Tao by Matsumoto

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[Chapter 2 / English Translation] - click the line to watch the related video.
Everyone in the world knows what is beautiful, but it is just ugly.

Everyone in the world knows what is good, but it is just no good.

Truly, Everything and Nothing give birth to each other.

Difficulty and easiness need each other.

Longness and shortness need each other.

Highness and lowness need each other.

Intended voices and accidental noises harmonise with each other.

Before and after follow each other.

Therefore, the sage treats things without interference and teaches without words.

Though everything moves, he does not explain it.

Though something is born, he does not possess it.

Though something is done, he does not rely on it.

Though his great tasks are accomplished, he does not stay there.

It is exactly because he does not stay there that he does not go away.


Rapid Decoded
Don't judge. Everything is beautiful. Everything is ugly.

Everything is good. Everything is bad. Don't judge yourself.

Tao creates your hologram. Your hologram stimulates Tao.

The difficult is easy. The easy is difficult.

The long is short. The short is long.

The high is low. The low is high.

The controllable and the uncontrollable harmonises with each other.

You project the others in your hologram and they define you.

Therefore, the sage treats things without interference and teaches without words.

He does not dare to be dependent on analyses.

He does not dare to be dependent on his possessions.

He does not dare to be dependent on his accomplishments. (☞See Ch.77. There is an identical sentence: "[Therefore,] although something is done, [the sage] doesn't rely on it." ☞Watch the video Attachment 77-10)

Though he is successful in his hologram, he knows that it is just a hologram. (☞See Ch.77. There is an identical sentence: "Although his great tasks are ‹successfully› accomplished, he doesn't stay there." ☞Watch the video After life / Task successfully accomplished 77-11)

Since he knows it, he is always one with Tao.


Videos

- 2-1 No judgement
- 2-2 Everything and nothing
- 2-3 No easiness
- 2-4 No shortness
- 2-5 No lowness
- 2-6 Intended or accidental
- 2-7 Before and after
- 2-8 No interference
- 2-9 No explanation
- 2-10 No possession
- 2-11 Don't rely
- 2-12 Don't stay
- 2-13 Don't go away


Contents
-2a Yin Yang circle
        Black and white. Right and wrong. Rich and poor. If you think Yin and Yang is one of these pairs of antonyms, you are mistaken.

        Yin and Yang are not opposing to each other. We would rather think they are the same. It is one object seen from two different points of view.

        But, wait. When you think of this, black and white, right and wrong, rich and poor, all of them seem to be less distinguishable.

-2b Satori
        Tsunami, geisha, sumo, and Nintendo.

        If we try to name the five most commonly used Japanese word in the world, could Satori make a part of it?

        Maybe not. People who don't know Satori at all know very well the word Karaoke. Satori may be well beaten by Shogun and Ninja.Who cares. Nobody knows Satori, any way.

        But, if you have a secret desire to be a connoisseur of life, it is not a bad idea to learn what it really is. And tell your friends "I know Satori".

-Mirror, mirror on the wall [Practical Uses]
        You don't have to be a king in your native village. Be a princess in Tokyo (or Timbuktu).

        Judgement on beauty varies from a culture to another. If you are not cute in one place, go somewhere else. You could be considered gorgeous. Why not?

        Excuse me. Lao Tzu might say you should abandon judgement itself.

        That's a better idea. You don't even have to buy a flight ticket to Tokyo (or Timbuktu).


[Related Articles]
-The last sentence of this chapter is clearly saying about how to be one with Tao.

-Love your Trouble.

-Thief's luxury. A thief's luxury is not Tao. Don't judge any even if you face excessive wealth.

-Government. When the government is dark and obscure, the people are naive. When the government is brilliant, the people are imperfect. Fortune leans on misfortune. Misfortune hides in fortune.

-Treasure. Tao is a treasure of good / not so good people.

-Heaven's net. "Heaven's net is vast. Its mesh is not fine, but it doesn't lose any", says Lao Tzu.

-Grudge. When you pacify your big grudge, you still have something remaining at the very bottom of your heart. It is no good. What do you do to accept all?

-The highest attainment. "The highest attainment is not attaining". "The lowest attainment is trying not to lose attainment".

-No attachment. "Gain or loss, which is more harmful?" "Know contentment, and you will never be humiliated".

-Love all. Love the world and accept all. That's why we are here.

-Result. It's just a result. Don't show off. Don't boast. Don't be arrogant. Say you couldn't help it. Don't force any.

-Taoism out of use. "After great Tao has fallen out of use, we have "morality of love" and its rules", says Lao Tzu.

-Straw Dogs. "They treat everything as straw dogs." This sentence inspired film director Sam Peckinpah to make a movie with Dustin Hoffman.





Read Yama Uba the Zen play

☞Heaven and Earth treat everything as straw dogs, says Lao Tzu. "Mr. Dustin Hoffman, do you really agree with him?" Probably the American actor may not, but Yukio Mishima's hero in «The Temple of Golden Pavilion» might. The young monk with speech impediment might have thought everyone treated him as a straw dog. Now, it was his turn to look at the Golden Pavilion as a work of origami, and set fire. The novel is based on a true story.

 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: 28 August 2011)