Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-8 Last long

Today's Tao

Thus, you can last long. (Ch.44)


True You are Tao.

Therefore, you are eternal.

In Buddhism, we call this «Fusho fumetsu / 不生不滅».

No life no vanishing. (No life. No end of life.)


Dogen says:

"Future is past and present".

(Juki 授記, «Shobogenzo»)


Life is a form of a hologram.

Vanishing is a form of a hologram, too.

They are part of the wheel of manifestation 法輪 [horin].

Don't be attached to either life nor the end of it.


«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!



☞Kitaro's album «Onbashira» is the name of a traditional Shintoist ritual. «Onbashira 御柱» means "The sacred pillars". The matsuri festival takes place once every six years. They drop the huge and heavy trunk of a fir tree (about 17 meters long, one meter in diameter, 10 tons) at the edge of a cliff top (about 35 degrees , and 100 meters long). People ride the log down the slope. If you want to get your adrenalin going, you can go to Suwa, Nagano, Japan, instead of Pamplona for the run with the bulls, for change. Well, in six years time. Beautiful Lake Suwa will be always there, waiting for you. Enjoy magnificent Mt Fuji over Suwa Lake as millions of Samurai did. Here is Onbashira official site in English and Japanese.

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 44-6 Contentment

Today's Tao

Know contentment, and you will never be humiliated. (Ch.44)


In Buddhism, they talk about "Shoyoku chisoku 少欲知足".

It can be translated as "Desire little and know contentment".

Probably, this is one of the most misunderstood concepts in Buddhism.

Why misunderstood?

We can find a key to answer the question in Tao Te Ching:

Diminish self and reduce desire. (Ch.19)

The key is Self.

Desire is nothing wrong.

The attachment to so-called Self that judges your desire and the rest is the source of the problem.

Holograms, including self, desire, and humiliation, are catalysts to stimulate Tao, which is true You.

Just accept them.

Don't fight to suppress any.


[Note]
In the photo above, it is written: 吾唯足知. 吾唯足るを知る。"I just know contentment."

The square part of the four kanji / Chinese characters 口 symbolizes a mouth. The part is shared by all the four characters.


«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!



☞The album on the right is titled «World Favorite Songs Vol.2 Ave Maris» in English. Ocarina Player Sojiro plays your familiar tunes. If you travel in the country side of Japan, you will be surprised how much the occidental music is integrated into provincial landscapes there. Everyday at five or six, depending on the season, you can hear a Dvořák or a Schubert piece from a tall speaker set for the emergency communication in case of earthquakes.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-5 Store = Lose

Today's Tao

If you store a lot, you will surely lose heavily. (Ch.44)


Storing is losing.

Lao Tzu explains why in several ways.

First, in the sense of Lose = Gain (42-7).

When your storing peaks, the process of losing begins.

Second, storage is blockage.

It blocks the natural flow of Tao and the transformation of your holograms.

Third, when you do Tao, you reduce everything.

You reduce and reduce it until you have nothing to do. (Tao Te Ching / Chapter 48)

Let's lose all.

There is nothing wrong with "losing".


«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!



☞Sojiro is a Japanese player and maker of the ocarina. He plays the ceramic pipe with his admiration of nature. He says: "Ocarina Plows the Air". (Sojiro official site / History) He bakes his ceramic pipes, looking for perfect notes. Then, he touches the souls of his audience, playing soothing melodies. His «Japanese Favorite Songs» moves the collective memory of the inhabitants in this archipelago.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-4 "Love" too much?

Today's Tao

That's why, if you love too much, surely you lose a lot. (Ch.44)


"Love" here signifies an obsessive attachment.

Attention!

Kanji / Chinese character 愛 [ai] can be used to express both love and attachment.

In this context it does not mean "love" in the English sense.

Don't be attached to anything.

Attachment creates resistance.

The desire to retain something blocks the natural flow of Tao.


«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!



☞The name of Shakuhachi comes form its length, 1 shaku 8 sun 一尺八寸 [isshaku hachisun] / about 54.5 cm. It is an end-blown flute. The instrument has no reeds. It is made of a bamboo trunk. Its simplicity gives the player to express the depth of his soul. Its soft and "primitive" sounds will move the listener profoundly. Once you hear it, you will never forget it.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-3 Gain or loss

Today's Tao

Gain or loss, which is more harmful? (Ch.44)


Don't be attached to result.


"When the Attainment peaks, it is the same as the beginning."

(«Chuang Tzu», 12-8)


Chuang Tzu teaches us that gain leads you to loss and loss leads you to gain.

It is exactly like Yin and Yang.

Yin, the shadow, leads you to Yang, the light, and vice versa.

It is exactly like the head and the tail of a coin.

Gain and loss are the two sides of the same thing.

They exist as a catalyst in order to stimulate you.

If you know it, everything is easy.

Whether you gain or lose something, you react the same way.

"Thank you for stimulating me!"



«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
-Maximum = Minimum 29-8
-Decline = Prosperity 36-3
-Lose = Gain 42-7


Tao answers your question!



☞I will never say they are the same, Japanese drums from Sado Island and Kanak chants from New Caledonia. I just want you to think about the possibilities that thousands of years ago hundreds of generations before them those excellent musicians might have been somehow related. Geographically speaking, they are thousands of miles apart. Genetically, ones are mongoloids, the others melanesians. Nevertheless, the Japanese are much closer to their Pacific cousins in terms of temperament than you may think they are.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-2 Body or money

Today's Tao

Body or money, which is more? (Ch.44)


Can you say "Hello" to your illness?

Can you say "Welcome" to your financial problem?

You want to fight against them, right?

No. If you do so, you are not courageous.

If you are truly courageous, you must have the guts to accept them as they are no matter how difficult it is.

Don't fight against your illness.

Just love your financial problem.

Health and money are part of your hologram.

You project them.

So, all you have to do is to do nothing.

Don't be attached to health or money.

Then, your hologram will transform itself.



«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!



☞Life is the Zazen. Living is the meditation. Do you need any particular music for that? Nevertheless, it does not stop us from listening to the music of the Shakuhachi flute. Much better if we can enjoy it and relax thanks to the simple but profound tunes of the piece of bamboo refined by a master-maker and played by a creative artist no matter what nationality they have. Jazzy or authentic? Is it important?

Tao Te Ching Chapter 44-1 Body or name

Today's Tao

Name or body, which is more familiar? (Ch.44)


A: "Master Bonbon, I wanna be famous. Will you help me?"

B: "Meditate for sixty years, and you will be famous."

A: "Master Bonbon, I wanna have a perfect body."

B: "Donate us your annual salary, and I will send you to the best cosmetic surgeon's clinic."


Name or body.

Fame or silicon.

Which is more familiar to you?

Which is more important to Tao?

The answer is:

"Neither. You should not be attached to either".

What others think about you and what you think about your own self are the same.

What you think and what your body looks like are the same.

All of them are part of your hologram.

No attachment to your reputation or appearance.


«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!



☞A river is a metaphor of life. We want to live like a river. Maybe, not. We are afraid of living like a river. Or worse, we are afraid of discovering life is like a river. A river has got rhythm. Ups and downs. Bends and straights. So does the ocean. I wonder why people less often say life is like the ocean. Probably because we are afraid of admitting that all of us will go back there one day.