Tao Te Ching Chapter 76-7 Strong army, no win

Today's Tao

Hence, if your army is strong, you will never win. (Ch.76)


If your army is "strong", is it easier to accept other people's acts against your will?

Don't you want to use your "strong army" to control the people against you?

That's why Lao Tzu says:

"you will never win".


Zen Buddhists use two key concepts to understand it.

1. 即心是仏。[soku shin ze butsu] The very mechanism is Buddha (=Tao).

2. 一切法一心。[issai ho isshin] All the manifestations are one mechanism.

Therefore, treat the so-called reality, which is a manifestation of Tao, as if it is the real Tao (while knowing that the manifestation and Tao are not exactly the same).

半箇衆生半箇法性。・・・。法性不是衆生。

(法性 Hossho, «Shobogenzo»)


It is not your ego who controls the situation.

Don't be strong.

Your true victory is to keep Tao's mechanism working.


«Related Articles»
-Soft life 76-1
-Hard end 76-2
-Fragile life 76-3
-Dry end 76-4
-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 (7) / -Dark Depth 玄 [gen]- Let's see how they translate 玄之又玄衆妙之門 in Chapter 1. / "Calling it 'fathomless' is still not to fathom it. …the door to a cluster of puzzles." On the left, «Tao Te Ching on The Art of Harmony: The New Illustrated Edition of the Chinese Philosophical Masterpiece (The Art of Wisdom)» translated by Chad Hansen. / "dark-enigma deep within dark-enigma, gateway of all mystery." On the right, «Tao Te Ching» translated by David Hinton.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 72-6 Take it

Today's Tao

Therefore, he leaves that and takes this. (Ch.72)


First in Chapter 12, then in Chapter 38, and now this is the third time Lao Tzu asks us to leave "that" and take "this". (☞See Not that one, but this one 12-7 and Leave it 38-15)

Then, what are "this" and "that"?

"This" is Tao, which is true You.

And "that" is your hologram, which is the world in front of you, including your own self.

"Leave your hologram and take Tao."

That's what Lao Tzu is saying here.

Watch out. This could be your pitfall.

"Uh, h… The world is my hologram, and Lao Tzu is asking me to leave the hologram. I know how to do it. I meditate. While meditating I can leave this reality and go into an altered state. This is Satori, right?"

Wrong!

Satori is not an act of looking for a refuge.

Take this reality as a catalyst and cherish "right now right here".

Emit Love and turn the wheel of manifestation (=転法輪 [tenborin]).

Learn: "this = that"!

This is Satori.


«Related Articles»
-Big's fear 72-1
-Not satisfied? 72-2
-Unsatisfactory 72-3
-Know yourself 72-4
-Love yourself 72-5
-Take it 72-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 72


Tao answers your question!



☞«Tao of ****» The first line comparison (4) / "Hello. I'm Willie Nelson. A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path. —The Tao Te Ching" On the left, «The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart» written by Willie Nelson and Turk Pipkin. / "Increase your effectiveness as a leader by helping others to develop and grow." On the right, «The Tao of Coaching: Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Inspiring and Developing Those Around You» written by Max Landsberg. / Unusual combinations are always welcome.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 64-5 Before existence

Today's Tao

Do it before it has come to exist. (Ch.64)


華開世界起

[kekai sekaiki].

That's what they say in Zen Buddhism.

It means:

"A flower opens. The world gets up".


A flower symbolizes a hologram.

A hologram opens up and the world comes to exist there.

This is a so-called "reality" that is reconstructed in our "mind" as a catalyst.


Buddha said:

"It is like a man with bleary-eyed vision seeing the flowers in the middle of emptiness."

亦如翳人見空中華

（Shuryogon Sutra Book 4 首楞厳経　第四巻 ☞See also Wild field 53-4）


But, watch out.


Zen Master Dogen cautions.

We must not ignorantly interpret it as: "Since we are lost, we see illusions in the air".

In Buddhism, "a man with bleary-eyed vision" means a man of Satori.

(Kuge 空華, «Shobogenzo»)


Let's decode Today's Tao sentence.

Send love "before" your projected hologram "comes to exist" in the world, asking you to send more love.


[Note]
The world = your projected hologram


«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!



☞Was Godzilla "born" with a grudge? Surely, the monster had been asleep when human beings experimented a hydrogen bomb. He was just a gigantic animal asleep in the middle of evolution. In Akira Kurosawa's «Ikiru», was the man living with a grudge against bureaucratic work? Surely, the man was working to earn a living. He was in the middle of spiritual evolution. Godzilla left his body in Tokyo Bay. The bureaucrat left a small park for children. The director of «Godzilla», Ishiro Honda, worked as an assistant under Akira Kurosawa during the production of «Stray Dog».

Tao Te Ching Chapter 62-6 Don't abandon

Today's Tao

How can you abandon someone because he is no good. (Ch.62)


A: "Master Bonbon, I am sorry. I cannot contribute donation this month. It's horrible. Stock prices don't go up. You don't abandon me, do you?"

B: "I am afraid I have to abandon you. Love lasts as long as money endures."


Don't worry.

Nobody can abandon you, nor can you abandon anyone.

Though someone seems to have abandoned you at the level of your hologram, he didn't in reality.

Because he is an extended part of your own self.

The extended part of your own self, or yourself beyond your control, is called 他己 [tako] in Zen Buddhism.

This 他己 [tako] and 自己 [jiko], yourself under your control, are part of the same hologram. (☞See also Tao by Matsumoto / Chapter 7 / No self)

Therefore, it is useless to judge.

Therefore, there is neither "good" nor "no good".


«Related Articles»
-Hidden Tao 62-1
-Treasure 62-2
-Akunin shoki setsu / Feel safe 62-3
-Adorned words 62-4
-Adorned acts 62-5
-Don't abandon 62-6
-An emperor enthroned 62-7
-Why Taoism? 62-8
-Guilty? 62-9
-Highly appreciated 62-10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 62


Tao answers your question!



☞Jiko / yourself under your control and Tako / yourself beyond your control are useful concepts used in Zen Buddhism. You can find these expressions in Genjo Koan Chapter of Dogen's «Shobogenzo», for example. If you find it too absurd, it might be worth checking Kitaro Nishida's «An Inquiry into Good». Although Nishida was a close friend of Daisetz Suzuki, he was rather a philosopher than a Zen priest. Nishida is another bridge between the East and the West. In the book, Part II Chapter 10 The Sole Reality and Part III Chapter 27 Perfect Good Conduct are interesting and helpful as preparatory reading material.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 61-1 Satori = Reality

Today's Tao

A big country is the lower reaches of the river. (Ch.61)


"A big country" here means "to be one with Tao".

"But, wait a minute! You said: 'A country' means one's hologram, didn't you?", you might want to ask me.

Yes, I did.

Being in the hologram is being one with Tao, or being in the state of Satori.

"What? It means that the hologram, the so-called reality, or the world in front of us is Satori, doesn't it?"

Yes, it does.

Living in this world is the Satori.

Many people say some teachings of Taoism and Zen Buddhism are contradictory and incomprehensible.

Why?

Because of this.

They don't want to accept that this very reality is the state of Satori.

It is not something you obtain after long painful hard work.

At "the lower reaches of " a river, which means your hologram, your life, or this world, you are one with 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!



☞You never know. One day we might consider «Transformers» as national treasures of Japan. At least, the name of the company that invented the group of toy robots is a nice one. The Japanese word "Takara 宝" signifies "treasure". Now Takara corporation is consolidated with Tomy. The Japanese word "tomi 富" means "wealth". No one can deny the future possibility of the Transformers being as much cherished as «Japanese Treasures» like a  Netsuke, a carved ornament suspended from the sash of a kimono.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 59-2 Return early

Today's Tao

Just don't waste any, and you will return early. (Ch.59)


Don't waste any; foods, materials, electricity, natural resources or even feelings and thoughts.

Don't waste life.

Your life is a beautiful hologram waiting for you to accept.

When you accept it, you receive Tao's energy through it.

When you appreciate it, you emit the energy to it.

That's how you return to Tao.

Returning to Tao is not denying your holographic reality in front of you;

on the contrary, you accept and love it.

Then, you will "return" to Tao easily.

You will simply remember that true You are Tao and you have never left it at all.


«Related Articles»
-Don't waste 59-1
-Return early 59-2
-Return and Repeat 59-3
-Repeat Attainment 59-4
-Cycle's end 59-5
-Never-ending cycle 59-6
-Forever 59-7
-Live eternally 59-8
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 59


Tao answers your question!



☞Lao Tzu asks you to be like dust. Dust has a certain connotation, which is not necessary bad if you don't have a big ego. Kobo Abe wrote «The woman in the Dunes». The story can be interpreted as a metaphor in this context. ☞Zen Buddhists say: "Buddha is a dry [excrement] stick". The expression has appalled many other Buddhists. Zen Buddhists just want to say: "All the holograms are Buddha's manifestation, which include even a dry [excrement] stick". They are always happy to use a "radical and cool" expression.

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 56-6 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 52-4 Defend the mother

Today's Tao

If you already know the child and return to defend the mother, you will be safe till the end of your life. (Ch.52)


You have to "know the child".

In other words, you have to know that the world in front of you is your hologram and a catalyst.

Accepting and loving your so-called reality, you will return to its beginning, which is the mother, who is Tao, which is true You.

"Defending" it means to remember that you are one with Tao.

Remember that you are always protected and safe because so-called danger exists only in your hologram (=so-called reality, =the world).

Don't be afraid.


«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!



☞ Rozalia, a half-Jewish and half-Christian girl, escaped from Fascist-occupied Romania. Hiroyuki Itsuki, a Japanese boy growing up outside his motherland, escaped from the Korean peninsula right after the end of World War II. Both lost their mothers then. Is it their fault to be in a wrong place at a wrong time? Do you call it their destiny? Rosita Fanto looks for the truth of life in her «Rozalia Alone». Hiroyuki Itsuki searches for the salvation of «Tariki», or the Other-power of Jodo Buddhism.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 43-3 Valuable no-action

Today's Tao

Thus, I learn how valuable no action is. (Ch.43)


Does "no action" mean "You don't do anything"?

Not exactly.

Lao Tzu and Zen masters taught us that so-called reality is a hologram, which is the manifestation of Tao.

Then, why don't we act directly on Tao instead of its manifestation?

How can we act on it?

You do "no action".

"No action" means accepting and sending the fundamental energy Tao efficiently with no resistance.

Accept incoming energy (=Tao, =Love) with gratitude and love all the information in front of us by sending back the energy.


«Related Articles»
-The softest 43-1
-No space 43-2
-Valuable no-action 43-3
-Without words 43-4
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 43
-Tao by Matsumoto / Do nothing
-Tao by Matsumoto / Act without acting


Tao answers your question!



-Bali, the island of a magical summer for some, the island of perfect waves for others. If you are a Japanese surfer, you may either have already been there or be dreaming of going there. When I listen to the second and the third pieces of Mr John Kaizan Neptune's «Steps in Time» ("Making Waves" and "Bamboogie", respectively), they reminded me of the smell of the incense in Bali which you inhale every morning when the local people give offerings to all the big and little deities on the street.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 40-14 Square without corners

Today's Tao

Big's square has no corners. (Ch.40)


I wonder why human beings adore squares and straight lines.

We even want to go straight to the point.

We avoid a man who is not square.

We cannot really blame Swiss architect Le Corbusier and his Domino System for this human propensity.

But we have to know that a seemingly square object has no corners in reality.

A square is a holographic image projected in your mind.

Be round instead of square.


«Related Articles»
-High samurai 40-1
-Samurai in doubt 40-2
-Laughable Tao 40-3
-If not laughable 40-4
-Chien yen? 40-5
-Evident = Vague 40-6
-Advance = Retreat 40-7
-Smooth = Tangled 40-8
-Highest attainment = Valley 40-9
-Lacking 40-10
-Lazy 40-11
-Changing 40-12
-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


Tao answers your question!



-"If one works on intelligence, a corner stands out. If one sticks a pole in sentiment, he will be swept away." I translated the sentences word by word. This is Soseki Natsume's well-known expression in «Kusamakura / a grass pillow». When "a corner stands out", it is not good at all in Japan. Being square is not necessarily considered useful in the life of the floating world.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 39-11 Gods rest

Today's Tao

If gods were not spiritual, they might rest. (Ch.39)


Everything is a god.

You are a god, too.

In Shintoism in Japan, we express it as "yaoyorozu no kami gami 八百万の神々 (=eight million gods)".

All the objects, all the living beings, even words and thoughts, of course, your own self; all of them are gods.

Your so-called reality is a collection of gods. You must respect every aspect of it.

Don't waste your food because it is a god.

Chew it completely and receive its life with respect.

Don't throw away your ball point pen before you finish all the ink inside.

For the ink is also a god like you.

Everything is the manifestation of Tao.

Don't let the Tao/hologram cycle rest.


Shintoism@wiki


«Related Articles»
-Attain One 39-1
-Heaven 39-2
-Earth 39-3
-Gods 39-4
-Filled valley 39-5
-Hologram's birth 39-6
-Hologram's master 39-7
-One = Tao 39-8
-Heaven torn apart 39-9
-Earth unstable 39-10
-Gods rest 39-11
-Inexhaustible valley 39-12
-Ruined 39-13
-Lords and Kings = Masters 39-14
-Noble = Mean 39-15
-High = Low 39-16
-Lords and Kings = Less virtue 39-17
-Mean = Root 39-18
-No honor 39-19
-No jade 39-20
-Like stone 39-21
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 39


Tao answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.39 text / Next video


-Hibari Misora is a Judy Garland of Japan. She sings a song of Asakusa with La (The). Asakusa deserves the article "The". The neighborhood is very special.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 10-6 Blemish

Today's Tao

And can you leave it with no blemish? (Ch.10)


After you clean your mirror, can you leave it with no blemish?

The mirror of Dark Depth is your world, so-called Reality, which is in fact your hologram.

To clean it means to get out of it.

Sometimes Zen monks say: "Break the mirror!"

Cleaning it is one thing, but keeping it clean is another.

How can you do it?

You don't have to do anything.

Zen masters may tell you: "After you break the mirror, all you have to do is to smile".


«Related Articles»
-Body soul & Spirit soul 10-1
-Body, Spirit, Tao. 10-2
-Supple 10-3
-Like a baby 10-4
-Mirror of Dark Depth 10-5
-Blemish 10-6
-Love people 10-7
-Heaven's gate 10-8
-Four corners 10-9
-Raise it 10-10
-Don't possess it 10-11
-Let it work 10-12
-Don't control it 10-13
-Attainment of Dark Depth 10-14
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 10
-Tao by Matsumoto / Body soul & Spirit soul
-Tao by Matsumoto / Mirror of Dark Depth
-Tao by Matsumoto / Caution! You & Hologram
-Tao by Matsumoto / Heaven's gate opens & closes
-Tao by Matsumoto / Dark Depth Female
-Tao by Matsumoto / Dark Depth Attainment
-Tao by Matsumoto / No Absolute Truth - An English teacher fight like a yakuza
-Tao by Matsumoto / Dark Depth


Lao Tzu answers your question!



Previous video / Ch.10 text / Next video

Tao Te Ching Chapter 7-6 Self

Today's Tao

Because he is without self, he can accomplish his self. (Ch.7)


The best way to find out what is your true self is to be without self.

A typically Lao Tzu-like contradiction, isn't it?

First, your own self belongs to the so-called "reality", which is a hologram and catalyst.

If you acknowledge it, you can discover your true self, which is Tao.

At this point, the word "self" is synonymous to the word "all".


«Related Articles»
-Heaven and earth 7-1
-Heaven creates no earth 7-2
-Live long 7-3
-Last = First 7-4
-Out of your body 7-5
-Self 7-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 7


Lao Tzu answers your question!


Previous video / Ch.7 text / Next video

Tao Te Ching Chapter 5-5 Give more, receive more

Today's Tao

The more it moves, the more comes out. (Ch.5)


"The world is your hologram. It exists as a catalyst."

When I say this, please don't take those words as a pejorative.

The hologram is as important as what we call the reality.

It moves our emotion.

We get agitated in a sublime way.

Then, we emit the fundamental energy Tao.

Consequently, the more energy you give to your hologram, the more energy you receive through it.


«Related Articles»
-No mercy 5-1
-True wisdom 5-2
-Is a bellows a hologram? 5-3
-Never exhausted 5-4
-Give more, receive more 5-5
-More words, more exhausted 5-6
-Stay empty 5-7
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 5
-Tao by Matsumoto / Straw Dogs
-Tao by Matsumoto / What's a hologram
-Tao by Matsumoto / Hologram and Tao
-Tao by Matsumoto / Nintendo means "Do nothing" Corp.


Lao Tzu answers your question!


Previous video / Ch.5 text / Next video

Tao Te Ching Chapter 6-2 Dark Depth Female

Today's Tao

This is called Dark Depth Female. (Ch.6)


The sentence follows the one that we discussed yesterday (Valley God).

So, it means: Valley God = Dark Depth Female

Dark Depth Female is a literal English translation for 玄牝 [gen pi / hsüan pin / xuán pìn] (☞See Dark Depth and Dark Depth Female in Tao by Matsumoto for details).

This is a fascinating Taoist technique to control your reality without controlling it.

In order to change the world (=your hologram), a female-like passivity is, in fact, quite active a way.

You suppress your resistance and accelerate the transformation of the hologram.


«Related Articles»
-Valley God 6-1
-Dark Depth Female 6-2
-The root of heaven and earth 6-3
-No limit 6-4
-No drain 6-5
-Ikkyu's funny dirty love poem 6-6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 6
-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching's key Chinese Characters
-Tao by Matsumoto / Male and Female; Life's a prayer wheel
-Tao by Matsumoto / Crazy Cloud - Ikkyu's love poems
-Tao by Matsumoto / Masters hit your face Zero Point Field is mentioned there.
-Field 4-1 It is about quantum physics.


More than 800 episodes available!


Previous video / Ch.6 text / Next video