Number 41
January 4, 2018
We see ourselves through our intentions and judge others by their actions.
Why do we do this? Is it human nature or a learned response? Through what eyes do we see the actions of others. We presume to think their intentions are the same, or should be as ours. If we try to guide our actions through and by our inner virtue… then why doesn’t everyone else do the same. And can this thing called virtue be universally applied, as if one size fits all. When we can see disarray all around us. As many see the answer to what they perceive as life’s challenges as something outside themselves. When I look back on my own life and ask “if I only knew then what the consequences of my actions might have caused, I might or would have done things differently”. Don’t we all.
Through thousands of years of observing people’s actions and how they create the world around them, the Chinese and in particular what was the guiding factor for the shaman and what was to become Taoism… is the concept of cause and effect. The I Ching saying that what goes in in the beginning tells us what must come out. While events along the way show us the ultimate meaning of one’s fortunes that are yet to come. Knowing this Confucius taught if we are led by our inner virtue and benevolence, then chances are we’re going to be okay.
Why do some people seem to stumble through life and others appear to go as if scott free not experiencing the consequences of their actions? Or even benefiting or failing through no fault of their own. If the riches of a lifetime are but a flash of lightning in eternity, then why do we spend all our time chasing them? Perhaps it is all tied to our soul’s growth and understanding the purpose of why we are here.
Maybe we each keep coming back to lose the attachments and frailties we cling to that over time we accumulate (kind of like karma), that keep us from becoming who we really are. It’s the letting go that is difficult. Or perhaps we come back knowing the above, for the purpose of helping others overcome their strengths and weaknesses as well. We often hear the phrase to “let go and let God” but is that not just us being guided by our own innate highest virtue that we ourselves project on others. Or as the Dali Lama tells us… we are to simply be guided by our prayers, not only for our own well-being, but for that of others as well. The ultimate test of becoming universal. Keeping to this as our mantra that defines us, our intentions and “who are we to judge others” becomes apparent. We are then guided by the virtue we already possess, as our own intentions, vis-a-vis our actions become clear.
As I continue to go through my own version of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching that I wrote in May/June 2000 and my book, Thoughts on becoming a Sage, The Guidebook for leading a virtuous Life, I am asked to tell… just who was this Lao Tzu and why is he so important? Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching was the culmination of thousands of years of philosophical thought of what was to become Taoism thanks in part to copies found in tombs of those who were buried with copies of it in China. His Tao Te Ching written in 600 BC is considered to be the second most read and studied text in the world, after the Bible.
For well over a thousand years, understanding the Tao Te Ching was a prerequisite for passing the Imperial Examination in China. Almost all city governments in China today have a Department of Religious Affairs that monitor the activities of Confucian, Taoist, Buddhists, Moslem, and Christian religious activities in their community. Lao Tzu (Taoism), along with Confucius and Buddhism, have for centuries served as the moderators between religion and popular culture in China. The Vice Director of the Religious Affairs office in Qufu was a joint venture partner with me with a shopping center where I had an office in Qufu for many years. It was connections through him that allowed my foundation to publish the Daily Word in Shandong Province.
This respect for other philosophies and religions is best depicted by a painting in 1000 BC of Lao Tzu, Confucius, and the Buddha tasting from a vat of vinegar that represented all three religions in China.
Today what is called the “Family Church”, serves the Christian faith in almost every community as well. Every which way is respected… with the Tao Te Ching remaining and being the core to understanding China. It was (is) no accident that city buses have logos on their side that say “Qufu – The religious center of China for a thousand years”. Truth be told it would say three times that number.
There are eighty-one verses in the Tao Te Ching, verses 19, 20 and 21 of my books follows here. Ultimately, it is what the sage has learned and then in turn taught us along the way that guides us. The commentaries below are meant to be read as a discussion between Lao Tzu and those interested who have thought deeply about the text itself. The quotes below and references to their authors are from Red Pine’s, Lao Tzu’s Taoteching.
Thoughts on becoming a Sage
Verse 19 – Truly Reflecting the Tao
As I look around to see reflections of the Tao, I am drawn to rediscover what is simple and pure and discard what is considered alien to my original nature.
That if wisdom and reason are only used for self-interest then they should be abandoned. Instead collective wisdom and reason should be used to take all to previously unknown heights.
That if kindness and justice are only shells to pursue selfish motives, then putting an end to arrogant kindness and treacherous justice will enable people to unite on their own.
That if our behavior with others is governed by cleverness and profits our innermost nature would be fulfilled more assuredly if we remain focused on that which remains undyed and uncarved as if driftwood washed up from the sea. Understanding the Tao leads us to understand what is real and unreal, what is artificial and inappropriate and remaining wholly within ourselves. ##
Wang Chen says,
“Put an end to wisdom that leaves tracks and reason that deceives, and people will benefit greatly. Put an end to arrogant kindness and treacherous justice, and relatives will unite on their own and will once more love and obey. Put an end to excessive cleverness and personal profit, and armies will no longer appear. And when armies no longer appear, thieves will not exist”.
Wang Pi says, “Wisdom and reason are the pinnacles of reason. Kindness and justice are the pinnacles of behavior. Cleverness and profit are the pinnacles of practice.
To tell us simply to get rid of them would be inappropriate. Without giving us something else, it wouldn’t make sense. Hense we are given the undyed and the uncarved to focus our attention on”.
Chiao Hung says,
“The ways of the world become daily more artificial. Hence, we have names like wisdom and reason, kindness and justice, cleverness and profit. Those who understand the Tao see how artificial they are and how inappropriate they are to rule the world. They aren’t as good as getting people to focus their attention on the undyed and uncarved. By wearing the undyed and holding the uncarved, our self-interest and desires wane. The undyed and uncarved refer to our original nature.”
Verse 20 – On Becoming a Sage
When yes and no becomes the same answer, perhaps you are ready to discontinue this seemingly natural inclination to retreat into a shell like a turtle…
With virtue intact and your destiny assured perhaps it’s time to live out your true destiny as the sage you have become. Living up to the virtue you know. If inequities are but reflections of your desires – cleanse away those things no longer relevant and spring forth with dynamic hope and optimism. Assured that your next step is pre-ordained by dragons who have been waiting patiently for you to join them.
Fulfill your destiny and live the life of virtue that is so obvious to all you encounter. What others love the sage loves, what others fear the sage fears, but while others may not see anything beyond or outside their own minds – the mind of the sage wanders the Tao.
If you want to inspire others you must remain above what living brings each day. While they choose things, you alone must remain unmoved. Acknowledging all as the same, that there is nothing to be lost or gained. Coming forth you simply live within the Tao and accept becoming the sage. ##
Li Hsi – Chai says,
“What others love, the sage also loves. What others fear, the sage also fears. But where the sage differs is where others don’t see anything outside their own minds. The mind of the sage, meanwhile, wanders the Tao.”
Wang P’ang says, “Everything changes into its opposite. Beginning follows end without cease. But people think everything is either lovely or ugly. How absurd. Only the sage knows that the ten thousand ages are the same, nothing is gained or lost.”
Ts’ao Tao-Ch’ung says,
“People all seek external things, while the sage alone nourishes himself on internal breath. Breath is the mother, and spirit is the child. The harmony of mother and child is the key to nourishing life”.
Verse 21 – Forever Replenishing our Virtue
What is this thing called virtue and value placed on emptiness and how can they be so inter-related?
That virtue cannot be found unless we are willing to remain empty, that the Tao remains hidden from view except as virtue found through emptiness. Following the Tao, we are continually subject to change and are redefined as our virtue waxes and wanes.
As if guided by the phases of the moon I find structure through tending my garden just as Shen-ming, the divine husbandman, who discovered agriculture along with the healing properties of plants and a calendar to be followed by the sages of long ago. Could it be that virtue is the manifestation of the Tao, or Way, that should guide us? That the Way is what virtue contains and without it could have no meaning or power. That without virtue, the Way would have no appearance or ability to come forward.
Taking no form, the Tao takes expression only when it changes into virtue. It is when the sage truly mirrors the Tao that virtue can be given an opportunity to manifest and grow and the natural course, or scheme of things, becomes apparent for all to see.
The Tao by itself neither existing nor not existing. As if coming and going as the essence of one’s heart and soul – simply by maintaining its presence as… virtue. Everything in the universe held accountable to the Tao. Continually changing – with our identity the first to go. What was once true becomes false and what was once false slips into becoming true. It is only our essence expressed as virtue that is kept and continually replenished by the Tao. ##
Wang Pi says, “Only when we take emptiness as our virtue can our actions accord with the Tao. Sung Ch’ang-Hsing says, “Sages have it. So does everyone else. But because others are selfish and constrained, their virtue is empty.”
Yen Ling-Feng says, “Virtue is the manifestation of the Way. The Way is what virtue contains. Without the Way, virtue would have no power. Without Virtue, the Way would have no appearance.”
Chang Tao-Ling says, “Essence is like water: the body is an embankment, and virtue is its source. If the heart is not virtuous, or here is no embankment, water disappears.The immortals of the past treasured their essence and lived, while people today lose their essence and die.”
Number 42
January 15, 2018
Bringing Others along for the Ride
Why do I do this? I just became friends with a very nice lady from Bucharest, Romania who saw my page. She loved the many pictures and what she read here. It is as Lieh Tzu and Bob Dillon say… The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. She said it made her smile and gave her the feeling of seeing beyond her difficulties with a young daughter and two elderly parents who both have been diagnosed with cancer. We talked for a long time and it gave me joy. After liking all my pictures on FB, she said she thought I had found my mission. Well, if that means leaving a little of myself along the Way, then I guess I have. As I wonder and ask…. how do we try to live up to the expectations we have for ourselves. Isn’t this where we sometimes get lost in our own inertia.
As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend and look back on his legacy, we give thought to his mission and divine presence, and how far we have come since his own immortal words… and ask ourselves if we too are bringing others along for the ride and living our own version of the dream.
First in his “I have a Dream” speech, and later in April, 1968 saying “Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live – a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord“. Then he was gone and Bobby too shortly after.
As we recall this, we are reminded of the music we heard back then. It helps us to remember those times of hardship as we continue to travel to find our own mountain to climb. Collectively in the world, as a country, and as individuals, as we too look to the Promised Land, the Way of Virtue, that already exists in each of us we have overlooked thinking it is something outside ourselves. When what needs to be overcome lies within us.
Rather simply a challenge we can’t see through, or lack of courage to open the door to the great I AM that we can then walk through. We often ask ourselves why life has to be so difficult and how we, as the Beatles sang, get by with a little help from our friends. Just as there are no accidents, music at times serves to show us the way. Like the Beatles song that they rode into our lives with all those years ago simply saying., “I want to hold your hand”, then saying “She’s got a Ticket to Ride”. Well, we wanted a ticket too. John Lennon’s “Imagine” and “A Day in the Life”. Paul’s “Yesterday” with the lyrics, all my troubles seemed so far away, and “Let it Be”, George’s “Here comes the Sun”, and Ringo’s “Yellow Submarine”. Bob Dillon’s genius… “Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, “Don’t Think Twice, it’s Alright”, and personal favorites, “Like a Rolling Stone” and “The Times they are A-Changin”. What makes the Beatles and Bob Dillon’s music timeless, even immortal, is that they spoke directly to our own hopes, dreams, and fears through their own and quite ably brought us along for the ride too. All great music, art and literature does this.
Why do we study literature and history, other than to see past visages of ourselves as we express our virtue through love and our relationships with others? The essence of what the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. was telling us as we remember him now.
Even in China, Confucius was famous for updating the five Classics of Chinese history, one was the Book of Odes, which included the music and poetry handed down for generations that proceeded him. It is as if in remembering who we were back when, that art, music and literature helps to remind us that we too are universal and helps to define and monitor who we are yet to become.
We spend time in the great museums and art galleries of the world to obtain a greater appreciation of what… how they viewed the world in time and to see and imagine what others might have left behind. Monet impressionist paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC are among my favorites where I have visited many times. To see and know where they were going and in turn, connect again with our own past.
Through a bit of serendipity, I stayed at a bed and breakfast in London for a book fair a few years ago. It was a block from the British Museum. Spending time there with history as a historian, reminded me of the places where I have been and being there changed my itinerary… as if I was reminded of times well-spent . As I too am re-living history through my own life and writing.
Our appreciation for the above comes with an acknowledgement that they serve to assist us in becoming whole, seeking transcendence, and that it encompasses us when we seek and find our own highest endeavor. It is why we celebrate the lives of those like MLK and others. What is it that great opera, Mozart and Beethoven, and for me – Marvin Gaye, the Beatles, Lao and Chuang Tzu, Confucius, and what so many others do? They take us to heights and places to where we would not otherwise go or might have forgotten. To only God knows where. Perhaps to a preview of our own mountaintop and the other side.
Maybe they are here to remind our soul how to sing again and know that what we struggle with today, is not meant to be the final stanza of the song we are here to write and play for ourselves and others. To find our stride, our gait, and yes even our own kung fu, once we have found our way as we too prepare to go. Their role simply to get our attention. Ah… the first job of any great teacher.
As I continue to go through my own version of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching that I wrote in May/June 2000 and my book, Thoughts on becoming a Sage, The Guidebook for leading a virtuous Life, I am asked to tell… just who was this Lao Tzu and why is he so important? I know I spoke of this last time, but some may have missed so it bears repeating. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching was the culmination of thousands of years of philosophical thought of what was to become Taoism thanks in part to copies found in tombs of those who were buried with copies of it in China. There are eighty-one verses in the Tao Te Ching. Verses 22, the addendum to 22, and Verse 23, appear below. Verses 1 through 21 were seen here on my most recent posts. The balance can be found under the Taoism and Lao Tzu tab here on my website. Verses yet to appear here in my blog have not had additional commentary added yet.
Ultimately, it is what the sage has learned and then in turn taught along the way that guides us. The commentaries below are meant to be read as a discussion between Lao Tzu and those interested who have thought deeply about the text itself. The quotes below and references to their authors are from Red Pine’s, Lao Tzu’s Taoteching.
Thoughts on becoming a Sage
Verse 22 – On Becoming Whole
When all has passed through you – everything becoming the same with no opposites pulling at your attention, then you are free to follow the way of virtue.
When you can think and act as if innately following the Tao, you can become whole.
Knowing virtue and honesty are one, you make a list of those things not in keeping with the path you have chosen to follow and begin removing them, as they have become stumbling blocks to completing your endeavors as the sage. Once encountered and accounted for, they disappear and cannot be traced back to their maker.
Continually redefining the role of the traditional sage. Mirroring the Tao, you become adept at sharing your vision instead of simply trusting the word of others. Instead of relying on the strength of others, you take all to otherwise unattainable heights through reluctantly displaying your own strength.
Your enthusiasm and vision carrying the day. Living in paradox, as in reality you prefer to remain hidden from view. You stand apart, not competing hens no one finding a foothold to compete with you. Remaining steadfast you become whole. ##
Chuang Tzu says, “Lao Tzu says everyone else seeks happiness. He alone saw that partial becomes whole.” (33-5).
Wu Ch’eng says, “By exploring one side to its limits, we eventually find all sides. By grasping one thing, we eventually encompass the whole. The caterpillar bends in order to straighten itself. A hollow in the ground fills with water. The renewal of spring depends on the withering of fall. By having less, it’s easy to have more. By having more, it’s easy to become confused.
Lu Hui-Ch’ing says, “Only those who find the one can act like this. Thus ‘less means content’. The reason most people cannot act like this is because they have not found the one. Thus ‘more means confused’.
Verse 22 Addendum – Becoming a beacon of light for All to see
Could it be that your ultimate role is to report back to the dragons the role of the sage in the here and now?
To take the thoughts of Lao, Lieh and Chuang and all the others to places they have not been before and to perhaps try them on for size in a different environment.
That it is not you becoming whole, as much as transitioning this ancient way into current thought and action. As your task remains internally to mirror the Tao, perhaps your role in the here and now is to rediscover for the ages how externally one can remain pure and whole in such a material world. Keeping to eternity’s promise, but making limited appearances just the same.
Challenging the order of the day, you have become the ultimate agent of change and virtue.
Coming forth to claim your place in the universe, you accept the mantle placed upon you with an ever present humble demeanor. As you prepare to move on to accept your greater destiny. ##
Li His-Chai says,
“The reason the sage is able to be chief of all creatures is because he is able to hold onto the one. Holding onto the one, he never leaves the Tao. Hence, he doesn’t watch himself but relies instead on the vision of others. He doesn’t talk about his own strengths but relies instead on the strength of others. He stands apart and doesn’t compete. Hence no one can compete with him”.
Hsuan-Tsung says,
“Not watching himself he becomes whole. Not displaying himself, he becomes straight. Not flattering himself, he becomes full. Not parading himself he becomes new”.
Tzu-Ssu says,
“Only those who are perfectly honest can fulfill their nature and help others fulfill their nature. Next are those who are partial”. (Chung yung: 22—23)
Verse 23 – Defining True Objectivity
Finding yourself in the scheme of things so that there is nothing coming from you except the natural extension of the Tao.
Remaining quiet and speaking in whispered tones so that someone must strain to comprehend what is being said thereby confirming they are paying attention and listening. Letting the natural order of events simply occur with events just waiting in the wings to change what has become comfortable.
Remaining natural, or neutral in effect, your endeavors simply an extension of the Tao. The Way means knowing both success and failure and using them to become one. Becoming one by leaving yourself behind to rediscover your true nature ultimately simply a seamless extension of the natural order or scheme of things, as you remain one with the universe with your objectivity leading the way.
If you have looked beyond what success and failure may bring, you can begin to know the proper way! ##
Wu Ch’eng says,
“Whispered means not heard. ‘Whispered words’ means no words. Those who reach the Tao forget about words and follow whatever is natural.”
Su Ch’e says,
“The sage’s words are faint and his deeds are plain. But they are always natural. Hence he can last and not be exhausted.” Ch’eng Hsuan-Ying says, “If the greatest forces wrought by Heaven and Earth cannot last, how can the works of man.”
Te-Ch’ing says,
“This verse explains how the sage forgets about words, embodies the Tao, and changes with the seasons. Elsewhere, Lao Tzu says. ‘talking only wastes it / better to keep it inside’ (5). Those who love to argue get farther from the Way. They aren’t natural. Only those whose words are whispered are natural. Lao Tzu uses wind and rain storms as metaphors for the outbursts of those who love to argue. They can’t maintain such a disturbance and dissipation of breath very long. Because they don’t really believe in the Tao. They haven’t learned the secret of how to be one.”
Chiao Hung says,
“Those who pursue the Way are natural. Natural means free from success and hence free from failure. Such people don’t succeed and don’t fail but simply go along with the successes and failures of the age. Or if they do succeed or fail, their minds are not affected.”
Kongdan says. “To proceed as if unaffected by what happens around us. For myself this is the ultimate challenge, the paradox living brings to our doorstep every day. How could one write and internalize the above and proceed as if you were not confident of the Way.”
Number 43
January 22, 2018
Finding our eternal balance and rhythm
What was it that Mahatmas Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life we just celebrated, taught us to honor and accept, but our own sacred mission and immortality?
That showing the way was a personal endeavor that ties each of us to our eventual destiny once we accept the mantle of who and why we are here. Teaching…. what if every person began their life knowing that they too were immortal? That we in reality come in with certain traits – strengths and weaknesses – this time to correct or build on. That we are not here to be ordinary. That we can make our lives beautiful if we choose to do so. To live from the point of our highest expression or consciousness, through our own divine energy just as they did.
What I like to call reverberations or pulses connecting us to the universe, in effect or reality as living vibrations of the sun, moon, and stars. What can innate wisdom be, but that imparted as universal love that never dies, or as John Lennon said… that in practice all you need is love.
Resonances like tones in music, or electromagnetic waves that we eternally connect to when we are born and are pulled to follow every day as with by the seasons. That sadly we often come and go without acknowledging, finding, or attempting to even catch our own eternal rhythm. Or perhaps it is the opposite that is true… our eternal rhythm and history that is chasing after us. (Picture to the left of Madame Sun Yet Sin (Soong Ching-Ling) meeting Gandhi in Nanjing in 1942). An example being the Soong sisters leaving an indelible mark on the 20th century when our memories serve us correctly.
That what’s here to guide us over time is our own need for balance and following our personal intrinsic tendencies.
The key for me, being philosophical Taoism, that re-confirms our responsibility to and connection with all found in nature. That deep within, we too possess this idea that immortality is unending life. That our own divinity can direct us to this place. Certainly, there are those in ancient China who sought to achieve it.
Elixirs and potions concocted by them led many to early death, and even by coincidence the invention of gun power. Most misguided, and best known was the excess of First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, who had the terra cotta warriors built to serve and protect him in eternity.
His tomb in Xian of over two thousand years cannot be approached even today because of severe amounts of mercury encasing it. Today we often put a person’s name on material things thinking this may illustrate and feed their importance, their immortality. Their true legacy however, if self-centered, fading like Qin’s over the test of time. A note of interest… almost all the terra cotta warriors, horses, chariots, etc., were found broken into thousands of pieces. It is theorized that a wooden roof was put over the top of everything. It was later set, or caught on fire. It fell onto the terra cotta below and broke it, or so the story goes…
Instead, could it be something we already possess within ourselves worth saving instead of simply pinning attributes onto someone else. To the left is the Dunhuang Map of what is known as the North Polar region from the Tang Dynasty. This map is thought to date from the reign of Emperor Zhongzong (705–710 AD) from Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Constellations of the three schools were distinguished with different colors: white, black and yellow for stars of Wu Xian, Gan De and Shi Shen respectively. The whole set of star maps contained 1,300 stars. It was brought to the British Museum in London in 1907 and is the oldest sky chart ever recorded.
The north star and Big Dipper, depicted here, are central in the sky and following them has been universal in man’s quest to find meaning to it all… and his own origins. It was the balance seen in the sky’s panorama that has entertained us for millennia as stars coming around in the sky would always return to their place of origin once every year. The beginnings of the idea “what goes around – comes around”. That we could point to the stars and see home. Adjusting our own way of travel, just as a horse find’s his gait, and return again once more.
The point being we could always look to the stars to show us the way beyond the horizon that lead us to our highest aspirations of ourselves. To learn to see farther than who we think we are. Why mountain vistas have been seen as closer to Heaven.
As we rise and see ourselves above the clouds. As if in doing so we too could see and gain a sense of immortality. If what we look up in the sky and see every night is eternal and is always there, along with the sun and moon, then why aren’t we? But we are soon lost in attachments here of our own making, as we are often happy to stay within the confines of where we are just now. What if, as Carl Sagan said, we are all star stuff. Matter coming and going with a soul. Taking on different characteristics each time to fix the things that need correcting. Or maybe some are more advanced and come back by choice to move humanity in the proper way, or direction.
What if some souls, i.e. people coming into this life, were filled with misconceptions, or misdirected anger, not caused due to someone else’s shortcomings, but for their own inability to live up to intentions and expectations they have created for themselves.
Perhaps with issues, or things that need to be reconciled. Lacking the desire or sense of ability to see through universal falsehoods, hardships and negative attachments that keep them from their higher selves. Seemingly unable to open the door when it appears. Prisons are filled the world over with those unwilling to release what… either anger or fear, or both. Usually directed at someone or something outside themselves. The worst prisons, of course, already existing inside oneself.
This idea of letting go, i.e., finding and staying within our own eternal rhythm, and truth be told often overlooked innate wisdom, is trusting that we have what it takes to know ourselves thoroughly and completely enough to do nothing.
Something called living with wu wei that Chinese for thousands of years have known we can discuss another time. As if we are once again given an opportunity to return to our original self. To a nothingness where over-inflated egos go to die. Where what defines us as what is known, what can truly never be known, and to live in the balance we find in-between. It is this that is central to the theme I am following here with Lao Tzu.
It becomes the central core of what was to become the teachings of the shaman and of Taoism, and for many the practical application Confucius built on.
The Tao Te Ching becoming like a road map to better behavior. Wang Pi’s version became an integral part of the Imperial Examinations during and after the Han Dynasty. That Taoism and Buddhism, along with the virtue and benevolence taught by Confucianism became central elements of Chinese popular culture going now for thousands of years was no accident and continues to this day.
As I continue to go through my own version of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching that I wrote in May/June 2000 and my book, Thoughts on becoming a Sage, The Guidebook for leading a virtuous Life, I am asked to tell… just who was this Lao Tzu and why is he so important? I know I spoke of this last time, but some may have missed so it bears repeating. Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching was the culmination of thousands of years of philosophical thought of what was to become Taoism thanks in part to copies found in tombs of those who were buried with copies of it in China.
There are eighty-one verses in the Tao Te Ching. Verses 24 and 25 appear below and complete the first chapter. Verses 1 through 23 were seen here on my most recent posts. The balance will be seen here over the coming months. A partial preview can be seen on the Lao Tzu and Taoism tab here on this website.
Ultimately, it is what the sage has learned and then in turn taught along the way that guides us. The commentaries below are meant to be read as a discussion between Lao Tzu and those interested who have thought deeply about the text itself. The quotes below and references to their authors are from Red Pine’s, Lao Tzu’s Taoteching.
Thoughts on becoming a Sage
Verse 24 – Staying within my own Gait
Learning to shun those things not in keeping with the proper way. Oh, the challenges and paradox life come forth to greet me each day. As if life’s indulgences and excesses are extremely happy to continually get in my way and obscure my true path and identity.
Staying within the confines of who I am yet to become. Not standing on tiptoes to see over others or walking faster than my own natural gait. To act as if life’s reflections are translucent and bringing attention to your actions is alien from what motivates you.
Just as I have learned that it is said that he who watches himself does not appear, he who displays himself does not flourish, he who flatters himself achieves nothing and he who parades himself does not lead.
As you recall that the mind of the sage remains free of desire and selfless, you are reminded that those who cultivate the Tao yet think about themselves are like people who overeat or over work.
Food is to satisfy hunger; work should suit the task. Ultimately the way of heaven does not depend on offerings or prayers.
It is simply who follows the Tao will live long. Remember it is as Lao Tzu says and that those who lose their way do not. ##
Te Ch’ing says,
“People raise themselves up on their tiptoes to see over the heads of others, but they cannot stand like this very long. People take longer strides to stay in front of others, but they cannot walk lie this very far. Neither of these are natural.”
Sung Ch’ang-Hsing says,
“Selfless and free of desire is the mind of the sage. Conniving and clever is the mind of the common man. Watching himself, displaying himself, parading himself, he thus hastens his end, like he who eats too much.”
Li His-Chai says,
“Those who cultivate the Tao yet still think about themselves are like people who overeat or overwork. Food should satisfy the hunger. Work should suit the task. Those who keep to the Way only do what is natural.”
Chang Tao-ling says,
“Who follows the Way lives long. Who loses the Way dies early. This is the unbiased law of Heaven. It doesn’t depend on offerings and prayers.”
Verse 25 – Coming Home with the Tao
Returning to where you began you find nothing yet remain complete and indivisible. You are simply one with the Tao.
No true beginning or end, pure and impure seem unimportant, past and future become one, good and bad the same. One with the Tao, you are unsure you exist yet are comforted by the knowledge you will live forever.
As the sage you have learned to stand-alone unwavering, travel everywhere without leaving home as you have seen and done it all before. You have become as if you were everyone and everything’s mother. As you return to the root of where it all began, you have come home to the Tao. ##
Wu Ch’eng says,
“Nebulous means complete and indivisible.” Su Ch’e says, “The Tao is not pure or muddy, high or low, past or future, good or bad.
Its body is a nebulous whole. In man it becomes his nature. It doesn’t know it exists, and yet it endures forever. Heaven and Earth are created within it.”
Sung Ch’ang-Hsing says,
“The Tao does not have a name of its own. We force names on it. But we cannot find anything real in them. We would do better returning to the root from which we all began.”
Ho-Shang Kung says,
“The Tao is great because there is nothing it does not encompass. Heaven is great because there is nothing it does not cover. Earth is great because there is nothing it does not support. The king is great because there is nothing he does not control. Man should imitate Earth and be peaceful and pliant, plant it and harvest its grains, dig it and find its springs, work without exhaustion and succeed without fuss.
As for Earth imitating Heaven, Heaven is still and immutable. It gives without seeking a reward. It nourishes all creatures and takes nothing for itself. As for Heaven imitating the Tao. The Tao is silent and does not speak. It directs breath and essence unseen, and thus all things come to be. As for the Tao imitating itself, the nature of the Tao is to be itself. It does not imitate anything else.”