Five colours video / Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-1

Today's Tao

Five Colours make man's eyes blind. [Ch.12]


Once graveyards were a playground of ghosts. Nowadays man is happy to turn them into a pricey residential area to make money.

I wonder where all those Japanese ghosts have gone. Did they leave our high-tech Japan?

No. The ghosts have found their new nooks and crannies. For example, a vending machine.

You can find a vending machine in the middle of nowhere in Japan. It stands alone in paddy fields or a Buddhist chapel. Besides, it is lit all night long.

A vending machine can swallow your hand like Mouth of Truth in Rome. Or, another machine may start crying like a girl every night at 2:00 AM. They are an act of a ghost, some modern Japanese kids with a Nintendo DS in the hand believe.


To read the text of Today's Tao video, please see Five colours / Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-1. This is the last video in the chapter. The other sentences of the chapter have their own corresponding video already.


Tao answers your question!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-7 Not that one, but this one

Today's Tao

Therefore, he leaves that and takes this. (Ch.12)


"That" means the world of objects.

"This" means Tao.

Take Tao instead of objects.

That's what Lao Tzu wanted to say.

Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that you should despise things.

They are Tao's manifestations.

Cherish them and love other people.


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-Riding and hunting 12-4
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-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12
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Geishas are not objects. They are closer to Tao like water and a baby.

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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-Riding and hunting 12-4
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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.


More than 800 episodes available!



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

Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-5 Coins

Today's Tao

The coins hard to get make man's behaviour bothered. (Ch.12)


Let's decode this.

If you are attached to material things, it is more difficult to acknowledge that the world is a hologram that you project in your mind.


Naoto Matsumoto adds:

"This is a rare item."

"This is a rare opportunity."

"This is a rare coin, Monsieur."

The word "rare" excites our desire to obtain the object, doesn't it?

Well, it is not a good idea.

I am not talking about moral, but Tao and Zen.

The "rare" object is just a part of the hologram you project.

If you are attached to material things, isn't it more difficult to acknowledge it?


Please see Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 12 / Five colours.

It has the chapter's entire English translation and Rapid Decoded.

Mata ashita. See you tomorrow.


«Related Articles»
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-Five tastes 12-3
-Riding and hunting 12-4
-Coins 12-5
-Belly 12-6
-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12


More than 800 episodes available!



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Here are some rare coins. If they excite you, well, do not resist them. Accept all, your feelings included.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-4 Riding and hunting

Today's Tao

Riding and hunting make man's mind go crazy. (Ch.12)


Let's decode this.

It means:

Don't let your hologram excite you unnecessarily.


Naoto Matsumoto adds:


In Zen, they often talk about detachment.

A great Chinese Zen master Rinzai [Linji] said:

"If you meet a buddha, kill the buddha...

"If you meet your parents, kill your parents…" (Rinzai-roku).

A buddha and parents are holograms, of course.

You must not be bothered by them.

Then, what does it mean by "kill"?

Discard and love.



See Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 12.

The text narrated in this entry can be found in the chapter.

It is titled "Five Colours".

You can read the English translation and its Rapid Decoded, too.

Mata ashita. See you tomorrow.


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-Five colours 12-1
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-Five tastes 12-3
-Riding and hunting 12-4
-Coins 12-5
-Belly 12-6
-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12


More than 800 episodes available!



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Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-3 Five tastes

Today's Tao

Five Tastes make man's mouth injured. (Ch.12)


Do you like hot chili?

Do you like hot Tom Yam Kung?

Do you like hot Wasabi?

They are delicious, but Lao Tzu may not agree with you.

Don't be fooled by tastes.

They are part of your hologram.


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-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Use Tao. Taste no taste.
-Tao by Matsumoto / Hologram and Tao.


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Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-2 Five notes

Today's Tao

Five Notes make man's ears deaf. (Ch.12)


Don't be fooled by sounds.

They are part of your hologram.

It is there as a catalyst.

But precisely because of this, don't despise your hologram.

Love your hologram.

Accept the world as it is.


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-Five colours 12-1
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-Belly 12-6
-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Taoism out of use.


More than 800 episodes available!



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Tao Te Ching Chapter 12-1 Five colours

Today's Tao

Five Colours make man's eyes blind. (Ch.12)


Too much visual information blinds people's mind, for sure.

But what Lao Tzu wants to tell you here is something more than that.

One should not be fooled by something you see because it is just a hologram, which is a catalyst.

You have only to accept it.

There is no point of getting annoyed by it.

It is there only to stimulate you to emit more of the fundamental energy Tao.


«Related Articles»
-Five colours 12-1
-Five notes 12-2
-Five tastes 12-3
-Riding and hunting 12-4
-Coins 12-5
-Belly 12-6
-Not that one, but this one 12-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Hologram and Tao
-Tao by Matsumoto / Dark Depth
-Tao by Matsumoto / Nothing is difficult


Tao answers your question!



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