Today's Tao
The sage's Tao acts and doesn't compete. (Ch.81)
Who is the sage?
Of course, you are the one.
Then, who are you?
"Eh, excuse me, sir, which are you talking about, 'true You' or 'your own self'? Self doesn't exist, right?"
That's right.
Self, life, world. They are names given to some groups of information.
They are not independent entities.
"I see. Eh, excuse me, sir. What is 'true I'?"
True You are Tao.
Tao is always "acting without competing", that is to say, projecting a hologram without directly interfering with it.
Tao, Love, Buddha, and Zen among others are names given to the fundamental energy.
"Eh, sir, it is also called nothingness 無 [mu], right?"
Exactly.
Please picture the circulation of an energy with neither time nor space.
What else can you call it but nothingness.
Time and space are parameters used to reconstruct information in "the mind".
In other words, they are names.
"If you can talk about Tao, that Tao is not Tao itself."
This very first line of Tao Te Ching is not saying that it is impossible to understand Taoism logically. No!
It is possible to comprehend Taoism logically.
It is saying that the comprehension itself is part of your hologram.
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-Tao by Matsumoto / Tao Te Ching / Chapter 81
Lao Tzu answers your question!
☞«Recommended Books 18» The most important function of a Japanese is making love. It doesn't matter if he is the poorest dropout living in the forests or the most revered priest of Shintoism living in the castle. He or she has got to make love. This could be a hidden heritage from our Polynesian ancestors or a genetic mission imprinted in the deepest recess of our chromosomes. Whatever it is the reason, the Japanese love to make love not only for the reproduction of the people but for pleasure. In spite of all the moral prohibitions by Confucianism and by jealous parents, Japanese girls have been successfully finding a way to enjoy making love. We used to have an institution called Geisha girls. Though it changes names and appearances, the institution never die out. A nice gift of a Gucci bag is an excuse good enough to make love with an aged stranger. Why? Because making love is sacred. Carnal desire is a manifestation of divinity. We, all the human beings, are divine. That's why we make love for pleasure. The gadgets for pleasure are offerings to the deity of joy. Please read «Kojiki
», one of the oldest written records in Japanese, and «Love Songs from the Man'yoshu
: Selections from a Japanese Classic», one of the oldest anthologies of Waka poems, which is a precursor of Haiku. You will see why love and desire are officially important.
» inevitably makes a Japanese think about "Ma 間", spacial or sonic emptiness. The Japanese have been considering it as the rich source of creativity. If you find the concept of Everything = Nothing a bit too hard to grasp, why don't you look to this theatrical genius for advice? You don't have to go straight to the gate of Tao or Zen. Anne Bogart will show you some backstage door to get in there. Read her «
», and you will see why theatre is a good friend of Zen Buddhism.
» is strongly recommended. No Japanese has ever written a better novel. Many aspiring writers, medieval or modern, tried hard to create a better one, but in vain. 
has some selections from «The Tale of Genji». It is about a man who adored his mother, seduced his mother-in-law who looked exactly like his mother, and found a little girl who looked like his mother, raised and made her an ideal woman, and married her. The novel was written about 1000 A.D.. The e-book on the right is a full-length version translated by 
.
» 黒澤明「七人の侍」. But if you are a connoisseur of films or interested in Japanese traditional arts, you must not miss Kenji Mizoguchi's «
» 溝口健二「雨月物語」. The letter "u 雨", which is also pronounced as "amé" means rain. The letter "getsu 月", also "tsuki", means the moon. The book on the left «
» is the original of «Ugetsu». The book was written by Ueda Akinari 上田秋成 in the Samurai period. The title in Japanese is «Ugetsu Monogatari 雨月物語». In terms of the art of short-story-writing in Japanese, Akinari's tales are close to perfection. In one of the tales, «Aozukin 青頭巾 / A Blue Hood», a Buddhist monk falls in love with a young boy. Because of love, he eats his body.
were good friends. They were friends from high school. They met each other at Ishikawa-ken Senmon Gakko. The school later changed its name to Dai 4 Koto Gakko, which literally means "the forth high school". It was one of the most prestige high schools in Japan before WW2. The school was closed in 1950. Its tradition was spiritually inherited by Kanazawa University. Nishida was part of the founding members of Koa Kogyo University, now called Chiba Institute of Technology. «
» on the left is the same book as «A Study of Good». The book shines as the beacon of modern Japanese philosophy. Kitaro Nishida was an excellent thinker and black sheep where many people say "A good one doesn't 'think'. One who 'thinks' is not good".
» and «
» are tragically funny. Both are considered masterpieces in Japan. Smile guaranteed.
» is unarguably the best novel written by Yasunari Kawabata. Probably, the most popular Japanese novel in the last one hundred years. "Be like Komako" is the novelist's answer to Lao Tzu's "Be like water". When you face a difficult situation and don't know what to do, check «Snow Country» and make decisions as if you were Komako the Geisha. Water is a little too abstract. Komako is a woman and artist of life. If you are interested in Kawabata's literature but do not have enough time to read all his works, «
» are strongly recommended. They are shorter than most ordinary short stories. There are plenty of them in the book. Therefore, it is ideal to read the book in the bed before you fall asleep.
», which is the first book of the tetralogy «The Sea of Fertility». Then, at the very end of «
», which is the fourth of the tetralogy and the last of all the works of Yukio Mishima, he had an old Buddhist nun answer the question with another question: "Does life really exist?" If life doesn't exist, what is reincarnation? The answer is simple: the constant emission of a hologram is reincarnation. "Don't worry, my old friend Jim. There is no end", the Zen master would say to the rock poet.
鈴木大拙, the author of many important books on Zen in English, was Nishida's close friend. They met each other at a high school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. High school education is no longer available exclusively for the elite these days while its level is not so academically "high" as the name declares.
and Henri Borel. / "The Spirit of the Depths is immortal; it is called the Azure Heaven and the Mother Earth." by Frederic Balfour. On the right, «TAO TE CHING TAOISM ULTIMATE COLLECTION - 5 Expert Translations PLUS EXPLANATIONS for BEGINNERS and EVERYONE - For YOU to get EASY UNDERSTANDING of the Tao (also named Dao De Jing, Teh King, New Way)». The book on Kindle includes the translation by 
.
. With an introduction by Robert Wilkinson. / "The Tao is called the Great Mother empty yet inexhaustible," On the right, «Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)» translated by 
.
. / "The valley spirit never dies Call it the mystery the woman." On the right, «Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way» translated by 
.
» translated by Joji Atone. On the right, «
(Spiritual Masters: East and West)» edited by Joseph A. Fitzgerald with a foreword by Clark Strand and an introduction by Alfred Bloom. / -Shinran 親鸞 (1173 - 1263), a Japanese Buddhist monk, is the founder of Jodo Shinshu 浄土真宗 "True Pure Land School" and was a pupil of Honen. «
» was edited by Alfred Bloom. With a foreword by Ruben Havito.
.
. / If you find Tao Te Ching too abstract, the translation of this Zen master might be helpful. 
(1573 - 1645) lived in the period of the samurai, which is much closer to our days compared to the time of Lao Tzu. Takuan is the author of 
.