Tao Te Ching Chapter 81-5 Act for others

Today's Tao

Although he does everything for others, he has more. (Ch.81)


First, who are "the others"?

The others are you.

All the other beings are an extended part of your own self.

The self under your control, Jiko 自己, and the self beyond your control, Tako 他己. (☞See Moonlight and Dewdrops / Dogs and Roosters 80-12)

They are the same hologram.

Therefore, Jiriki 自力/ Self-power, and Tariki 他力/ Other-power are the same. (☞See «Related Articles» below)

These concepts are useful tools to reduce resistance.

Second, what is the act of doing everything for others?

It is that of doing nothing.

Doing nothing is sending Love (=Tao) by accepting all.

This is the true Za-zen 坐禅. This is the true sitting.

You receive Tao's energy through a hologram (=the world, =your life) without resistance by accepting all.

Then, you emit the energy while projecting a hologram.

Everything exists to maintain this cycle.

You live for this cycle. (☞See Eternal cycle 58-5)

Therefore, the most religious act of all is living.

Living is a catalyst, so there is neither better living nor worse living as long as you are emitting Love.

What is happening in your hologram doesn't have the slightest importance.

You are doing nothing no matter what you are doing.

In other words, you are sending love no matter what you are doing.


«Related Articles»
-Beautiful words 81-1
-Good one 81-2
-Not knowledgeable 81-3
-Accumulate not 81-4
-Act of others 81-5
-Richer detachment 81-6
-Tao in Heaven 81-7
-Sage's Tao 81-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 81
-Your body = World 13-12
-Learn Self 33-2
-Tariki / faithful 49-6
-Aikido and Tariki / Other people's power 68-6


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Recommended Books 15» What does fight teach you? It teaches you who you are. The way of Samurai is not an object sitting quietly in a museum. It is still alive. I is still evolving. Miyamoto Musashi's «The Book of Five Rings» was written in the seventeenth century. Please compare this classic with Tatsuo Kimura's «Transparent Power», which was written by a Japanese Mathematician working at Tsukuba University in 2008. Aikido and the quest of "the power / Ki" will never cease to impress us. Aikido 合気道 literally means "Tao of synchronized energy".

Tao Te Ching Chapter 70-5 Precious one

Today's Tao

The fewer people know me, the more precious I am. (Ch.70)


Why can't you see your face?

Because you don't have a face.

What?

But you can see it on the mirror!

No, it is not your true face.

It is just an image in the mirror.

Do you know who you are?

You are the most precious one, or "the only respectable being" as the baby Buddha said. (☞See No boasting 22-11 and Ordinary? 67-3)

True You are the light that projects the holographic world.

As the actors in a film aren't interested in what kind of a projector they use at the movie theatre, people in your hologram don't care who is lighting them up.

Others don't know you are the Buddha of Infinite Light.


«Related Articles»
-Easy Tao 70-1
-Comprehension and Practice 70-2
-Center and Actor 70-3
-They know nothing 70-4
-Precious one 70-5
-Shabby clothes 70-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 70


Tao answers your question!



☞Buddha of Infinite Light is also called Amida or Amitābha. "Na mu Amida Butsu". Just call his name, and he will be always there for you. In fact, he is always there for all of us. He is the amazing power source of Tariki. This Other-power lights up all. A life is a process to learn Jiriki / Self-power is the same as Tariki. It is not surprising at all that Zen specialist Daisetz Suzuki was not only a Zen specialist. He was interested in Tariki of Shin Buddhism.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 68-7 Limit of space and time

Today's Tao

This is called matching the limit of space and time. (Ch.68)


Dark Depth Female 玄牝 [gen pi] is the attitude of lowering yourself and being submissive in order to be one with Tao, or to remember that true You are Tao.

By not competing, you can attain Tao easily.

It is called Dark Depth Attainment 玄徳 [gen toku].

Using Tariki 他力 / Other-power works well, too.

All of them are the same as matching the limit of space and time.

Space and time are parameters to interpret in-coming information and form a holographic image.

"Matching the limit of time and space" means "understanding that time and space exist only in the hologram".

The limit of time and space is your hologram.

Besides, it is worth mentioning that Zen Master Dogen implies the projection of a hologram with time and space is the true miracle. (Jinzu 神通, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-True samurai 68-1
-True warrior 68-2
-True winner 68-3
-Lower than people 68-4
-No competition 68-5
-Aikido and Tariki / Other people's power 68-6
-Limit of space and time 68-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 68


Tao answers your question!



☞In the old days, Japan was called Zipangu. This map does not belong to the period, but it will give you some taste of an adventure in the Middle Ages. ☞Pokemon and Picachu represent modern Zipangu's alchemy.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 68-6 Aikido & Tariki / Other people's power

Today's Tao

This is called the use of other people's power. (Ch.68)


Use other people's power by lowering yourself without competing.

Two points.


1.

This is the idea of Aikido.

Don't compete.

Synchronize the energy.

Use the opponent's power.


2.

When you look at this from the Buddhists' point of view, this is Tariki / Other-power.

You are not in charge of your own salvation, but Amida Butsu / Amitābha Buddha will take care of it.

This Tariki / Other-power is a useful tool.

Thanks to the presence of Amida, who is the mighty force outside you, you can reduce your resistance.


«Related Articles»
-True samurai 68-1
-True warrior 68-2
-True winner 68-3
-Lower than people 68-4
-No competition 68-5
-Aikido and Tariki / Other people's power 68-6
-Limit of space and time 68-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 68
-Aikido 22-12


Tao answers your question!



☞The moment you have understood Tariki = Jiriki, you don't need any names to grasp the secret of Life. The moment you have accepted Aikido = Life, you don't need to fight. ☞Japanese novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki confesses his childhood experience of escape. Morihei Ueshiba was one of the great masters of Aikido.

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.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 62-3 Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe

Today's Tao

It's the place where not so good people feel safe. (Ch.62)


Tao is the place where everyone feels safe, even a not-so-good person.

Why?


Shinran 親鸞 answered:

「善人なおもて往生をとぐ、いはんや悪人をや」

[zennin naomote ojo o togu, iwan-ya akunin o ya]

"Even good people will become Buddha, not to mention evil people".

(«Tannisho 歎異抄», Chapter 3)


This summarizes the idea of Shinran and Honen's Akunin shoki setsu 悪人正機説: the Doctrine of Evil Persons as the Object of Salvation.

It sounds like bad people have a better chance of salvation, doesn't it?

Some people have thought so.

But, please remember there is neither good nor evil in Tao.

Don't impose judgment on Tao.

Besides, salvation is "right here right now".

True You are Tao, so you are the one who saves all by sustaining the circulation of Tao's energy.


«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
-State filth 78-8 That's why the sage says, "Those who accept the filth of the country are called the master of the state". «Akunin shoki setsu 悪人正機説: the Doctrine of Evil Persons as the Object of Salvation» is also discussed here.

-Shinran@wiki
-Honen@wiki


Tao answers your question!



☞Let's review Dogen and Shinran roughly and vulgarly.
✒Japanese Soto Zen Buddhism - Dogen - «Shobogenzo» - Jiriki / Self-power.
✒Jodo Shin Buddhism - Shinran - «Tannisho» by Yuien - Tariki / Other-power.
☞You can find Shinran's Akunin shoki setzu in «Tannisho», which is not so abstract as Dogen's «Shobogenzo». If you still need some modern help, Hiroyuki Itsuki's «Tariki» will be handy.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 58-13 Amida(Amitābha) shines

Today's Tao

He has light, but doesn't shine. (Ch.58)


You have light, so you don't have to shine.

You've got the light of Tao (=Love) inside you.

Have you ever heard of Amida, or Amitābha?

He is also called 無量光仏 [mu ryo ko butsu] "the Buddha of Infinite Light".

He is the light that lights up all the aspects of life.

Don't shine.

Do nothing.

Amida will take care of the rest.

In Buddhism, the concept is called 他力 [tariki], Other-power.

Be like dust. (☞See Ch.56)

Your inner light will take care of the rest.


«Related Articles»
-Dark Government 58-1
-Brilliant government 58-2
-Fortune = Misfortune 58-3
-Misfortune = Fortune 58-4
-Eternal cycle 58-5
-Criterion? 58-6
-Odd criterion 58-7
-Spooky 58-8
-Confused about time? 58-9
-Don't tear it! 58-10
-Kyoka (crazy song) hurts 58-11
-Straight = Bent 58-12
-Amida (Amitābha) shines 58-13
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 58


Tao answers your question!



☞Amida is everywhere, or at least everywhere in Japan. Ask any Japanese kid if he knows Amida. He will say "yes, he does". But don't ask the kid to draw the image of Amida because you will get confused. He will certainly draw a combination of a few vertical lines and horizontal ones instead of a holy image of Infinite Light's divine visage. Please don't think that Amida's face is too sacred to draw. No. The kid will have just prepared a draw. Instead of using pieces of paper in a hat, the Japanese sometimes draw an amida-kuji, or Amida's lot.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 55-11 Constant enlightenment

Today's Tao

Learning constancy is called enlightenment. (Ch.55)


This sentence is totally identical to the one in Chapter 16.

I hope you will read Tao by Matsumoto 16-9 Satori to understand it better.

In that entry, I said:

"By leaving your hologram, you can return to Tao".

What is "leaving your hologram" precisely?

Can we leave our hologram?

The answer is no in two senses.

First, your own self cannot leave the hologram.

Second, Tao, which is true You, is not part of the hologram.

Then, what does "leaving your hologram" mean?

It means understanding and accepting that true You are Tao and have little to do with your own self.

You don't have to seek enlightenment, or Satori, because true You are already and "constantly" enlightened.


«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!



☞Please look at the doll. Doesn't she look peaceful? Satori is not an altered state. Satori is everyday life. If you can emit Love and turn your prayer wheel (=the so-called reality) without resistance, Self-power (=Jiriki) of Zen Buddhism is good for you. Nevertheless, if you think that your ego is a little too strong and often bothers the cycle of Tao's energy, you might get some help from Other-power (=Tariki) of Shinran's Jodo Shin Buddhism.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-14 Why telepathy?

Today's Tao

Why do I know what's going on in the world under the sky? (Ch.54)


A: "Master Bonbon, I wanna be able to read other people's mind. I wanna be a psychic who can tell what's gonna happen in the world. Can you help me?"

B: "Meditate for thirty years, and you will get the magical power."


Two important points.


One.

You know everything in the world because it's your hologram.

You filter all the information and select what is necessary for you.


Two.

Zen master Dogen strictly advises against any so-called "magical powers" including mind-reading and telepathy.

Well, everyone has got the power.

So, why do we have to call it "magical"?


"Other people" and "another place in the world" are part of the hologram you project.

Naturally, you know all about them.


Dogen says:

"If you are reading your own mind, you are reading other people's mind."

おのれづから心づからの他心通ならん。

(Tashintsu 他心通, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞«Buddha of Infinite Light» is an approximative English translation of Amida Butsu (Amitābha). He is the pilar of Pure Land Buddhism. It is interesting to find out that Daisetz Suzuki wrote «Buddha of Infinite Light», but it is not surprising. After all, Self-power and Other-power have to be the same. Kitaro Nishida was a friend of Suzuki since their high school days. He tackles the integration of terms in Christianity and Buddhism in his «An inquiry into the Good». Names vary, but they point at the same thing.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 49-7 Not faithful

Today's Tao

I think someone not faithful is faithful, too. (Ch.49)


If you have no faith in anything, it is all right, too.

Whether you believe something or not, Tao works anyway.

Unless you suffer from the existence of your own self;

that is to say, frustration, jealousy, anger, or any pain you can name,

it might be better not to be conscious of faith.

But, if Tao doesn't work for you, and if Zen (=Jiriki / Self-power) doesn't work with you, either, don't worry.

You still have Tariki / Other-power.


«Related Articles»
-No heart 49-1
-People's heart 49-2
-A study of the Good 49-3
-Non-good 49-4
-Goodness 49-5
-Tariki / faithful 49-6
-Not faithful 49-7
-Faith 49-8
-Have no heart 49-9
-Inmo and No mind 49-10
-Close ears and eyes 49-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 49


Tao answers your question!



☞The truth has to be simple. It would be strange if it was not valid for everyone. Once you attain Tao, which means you remember that true You are Tao, the barrier between your own self and the others will disappear. Jiriki / Self-power will be synonymous with Tariki / Other-power. The boundary between Christianity and Buddhism will no longer exist as late Shusaku Endo experienced. The Japanese Catholic novelist wrote «Deep River», where all religions are mixed in the water.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 49-6 Tariki / faithful

Today's Tao

I think someone faithful is faithful. (Ch.49)


Why don't we regard faith as a tool?

If you have faith in something, you are less prone to be fooled by your gigantic ego or Self in Mayoi.

Shinran shonin's Tariki / Other-power is an excellent tool in order to activate Dark Depth Female 玄牝 [gen pi] and change the world (=your hologram).

By asking Tariki / Other-power to do all the work, logically you do nothing.

You create no resistance while your hologram, which is the world, is transforming itself.


«Related Articles»
-No heart 49-1
-People's heart 49-2
-A study of the Good 49-3
-Non-good 49-4
-Goodness 49-5
-Tariki / faithful 49-6
-Not faithful 49-7
-Faith 49-8
-Have no heart 49-9
-Inmo and No mind 49-10
-Close ears and eyes 49-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 49


Tao answers your question!



☞«Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace». The subtitle of the book is a nice and correct way to explain the word "Tariki / Other Power". Of course, the Other Power embraces happiness and joy, too. But the idea is that you should embrace something hard to embrace. For the very hardship is a manifestation of Buddha's love as well as a miracle. Japanese novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki talks about his teenage experience of the Japanese repatriation from the Korean Peninsula. "Even good people will become Buddha, not to mention evil people." (Shinran's Akunin Shoki Setsu)

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


«Related Articles»
-Twisted 22-1
-Bent 22-2
-Hollow 22-3
-Before parents' birth 22-4
-Shinran / Jodo Buddhism 22-5
-Not "more" 22-6
-Canon 22-7
-Clearly seen 22-8
-Righteousness 22-9
-No bragging 22-10
-No boasting 22-11
-Aikido 22-12
-Empty words 22-13
-Return it! 22-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.22 text / Next video


-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.