Tao Te Ching Chapter 73-7 I shin den shin / No call

Today's Tao

It doesn't call any, but they come somehow. (Ch.73)


You don't call them.

You don't even say anything.

But they will respond.

They will even come to you somehow.

It sounds like the ultimate form of non-verbal communication such as Hara gei, the belly art.

In the domain of art in Japan, particularly martial art, non-verbal communication is a must.

We call it 以心伝心 [i shin den shin], which means "by heart, transmit heart".

This is a Kanreisu (=a bar or a spring) to better understand Zen.

This Kanji / Chinese character 心 [shin] is often translated as heart or mind.

Like the English word "heart", it also signifies "the center".

The word 心 [shin] suggests the center of the mechanism.

By the mechanism, transmit the mechanism.

In this Tao/hologram mechanism, everything comes about by itself, 自然 [ji nen].


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 73


Tao answers your question!



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Tao Te Ching Chapter 16-17 The body decomposes

Today's Tao

The body decomposes, but Tao has no danger. (Ch.16)


Do you like black and white Japanese film classics like Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Tokyo story?

Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu; they are true master film makers, aren't they?

By any chance, do you know another classic film called «Ugetsu Monogatari» by Kenji Mizoguchi?

The original was written in the Samurai era. It is a collection of short stories.

In it, there is a beautiful story of love.

An old Buddhist priest adored a boy-monk. The boy-monk got sick and met his end.

The old priest could not bear the site that the body of his beloved was decomposing.

So, he ate it.

Now, his beloved is eternally safe in the stomach.

It is a story called «Aozukin (Blue hood)» in «Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain)» by Ueda Akinari.


Some people search an eternal life.

Would you like to live eternally?

In fact, you do.

Your hologram "decomposes", but true You are Tao.

Tao simply keeps on creating holograms.


Dogen's caution:

We must not think that our individual spirit goes somewhere after life.

There is no such thing as the sea of eternity.

(Soku shin ze butsu 即心是仏, «Shobogenzo»)


Naoto Matsumoto says:

It is easier if we think our individual self does not exist.

A so-called "self" is part of the rest of the world.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 16


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.16 text / Next video


-It is a great pleasure to talk about our national heritage. The original tales are one of the best literary works in Japanese along with «The Tale of Genji». Although its story is not truly related to the original, the film might be called a cinematographic masterpiece.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-6 Belly

Today's Tao

That's why the sage does the belly but doesn't do the eye. (Ch.12)


You should concentrate on Hara, the belly.

Then, no colours, no sounds, no tastes can fool you.

No superficial thing can fool you.

About the art of the belly, Hara gei, check Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 3 Hara gei the belly art.

It is interesting especially if you are a businessman in Japan.



Naoto Matsumoto adds:

Though it is useful, this is simply a physical technique like a Kyogen actor's laughter.

We must be aware of it.

Both of them have a certain result in terms of influencing your mind.

Nevertheless, we have to remember that both our body and mind are part of the hologram.

The desire to control our mind physically itself is part of it like the mountains, rivers, and lands, as Master Dogen says.



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-Five colours 12-1
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-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12
-Tao by Matsumoto / No absolute truth If you are interested in teaching English in Japan, read this funny story in Tokyo.


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-The Unspoken Way Haragei: Silence in Japanese Business and Society by Michihiro Matsumoto (Paperback - Sep 1988) @Amazon