Tao by Matsumoto

Watch Today's Tao Video! Lao Tzu answers your question! [Chapter 15 / English Translation] - click the line to watch the related video.
In the old days, a man who knew well about Tao comprehended Dark Depth minutely and subtly.

We cannot tell how profound he was.

Though we can't understand him, let us force ourselves to picture what he is like.


Taking time, as if he walked across a river in winter.

Hesitant, as if he were afraid of four neighbours.

Solemn, as if he were a guest.

Disintegrating, as if he were ice about to melt.

Thick, as if he were an uncarved block.

Empty, as if he were a valley.

Mixed, as if he were muddy water.


Who can keep Tao calm and gradually make it clear while it is muddy?

Who can move it and gradually have it give birth while it is at rest?

He who keeps this Tao doesn't want to be full.

It doesn't fill up. So, you can wear it out, and it will not be created again.


Rapid Decoded
«POINT» A man who knows well about Tao breaks his hologram.

When you are one with Tao truly and genuinely, you know perfectly how Dark Depth functions. Dark Depth is synonymous with Tao.

Dark Depth is too profound to comprehend, but, if you believe its existence and function, it is not necessary to understand how it works. In other words, you know it instinctively and feel it. That's enough.

You don't really have to know it, but Lao Tzu gives you something to think about. (☞See 10 points to be One with Tao)


Take your time. "Move only when you are forced to move", says Chuang Tzu.

You had better not influence people around you. They are part of your hologram. It is useless to impose something on the illusions you create. Just accept them and love them as they are. They are the catalyst to make you do so.

Be detached as if you were a third party.

Hang loose. Fall apart. Never mind disintegrating. Don't defend or resist. Don't try to structure things. In Zen Buddhism in Japan, they say, "When you are tight, you are lost. When you are loosened up, you are a Buddha". [For in Japanese, Hotoke (=Buddha, =a person who has left this world) pans with Hodokeru (=come loose, =loosen up)]

Be thick in the sense of "thickhead". Don't be smart. Be innocent and naive. Be the initial state of being like an uncarved piece of wood.

"Be empty." means " Accept all". Don't waste your time and energy trying to empty your head. It doesn't matter if it is empty or not. Your mind and body are a hologram. So is the world in front of you. If you can accept with affection your trouble, confusion, or anything, you will emit Tao the fundamental energy. This is your goal. The rest is the catalyst to do so. Tao is empty. So are you. Tao is everything. So are you.

Tao includes everything you see. It has no clear discriminations. It is Dark Depth (=muddy water). So, don't judge.


You cannot control Tao. You had better not try to control your hologram directly, either. But you can control your hologram by doing nothing. Let Dark Depth do the work. This method is called Dark Depth Female. Tao is a chaos without form and time. It is still and vibrant at the same time.

You cannot move Tao. You can touch things in your hologram in the head. Your brains need a restructured world (=a hologram) to comprehend what you are seeing and doing. In other words, you can touch only illusions. Tao is reality. It's bigger than your hologram. So, you can't move it. Tao is active and inactive at the same time because it is beyond your observation. This kind of dichotomy is useless. Tao creates all. Tao creates you. That's why you don't have to be responsible for yourself if you can accept all.

In order to remember you are one with Tao, you had better not fill up your hologram with desire or resistance. Your desire will be materialised in it, and consequently it gets bigger and bigger as you desire more and more. The bigger your hologram is, the more energy you need to wear it out.

The hologram is there to be worn out. It will be completely worn out and disappear eventually. This is called "breaking the mirror（破鏡 [hakyo] in Japanese）", or "breaking the face and smile（破顔微笑 [haganmisho] in Japanese）" in Zen Buddhism. They are synonyms of Satori.


Videos

- 15-1 Dark Depth
- 15-2 How profound!
- 15-3 Mr I-know-Tao?
- 15-4 Take time
- 15-5 Hesitant
- 15-6 Solemn
- 15-7 Disintegrating
- 15-8 Thick
- 15-9 Empty
- 15-10 Muddy water
- 15-11 Muddy but clear
- 15-12 Restructured World
- 15-13 Break your mirror
- 15-14 Break your face

☞Banmei Takahashi's «Zen» is an easy introduction to Zen 禅 and Master Dogen's life. Hiroshi Teshigawara's «Rikyu 利休» is about a great master of tea ceremony or Sado 茶道, which means "Tao of tea".
  1. Tao

 2. Hologram

 3. The floating world Ukiyo

 4. Play

 5. Gate

 6. Dark Depth

 7. Dark Depth Female

 8. Do nothing

 9. Body soul and Spirit soul

10. You and non-you

11. Yin Yang circle

12. No judgement

13. Resistance

14. Satori

15. Act without acting

16. Colour

(Last modified: 17 November 2011)