Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-15 Noblest

Today's Tao

Therefore, it is the noblest in the world. (Ch.56)


Tao, which is true You, is the beginning and the end.

It is the unique existence.

Logically, it is the noblest.

Let's review this chapter 56, in which we discuss 10 points to be one with Tao. 玄同 [gen do] (=to be one with Dark Depth, =to be one with Tao)


1. Do not see (especially TV news).

2. Do not listen (to especially someone who speaks up).

3. Do not speak. (Especially do not try to convince others.)

4. Be dull. Don't be special.

5. Accept everything as it is.

6. Accept it with gratitude.

7. Remember that you are Tao. (Don't try to reach Tao or get Satori. Useless.)

8. Don't try to influence Tao. It is a waste of energy.

9. Don't worship Tao. (=Don't worship yourself.)

10. Don't make light of Tao. (=Don't make light of yourself.)


«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 answers your question!



☞«Kappa» is an imaginary animal who is supposed to live in the water. Akutagawa prize was named after Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who is the author of «Rashomon» and «Kappa» among others. Ryu Murakami won the prize with his «Almost Transparent Blue».

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-14 Debase it?

Today's Tao

You cannot debase it. (Ch.56)


Tao is beyond human values.

Therefore, "You cannot ennoble it. You cannot debase it".

Don't worship Tao.

Don't worship yourself, either.

But at the same time, don't despise Tao.

Don't despise yourself, either.

I have to make it clear that the word "hologram" is not a pejorative at all.

Please don't say: "The world is just a hologram. Let's ignore it".

Your precious Self is part of your perfect holographic world although your own self is not true You.

Get it?

Accept the world, but don't be attached to it.

Accept your own self, but don't be attached to it.

They are a beautiful hologram, aren't they?


«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 answers your question!



☞Sincerely I would like to thank both gentlemen and exceptional literary figures: Mr Donald Keene and Mr Shusaku Endo. Both works here, Mr Endo's «The Sea and Poison» and Mr Keene's «So Lovely a Country Will Never Perish: Wartime Diaries of Japanese Writers» are important records on Japan and the Japanese during World War 2. The former is about the medical experiments on American prisoners of war. The latter includes the diaries written by Kafu Nagai, Sei Ito, Futaro Yamada and Jun Takami among others.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-13 Ennoble it?

Today's Tao

You cannot ennoble it. (Ch.56)


Tao has nothing to do with human values.

You cannot ennoble Tao.

So, don't worship Tao.

Don't give a special status to Tao

It is counterproductive.

Tao is neutral.

Don't make a wish to Tao unless you cannot help it.

No matter how much you ask Tao to do something for your benefit, it won't help you.

If you worship Tao, you cannot regard the so-called reality as a hologram.

For the same reason, don't worship yourself.

Don't feed your ego.

Remember?

Your own self doesn't belong to you. (☞see You and non-you)


«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 answers your question!



☞In «A Zen Life» you can watch Daisetz Suzuki talking about Zen. ☞In «The Zen Mind» you can watch beautiful Zen temples in Japan.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-12 Harm?

Today's Tao

You cannot do it harm. (Ch.56)


Tao is not material.

It has nothing to do with damage.

No matter what you do, you cannot damage Tao.


Zen Master Dogen paraphrases this:

"No one can ever do anything evil."

(Shoakumakusa 諸悪莫作, «Shobogenzo»)

「諸悪さらにつくられざるなり」


If you see something evil, do not judge because it is part of your hologram.

So, something seemingly harmful exists as a catalyst to stimulate you to emit more Love.

Trust Tao.

It is always intact.

No matter what you do, Tao will never ever judge you.

Don't worry.


«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 answers your question!



☞Any place can be your Mind garden. You can create a Zen garden in your backyard. Or, you can imagine a movie theatre as if it was your Rock garden. The movie «Zen» is an easy and authentic introduction to Master Dogen's life.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-11 Benefit?

Today's Tao

You cannot give benefit to it. (Ch.56)


Tao is not material.

It has nothing to do with benefit.

Let's make it clear.

All the material beings, including so-called benefit, belong to your hologram.

Tao does not belong to the hologram.

Tao manifests itself through the hologram.

Tao has nothing to do with benefit, neither its benefit nor your benefit.


Listen to Zen Master Dogen's caution:

"You don't practice Buddha's manifestation for your own self, not to mention, for your fame or benefit."

(«Gakudo yojin shu 学道用心集»)

夫れ仏法修行は尚自身のためにせず、況んや名聞利養のためにこれを修せんや　（鎌田茂雄「正法眼蔵随聞記講話」第一講より）


«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 answers your question!



☞Kenzaburo Oe is a Nobel prize winner, and was a high school class mate and brother-in-law of late Juzo Itami, who directed «Tampopo» the Ramen Noodle Western among other successful and funny movies.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-10 Staying away?

Today's Tao

You cannot stay away from it. (Ch.56)


So, you cannot stay away from Tao because you are Tao.


Zen Master Dogen says in his «Shobogenzo»:

うをとり、いまだむかしよりみづそらをはなれず。

[Uwo tori, imada mukashi yori midu sora wo hanarezu]

"Fish/birds have never, since the olden days, left water/the sky.

Your own self cannot leave the hologram as fish/birds cannot leave water/the sky".

(Genjokoan 現成公案, «Shobogenzo»)


The reverse side of the truth is the same.

True you are Tao, so, of course you cannot leave Tao.


The master cautions:

"If fish try to completely understand water first, or if birds try to completely understand the sky before they fly, they cannot get the way neither in water nor in the sky."


«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 answers your question!



☞Physics fascinates us. It doesn't matter if you live in the East or in the West. Gennai Hiraga was a samurai, but it did not stop him from experimenting things in terms of physics. He is supposed to be the first Japanese man who fabricated an electric generator. If physics can fascinate a samurai, there's nothing wrong with Oriental philosophies fascinating an Occidental physicist. «The Dancing Wu Li Masters» is an easy guide to the concept of relativity.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-9 Closer to Tao

Today's Tao

Therefore, you cannot get close to it. (Ch.56)


There is no point trying to get closer to Tao because you are Tao.

You are the fundamental energy.

Tao, Buddha, Love, the higher being.

You can call it whatever you like.

How can you get closer to it if you are the energy!

Don't try to get closer to Tao because it is counterproductive.

If you try to leave your hologram (=the world), the act will make you stuck there.

You must not try to get out.

You just accept it.

That's why we say:

"Do nothing".

Then, you will remember true You are outside the hologram.


«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 answers your question!



☞The Japanese used to adore Judo. We still like the sport, but it is a little difficult to imagine that some Japanese companies invest their money in a musical or cinematographic venture about Judo these days. Hibari Misora sang a song with a national sucess: "Yawara", which means Judo. She sang another one "Yawara no Otoko / A man of Yawara". Akira Kurosawa made two films about "Sanshiro Sugata", who is the legendary (but imaginary) character of modern Judo.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-8 One with Dark Depth

Today's Tao

This is called being one with Dark Depth. (Ch.56)


Dark Depth is 玄 [gen] in Japanese ([hsüan] in Chinese).

Originally it meant the color of reddish black which you got after having put together a few layers of colors.

The color symbolizes something deep and inexplicable.

"Dark Depth" is a synonym for Tao.

Therefore, 玄同 [gen dō], being one with Dark Depth, is the same as being one with Tao.

No matter what you are, whether you are dust or an [excrement] scraper, you are Tao.

In this chapter 56, Lao Tzu gives us some tips to remember the fact.

Don't worry and do nothing.


«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 answers your question!



☞Now the sport is internationally know as Judo. It was not the case at the beginning of its modern development. Contrary to what most of us imagine, the word "Judo" has a relatively brief history. The magical art of man-to-man combat was first called "Yawara", which means being soft. "Yawara no michi". This is the expression that provokes an unequivocal affection towards the sport among the Japanese. A Japanese Judy Garland, Hibari Misora, sang "Yawara" and an industrious Japanese cartoonist, Naoki Urasawa drew "Yawara", which led a real-life girl to start practicing this "Soft Tao / Judo". Having won a few Olympic medals, the girl is now a stateswoman who occupies a seat in Japan's House of Councilors.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-7 Kanshiketsu / Like dust

Today's Tao

Be like dust. (Ch.56)


Try to be the least important being.

That's the best way to accept the world (=your hologram) as it is.

Don't feed your ego.

Be like dust.

Or, be an [excrement] scraper.


Zen Buddhists say:

"Buddha is a dry [excrement] stick"

(糞かきべら [kuso kaki bera] / 乾屎橛 [kanshiketsu] in Japanese).


It is a piece of wood to clean one's bottom after he has relieved nature.

Buddha is the fundamental energy.

So is Tao.

So is Love.

Therefore, please remember that, in every being, even in the scraper that has cleaned many Asian bottoms, you can find Buddha, Tao, Love, or whatever you call the energy.


«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!



☞After a day's work, you are tired and don't want anything complicated. All you need is a bit of laughter. If so, a Japanese noodle Western movie «Tampopo» is highly recommended. Unlike their Italian counterpart, Macaroni Western, this Japanese noodle Western is not about guns and gangsters, but it is seriously about noodles. Japan enjoys "Three Musketeers" of the Japanese noodles: Soba (buckwheat noodles), Udon (Fat wheat noodles), and Ramen (yellowish Chinese noodles). In the film, some outlaws of the noodle business get together and help a woman create a high-quality noodle dish at her near-out-of-business Ramen joint. It is sort of a modern-day version of «Seven Samurai» a la Juzo Itami, a director who finds humor at unusual places. Good laughter guaranteed. Well, if you are too tired and even a comedy cannot cheer you up, you always have a true Kurosawa film. How about «Red Beard» the great doctor tonight? It will inject you plenty of energy.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-6 Soft light

Today's Tao

Soften the light. (Ch.56)


Don't shine.

Soften your glare.

Do you want to be different, original, or prominent?

This kind of desire is simply an obstacle.

If you are brilliant, it is more difficult to accept that the so-called reality, which includes both your own self and the outside world, is a hologram.

It is a catalyst to stimulate you to emit more Love.

It is not important at all whether you are shining with charisma or not.

You and non-you are the same.

What is the point of shining?

To impress your own self?

You must not be brilliant.


«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!



☞Rakugo 落語 is a one man "stand-up" comedy without standing up, that is to say, a show entirely perfumed while squatting. It is a popular art of story-telling born in the Edo period under the reign of the Tokugawa shoguns. Contradictory as it may sound, it was a 230-year period without a war, starting in 1600, governed by samurai, who were supposed to be warriors. In this pacific period, laughter and lust became the center of the people's attention. The role of the concubines and the court jesters had been democratized. Here came the births of the Geisha and the Rakugo. While the word "Geisha" signifies an artist, the true artists of story-telling are called "Rakugo-ka 落語家", which literally means "a house of the fallen language".

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 56-4 Be dull

Today's Tao

Dull the sharpness. (Ch.56)


You don't have to be sharp.

"Thank you, Master Lao Tzu!"

"What a relief!"

Lao Tzu thinks that being dull is far better than being sharp.

From now on, you don't have to be either sharp, cutting-edge, nor incisive.

When someone calls us dull, let's thank the person.

We do not have to impress others any more although we have a hidden wish to do so.

Every time the desire to be better than others surfaces in our mind, let's ask ourselves:

"Who are others?".

The others are us.

Don't be sharp.

Be dull.


«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!



☞ Previous video / Ch.56 text / Next video


☞If you know "Tanuki", you will never be fooled by the myth of Japanese efficiency. Ask some of your friends who have studied or worked in Japan. They can tell you some anecdotes that will change your biased idea about the nation's productivity.
Tanuki is often translated as raccoon dogs. I don't know if raccoon dogs in the American continent enjoy the same status concerning their virility and laziness as their Japanese counterpart. Studio Ghibli's «Pom Poko» portrays these aspects precisely and is highly recommended if you are expecting a business meeting with seemingly machine-like colleagues or clients from Far East.
If you are the one who has to fly to the country of the rising sun, the ability to use the word "Tanuki" will save you some rising yens. Tanuki soba buckwheat noodles are one of the cheapest dishes widely available in the land of Sushi, which is not exactly a Japanese equivalent to a hamburger in terms of price. You can order a Tanuki soba at any noodle joint in a major railway station along with a Kitsune, which is the Japanese name of the fox.
Whether you order a Tanuki or a Kitsune, the noodles in the bowl are the same. The difference is the toppings. While you get a piece of Abura-age (fried Tofu) marinated with slightly sweetened soy sauce when you ask for a Kitsune, you get a heap of crispy bits of fried flour-dough if you cry "Tanuki" at the bar. Surely, you have a choice between soba and udon, which is a Japanese answer to fettucini, although most Japanese believe that the combinations of Tanuki-soba and Kitsune-udon are better than otherwise.
Thanks to Maruchan Corp., now you can enjoy Tanuki soba outside Japan. «Midori no Tanuki 緑のたぬき / Green Tanuki» is as highly recommended as the film «Pom Poko». It tastes surprisingly good, considering that it is just 3-minute instant noodles.

Block the openings / video 56-3 Tao Te Ching

Today's Tao

Block the openings.

Close the gate. (Ch.56)


Japan stories


Have you ever tried to learn Japanese?

Or, have you ever heard someone saying that learning Japanese is too hard?

Learning Japanese is difficult, I agree, but I want to say: "speaking Japanese is not".

All the kids born and raised in Japan can speak Japanese without difficulty, of course, but even for them learning Japanese is tough.

Why is it?

There are two obvious reasons. One is Kanji / Chinese characters.

The other is the Japanese grammar that they teach inside and outside the country.

Most students in Japan hate Japanese grammar lessons. One cannot blame them because our skills to teach them is far from satisfying.

New comers to the islands of Geisha and Hello Kitty will soon discover that their spoken language is much easier than the one they have learned outside unless they have a daring ambition to speak it correctly, which most clients of Geisha and owners of Hello Kitty do not do.

The key is the quasi-non-existence of a subject in a sentence. Sometimes, they are not even allowed to pronounce a subject while talking.

Is it difficult for an English-speaker to imagine a language without a subject?

Once you comprehend this, you will have a much easier access to the language and the people who use it to think and communicate.

For the Japanese, "self" was not something to be born with but an abstract concept that they learned painstakingly. When all of the people had finally come to consider the notion of "self" as part of common sense, they just found out how physically and psychologically painful it was to live with it.

Isn't it high time the people who invented the word Zen (not Chan) evaluated the pros and cons of abandoning Mu ga 無我 (=No self) and embracing Ga 我 (=Self)?


To read the text for the video, please visit Tao by Matsumoto 56-3 Block the openings.


Tao answers your question!

One who says / video 56-2 Tao Te Ching

Today's Tao

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


Japan stories


Words can tell us more than we imagine sometimes.

For example, the word Satori is internationally known these days, but I wonder how many people have ever tried to think about it etymologically.

"Sa" means «thus» and "tori" «take».

Therefore, the entire word Satori tells us to take all as it is.

The photo above is a scene that the Japanese were once very familiar with.

It is a sort of gambling for kids and kids-at-heart. You pay some money (equivalent to the price of a Big Mac; if you are an adult, you have to pay the price of a Big Mac + French fries) and receive five to six cork tops, which are toy bullets. You stretch your arm with the toy rifle, stabilize the body, aim for the middle of the target and shoot. If the target falls down, you can get it.

The expensive targets are often too heavy and never fall down. All you can do is to laugh and make the shop owner happy.

In by-gone days, this "shateki" was something typical at a "matsuri", or a Japanese fanfare.

Etymologically speaking, the word "ma" means «empty space-time»; "tsuri" means «suspended».

The word "matsuri" tells us that festivity is a suspended emptiness.


To read the text for the video, please visit Tao by Matsumoto 56-2 One who says.


Tao answers your question!

Tao Te Ching Chapter 56-1 Say / video

Today's Tao

One who knows does not say. (Ch.56)


Japan stories


Life is floating. Or, we are living in a floating world.

Zen masters and Lao Tzu say that our soul does not go anywhere after its battery runs out. Life is just a catalyst to stimulate us.

Some people may want to regard life as a school, or a learning process to step up towards a better class in the spiritual hierarchy although Zen masters and Lao Tzu might find it a bit misleading.

The Japanese think we go to another world by way of water after our physical energy has run out. Zen masters, especially Dogen, is strongly against this idea, but what can they do?

At the beginning of the Obon week in summer, many Japanese families go to a river, a lake or a sea to meet the souls of the loved ones who have already left this floating world. A few days later, they lead the visiting souls back to the shore or the bank.

In both brief walks, we carry a chochin, or a paper lantern. On the way to meet the souls of the visitors, we don't light it. At the water's edge, we light the candle inside. The souls follow the light and come home with us. We spend some days together. On the way back, we light the lantern at home and lead the visitors to the water's edge. Then, we put out the candle flame there, stopping the souls of the other world from following us back to our home.

Beautiful as it may sound, it is a folklore belief, ladies and gentlemen.


To read the text for the video, please visit Tao by Matsumoto 56-1 Don't say.


Tao answers your question!

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.


«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
-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