Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-6 Everyone = You

Today's Tao

Everyone in the world under the sky knows them. (Ch.78)


Why do I ask you not to resist?

Why do I ask you not to resist even the desire of resistance.

Because I want you to understand everyone is "you".

What Lao Tzu teaches us here is the same.

Everyone knows everything because everything is one.

All the beings, including people, animals, other living (and non-living) beings, and even your own thoughts and feelings, are one.

Since everything is one, everyone knows all, and "you" know all, too.

"You" are the one who projects all.

So, why do you have to hide something from someone?

Why do you have to fight for the disclosure of information?

Well, but if you cannot help it, don't resist the temptation to fight for or against something.

Just remember knowledge is shared by all.


«Related Articles»
-Water summary 78-1
-Water's attack 78-2
-No change 78-3
-Be weak 78-4
-Be soft 78-5
-Everyone = You 78-6
-No one acts 78-7
-State filth 78-8
-Bad omens 78-9
-Contradiction 78-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 78


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (25) / -A famous proverb "Soften the light. Be like dust. 和光同塵" - Let's see how they translate 挫其鋭 解其紛 和其光 同其塵 in Chapter 4. The identical sentences are repeated in Chapter 56. In Tao by Matsumoto, these are discussed in Chapter 56 / How to be One with Tao. / "Blunting sharpness, untangling knots, softening lights, equaling dust" On the left, «Tao Te Ching / Daodejing: A Fresh Look at the Way and its Virtues» translated by David Petersen. / "Grinding the sharp, loosening the tangled. Dimming the shine, leveling the dust." On the right, «Daodejing: The New, Highly Readable Translation of the Life-Changing Ancient Scripture Formerly Known as the Tao Te Ching» translated by Hans-Georg Moeller.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-5 Be Soft

Today's Tao

The soft beats the hard. (Ch.78)


"How can I suppress my desire?"

"I'm not supposed to do anything. Am I allowed to breathe?"

"I'm trying to overcome my desire to resist, but resisting resistance is not a form of resistance?"

People ask these questions.

The answer is quite simple: "Be soft".

What is being soft?

It is accepting everything, including your own desire, as a catalyst.

Don't be hard, saying things like "You must not move." or "You must suppress your desire of resistance".

Be soft.

Don't resist.

Don't even resist your desire of resistance.

If you want to breathe, breathe.

If you want to resist, resist.

Just don't forget that desire is a catalyst.


«Related Articles»
-Water summary 78-1
-Water's attack 78-2
-No change 78-3
-Be weak 78-4
-Be soft 78-5
-Everyone = You 78-6
-No one acts 78-7
-State filth 78-8
-Bad omens 78-9
-Contradiction 78-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 78


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (24) / -A famous proverb "Soften the light. Be like dust. 和光同塵" - Let's see how they translate 挫其鋭 解其紛 和其光 同其塵 in Chapter 4. The identical sentences are repeated in Chapter 56. In Tao by Matsumoto, these are discussed in Chapter 56 / How to be One with Tao. / "It smooths rough edges, Unties hard knots, Tempers the sharp sun, Lays blowing dust," On the left, «The Way of Life, According to Laotzu» translated by Witter Bynner. / "Blunt and sharp, resolved and confused, bright and dull, the whole of Creation." On the right, «Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (Chinese Popular Classics)» translated by Timothy Freke with a introduction by Martin Palmer.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-4 Be weak

Today's Tao

The weak beats the strong. (Ch.78)


What is true strength?

If you are truly strong, what do you look like?

If you are genuinely strong, you look like a fool.

True strength is the capacity to accept all.

Fighting like a man against injustice is a useless resistance.

Resistance is a form of being lost in Mayoi.

It is a refusal to accept all.

A man who looks like a fool can accept all.


A famous Chinese painter and calligrapher, Tei Hankyou / Zheng Banqiao 鄭板橋 (1693-1765) liked to draw the phrase:

"It is difficult to be a fool 難得糊塗".


But if you follow Tao, nothing is difficult because you are happy to be as weak as a fool without resistance.


«Related Articles»
-Water summary 78-1
-Water's attack 78-2
-No change 78-3
-Be weak 78-4
-Be soft 78-5
-Everyone = You 78-6
-No one acts 78-7
-State filth 78-8
-Bad omens 78-9
-Contradiction 78-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 78


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (23) / -A famous proverb "Soften the light. Be like dust. 和光同塵" - Let's see how they translate 挫其鋭 解其紛 和其光 同其塵 in Chapter 4. The identical sentences are repeated in Chapter 56. In Tao by Matsumoto, these are discussed in Chapter 56 / How to be One with Tao. / "It blunts rough edges, untangles the knots, diffuses the glare, at one with the dust of the world." On the left, «Tao Te Ching: A New Translation» translated by Sam Hamill. / "It blunts sharp edges, Unties all tangles; It sofens the glare And blends with the dust." On the right, «Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching» translated by Keith Seddon.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-3 No change

Today's Tao

It is because nothing can change it. (Ch.78)


We have to make one thing quite clear.

There is no such thing as "change in a hologram".

"But wait a minute! Water isn't a symbol of constant change?", some might ask.

Let's make it clear.

One hologram does not change as a frame in a film does not.

"Change" is a word given to our interpretation of the sequence of holograms.

All the holograms are created simultaneously.

Time is a parameter to interpret them.

Lao Tzu says that nothing can change the water.

Nothing can change a hologram.

Nothing can change you.


«Related Articles»
-Water summary 78-1
-Water's attack 78-2
-No change 78-3
-Be weak 78-4
-Be soft 78-5
-Everyone = You 78-6
-No one acts 78-7
-State filth 78-8
-Bad omens 78-9
-Contradiction 78-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 78


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (22) / -A famous proverb "Soften the light. Be like dust. 和光同塵" - Let's see how they translate 挫其鋭 解其紛 和其光 同其塵 in Chapter 4. The identical sentences are repeated in Chapter 56. In Tao by Matsumoto these are discussed in Chapter 56 / How to be One with Tao. / "it blunts edges, loosens tangles, soften glare, mingles dust." On the left, «Tao Te Ching» translated by David Hinton. / "It blunts sharp edges, unravels their tangles, soften their blazing light, and blends one with their dust." On the right, «Tao Te Ching: An All-New Translation» translated by William Scott Wilson.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-2 Water's attack

Today's Tao

As for attacking something hard and strong, nothing is better than water. (Ch.78)


We all know this phenomenon.

Water "attacks" a rock year in and year out and eventually makes a hole in the "hard and strong" rock.

Something "hard and strong" is softer and weaker than the softest and weakest.

An ironic contradiction?

No, not at all.

Some martial artists, notably an Aikido-ka, will agree.

If you are hard and strong, you are weak.


In Zen Buddhism, they say:

"When you are lost in Mayoi, you are (hard) like ice."

But don't worry.

They also say:

"Among all the pieces of ice, there is no ice that does not become water".

(Bassui Tokusho 抜隊得勝, «Bassui Kana Hogo» 抜隊仮名法語 / ☞See Disintegrating 15-7 and While fragile 64-3)


Be like water.

Besides, if you are confused or lost in Mayoi, trust you will be as free as water.


«Related Articles»
-Water summary 78-1
-Water's attack 78-2
-No change 78-3
-Be weak 78-4
-Be soft 78-5
-Everyone = You 78-6
-No one acts 78-7
-State filth 78-8
-Bad omens 78-9
-Contradiction 78-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 78
-Aikido 22-12
-Aikido and Tariki 68-6


Lao Tzu answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (21) / -A famous proverb "Soften the light. Be like dust. 和光同塵" - Let's see how they translate 挫其鋭 解其紛 和其光 同其塵 in Chapter 4. The identical sentences are repeated in Chapter 56. In Tao by Matsumoto these are discussed in Chapter 56 / How to be One with Tao. / "It blunts sharp edges, Unties knots, Softens glare, Becomes one with the dusty world." On the left, «Tao Te Ching» translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo. It is introduced by Burton Watson. / "In it all sharpness is blunted, All tangles untied, All glare tempered, All dust smoothed." On the right, «Tao Te Ching (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)» translated by Arthur Waley. It has an introduction by Robert Wilkinson.