Tao by Matsumoto

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29. A god's vessel

[Chapter 29 / English Translation] - click the line to watch the related video.
Precisely if you want to obtain the world under the sky and do anything to it, I know you will never attain it.

The world under the sky is a god's vessel. Don't do anything to it.

If you do something to it, you will defeat it.

If you stick to it, you will lose it.


Some things lead. Some follow.

Some blow gently. Some blow hard.

Some are strong. Some are weak.

Some grow. Some break.

Therefore, the sage stays away from (leaves) imbalance.

He stays away from (leaves) excessive luxury.

He stays away from (leaves) arrogance.


Rapid Decoded
<POINT> The world under the sky is a god's vessel, which is your hologram you create.

If you want to control your hologram (=the world under the sky), don't act on it directly because it is often counterproductive.

Your hologram is created by you. A god's vessel is your vessel because you are a god, because you are Tao. You may wonder how you can control it. By doing nothing, you can transform your hologram (=the world) through Dark Depth (=Tao). Doing nothing means accepting all. This attitude is called Dark Depth Female.

If you do something directly to a hologram, you will block the fundamental energy to it. Acting directly means refusing the world before you (=your hologram). It is exactly like resistance in electricity. As you increase resistance, less energy circulates. Then, the lamp (=your hologram) doesn't light up.

"Sticking to it" indicates obsession. It is another form of refusal. You refuse to accept change. A god's vessel (=your hologram) changes constantly. It is a living prayer wheel. Let it turn around ceaselessly. If you "stick" to something there, you block its rotation. If it doesn't turn around, it will lose its raison d'être.


Some lead change. Others follow its change. Since change (=the rotation of the living prayer wheel) is its raison d'être. Leave them alone. Let the wheel go around.

When some blow hard, others blow gently. That's how the world look for balance. If you want to hit something hard, touch it gently. That's the hardest way. That's how Dark Depth Female works.

If you want to be strong, be weak.

If you are too obsessed with making something bigger, you are going to break it. Is this contradictory? Yes, but we know very well that there are plenty of examples of this in life.

Therefore, you should always try to be natural. Be like water. This attitude will lead you to equilibrium.

Avoid any kind of excess.

Don't be arrogant. (As for the translation of "stays away from / leaves", please see Tao by Matsumoto video blog Ch.29-11 Arrogance)


Videos

- 29-1 Obtain the world
- 29-2 A god's vessel
- 29-3 Defeat it
- 29-4 If you stick to it
- 29-5 Lead
- 29-6 Blow gently
- 29-7 Judo
- 29-8 Maximum = Minimum
- 29-9 Imbalance
- 29-10 Luxury
- 29-11 Arrogance


[Related Articles]
-Be like water. "The highest good is like water. Water benefits all the material beings very well, and doesn't contend", says Lao Tzu.

-Nameless. "Tao is constantly nameless". The moment you call it Tao, you change
something there. Words are not good enough.

-30 spokes 1 hub. The Kanji / Chinese character 器 [ki / utsuwa / qì] signifies a vessel, a tool, and the capacity of a person among others. In Chapter 11 / 30 spokes 1 hub, it is translated as a cup.

-Small country. In Chapter 80 / Small Country, the character 器 is translated as a vessel, which symbolizes a hologram.





Read Yama Uba the Zen play

  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


☞"The world is a god's vessel." It is a beautiful way to say that life is a hologram. Akira Kurosawa's film «Rashomon» 黒沢明「羅生門」tells you that there is no one and only objective world. The original was written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa 芥川龍之介. It is not called «Rashomon» but «In the Grove / Yabu no Naka 藪の中». Akutagawa wrote a story called «Kappa 河童», too. A kappa is a legendary bipedal animal with as high an intelligence as human beings. It is believed to be semiaquatic and, thanks to a dish-like part on the head, able to prolong the time outside water. A kappa keeps water in the dish / vessel on the head, we believe. Did Akutagawa use it as a metaphor?


(Last modified: 16 July 2011)

☞Are the children a god's messengers? Yes, they are. So are the rest. Everyone and everything is a god's messenger. Yasunari Kawabata's «The Scarlet Gang's of Asakusa» 川端康成「浅草紅団」 is a gem in Japanese literature. It is about the street children living in Asakusa before World War 2. It is not strange that the comportment of the teenagers these days is getting more and more similar to that of the ones recorded in the novel.
☞Yasujiro Ozu's «Tokyo Story「東京物語」» is a cinematographic gem. Can you see the same Tokyo now? Probably no, probably yes. The buildings and clothes are no longer the same, but the kindness and gentleness might be in the process of resurgence as the population of the post-comsumers is growing bigger and bigger in Japan. "You return to Tao with things." (Ch.65)


  Why don't you think the other way 
  round?

-"I am not happy about how I look."

  There are a few things to think
  about.

-"Are you scared of seeing your
  reports?"

  To forget about statistics.