The picture above is of me at what is referred to as “Heaven’s Gate” on Huashan Mountain in Anhui Province in China. I have gone through and returned many times. There always seems like there is more to do and I’m not ready to simply stay and visit with old friends just yet.
I want to switch up the order of my usual entries and include the Tao Te Ching because it gives more context to the commentary that follows. When I write about ancient Chinese philosophy and teachings, it’s more than just words on a page—the ideas feel like they’re flowing through me. Lao Tzu’s influence and power as the originator of ideas that shaped China and the world cannot be overstated.
I approached this book as though I were merely the editor, compiling these eighty-one chapters—what I like to call verses—over a six-week span in May and June of 2000. The commentary comes next.
Before we go on with Verse number 10 of 81, it’s worth noting that the title of the book we’re adding commentary to—Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching—is my own version, titled “Thoughts on Becoming a Sage: The Guidebook to Leading a Virtuous Life”. As referred to above, it’s important to note that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching in the sixth century BC.
Verse 10 – Exposing Ever-present but Forgotten Traits of Virtue
Remember what you have always known. That it is our virtue that lights the universe.
That it is your memory of who you once were and are yet to become that resides in your mind and intellect. As you open your mind to see and know what comes forth, you are simply reminded of what you have forgotten.
That your energies are here to be replenished as you are transformed into the sage whose mind remains still. As you become still once again, you reflect and mirror heaven and earth and the ten thousand things.
You scoff as you know the best way to govern is without governing and using the efforts of others. If you don’t obstruct what the Tao begets at their source and suppress their true nature, things mature by themselves.
Virtue remaining ever-present, its owner unknown until you appear along the way.
第１０节 展示大德
牢记你已知的东西，这是我们普照宇宙的大德，这是留在你脑海有关你的过去和未来的记忆。当
你打开思维，看看什么将要来临时，你就会回想起你所忘却的东西。
当你变成头脑冷静的圣人时，到这里来补充能量。当你变得平静如水时，你就成为了天地万物的化身。
面对世俗，你冷然嘲笑。你知道无为而治和善于用人是最好的治国之道。如果你不妨碍道的传播，不抑止他们的天性，万物自己会成熟起来。
大德永存。直到你出现之前，不会有人知道谁是有大德的人。
Remember what you have always known. That it is our virtue that lights the universe. When we become serious about the role we are here to play, after we have sorted through all the clutter and what we think define us but doesn’t, what do we do then?
When I think of self-expression I like to think of Lao Tzu and our role as spirit and not letting it wander too far off course. Keeping to our breath as we wipe away the dust that might block our vision. What comes to mind is our eternal light and Heaven’s Gate.
What Chuang Tzu reminds us of is that “The sage’s mind is so still, it can mirror Heaven and Earth and reflect the ten thousand things”. Lao Tzu responds by asking can we serve others and govern without effort lighting up the world without knowledge of how beyond virtue. That Heaven’s Gate is the way in which all creatures enter and leave. Our transformation occurs when we become active and bright as reflected by our eternal spirit. As Wang Pi reminds us that “Life requires three things: our vital essence, breath, and spirit”.
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