Daodejing - Other Voices
Verse 40 - LaughableThis post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
When a high man hears about Tao, he tries hard to do it.
When a middle man hears about Tao, he is half in doubt.
When a low man hears about Tao, he laughs out loud.
If he doesn't laugh, it is not worth being Tao.
Therefore, the Chien yen has it.
Evident Tao seems vague.
Advancing Tao seems retreating.
Smooth Tao seems tangled.
The highest attainment seems like a valley.
The vastest attainment seems lacking in something.
The firmest attainment seems lazy.
The plainest attainment seems changing.
Big's white seems black.
Big's square has no corners.
Big's vessel will never be completed.
Big's note has almost no voice.
Big's image has no form.
Tao is hidden and has no name.
It is only Tao who lends anything generously and accomplishes anything very well.
Rapid Decoded
If you are a true seeker of Tao, kind of a samurai of life, you simply try hard to attain it.
If you are an ordinary person, you are half in doubt of Tao.
If you are a base person, you just make fun of Tao.
When you talk to someone about Tao and if he doesn't laugh, what you are telling him might not be true Tao.
Therefore, the old sayings Chien yen say as follows.
In Taoism, something evident seems vague.
In Taoism, something advancing seems retreating.
In Taoism, something smooth seems tangled.
"A valley" means void. If you are void, you have attained Tao. But don't be misled by the word. "Void" is plentiful. To become void (="mu" in Japanese), you have to remember that true You are Tao and accelerate the cycle of reception and emission of its energy.
When you have attained Tao, which means that you have remembered that you are Tao, you feel as if you were lacking in something. You don't have to feel plenty.
If you want to attain Tao firmly, be lazy. Don't be industrious. Don't work hard. Abandon the virtuous idea of diligence. It is counterproductive.
If you think you have attained Tao, it is not there already. Tao needs constant change. Tao itself is change.
"Big" is a nickname of Tao. (See Chapter 25) Tao's white is black. Do not judge.
Tao's square has no corners. Tao is not tangible. The square in front of you is a hologram projected in your mind.
Tao's vessel will never be completed. Completion is the beginning of collapse. Tao doesn't have time. Therefore, it is forever.
Tao's note is the sound without sound. Sound is part of your hologram.
Tao's image has no form. Tao is invisible. All you can see is your hologram. However, everything is a manifestation of Tao, a loving catalyst asking you to love it. Accept its love, or its energy. Be grateful to all. Gratefulness is a way to love them, a form of emitting back the energy. Create the cycle of the energy (=Love, =Tao).
Tao is invisible, but always with you because true You are Tao. It is useless to define what Tao is. It doesn't need a name. Even the name of "Tao" is inappropriate.
Tao the fundamental energy is generous. It gives energy to all without judgement or segregation. With this energy Tao, you create everything. Abandon the idea of an objective world outside you because you project all in your mind.
~ from Tao by Matsumoto, author Naoto Matsumoto, original post date: not listed ~
Alt interp!
ReplyDeleteWhen a self-important person hears about Tao, they strive to force what is already inexistence.
When a person with some confidence hears about Tao, they don't know what they should or should not do with it.
When someone who doesn't take themselves seriously hears about Tao, all they can do is laugh, because it seems so obvious in retrospect.
Chien Yen laughs uproariously, and gets it.
When it's clearest, it's hardest to describe. (For words are not reality!)
When it's most active, it seems to slip away. (For it makes all things into what they already were!)
When it's easiest, it's most complex. (For in nature all things are interconnected!)
The best a single person can do is lost in the background of the universe's majesty. Repeat four times for clarity. Once you have reached sage-hood, the highest attainments of self only open the gate to wonders so much greater that the self's excellence seems--mercifully!--puny.
White is all colors combined in light; black is all colors combined in substance.
A square is not a square when it is a mathematical function; multiply all things by the power of themselves.
Vessels which expand to the shape of their contents may contain infinity--if they are willing.
The difference between silence and any music at all is the only difference that counts.
Why try to picture it? Do it!
We name what we have to power to define; we find what we have the power to reveal. When we bow to that through which we are named, when we stand aside to let everything around us be revealed--we live the Tao.