Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-15 Because of Satori

Today's Tao

It's because of this. (Ch.54)


It's because you are the one who creates the world, which is your hologram.

Forget trying to reach Satori.

Because you are already in the state whether you are aware of it or not.


Master Dogen says:

"It doesn't matter if you have reached Satori or not.

It doesn't matter if you reached Satori a long time ago or not.

If you have a hologram, you are Buddha."

（衲僧は仏祖なり。)　大悟をえらばず不悟をえらばず、朕兆前悟をえらばず、眼睛なるは仏祖なり。

(Ganzei 眼睛, «Shobogenzo»)


Therefore, you know everything.

Everything is in harmony.

Because our everyday world is Satori itself.

No matter how hard you refuse to accept this.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞W. Somerset Maugham spent much time in the Southern Pacific Ocean and wrote many short stories about the people there. «Rain» might be one of the best. ☞While Lao Tzu may be the name for a collection of old wisdom rather than an individual, we are fairly sure that Chuang Tzu really lived in China in the 4th century B.C.. Nevertheless, both «Tao Te Ching» and «Chuang Tzu» now contain notes and comments written by later hands. On the other hand, Dogen's «Shobogenzo» has been kept relatively untouched by misleading interpretations.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-14 Why telepathy?

Today's Tao

Why do I know what's going on in the world under the sky? (Ch.54)


A: "Master Bonbon, I wanna be able to read other people's mind. I wanna be a psychic who can tell what's gonna happen in the world. Can you help me?"

B: "Meditate for thirty years, and you will get the magical power."


Two important points.


One.

You know everything in the world because it's your hologram.

You filter all the information and select what is necessary for you.


Two.

Zen master Dogen strictly advises against any so-called "magical powers" including mind-reading and telepathy.

Well, everyone has got the power.

So, why do we have to call it "magical"?


"Other people" and "another place in the world" are part of the hologram you project.

Naturally, you know all about them.


Dogen says:

"If you are reading your own mind, you are reading other people's mind."

おのれづから心づからの他心通ならん。

(Tashintsu 他心通, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞«Buddha of Infinite Light» is an approximative English translation of Amida Butsu (Amitābha). He is the pilar of Pure Land Buddhism. It is interesting to find out that Daisetz Suzuki wrote «Buddha of Infinite Light», but it is not surprising. After all, Self-power and Other-power have to be the same. Kitaro Nishida was a friend of Suzuki since their high school days. He tackles the integration of terms in Christianity and Buddhism in his «An inquiry into the Good». Names vary, but they point at the same thing.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-13 Jin juppo kai / See the world

Today's Tao

See the world under the sky through the world under the sky. (Ch.54)


See Tao through your hologram.

What is "the world under the sky"?

In the original Kanji / Chinese characters, it is written 天下 [tenka], which literally means "under the sky" and is often translated as "the world".

In Zen Buddhism, they like to use the expression 尽十方界 [jin juppo (jippo) kai].

Each Kanji / Chinese character signifies "exhaust - ten - direction - area" respectively.

The phrase can be translated as "ten nooks and crannies of the whole world".


Master Dogen says in the chapter of Jippo (Juppo) in his Shobogenzo:

"Ten nooks and crannies of the whole world are the only eye of a one-eyed monk.

That is to say, they are the only eye of the one-eyed Monk Gautama Buddha.

Monk Gautama Buddha's eye is «Shobogenzo / the authentic manifestation of holography», which I have got."

尽十方界是沙門一隻眼。いまいうところは瞿曇沙門眼の一隻なり。瞿曇沙門眼は吾有正法眼蔵なり。

(Jippo 十方, «Shobogenzo»)


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞The world = Jippokai (Juppokai) = Hologram = Ukiyo = The floating world. «An Artist of the Floating World» is one of Kazuo Ishigro's first successful novels. It was shortlisted for the 1986 Booker Prize. Utamaro is one of the best known Japanese painters internationally. Kitagawa Utamaro and Katsushika Hokusai were the two giants of Ukiyo-e prints. Some of their works are still illegal to exhibit in Japan, which seems to have an effect to stimulate the imagination of its citizens.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-12 Bodhidharma from the West / See the country

Today's Tao

See the country through the country. (Ch.54)


See Tao through your own country.


"But I want to learn more about Tao and Zen. I cannot do it in my country. They don't even sell a proper kimono to wear for meditation. I've got to go to Japan or China!"


Is the grass always greener on the other side?

No, it isn't.

The grass is always the same green wherever you go.


Here, we have a famous koan:

"What is the meaning of Daruma / Bodhidharma coming over from the West?

如何是祖師西来意"


Dharma 法 signifies manifestation.

Tao or Zen manifests itself through your hologram.

In other words, Daruma came over to tell us:

"Everything you see is part of one hologram whether you are in the West or in the East".


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54
-A thousand league travel 64-9


Tao answers your question!



☞We have three famous Kitaro. One is Kitaro Nishida. Another is Kitaro the musician. The other is Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. If you are an intellectual living outside Japan, you may learn these names in this order. If you are a kid in Japan, the other way round. 西田幾多郎、喜多郎、ゲゲゲの鬼太郎。In Kanji / Chinese characters, it is easy to distinguish one from another.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-11 See the village

Today's Tao

See the village through the village. (Ch.54)


See Tao through the people: your neighbors, colleagues, and classmates; the ones living around you.

Your "village" is a hologram that stimulates you as a catalyst.

"The global village" is the same.

It is a hologram and catalyst.

Internet exists in order to give us more opportunities to emit Love the fundamental energy (=Tao).

Internet is a wonderful metaphor to explain us how Tao functions, I suppose.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Be like a baby. Be like a fool. Reducing your knowledge is important in Taoism and Zen. «A Fool's Life» was written by probably one of the Japanese writers who might have had the best scores in IQ test, Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He is the author of «Rashomon», which is not the original of the film with the same title. Its original is «Yabu no Naka / In the Grove» from the same author. Ryokan Taigu 良寛大愚 is truly a great fool and remarkable Zen poet. (Taigu 大愚 means Great Fool in Japanese.) Ones of his best friends were the lice that inhabited in his clothes.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-10 See the family

Today's Tao

See the family through the family. (Ch.54)


See Tao through your family.

Family members are a manifestation of Tao.

Then, why do Zen monks have to abandon their family?

That's why they are called Shukke 出家, "leaving the family", isn't it?

This question can be answered by another question.

Have they ever had a family?

No.

Because you do not possess your holograms, which include your family.

Leaving the family is one way to learn that the whole world is a hologram.

Of course, you can choose another way of learning it while listening to all the gibberish of your family members.

You never know, an enlightened layman in eighth-century China, Hokoji 龐居士 / P'ang Yun 龐蘊, may have gone through the same thing.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Akira Kurosawa shot «The Idiot» in 1951. The original is Fyodor Dostoyevsky's «The Idiot». Is it difficult to be like a baby after you have reached a certain age? Not at all. Prince Myshkin may give us some hits. Or manga might show us the way. Look at Japan. It took us one and a half millennia to digest Lao Tzu's teachings, but finally we seem to be learning how to be like a baby. The country once inhabited by samurai is now populated with otaku boys and yaoi girls.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-9 See the body

Today's Tao

Therefore, see the body through the body. (Ch.54)


Therefore, see Tao through your body. Your magnificent body is a manifestation of Tao.

Not only that, the whole world is your body.


Chinese Zen master Chosha Keishin / Ch'ang-sha Ching-tsen 長沙景岑禅師 said:

"Ten nooks and crannies of the whole world are the entire body of a monk."

尽十方界是沙門全身。尽十方界これ沙門の全身なり。

(Komyo 光明/ Jippou 十方, «Shobogenzo»)


Do not judge your body according to a criterion invented by the media.

Every body is beautiful.

Since your body is beautiful, this entire world is beautiful.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Both films represent modern Japan and its culture very well. «Pom Poko» explains its social structure and the hardship of working against their nature. Who said the Japanese are hard workers! Not at all. See this film to find out how difficult it is to disguise himself as one. On the other hand, «Spirited Away» is an evidence how much westernized our collective psychological archetype in Japan is. Behind the traditional visual codes, we can see many western elements profoundly anchored in Japanese culture now. It is good news, right, Mr Yukio Mishima?

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-8 World

Today's Tao

Learn it in the world under the sky, and its attainment is omnipresent. (Ch.54)


This sentence summarizes the paragraph.

The world is your hologram.

Learn Tao in the hologram.

In other words, receive Tao through the hologram.

This is Tao's attainment.


Zen master Dogen looks at this from another point of view:

"The so-called light of Buddha is ten nooks and crannies of the whole world".

いわゆる仏祖の光明は尽十方界なり

(Komyo 光明, «Shobogenzo»)


At any part of this world, in every sphere of your hologram, you are seeing Buddha's light, which is Love, which is Tao.

It exists everywhere, waiting to be received.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞There are some cities you want to visit at least once in your life time: Paris, Venice, and so on. I don't know if Kyoto belongs to this category, but it is worth visiting a real Zen garden in Ryoan-ji temple at lease once in our life time. Yasunari Kawabata's «The Old Capital» is an informative reading material although it was written as a novel. Some suspect that the author's intention was not creating a dramatical catharsis but recording as many ceremonies and rituals in Kyoto as possible. The beautiful twin sisters guide the town and country of Japan's old capital.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-7 Country

Today's Tao

Learn it in the country, and its attainment is rich. (Ch.54)


Love your country no matter what its state is.

Don't criticise politicians.

Accept people in the media as they are.

If you get annoyed, you create unnecessary resistance and waste your energy.

"The country" is much smaller than the TV set next to you.

It is just a backdrop of your hologram.

It is not wise to cut the "rich" flow of Tao's energy by getting upset.

If you don't like what is going on in "the country", be like Nikko's three monkeys.

See nothing.

Say nothing.

Hear nothing.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54
-State filth 78-8 That's why the sage says, "Those who accept the filth of the country are called the master of the state".


Tao answers your question!



☞What is a country? To some, it is what you fight for. To others, it is what you wish might protect you. Whichever it is, these two books are about their countries. Although geographically they occupy the same place, the authors seem not to talk about the same one. «The Taiheiki» was written in the late 14th century and «Sun and Steel» by Yukio Mishima in the late 20th century.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-6 Village

Today's Tao

Learn it in the village, and its attainment lasts. (Ch.54)


Love your village.

That is to say, love everything surrounding you.

Now, we know Lao Tzu's teachings here.

We start accepting and loving our own self first, and gradually expand the zone of love and acceptance.

This is one way to attain Tao.

Of course, you can accept and love all, at once.

In either way, the conclusion is the same.

Accept your hologram as a catalyst and keep Tao's energy cycling.

Remember?

Tao has no time.

So, if you do this once, Tao's cycle lasts forever.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Oda Nobunaga was a hero, a man with innovative ideas in economy and warfare. He was one of the first Japanese tycoons who understood the importance of firearms and, consequently, the money to buy them. He abolished tax in his territory to let merchants flourish and to get the information about other tycoons. Any Japanese kid in the 20th century might have thought of being a Nobunaga. In 1983, thanks to Koei Corp., it became possible. Imagine how epoch-making it was. You don't have to sit outside history any longer. Now you are able to change it.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-5 Family

Today's Tao

Learn it in the family, and its attainment is abundant. (Ch.54)


Love your body and mind, first.

Then, love your friends and family.

But, don't be fooled by the words; body, mind, friends, and family.

They are all part of your hologram, not separate or independent entities.

Love your hologram.

Accept your own self and people close to you as they are.

Then, you can re-circulate Tao's energy.

The world in front of you is abundant of this fundamental energy whatever you call it.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Izumi Kyoka, another great personality from Kanazawa, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, along with Kitaro Nishida and Daisetz Suzuki. If you like Edgar Alan Poe, it is worth checking Kyoka's works. Thousands of miles apart and in the two completely different languages, but somehow you can see the same sensitivity towards words and the intangible world. Their love to something supernatural was quite natural to them.☞In our common understandings, a Yama Uba is not supposed to be so beautiful. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being beautiful.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-4 Body

Today's Tao

Learn it in the body, and its attainment is true. (Ch.54)


This paragraph is a kanreisu (a bar / spring) to understand Tao and Zen.

Let's remember the mechanism of the holograms and use Reverse Thinking.


Body is bigger than Family.

Family is bigger than Village.

Village is bigger than Country.


First, love your body.

This is the best and true attainment of Tao.


Second, love your family.

The closer they are to you, the more important they are.

What they say are catalysts for you, in other words, Tao's messages.


Third, love the environment you are living in right now.


In the end, love the world in general.

Don't get annoyed by what the media tell you.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞The floating world, Uki-yo in Japanese, is the way they look at life. That's where geisha girls used to dwell and yakuza men were heroes. Ukiyo-e are called Japanese prints, but the word means the pictures of the floating world. Life is ephemeral. Enjoy it while you can. Tatoo, Irezumi 刺青. Or you might want to pronounce the kanji characters Shisei as novelist Junichiro Tanizaki named one of his first successful short stories. This could be a distant memory of the time when some of our ancestors lived in Southern Pacific islands.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-3 Descendants

Today's Tao

By doing so, descendants never cease to worship. (Ch.54)


Who are "descendants"?

Your holograms are.

Who are their ancestors, then?

Well, it should be called their mother rather than the ancestors.

It is Tao.

The holograms "never cease to worship" Tao.

They never cease to accept and love it.

The holograms, including your own self, are the medium.

The holographic medium stimulates the fundamental energy Tao, which is true You.

Thanks to the holograms, Tao never ceases to recreate itself.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞"I want to know about Zen, but I don't have much time to read about it." If you think so, there are two highly recommended videos. One is Banmei Takahashi's «Zen». As its straightforward title shows, it is an easy introduction to Zen and Master Dogen's life. The other is Hiroshi Teshigawara's «Rikyu». Rikyu is a great master of tea ceremony or Sado, which means "Tao of tea". Sado is an art of living based on Zen.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-2 Embrace

Today's Tao

A thing well embraced doesn't fall off. (Ch.54)


Everything is holding Tao.

No one can remove Tao.

This is one way to look at the relation between Tao and its hologram.


Master Dogen has a beautiful way to express it:

"Buddha hides himself in a hologram. The hologram hides itself in an ume flower. The ume flower hides itself in brambles."

如来は眼睛に蔵身し、眼睛は梅華に蔵身し、梅華は荊棘に蔵身せり。

(Udonge 優曇華, «Shobogenzo»)


In other words, Buddha, Tao, or the fundamental energy is inside every hologram.

A visual image is part of your hologram.

Images constitute the world.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞Kyogen 狂言, which means "Crazy Words", is a comical presentation in a style similar to traditional Japanese theatre Noh. Although the original Yama Uba is not classified in Kyogen, it has got comical elements. You don't have to be serious when you talk about a serious subject. It can be more effective if you do it otherwise. Master Ikkyu's Yama Uba illustrates how Zen functions in an easy and fun way for lay villagers, including girls in a brothel, to understand Buddha's essential teachings.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 54-1 Well built

Today's Tao

A thing well built cannot be pulled out. (Ch.54)


A: "Master Bonbon, where is Tao? Where can I see it?"

B: "Meditate for thirty years or donate your annual income, and you will get the power to see Tao."


Don't worry, everyone.

Don't listen to what Master Bonbon says.

"Well built" in this context means "deeply rooted".

Tao the fundamental energy is deeply rooted in everything.

The important thing is that you cannot "pull out Tao".

This means that, no matter what you do, Tao is with you.

Because you are Tao.

No worries.


«Related Articles»
-Well built 54-1
-Embrace 54-2
-Descendants 54-3
-Body 54-4
-Family 54-5
-Village 54-6
-Country 54-7
-World 54-8
-See the body 54-9
-See the family 54-10
-See the village 54-11
-Bodhidharma from the West / See the country 54-12
-Jin juppo kai / See the world 54-13
-Why telepathy? 54-14
-Because of Satori 54-15
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 54


Tao answers your question!



☞"Where can I see Tao?" "How does Zen work?" One may wonder how Zen master Ikkyu handled these innocent questions while he was fooling around with predecessors of Geisha girls in brothels. His answer was to write a Noh play. The master used a legendary character Yama Uba, an old woman in the mountains, as a metaphor of Zen (= Tao). Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki points it out and summarizes Ikkyu's message in a decryption intelligible to the West. You can read it in his «Zen and Japanese Culture». You will see how easy Zen is.