Tao Te Ching Chapter 78-10 Contradiction

Today's Tao

Right words sound contradictory. (Ch.78)


Tao's mechanism of return creates contradiction.

Lao Tzu says here that, if the words do not sound contradictory, they are not right.

They are artificial and superficial.

Let's review Lao Tzu's maxims in this chapter, which sound contradictory.


1. Be as soft and weak as water in order to activate Dark Depth Female. (☞See Water summary 78-1)

2. When you are lost in Mayoi, you are as hard as ice; when you are one with Tao, you are as soft as water. (☞See Water's attack 78-2)

3. A hologram doesn't change. One hologram is the whole world in each moment.
Caution! Each independent being is not one independent hologram. It is part of one hologram along with the other beings, including your own self. It is like a frame in a movie. (☞See No change 78-3)

4. Everyone in the world is you. (☞See Everyone = You 78-6)

5. No matter what we are doing, we are doing nothing, which means "sending Love (=Tao's energy)". (☞See No one acts 78-7)

6. No state. No evil. Don't criticize. Don't judge. (☞See State filth 78-8)

7. No superstitions. No bad omens. They are just catalysts.

8. Lao Tzu thinks it is ridiculous to resist. No resistance.


See? Right words sound contradictory, don't they?


«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 (28) / - Dark Depth Female [genpi / xuan pin / hsuan pin] 玄牝 - 玄 [gen / xuan / hsuan] means Dark Depth. 牝 [pi (hin) / pin], Female. This is one of the most important words in Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. Mr Michael P. Garofalo has done an excellent research and comparison of the various translations. (http://www.egreenway.com/qigong/vstccs2.htm) Thanks to him, we can see easily how they translate 谷神不死, 是謂玄牝 in Chapter 6 / Valley God. / "The Valley Spirit never dies It is named the Mysterious Female." On the left, «Tao Te Ching (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)» translated by Arthur Waley. With an introduction by Robert Wilkinson. / "The Tao is called the Great Mother empty yet inexhaustible," On the right, «Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)» translated by Stephen Mitchell.

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 78-2 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.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 74-6 Carved or uncarved block

Today's Tao

If you carve wood on behalf of Big's carpenter, you surely hurt your hand. (Ch.74)


Don't try to carve "an uncarved block".

That is to say, don't try to control Tao and its holograms.

Let the carpenter of the holograms do his work.

In Zen Buddhism, they wisely call them Inmo butsu 恁麼物, or "what on earth" thing. (☞See Inmo and No mind 49-10)

Let your hologram come and go.

Surely you will hurt your hand if you try to control something uncontrollable.

You will feel you are stuck in the world because you forget that this life is your hologram.

If you cannot help feeling that you are lost in Mayoi, don't worry.

This Mayoi, or being lost, is Satori itself.

Your life itself is Satori the enlightenment.

Do you have to carve something already perfect?


«Related Articles»
-End of Life 74-1
-Don't terrify them 74-2
-Fear of End 74-3
-Reincarnation 74-4
-Big's carpenter 74-5
-Carved or uncarved block 74-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 74
-Big 25-9


Tao answers your question!



☞«Tao of ****» The first line comparison (15) / "Recently, a friend asked me why I'd bother to write another book about writing." On the left, «The Tao Of Writing: Imagine. Create. Flow.» written by Ralph L. Wahlstrom. / "The Tao embodies principles of a natural flow and non-resistance. Incorporating these principles into your legal research and writing practices can help you become a more efficient and more effective legal writer. " On the right, «The Tao of Legal Writing» written by Judith M. Stinson. / Legal or non-legal, Tao will help you in improving your writing skills. Tao will help you with anything.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 74-5 Big's carpenter

Dear Tao friends,

Thank you for your patience, and let's resume our journey of Taoism.

Now we are reading the final chapters of Tao Te Ching, and let's cherish every bit of them.

One sentence a day (without Saturdays and Sundays) as if we were finishing the final pieces of chocolate.


Naoto Matsumoto

Today's Tao

If you end life on behalf of those who are in charge of ending life, it is like carving wood on behalf of Big's carpenter. (Ch.74)


"Big's carpenter" means Tao's carpenter. (☞See Big 25-9)

Tao is not supposed to be carved. It is an uncarved block. (☞See Thick 15-8 and Uncarved block 28-12)

Would you like to be a carpenter to carve Tao? In other words, would you like to intervene the natural course of Tao by trying to influence your holographic "life"?


We have precious pieces of advice by Zen Master Dogen if we want to detach ourselves from life.

"If you have Buddha between the beginning of life and the end of it, there is neither the beginning of life nor the end of it."

"If you don't have Buddha between the beginning of life and the end of it, you will not be lost between the beginning of life and the end of it."

「生死の中に仏あれば生死なし」

「生死の中に仏なければ生死にまどはず」

(Shoji 生死, «Shobogenzo»)


Get lost in life.

Lost completely.

Being lost in Mayoi is Satori.

You will find Buddha's love while lost in the life of Mayoi.

But, if it is too painful for you, remember that your life is just a hologram and catalyst.


«Related Articles»
-End of Life 74-1
-Don't terrify them 74-2
-Fear of End 74-3
-Reincarnation 74-4
-Big's carpenter 74-5
-Carved or uncarved block 74-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 74


Tao answers your question!



☞ Previous video / Ch.74 text / Next video


☞«Tao of ****» The first line comparison (14) / "The world is hazy / No clean lines or sharp points / Focus the camera" On the left, «The Tao of Statistics: A Path to Understanding (With No Math)» written by Dr Dana K. Keller. / "Doesn't it take just one side to start a conflict?" On the right, «The Tao of Negotiation: How You Can Prevent, Resolve, and Transcend Conflict in Work and Everyday Life» written by Joel Edelman and Mary Beth Crane. / The ways of statistics and negotiation are intertwined like Kudzu and wisteria vines.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-11 Stick & Lose

Today's Tao

If you stick to it, you will lose it. (Ch.64)


Like yesterday's sentence, you can find the identical one in Chapter 29. (☞See If you stick to it 29-4)

When you stick to something, you are refusing change.

When you block the change, you lose Tao's energy.

Obsession is the shortcut to loss.

Especially the obsession to the concept of Self.


Zen Master Dogen kindly cautions:

"Those who are lost in Mayoi stick to (Self);

those who get Satori leave (Self)."

迷う者は之に執し、悟る者は之を離れる。

(«Gakudo yojin shu 学道用心集»)

（鎌田茂雄「正法眼蔵随聞記講話」第十一講より）


"Oh, my god. I've got my own self. I cannot leave it. My god. What can I do?"

Please do not panic.

Being lost in Mayoi is part of Satori.

Satori is another name of the hologram.

If you cannot help sticking to something, well, leave your feelings alone although it is not ideal,

and don't worry.


«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!



☞Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969) was a Japanese martial artist. An Aikido master. Takeda Sokaku was his teacher. Later he worked with a Japanese religious leader, Onisaburo Deguchi, to found a utopian colony in Mongolia. ☞Shinran (1173 -1263) is the founder of Jodo Shin shu / Pure Land Shin school. Zen Master Dogen lived in Kyoto while Shinran was there although there is no record that proves the two ran across each other. Shinran's master was Honen. Yuien, one of Shinran's disciples, is supposed to be the author of «Tannisho».

Tao Te Ching Chapter 61-6 Under small

Today's Tao

Therefore, a big country takes a small country by going under the small country. (Ch.61)


Please don't be fooled by the words "big" and "small".

Likewise, please don't be fooled by the words "Yin" and "Yang".

They are just Hoben, tools to explain metaphysical concepts.

They are like Satori and Mayoi, or being lost.

These pairs are, in fact, the same thing.

No combination of antonyms is important.

The important thing is that you discover they are one.

That's why Zen masters just draw a circle.


«Related Articles»
-Satori = Reality 61-1
-Intercourse 61-2
-Female of the world 61-3
-Female beats male 61-4
-By stillness 61-5
-Under small 61-6
-Under big 61-7
-By going down 61-8
-Gather and Raise 61-9
-Work on people 61-10
-Go down 61-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 61


Tao answers your question!



☞Small = Big. This is one of the concepts that may interest many architects and interior designers. It is also an idea that you have to live with and utilize if you live in a small house in Tokyo. You can find many useful tips in «Small Spaces». In «Super Potato Design», there are many photos of Takashi Sugimoto's works. The book has an introduction by Tadao Ando.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 61-2 Intercourse

Today's Tao

It's the intercourse of the world under the sky. (Ch.61)


The world is your hologram.

Being one with Tao is "the intercourse" between Tao and your hologram.

This is the Juki 授記, which we discussed a few days ago at Tao by Matsumoto / Forever 59-7.


Zen Master Dogen says:

授記なんぞ大悟大迷ならざらん。

[juki nanzo daigo daimei narazaran]

"How can Juki not be Big Satori and Big Mayoi!"

(Juki 授記, «Shobogenzo»)


Satori is part of your hologram.

Mayoi, or being lost, is part of the hologram.

Your own Self is part of the hologram.

The intercourse between Tao and the hologram is part of the hologram itself.

Contradictory as it may sound, Tao is this intercourse.

Tao is the act of receiving and sending Love, which is Tao.


«Related Articles»
-Satori = Reality 61-1
-Intercourse 61-2
-Female of the world 61-3
-Female beats male 61-4
-By stillness 61-5
-Under small 61-6
-Under big 61-7
-By going down 61-8
-Gather and Raise 61-9
-Work on people 61-10
-Go down 61-11
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 61


Tao answers your question!



☞We have a few national treasures in Japan. Some are official, and others are the ones that we adore but feel too ashamed to admit it. Some Buddha statues and Zen drawings are the former, and Geisha and robots are the latter. At the deepest recess of a Japanese male's heart, he always have a little room for idolized femininity and mechanized animism. They have even mixed the two entities together and ended up inventing «Robo-geisha».

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-5 Untangled

Today's Tao

Untangle the entanglement. (Ch.56)


People might think that the entanglements are Mayoi, being lost, and untangling is Satori, the enlightenment.

But where on earth are the entanglements?

There is no entanglements in your life unless you judge it.

Mayoi is Satori.

The entanglements are catalysts that stimulate you to emit more Love.


In Zen Buddhism, they call this 煩悩即菩提 [bonno soku bodai], which means:

"Being lost is justly the spiritual awakening".

(☞See 23-9 Bonno soku bodai)


Our life is perfectly untangled no matter how much it seems otherwise.

If you find it tangled up, I would say:

"Welcome to your spiritual awakening!".


«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
-In Chapter 4 / Tao's function, you can find the identical sentences: "Dull the sharpness. Untangle the entanglements. Soften the light. Be like dust".


Tao answers your question!



☞If he cannot help it, what can he really do about it? He has got an unquenchable desire to follow the woman. For what? Are we allowed to call it love? If the story were not written by a Nobel prize winner, people might feel ashamed of reading this kind of story. Thanks to Yasunari Kawabata, you can read it in the train or a dentist's waiting room with a pride. Well, you are capable of appreciate "art". You can even discuss the subject of the novel with your girlfriend or boyfriend, feeling safe because it is difficult to deny the quality of this creative writing. Following a woman is certainly a Mayoi. But Mayoi is justly Satori. Just accept all. If you need any external help, «The Lake» will surely give you some encouragement. Don't be ashamed. You are perfect.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 52-9 The light

Today's Tao

Use its light. Return to its enlightenment. Then, your body's bad luck will disappear. (Ch.52)


"Light" is Love, Tao, Buddha, Zen, Amida, Absolute, or whatever you would like to call the fundamental energy.

Through the objects you see, the acts you do, and the thoughts you bear, you receive the light.

When you receive the light, you should return it to its origin.

But how?

Well, you do nothing.

Because life itself is Satori, or enlightenment.

Don't be terrified by "Your body's bad luck".

All disasters and misfortunes are your hologram projected by you.

You are always safe because true You are Tao.

You are just in the state of being lost, Mayoi.

The disasters and misfortunes are catalysts to stimulate you to emit more love.

Remember Mayoi is not an antonym of Satori.


«Related Articles»
-Constant "beginning" 52-1
-Mother of the world 52-2
-Attain the mother 52-3
-Defend the mother 52-4
-Closed holes 52-5
-Opened holes 52-6
-See the small 52-7
-Strength 52-8
-The light 52-9
-Enlightenment 52-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 52


Tao answers your question!



☞Yakuza やくざ. "Ya や" is hachi 八, which means eight in Japanese. "Ku く" nine 九. "Za ざ" indicates san 三, which is three. Eight 8, nine 9, and three 3 make twenty 20. The last digit of twenty is zero 0. In a traditional game Hana Fuda, (for which Nintendo was known before the invention of Ultra Hand by Gunpei Yokoi, the father of Super Mario Brothers), zero is the point you get when you have the cards of eight, nine and three points. Therefore, the expression "yakuza" signifies uselessness, some think.

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 46-5 Want no gain

Today's Tao

No fault is more miserable than wanting to gain. (Ch.46)


Learn that gain and loss are the same.

If you want to only gain, you will be lost in Mayoi.

But, please remember there is nothing wrong with Mayoi.

You may feel frustrated, but that's all.

You don't have to detest the state of Mayoi.


Dogen thinks:

"You get lost by prayers. Prayers never make you get lost."

なんぢ経にまどふ、経なんぢをまよはさず

(Bukkyo 仏経, «Shobogenzo»)


As for gain, if you cannot help wanting it, try to gain as much as possible.

Your desire is a prayer.


«Related Articles»
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-Want no gain 46-5
-Content x 3 46-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 46


Tao answers your question!



☞Mr Kawabata, I hope you didn't do it in reality. You only did it in your own imagination or creation. «The lake» is about a man who follows and observes the woman he adores. The act has a undesirable chance of being considered as "stalking" in the current social and political climate where everyone has to be "correct". When you read Yasunari Kawabata's works from this point of view, well, in most of his books, the acts described there are not really recommendable to imitate. You are risking too much.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-7 Stay

Today's Tao

Know staying, and you will never be in danger. (Ch.44)


What does Lao Tzu mean by "staying"?

It does not mean suppressing one's desire and belittling his existence.

Staying means staying in Tao.

But true You are Tao.

You are always "staying in Tao".

When you forget this, you will be in the state of Mayoi, being lost.

You may project seemingly dangerous holograms, but don't worry.

They are there to stimulate you as catalysts.

Nothing is dangerous from the beginning.

You are safe.


«Related Articles»
-Body or name 44-1
-Body or money 44-2
-Gain or loss 44-3
-"Love" too much 44-4
-Store = Lose 44-5
-Contentment 44-6
-Stay 44-7
-Last long 44-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 44


Tao answers your question!



☞«Kojiki 古事記» means "Records of Ancient Matters". It is a collection of the oldest "matters" recorded in Japanese. One can insist that everything written there truly happened, and another can argue that it was not possible. In any case, you can read literally fantastic stories such as the birth of gods and the battle with a monster snake with eight tails. If you read it with the soothing sounds of «Kojiki» by Kitaro 喜多郎, a nice afternoon relaxation is guaranteed.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-12 Profound truth

Today's Tao

This is called the profound truth. (Ch.27)


Yin and Yang. Satori and Mayoi, which means being lost. Birth and reincarnation.

These paired concepts have confused us, the occidentals and the orientals alike, for hundreds of years.

They are the results of our desperate attempts to convey the concept of the cycle between Tao and hologram. This is the prayer wheel.

Thanks to the invention of holography, we can comprehend it without any metaphors.

But, be careful.

Don't conceptualize it.

That makes it less easy to accept that Tao receives Tao through holograms.


Dogen quoted the words of Nangaku Ejo (Nan-yueh Huai-jang):

"I don't say that practice and the attainment of Satori do not exist, but we had better not tarnish them by meddling with them."修証不無。染汚即不得。(jishozanmai 自証三昧, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
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-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-When a Japanese girl hears the word "princess" and is asked to draw a picture of her, almost certainly she creates an image of a Snow White. I personally do not know any Japanese married woman who made a vow of their eternal love solely in kimonos without changing her outfit and putting on a white Western-style wedding dress. Nowadays, blonde Japanese girls are getting more and more banal.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 27-11 Lost completely

Today's Tao

If you don't value your teacher, if you don't love your resources, no matter how wise you are, you will be lost completely. (Ch.27)


As we have discussed them in the previous entries, "teacher" and "resources" mean a good man and a non-good man.

They suggest a cycle.

It is the cycle where the fundamental energy is emitted and received.

It is the cycle between Tao and your hologram.

But, don't separate the two.

Don't try to understand the cycle intellectually.

Just love the world, which is your hologram in front of you.

Don't despise the world, saying that it is just an illusion.

Otherwise, you will be profoundly lost in the abyss of intellectualization.


«Related Articles»
-No traces 27-1
-Good speech 27-2
-Counting sticks 27-3
-Bars nor bolts 27-4
-Strings nor cords 27-5
-Jimitokudo 27-6
-Things = Prayers 27-7
-Enter enlightenment 27-8
-No good man 27-9
-No bad man 27-10
-Lost completely 27-11
-Profound truth 27-12
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 27


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.27 text / Next video


-"Sensei!" If you are learning Japanese, you know it. There are too many homophones in this language. If someone says that "sensei" means a teacher, he is right. If another says that "sensei" means a surprise attack, well, he is almost right. "Sensei" can be a leadoff attack. If you want to declare under oath something like peace, it is "sensei" as well.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 24-9 After Satori

Today's Tao

Therefore, a man with Tao doesn't stay there. (Ch.24)


A man with Tao gets out of his hologram.

A man with Satori breaks his mirror.

Where do they go after that?

They don't go anywhere but right here.

Because no one is captured in the hologram, or the mundane world, from the beginning.

Everyone is with Tao.

All of us are in the state of Satori.

We have simply forgot about it.


Zen Master Dogen says:

Great Satori has neither beginning nor end. Neither has Mayoi (=being lost). Mayoi never interferes Great Satori. (Daigo 大悟, «Shobogenzo»)


Naoto Matsumoto adds:

Getting out of your hologram means accepting all of it.

Mayoi is a catalyst.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 24


Tao answers your question!



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-If you feel as if you were stuck in this world, read «Sansho-uo, Salamander» by Masuji Ibuse. When a frog came into his cave in the water, the salamander was young and smaller. He closed its entrance with his own body. He was not nasty. He just wanted a friend. Some time later, his body got bigger, bigger than the entrance. He was not able to get out of the cave any more.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-9 Bonno soku bodai

Today's Tao

When you don't have enough faith, you doubt it. (Ch.23)


Faith and doubt. You know them very well.

Today, let's learn a powerful spiritual tool called "Bonno soku bodai / Being lost is justly Bodhi, or the spiritual awakening".

If you don't have enough faith, you cannot accept all.

Then, you create resistance against accepting your hologram (=the world).

Your resistance create images or feelings that bother you. These hindrances come about in your hologram.

Then, you are completely confused and lost in Mayoi.

But, do not worry.

Their goal is not to make you suffer but to lead you to the attainment of Tao.

That's why in Zen Buddhism they say:

"Being lost is justly the spiritual awakening".

Bonno soku bodai 煩悩即菩提.

Thank you.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 23


Tao answers your question!



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-I have been waiting for this truly for decades. I have been thinking for ages that someone has to translate this underrated master's works.
There is nothing wrong with being commercial. Futaro Yamada's imagination and originality deserve a place in Japan's history of literature. I sincerely want to thank Mr Geoff Sant, the translator, and his editor for their contribution without snobbism in introducing the excellent literary works in Japanese into English.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-8 Attainment loss

Today's Tao

Those who act according to the loss of its attainment are one with the loss of its attainment. (Ch.23)


"Shittoku 失得(徳)." The loss of attainment.

"Mayoi 迷い", in Zen Buddhism in Japan, which means "being lost".

When you are lost, do not panic.

It is absolutely all right.

You can lose your attainment of Tao, while being one with Tao.

You can be in Mayoi while you are in Satori.

What can we do, then?

Your attitude is supposed to be:

"Uh, uh. Here comes Mayoi. Welcome, Mayoi. I am happy to be lost and confused."

And accept it.


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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 23


Tao answers your question!



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-Is it really possible to translate a Haiku or a Tanka into English? Why not? If you can translate Baseball into Japanese, translating a Haiku is a piece of cake. Shiki Masaoka, one of the greatest poets of modern Haiku and Tanka, is the one who translated the game of baseball into Japanese. Without Shiki, no Ichiro.