Tao Te Ching Chapter 80-12 Moonlight & Dewdrops / Dogs & Roosters

Today's Tao

People in one country can hear the voices of dogs and roosters in another country. (Ch.80)


What is the relation between your hologram and those of other people?

How do yours and theirs interact?

Today's Tao sentence is the answer to the question.

"People in one country" signifies your hologram.

"The voices of dogs and cocks in another country" suggests another hologram.

Firstly, you think that others exist independently, but they are part of your hologram.

They are 他己 [tako], your own self beyond your control, that is to say, the extended part of yourself (=non-you).

Secondly, you think that your own self exists, but it is also part of your hologram.

The self doesn't exist. It is a name given to some collective information. (☞See Tao Te Ching / Chapter 33 / Self and Tao Te Ching / Chapter 7 / No Self)

Then, a question arises.

Who in the world is projecting the hologram?

Tao is.

It is true You.

Zen Buddhists cherish the beautiful metaphor of the dewdrops reflecting the moonlight.

The moonlight is Tao.

The image of the moon on the dewdrops is your hologram.

The light is called 無碍光 [mugeko], the light without obstacles.

How many dewdrops or holograms are there in the world?

The answer is one.

You and non-you are the same manifestation of Tao.

Let's overcome the trap of individuality.


«Related Articles»
-Small country 80-1
-"110 vessels" 80-2
-Don't travel 80-3
-Boats and Cars 80-4
-Armor and Arms 80-5
-Tie the rope 80-6
-Hunger and Food 80-7
-Face transmission / Menju / Beauty 80-8
-Out-Tao (Heresy) Seniya / Gedo Senni / Settled 80-9
-Enjoy your customs 80-10
-Neighbors 80-11
-Moonlight and Dewdrops / Dogs and Roosters 80-12
-Life without intervention 80-13
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 80


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Recommended Books 9» "Which country do you like the most?" USA? Mexico? Spain? China? France? Argentin? Or Japan? The answer is: "Snow country". «Snow Country» is unarguably the best novel written by Yasunari Kawabata. Probably, the most popular Japanese novel in the last one hundred years. "Be like Komako" is the novelist's answer to Lao Tzu's "Be like water". When you face a difficult situation and don't know what to do, check «Snow Country» and make decisions as if you were Komako the Geisha. Water is a little too abstract. Komako is a woman and artist of life. If you are interested in Kawabata's literature but do not have enough time to read all his works, «Palm-of-the-Hand Stories» are strongly recommended. They are shorter than most ordinary short stories. There are plenty of them in the book. Therefore, it is ideal to read the book in the bed before you fall asleep.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 66-1 100 valleys

Today's Tao

The reason why big rivers and the sea can be the king of hundreds of valleys is that the former is well down the latter. Therefore, they can be the king of hundreds of valleys. (Ch.66)


Let's decode these sentences word by word.

"Big rivers and the sea" imply Tao.

So, the king is Tao.

The king of what, then?

"A valley" means void.

Do you remember? (☞See Valley 28-3)

The void is Tao.

The expression "Hundreds of valleys" here is a beautiful metaphor of the holograms filled with Tao's energy.

And down below you have the far greater mass of Tao's energy as the ocean lies below the valleys.

Zen Buddhists use the metaphor of "dewdrops reflecting the moon".

Holograms look independent like dewdrops.

But they cannot help reflecting the moon.

The moon is true You, which is Tao.

Tao's light is called Mugeko 無碍光: the light that lights up everything.


«Related Articles»
-100 valleys 66-1
-Verbally 66-2
-Physically 66-3
-Never heavy 66-4
-Harmless 66-5
-Support 66-6
-Don't compete 66-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 66
-Valleys and the Sea 32-9 Please note that in Chapter 32 "big rivers and the sea" expresses holograms, which are the manifestations of Tao. One can see Tao's energy through a hologram. If you put together the two sentences, you can make a full cycle of "big rivers and the sea" → "valleys" → "big rivers and the sea", that is, hologram → Tao → hologram. It is the Yin Yang circle. Please do not think that a hologram and Tao are two separate entities.


Tao answers your question!



☞"You have to work hard to get what you want." I wonder where we got this strange idea. In Buddhism, Amida Butsu (Amitābha Buddha) is the one who is in charge of "what you want". Basically, he gives you all, even your desire of wanting something. Therefore, you have already got what you want. If you haven't got one thing that you seem to want, in fact you don't want it. This Buddha of Infinite Light is also called Mugeko Butsu in Japanese.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-2 Before materialization

Today's Tao

It is easy to treat a thing before it has appeared. (Ch.64)


Everything appears.

It is projected as a hologram.

The state before the projection is called "Bumo misho izen 父母未生以前" in Zen Buddhism.

It means "before the father and the mother are born".

Once you accept the mechanism between Tao and holograms, everything will be easy.


Master Dogen says:

"The life of right now exists in this mechanism;

this mechanism exists in the life of right now".

いまの生はこの機関にあり、この機関はいまの生にあり

(Zenki 全機, «Shobogenzo»)


Life is not the period between birth and saying good-bye to life.

Birth and "good-bye" take place simultaneously inside the mechanism.

Life is a timeless hologram in the mechanism between "the projecting" and "the projected".

Treat your life before the projection.

In other words, do nothing right now.


«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!



☞Let's stop saying that they are different. Infinite Light / Mugeko 無碍光・無礙光 is another name of Zen (=Love, =Buddha), which is pointing at the fundamental energy Tao. The more names we create, the more confused we get. As Lao Tzu says, "The word does not stand for what it really is". («Tao Te Ching» Chapter 1). No wonder Daisetz Suzuki was more inclined to Tariki / Other-power later in his life. Let's start saying: "Other-power and Jiriki / Self-power are the same". If Self doesn't exist, how can they be different! Consult Daisetz Suzuki's «Buddha of Infinite Light» and Hiroyuki Itsuki's «Tariki» and ask yourself whether the two words are still different to you.