Tao Te Ching Chapter 76-6 Soft and weak men

Today's Tao

Those who are soft and weak are men of life. (Ch.76)


No matter how hard and strong the person is, he is part of your hologram.

Then, who are you if you are soft and weak?

If you are soft and weak, you are man of life, Lao Tzu says.

Life?

What is true life?

Why do we live?

Your true life is the circulation of energy.

You are the infinite light with other names, including Tao, Buddha, Zen, and Love.

You live in order to sustain this circulation of the energy.

You live in order to sustain your true life.

Your so-called "life" is a film that stimulates the circulation.

Be soft and weak, and your light will go through the life of ego more easily.

Soften your personal and egotistic light, and your true light will light up the world.

The softer your personal light of ego is, the stronger your true light will be.

(☞See Kanshiketsu / Like dust 56-7)


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-Soft life 76-1
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-Mujoseppo = non-living preach / Hard and Strong 76-5
-Soft and weak men 76-6
-Strong army, no win 76-7
-Karoshi / Snapped branch 76-8
-Hossho stays low 76-9
-Hoben gate / Soft and Weak 76-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 76


Tao answers your question!



☞«Tao Te Ching» Key word comparison (6) / -Dark Depth 玄 [gen]- Let's see how they translate 玄之又玄衆妙之門 in Chapter 1. / "Or rather the 'Darker than any Mystery', The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences." On the left, «Tao Te Ching (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)» translated by Arthur Waley. / "Profound and remote and again more so: This is the gate to all mysteries." On the right, «Tao Te Ching: An All-New Translation» translated by William Scott Wilson.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-4 While minute

Today's Tao

It is easy to erase a thing while it is minute. (Ch.64)


"A thing" is your hologram.

The Kanreisu (the bar / spring for your spiritual leap in Zen) here is that your own self is part of a hologram.

Tao projects a hologram.

The hologram stimulates Tao.

As Zen Master Dogen clarifies it,

this exchange mechanism of energy between projection and stimulation is what we call Life or Self.

(☞See Before materialization 64-2)

Self is not individual or independent, but a name for the mechanism.

Therefore, Self does not exist as a tangible entity.

"Erase" the concept of Self if you think it exists.

If your own self or ego is minute, it is easy to forget it.


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-Something stable 64-1
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-In order 64-6
-Tree from a hair 64-7
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-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
-The minute being 14-6
-Small = Big 63-4


Tao answers your question!



☞Ju-on 呪怨 means "curse - grudge". Do the Japanese hold a grudge against someone and never forget it? In general, no. We forget things easily. Rarely we plan well and revenge ourselves well. Nevertheless, it does not mean that all the happy-go-lucky islanders in Far East are incapable of holding a grudge. Of course, some do. They do it very well. They even commercialize their curse. Having enjoyed commercial success, the film «Ju-on the Grudge» was turned into a video game. It is available on Nintendo Wii.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-3 While fragile

Today's Tao

It is easy to melt a thing while it is fragile. (Ch.64)


Melt your own ego.


Zen Master Bassui Tokusho 抜隊得勝 (1323-1387) says:

"When you are lost, you are like ice."

迷ふときは氷の如し

[mayou toki ha koori no gotoshi]

(☞See Disintegrating 15-7)

He adds:

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

氷の中に水とならさる氷なし

[koori no naka ni mizu to narazaru koori nashi]

(«Bassui Kana Hogo» 抜隊仮名法語)


When you are solid as ice, you are lost.

When you are flexible as water, you are Buddha.

The Japanese word for Buddha is "hotoke 仏・ほとけ".

The word puns with "hodoke-ru ほどける", which means "to untangle".

Never mind being "fragile".

Then, you are flexible and untangled.

Don't be hard if you don't want to forget that you are Buddha and Tao.


«Related Articles»
-Something stable 64-1
-Before materialization 64-2
-While fragile 64-3
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-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!



☞Don't fight against your destiny. Don't fight against any. The female characters in «The Tale of Genji» accept their destinies. So did its author, Murasaki Shikibu. When did the Japanese start suffering from the problem of Self? When did they start thinking that they could change their own destines, or that their egos were bigger than the force of nature? Typhoons, Tsunami, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes still teach us who we are. Read Lady Murasaki Shikibu's Diary and find out how did she come to terms with her destiny.

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
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-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 56-7 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 55-5 Soft sinew

Today's Tao

His bones are weak, his sinews are soft, and his hold is tight. (Ch.55)


Do you want to hold Tao tightly?

Holding something tightly and sticking to it is not exactly a good idea, though.

Well, if you still want to do it, be weak and soft like a baby.

You cannot hold Tao. Let's make it clear about this.

Nevertheless, being soft and and weak is an effective way to remember that you are one with Tao.

Soften your own self.

Weaken your strong ego.

Minimize the intervention by your own self, which is part of the hologram.

Why don't we say "My own self does not belong to me." once and for all?


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-Know harmony? 55-10
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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 55


Tao answers your question!



☞Morihei Ueshiba was one of the pillars in the earliest period of Aikido's history. Aikido literally means "The Tao of the harmony of energy". ☞Buddhist Shinran was contemporary to Zen Master Dogen. He is the founder of Jodo Shin shu school of Buddhism. He once said: "Even good people will become Buddha, not to mention evil people". («Tannisho», Chapter 3) This is "the doctrine of evil persons as the object of salvation", which is called Akunin shoki setsu in Japanese.

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.


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-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 40-3 Laughable Tao

Today's Tao

When a low man hears about Tao, he laughs out loud. (Ch.40)


This is encouraging, isn't it?

Even more than 2500 years ago, people were not so innocent.

Certainly, when Lao Tzu talked about Tao, some of them laughed at him.

He called them "low". His little ego might have been hurt.

But, when people laugh at us, we know a better way to handle the situation, right?

We say "Thank you for laughing".

People laughing at you are your holograms testing if you truly believe in Tao. We can interpret it this way.

Or, as Lao Tzu will tell us in tomorrow's episode, if they don't laugh, you are not talking about true Tao.

Something or someone lower is much closer to Tao.

Truth must be funny.


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-High samurai 40-1
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-Highest attainment = Valley 40-9
-Lacking 40-10
-Lazy 40-11
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-White = Black 40-13
-Square without corners 40-14
-No completion 40-15
-No voice 40-16
-No form 40-17
-Hidden with no name 40-18
-Generosity 40-19
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 40
-Poor Speech 45-7


Tao answers your question!



-Don't underestimate them. Although this dog and that cat live in the world of cartoons, they can tell us about life. A laughable Tao is the true Tao. You still prefer serious analyses of Tao Te Ching? If so, Snoopy and Doraemon the gadget cat will laugh at you.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 23-5 Man's responsibility

Today's Tao

How can man keep on doing it for a long time if heaven and earth cannot do it. (Ch.23)


You are not responsible at all.

"Wait a minute, Matsumoto-san! You said: «I am responsible for everything.» yesterday."

Certainly I did.

I said: "true You are responsible because true You are Tao".

Please do not mix true You and your own self.

Your own self, or ego, not true You, is part of your hologram along with man, heaven, and earth.

The Today's Tao sentence means:

"Even heaven and earth's influence is ephemeral. How can a man or your own ego affect other objects in your hologram!".

Your own self is not responsible for anything.


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-Bonno soku bodai 23-9
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 23


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.23 text / Next video


-Chikamatsu Monzaemon, playwright, 1653 - 1725. On the left, «Chikamatsu Monogatari / A story from Chikamatsu» was directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. On the right, its original title is «Shinju Ten no amijima». A director / actress couple, Masahiro Shinoda and Shima Iwashita worked together. Iwashita was considered one of the most beautiful women in Japan at that time.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 22-5 Shinran / Jodo Buddhism

Today's Tao

Less therefore attained. (Ch.22)


With "less", you can attain Dark Depth. (The attainment of Dark Depth is called 玄得 [gen toku])

"Thank God! I am alive."

It is not a bad attitude, but, if we want to attain Dark Depth, we will do it differently.

Instead of "Thank God! I am alive", why don't we say:

"I live to thank everyone and everything".

This is what Master Shinran 親鸞 asked us to do some eight hundred years ago.

Shinran (1173-1263) is not a Zen Buddhist. (☞See also Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe 62-3)

He is the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in Japan. (And he is a contemporary of Zen Master Dogen.)

Instead of wishing to gain something, he asked the believers to cite prayers as a form of thanking Buddha.

It is a very intelligent way to reduce the resistance of your ego.

That's how we stop disturbing our hologram to transform itself.

Dark Depth will be attained.


Shinran@wiki


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-No bragging 22-10
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-Aikido 22-12
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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 22


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.22 text / Next video


-In a rough understanding; Tariki 他力 (other-power) = Shinran; Jiriki 自力 (self-power) = Dogen; Some think that Jiriki and Tariki are contrary to each other. Not exactly. If you know that "Self" is just a concept and does not exist. The idea of Tariki is a very useful tool to reduce your resistance. Besides, Hiroyuki Itsuki, a good novelist, talks about his experience of evacuation from Manchuria at the end of WW2, relating it to Tariki of Amida.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 15-14 Break your face

Today's Tao

It doesn't fill up. So, you can wear it out, and it will not be created again. (Ch.15)


No matter how big your ego is, it cannot fill your hologram.

As Zen Master Dogen said, you can polish a tile and make a mirror.

You can "wear out" your hologram.

When you have polished it completely and "worn it out", your face is broken.

"Break your mirror!"

"Break your face!"

All right.

But it is worth thinking what kind of state it is when your face is broken.

Lao Tzu drops a hint:

"It will not be created again".


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-Dark Depth 15-1
-How profound! 15-2
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-Empty 15-9
-Muddy water 15-10
-Muddy but clear 15-11
-Restructured World 15-12
-Break your mirror 15-13
-Break your face 15-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 15


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.15 text / Next video