Tao by Matsumoto
Chapter 51
Attainment
[Tao Te Ching Chapter 51] Attainment / English translation
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That's why everything never fails to respect Tao and look up to the attainment.
The respect to Tao, the honor to the attainment.
No one has given them a title or something, but it always so comes about by itself.
Give birth, but don't possess it.
Let it work, but don't rely on it.
Be the chief, but don't control it.
It is called the attainment of Dark Depth.
[Paraphrased]
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"Tao gives birth to" you. Tao is true You.
When you attain Dark Depth, or Tao, you grow up. Growing up spiritually means remembering that you are Tao.
"Things form" you. As they say in Zen Buddhism, "You are mountains, rivers, and lands". The objects in your hologram(=the things in the world) define you.
"Vessels" suggest your hologram. Your hologram "completes" you. Your own self, mind and body included, is part of your hologram. You and non-you constitute your hologram, which you project.
Everything in your hologram (=the world) is a manifestation of Tao. It has got a seed of Tao no matter how it looks on its surface. Tao's attainment, or Dark Depth Attainment, is to accept the seed, or the fundamental energy Tao, through the hologram and emit the same energy "back" to Tao. Gratitude is one way to do it. So is love.
Respect Tao. Honor your own ability to attain it, and participate in the process of recycling Tao's energy. In stead of appreciating the fact that you are alive, start living your life in order to love, that is to say, to emit the energy. Gratitude is one of the easiest ways of loving.
The society, which you think exists outside you, in fact exists inside you. You project everything in your mind, so naturally you bring about everything. In other words, everything "comes about by itself".
Tao creates your hologram (=the world). You do it because true You are Tao.
Although you create your hologram (=the world), you should not act directly on it.
Although it works as you like, you should not be attached to it.
Although you project it in your mind, you should not control it.
It is called Dark Depth Attainment.
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KEYWORDS
↑ Many readers find themselves there as a confined salamander when they open the pages of Masaji Ibuse's «Salamander». 井伏鱒二「山椒魚」
➚ In «The Five-storied Pagoda» Koda Rohan illustrates the confrontation of the egos of two creators. They are carpenters specialized in the construction of temples and shrines. It was the time when good work counted. 幸田露伴「五重塔」
-Chapter 10f Dark Depth Attainment. 玄徳（得）in Kanji / Chinese characters. "Te" of Tao Te Ching is sometimes translated as moral. It is preferred to be "attainment". Both characters 徳（得）[te] have the same pronunciation in ancient Chinese. Therefore, they were inter-replaceable at that time. 徳 - moral. 得 - attain. 玄 - Dark Depth.
-Chapter 38 The highest attainment. This famous chapter is the very first one in the second half of Tao Te Ching (道 徳 経 in Kanji / Chinese characters).
-Chapter 40 Laughable. Laughable attainment. If they don't laugh at you, you are not talking about the true Tao. If they listen to you seriously, ......
-Taoism videos / Chapter 51 1-6 Your birth
Quick guide > Tao Te Ching translation > Chapter 51 Attainment
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↑ Yukio Mishima's «Thirst for Love»tells us the story about a wealthy woman fascinated and obsessed by the beautiful body of her male servant. 三島由紀夫「愛の渇き」
➚ In Yasunari Kawabata's «House of Sleeping Beauties»old men buy the right to lay oneself beside a young girl, who is sleeping deeply without knowing her aged client's presence. 川端康成「眠れる美女」
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