.

Don't worry if you don't know much about Tao.


Zen Buddhists say:

"自未得度先度他

[Ji mi toku do, sen do ta]

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


«Related Articles»
-Hidden Tao 62-1
-Treasure 62-2
-Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe 62-3
-Adorned words 62-4
-Adorned acts 62-5
-Don't abandon 62-6
-An emperor enthroned 62-7
-Why Taoism? 62-8
-Guilty? 62-9
-Highly appreciated 62-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 62


Tao answers your question!



☞Let's check the years of their births. Lao Tzu in the 6th century BC (although some suspect that Lao Tzu might have been a name for the collection of wisdom in ancient China). Dogen in 1200. Ikkyu in 1394. Takuan in 1573. Takuan Soho was nine years junior to William Shakespeare. If you need ready-to-use practical ideas from Tao Te Ching, Takuan's commentaries on the right (the English translation of «Roshi kowa 老子講話») is useful to you. They are easy to understand and not far-fetched at all to the "modern" mind.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 61-5 By stillness

Today's Tao

By stillness, she gets lower. (Ch.61)


Here I repeat Chuang Tzu's teachings.

"Don't move until you are forced to."

Please read and watch Tao by Matsumoto video blog / No hurry 17-6.


Lao Tzu says in Chapter 37:

"Don't desire and be still, and the world under the sky will stabilize itself".

(☞See Be still 37-5)


These are not asking you to fight to sit still.

No, not at all.

They are asking you to accept the hologram, or the world, in front of you as it is.

By stillness, by accepting all, the female gets passive.

Stillness means "going back to the root".

(☞See Stillness 16-6)


«Related Articles»
-Satori = Reality 61-1
-Intercourse 61-2
-Female of the world 61-3
-Female beats male 61-4
-By stillness 61-5
-Under small 61-6
-Under big 61-7
-By going down 61-8
-Gather and Raise 61-9
-Work on people 61-10
-Go down 61-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 61


Tao answers your question!



☞Judo means "Soft Tao". The expression "Yawara no michi / The way of being soft" has become outdated, and its original idea seems to have been abandoned in the modern competition of the sport. Thanks to some girl practitioners, we can see a few remaining lights of this spirit. Please look at the colors and expressions of this manga «Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl» on the left. It is ironical that it will tell you more about the softness of Judo than the Judo matches in the Olympic Games. ☞On the right, it is a book on «The Hand Arts of Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu».

Tao Te Ching Chapter 61-4 Female beats male

Today's Tao

The female always beats the male because of its stillness. (Ch.61)


This is Lao Tzu's useful message, which you can apply to life without any complicated interpretation.

The word "male" suggests direct action.

Inaction beats action.

If you are still, you are better.

Passiveness defeats activeness.

Use Dark Depth Female rather than acting directly on your hologram (=the world).

Use Reverse Thinking, swapping the cause and the result.

If you are confused, don't move.

If you are forced to do something, do it without feeling ashamed.

When Chuang Tzu asks you not to move until you are forced to, he is not prohibiting you from moving.

On the contrary, if you sit still against any force, it shows that you don't understand his teachings at all.


«Related Articles»
-Satori = Reality 61-1
-Intercourse 61-2
-Female of the world 61-3
-Female beats male 61-4
-By stillness 61-5
-Under small 61-6
-Under big 61-7
-By going down 61-8
-Gather and Raise 61-9
-Work on people 61-10
-Go down 61-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 61


Tao answers your question!



☞If you are interested in non-verbal communication, Japanese Haragei the belly art must be a fascinating subject to study. "Hara", which means one's belly in Japanese, is a key in many martial arts. Even in performing arts you cannot ignore this center of gravity in one's body. Besides, if you are a businessman negotiating with a Japanese, it is a must to overcome this art of communication without words. (☞See also Tao by Matsumoto / Haragei the belly art) Read this «Haragei» book with «With Respect to the Japanese: Going to work in Japan» if you are planning to settle in Japan. Don't underestimate Golden Silence.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 55-14 Strong = Old

Today's Tao

If a thing is strong, it gets old. (Ch.55)


You can find the same sentence in Chapter 30.

Being strong is like athletes using steroids.

They get old prematurely. (Strong steroids 30-11)


Chuang Tzu says:

"Do you know that prayer mantis?

Waving its arms angrily, it confronts the wheel of a cart."

(Inner Chapter IV　内篇　人間世篇　第四, «Chuang Tzu 荘子»)


The wheel of the cart is time, your prayer wheel.

The mantis wants to be strong.

Strong enough to defeat the cart, which is a few thousand times bigger than itself.

If you want to be strong, please ask yourself whether you look like this mantis.

If you are strong, you get old. If you fight, the wheel of time will crush you.

Be like a baby and live forever.


«Related Articles»
-Inner attainment 55-1
-No stings 55-2
-No attack 55-3
-No hitting 55-4
-Soft sinew 55-5
-Male organ 55-6
-Virility 55-7
-Su Dongpo / No husky voice 55-8
-Peak of harmony 55-9
-Know harmony? 55-10
-Constant enlightenment 55-11
-No increased life 55-12
-Takuan / Mind and Ki 55-13
-Strong = Old 55-14
-Anti-Tao 55-15
-No early end 55-16
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 55


Tao answers your question!



☞«Chuang Tzu» is a very important book. There is not doubt about it. But the problem is that there are so many comments by later hands mixed up with the original. Besides, the book is rather voluminous. Inevitably, one has to ask himself whether it is worth reading the entire book. A relatively safe bet is to read only «The Inner Chapter of Chuang Tzu». Nevertheless, researchers admit that even in the Inner Chapter there are plenty of notes and comments written by someone else.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-3 Gain or loss

Today's Tao

Gain or loss, which is more harmful? (Ch.44)


Don't be attached to result.


"When the Attainment peaks, it is the same as the beginning."

(«Chuang Tzu», 12-8)


Chuang Tzu teaches us that gain leads you to loss and loss leads you to gain.

It is exactly like Yin and Yang.

Yin, the shadow, leads you to Yang, the light, and vice versa.

It is exactly like the head and the tail of a coin.

Gain and loss are the two sides of the same thing.

They exist as a catalyst in order to stimulate you.

If you know it, everything is easy.

Whether you gain or lose something, you react the same way.

"Thank you for stimulating me!"



«Related Articles»
-Body or name 44-1
-Body or money 44-2
-Gain or loss 44-3
-"Love" too much 44-4
-Store = Lose 44-5
-Contentment 44-6
-Stay 44-7
-Last long 44-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 44
-Maximum = Minimum 29-8
-Decline = Prosperity 36-3
-Lose = Gain 42-7


Tao answers your question!



☞I will never say they are the same, Japanese drums from Sado Island and Kanak chants from New Caledonia. I just want you to think about the possibilities that thousands of years ago hundreds of generations before them those excellent musicians might have been somehow related. Geographically speaking, they are thousands of miles apart. Genetically, ones are mongoloids, the others melanesians. Nevertheless, the Japanese are much closer to their Pacific cousins in terms of temperament than you may think they are.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 42-9 Father of Teachings 1

Today's Tao

"A man who pushes down others and advance will not come to a natural end." (Ch.42)


"If you violently impose your way on others, you will not come to a natural end."

Why?

Because you create resistance when you impose on others your way: judgment or act of influence.

Chuang Tzu's explanation will help you understand it better.

Let's review the process of Nothing / Form cycle (=Yin Yang cycle, =Tao/hologram cycle).


1. Nothing (=Tao). No existence. No names.

2. One rises up (=Tao's energy circulates) without a form.

3. The flow of the One (=the circulation of Tao's energy) creates (=projects) forms. They are not separated. This state is called Life (=a hologram).

4. 1, 2, 3, are the process of Attainment. All the formed bodies (=holograms) have the same spirit (or the god, literally, =Tao) although they act independently.

We will continue the rest of the process in the episode the Father of Teachings 2 tomorrow.


«Related Articles»
-One's birth 42-1
-Two's birth 42-2
-Three's birth 42-3
-Birth of everything 42-4
-Yin =Yang 42-5
-No good 42-6
-Lose = Gain 42-7
-Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8
-Father of Teachings 1 42-9
-Father of Teachings 2 42-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 42


Tao answers your question!



-Ondekoza is a group of Japanese Taiko drummers from Sado Island. Their music is simple and powerful. The simplicity represents some peculiar Japanese-ness, which reminds us that Japan is part of the Pacific, not just a fringe civilization in Asia. It is technically elaborate, I am sure, but, as their naked bodies represent, the drummers try to be as simple as possible. They seem to think as if simplicity is the only way to go down to the deepest recess of their soul. Their attitude and dedication towards the drum sounds touch listeners' soul as well.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 42-8 Chuang Tzu's teachings

Today's Tao

There is something people teach. I teach it, too. (Ch.42)


I read the entire part of Chuang Tzu's writing concerning the birth of a hologram and Dark Depth Attainment.


At the very beginning, there is Nothing.

No existence. No names.

Where One rises up, there is One but it doesn't have a form yet.

Everything is born by getting this One.

This is called Attainment.

There are divisions in the One not yet formed.

Without intermission, without in-between space.

This is called Life.

The One flows and gives birth to things.

Things are completed and have discerning lines.

This is called Form.

Formed bodies keep the spirit.

Each of them has its rules.

This is called Nature.

When Nature is mastered, it goes back to the Attainment.

When the Attainment peaks, it is the same as the beginning.

Being the same means being void.

Being void means being big.

It unifies people's noisy speeches.

When they are unified, it is unified with heaven and earth.

This union is so perfect that they even know they are together.

It seems stupid.

It seems idiotic.

This is called Dark Depth Attainment.

It is the same as Big Natural Flow (=Tao's integration 大順).


Chuang Tzu@wiki


«Related Articles»
-One's birth 42-1
-Two's birth 42-2
-Three's birth 42-3
-Birth of everything 42-4
-Yin =Yang 42-5
-No good 42-6
-Lose = Gain 42-7
-Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8
-Father of Teachings 1 42-9
-Father of Teachings 2 42-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 42


Tao answers your question!



-I know it is quite voluminous. I know most of them were written by later hands. Nevertheless, I recommend that you read the complete works of «Chuang Tzu», or at least the Inner Chapters and the Outer Chapters. You will find Chuang Tzu's writing I quote here in the Outer Chapters. Besides, the story of «the frog in the well» is told in 17 - 4 of the Outer Chapters («Soji 荘子» by Osamu Kanaya 金谷治, 1995, Iwanami Bunko 岩波文庫, Iwanami Shoten 岩波書店).

Tao Te Ching Chapter 42-7 Lose = Gain

Today's Tao

Therefore, things sometimes gain by losing them. They sometimes lose by gaining them. (Ch.42)


"When the Attainment peaks, it is the same as the beginning.

Being the same means being void.

Being void means being big."

(«Chuang Tzu» 12-8)


Please read Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 42 / One, two, three for more details.


Let's clarify what Chuang Tzu says here.


Step 1:

Tao projects a hologram. The process is called Attainment.


Step 2:

The hologram goes back to Void = Big = Tao = the beginning.

The process is called Dark Depth Attainment.


When a process completes, the step of undoing it begins.

That's why gaining is the beginning of losing and losing is the beginning of gaining.


«Related Articles»
-One's birth 42-1
-Two's birth 42-2
-Three's birth 42-3
-Birth of everything 42-4
-Yin =Yang 42-5
-No good 42-6
-Lose = Gain 42-7
-Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8
-Father of Teachings 1 42-9
-Father of Teachings 2 42-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 42


Tao answers your question!



-Basho means a banana plant in Japanese. I wonder why Matsuo Basho chose his pen name "Basho the banana". I don't know if a banana was something cool in his time, but at least I can tell that it was exotic. Sometimes, exoticism pushes one to go beyond his limit of imagination and achieve something unprecedented. The name of this great poet reminds me that Haiku also once was a cutting edge avant-garde artistic movement. He may have needed this unusual name to say "no" to the conventional ways to compose poems.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 42-4 Birth of everything

Today's Tao

Three gives birth to everything. (Ch.42)


Chuang Tzu talks about it as follows:

"There are divisions in the One not yet formed.

Without intermission, without in-between space.

This is called Life.

The One flows and gives birth to things.

Things are completed and have discerning lines.

This is called Form."

(«Chuang Tzu» 12 - 8)


The dynamic exchange of the energy in Tao creates a hologram as a catalyst to provoke another emission of energy.

This is your life and self, and all the objects in your world.

After every cycle, you reincarnate.

Attention!

There is no time in Tao.

So, every step takes place simultaneously.


«Related Articles»
-One's birth 42-1
-Two's birth 42-2
-Three's birth 42-3
-Birth of everything 42-4
-Yin =Yang 42-5
-No good 42-6
-Lose = Gain 42-7
-Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8
-Father of Teachings 1 42-9
-Father of Teachings 2 42-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 42


Tao answers your question!



-We need our soul food once in a while. When we are down, sometimes eating our soul food is the only solution to cheer us up. The problem is that the food is not all the time available especially when you live away from home. How can you order your favorite clam chowder in Zimbabwe? In my case, my soul food is miso ramen. These days, it is not too difficult to find miso and ramen. Nevertheless, mixing miso and ramen does not exactly make a nice dish of miso ramen. You know what I am talking about if you have ever lived in Japan. Then, what can I do? I look to Kurosawa's «Seven Samurai» for help. It is not food, but is my soul film. Besides, you can find this DVD in any country where movie aficionados are allowed to live.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 42-1 One's birth

Today's Tao

Tao gives birth to One. (Ch.42)


In the corresponding part of Chuang Tzu,

it says:

"At the very beginning, there is Nothing.

No existence. No names.

Where One rises up, there is One but it doesn't have a form yet."

(«Chuang Tzu» 12-8)


Often the word "One" means Tao.

Therefore, Tao gives birth to Tao.

This it it!

Tao creates Tao.

This is the basis of the cycle.

The rest is a catalyst to stimulate the cycle.


«Related Articles»
-One's birth 42-1
-Two's birth 42-2
-Three's birth 42-3
-Birth of everything 42-4
-Yin =Yang 42-5
-No good 42-6
-Lose = Gain 42-7
-Chuang Tzu's teachings 42-8
-Father of Teachings 1 42-9
-Father of Teachings 2 42-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 42


Tao answers your question!



-«Kokoro», heart or mind. Soseki Natsume was probably the first Japanese novelist to write about the cruelty of a modern society. He had done it even before Japan truly embraced modernism. Kokoro suffers when you are forced to be independent and to judge and decide by yourself. Now more than ever, young Japanese need this book, it seems. They appear to prefer social cohesion to independence in terms of decision-making.

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 20-19 Incompetence

Today's Tao

I alone am stubborn and incompetent. (Ch.20)


Has anyone told you to be incompetent?

Lao Tzu does.

Be incompetent.

Ooohhh, what a relief! Isn't it?

You don't have to work hard to be competent from now on.

You are allowed to be stubborn as well.

Well, you don't have to be so unless you want to.

Lao Tzu's distant disciple, Chuang Tzu, gave us a maxim:

"Don't move until you are forced to".

迫而後動 -- 荘子 外篇 刻意 第十五 --

It is not important what you do stubbornly or incompetently with your hologram, which they call the world.


«Related Articles»
-"Yes" and "year" 20-1
-Good = Evil 20-2
-Let'em fear 20-3
-Blur 20-4
-Fun or depression 20-5
-Signs 20-6
-Baby's smile 20-7
-Tired 20-8
-Secret of abundance 20-9
-Buddha alone 20-10
-Fool 20-11
-Mundane people 20-12
-Dark 20-13
-Investigation 20-14
-Not clear 20-15
-Sea 20-16
-High wind I 20-17
-Purpose 20-18
-Incompetence 20-19
-I'm different 20-20
-Eat mother 20-21
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 20


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.20 text / Next video


-Takeda Shingen, a great samurai, said: "Don't move like a mountain" (Originally from «Sun Tzu»).

Tao Te Ching Chapter 20-16 Sea

Today's Tao

Calm as if it were the sea. (Ch.20)


Tao resembles the sea.

It is calm, but has plenty of energy inside.

Let's stop the beautiful comparison here, though.

Otherwise, you would be Chuang Tzu's frog in the well.

If you think that Tao is the energy surrounding you, you are surely the frog.

Tao is the sea without its mass.

It is the energy without its volume.

So, you cannot be stuck in there.

You are the energy.


«Related Articles»
-"Yes" and "year" 20-1
-Good = Evil 20-2
-Let'em fear 20-3
-Blur 20-4
-Fun or depression 20-5
-Signs 20-6
-Baby's smile 20-7
-Tired 20-8
-Secret of abundance 20-9
-Buddha alone 20-10
-Fool 20-11
-Mundane people 20-12
-Dark 20-13
-Investigation 20-14
-Not clear 20-15
-Sea 20-16
-High wind I 20-17
-Purpose 20-18
-Incompetence 20-19
-I'm different 20-20
-Eat mother 20-21
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 20


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.20 text / Next video


Hokusai's print above certainly inspired Quiksilver's logo, but waves are never that big at Tokyo Bay. Well, who knows. Probably, once every one hundred years when a typhoon hits a right spot. The image on the left is much closer to its reality. So, please do not pack your travel bag to try to catch a huge Tokyo Bay monster wave.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 15-4 Take time

Today's Tao

Taking time, as if he walked across a river in winter. (Ch.15)


Be lazy!

When someone criticises you for being lazy, here is the best reply.

"A great Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu said: «Move only when you are forced to move»."


Take your time, especially when you eat.

Chew food well and receive its life.


Zen Master Dogen says:

"Cut the nails of your ten fingers." (Senjo 洗浄, «Shobogenzo»)

"We don't really know neither inside nor outside our body/mind because we don't know the limit of any existence or the elements of material beings."


Naoto Matsumoto says:

If there is no limit between inside and outside the body, keeping your body clean is keeping this world clean.

Chewing food well is another way to show respect to life, a very good way to emit the fundamental energy Tao.

Plus, you may be able to eat less by chewing each mouthful of food 30 - 50 times. You get tired before you finish your third Big Mac.


«Related Articles»
-Dark Depth 15-1
-How profound! 15-2
-Mr I-know-Tao? 15-3
-Take time 15-4
-Hesitant 15-5
-Solemn 15-6
-Disintegrating 15-7
-Thick 15-8
-Empty 15-9
-Muddy water 15-10
-Muddy but clear 15-11
-Restructured World 15-12
-Break your mirror 15-13
-Break your face 15-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 15


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.15 text / Next video

Tao Te Ching Chapter 5-4 Never exhausted

Today's Tao

It's empty, but will never be exhausted. (Ch.5)


By any chance, do you know Chuang Tzu's famous saying "the frog in the well"?

People normally use it to say that the person is as ignorant and narrow-minded as "the frog in the well", who doesn't know anything about outside his own small world.

But who is ignorant, really?

Isn't Chuang Tzu talking about holography there?

It is a fantastic metaphor of a holographic movie if you interpret the wall of the well as a three-dimensional Cinerama screen around you, the frog.

Surely, the hologram you are seeing is empty, but your movie will never be exhausted.


«Related Articles»
-No mercy 5-1
-True wisdom 5-2
-Is a bellows a hologram? 5-3
-Never exhausted 5-4
-Give more, receive more 5-5
-More words, more exhausted 5-6
-Stay empty 5-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 5
-Tao by Matsumoto / Straw Dogs
-Tao by Matsumoto / What's a hologram
-Tao by Matsumoto / Hologram and Tao
-Tao by Matsumoto / Nintendo means "Do nothing" Corp.


Lao Tzu answers your question!


Previous video / Ch.5 text / Next video