Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-12 Defeat nothing

Today's Tao

Hence, the sage does nothing, so he defeats nothing. (Ch.64)


Doing nothing is the most powerful act of all.

"What? You cannot change anything by doing nothing!", you might respond.

Then, I want to ask you:

"Can you really do something to the world?".

Let's check some important points.


1) The world is part of a hologram.

2)Your own self that tries to change the world is part of a hologram, too.

3)Though you project your hologram, your own self does not control it.

That's why Zen Buddhists call it "Inmo butsu 恁麼物 / a what-on-earth thing". (☞See Inmo and No mind 49-10)


In conclusion, you cannot do anything to the world.

You are the sage.

You know you are not doing anything no matter what you seem to be doing.

Therefore, you will not "defeat" and break the natural flow of Tao.


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-Excess 64-19
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-Don't dare 64-21
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 64


Tao answers your question!



☞Did he really touch the sound of silence? He was 23 years old when Paul Simon wrote «The Sound of Silence» in 1964. As one gets older, the sound of silence seems to change into that of something else. In the case of Yasunari Kawabata, he heard «The Sound of the Mountain». He was 55 years old when he finished writing the novel in 1954.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 40-16 No voice

Today's Tao

Big's note has almost no voice. (Ch.40)


Tao's note has no voice.

In Zen Buddhism, they call it "the song of the dragon".

In his «Shobogenzo», Master Dogen says:

"The song of the dragon is not something like do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do.

Nevertheless, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do were born from the song of the dragon."

(Ryugin 龍吟, «Shobogenzo»)


Don't try to experience Tao.

One cannot hear the note of Tao directly.

But, we hear it through our holograms, the world.

That's what Master Dogen wants to tell us.

Now you know how to listen to the sound of no sound.

Just listen to any sound with respect.

That's enough.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 40


Tao answers your question!



-Can you hear the sound of silence? Of course, yes. That's what we are doing at every moment of life. You don't have to have any certificate or to be a member of a group. Whether you like it or not, you are listening to the sound of no sound. In fact, you are the one who is creating this roar of the dragon. Please stop underestimating yourself and blaming others for being responsible for what is happening. You cry our the sound of the dragon in order to wake yourself up.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-2 One who says

Today's Tao

One who says does not know. (Ch.56)


These days, people talk too much.

Once silence was golden, but now it is something negative.

We don't need any decoding for this maxim.

Too much analysis will lead us to complications.

Lao Tzu doesn't talk much.

Dogen does.


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-Benefit 56-11
-Harm? 56-12
-Ennoble it? 56-13
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-Noblest 56-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 56
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-Tao by Matsumoto / 10 points to be One with Tao
-Say no words 23-1


Tao answers your question!



☞ Previous video / Ch.56 text / Next video


☞«Drama and Desire: Japanese painting from the Floating World» is a beautiful collection of Japanese painting, which includes Hokusai and Utamaro. Desire is sacred in the country of the rising sun. Nevertheless, sometimes desire, which the Japanese word "iro (=color)" expresses, can be prohibited. Yukio Mishima plays with the word "Kinjiki", which originally means the colors which common people were not allowed to wear in the old days. The word can be interpreted as forbidden desire.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-1 Don't say

Today's Tao

One who knows does not say. (Ch.56)


You don't have to be convincing.

You'd better not be talkative.

This sentence seems like a good old teaching of "Silence is golden".

Good enough.

But there is a deeper meaning behind the simplicity of the words.

Lao Tzu wants to say that, if you know how Tao functions, you dare not try to speak out and influence what is going on in front of you.

You just leave it as it is.

That's the first step to be one with Tao.


«Related Articles»
-Don't say 56-1
-One who says 56-2
-Block the openings 56-3
-Be dull 56-4
-Untangled 56-5
-Soft light 56-6
-Kanshiketsu / Like dust 56-7
-One with Dark Depth 56-8
-Closer to Tao 56-9
-Staying away? 56-10
-Benefit 56-11
-Harm? 56-12
-Ennoble it? 56-13
-Debase it? 56-14
-Noblest 56-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 56
-Tao by Matsumoto / Nikko's 3 monkeys
-Tao by Matsumoto / Be like Dust
-Tao by Matsumoto / Dark Depth
-Tao by Matsumoto / 10 points to be One with Tao


Tao answers your question!



☞ Previous video / Ch.56 text / Next video