Tao by Matsumoto / Index - Lao Tzu's book on Taoism is decoded

Watch Today's Tao Video! Everyday a new entree!

Tao by Matsumoto / Index

If you can talk about Tao, that Tao is not Tao itself.
If you can name something, the word does not stand for what it really is.
Lao Tzu, or just an old man. (Ch.1)

Thus, Lao Tzu admits that you cannot understand what he wants to tell you by analysing word by word. So, you need some kind of decoding. For example, there is an enigmatic sentence like this.

But it seems that it had created the one who created everything. (Ch.4)

It is decoded as:

Tao has created you, and your brains create in the head the holographic image called «reality».

If you need more information on the same chapter, check the section of [Decoded] that follows it. If you want to know how you apply Lao Tzu's wisdom to your life, see [Practical Uses]. You will find interesting stories related to the subject of the chapter.

Enjoy a new Tao Te Ching interpretation from a Japanese writer's point of view.

→ Read Chapter 1 of Tao Te Ching

Today's Tao Video

Everyday a new entree! Read one Tao Te Ching line a day at Tao by Matsumoto video blog. It's concise! It's fun to watch! Japanese playwright/actor Naoto Matsumoto will clarify Lao Tzu's enigmatic teachings in a comprehensible way.

→ Go to «Tao by Matsumoto video blog»

Yama Uba the Zen play

Ikkyu Sojun's Noh play on Zen is now adapted into a modern theatre piece by Naoto Matsumoto. Read «Yama Uba the Zen play» in English.

In his «Zen and Japanese Culture», Daisetz Suzuki talks extensively about «Yama Uba» and Ikkyu's objective to explain to the laymen of his time how Zen works. Zen Master Ikkyu and his Noh actor friend Komparu Zenchiku presented this Noh play in the fifteenth century in Japan. "Zen is NOT difficult!", the two masters wanted to tell us. For exactly the same objective, in a modern theatrical style, it is available in English.

→ Go to «Yama Uba the Zen play»

Tao Te Ching 39-6 Hologram's birth / recommended

- 39-1 Attain One
- 39-2 Heaven
- 39-3 Earth
- 39-4 Gods
- 39-5 Filled valley
- 39-6 Hologram's birth
- 39-7 Hologram's master
- 39-8 One = Tao
- 39-9 Heaven torn apart
- 39-10 Earth unstable
- 39-11 Gods rest
- 39-12 Inexhaustible valley
- 39-13 Ruined
- 39-14 Lords & Kings = Masters
- 39-15 Noble = Mean
- 39-16 High = Low
- 39-17 Lords & Kings = Less virtue
- 39-18 Mean = Root
- 39-19 No honor
- 39-20 No jade
- 39-21 Like stone

→ Go to Tao Te Ching Chapter 39 / One
→ What's a hologram?

Chapters & Contents

-- Lao Tzu. Ch.48

One who knows does not say.
One who says does not know.

-- Lao Tzu. Ch.56

Buddha is a dry [excrement] stick.

-- An old saying in Zen. Ch.56

If your heart is as untouched as it was when you were born,
precisely, it is Buddha.

-- Ikkyu. Ch.3

The attainment Tao is not something special. All you have to do is to accept all.

Taoism is not a black magic. Tao by Matsumoto is a metal antidepressant with no side-effects.

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Key Words

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

Heaven's gate opens and closes.
Can you act female?
                                 -- Lao Tzu. Ch.10

Everyone knows what is beautiful, but it is just ugly.
                                  -- Lao Tzu. Ch.2

"If you can talk about Tao, that Tao is not Tao itself".

In this sense, it must be admitted, the effort to decode the old book of wisdom is truly pointless.
               (Ch.4 [Masters hit your face])

Help Wanted

-"Frustrated?"

Why don't you think the other way
round.

Reverse Thinking

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

There are a few things to think
about.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall

-"Are you scared of seeing your
reports?"

To forget about statistics.

No Numbers

-"We need to change our way to
grow foods."

If you are interested in organic
foods, read about a modern-day
Lao Tzu.

Tao Agriculture

-"People talk about Zen, but what
   the heck is it indeed?"

   Zen is nothing special. It is
    something you know about well.

Zen is Love

-"I am desperate. I need some
solutions right away."

No worries.
Here is a practical method.

10 points to be One with Tao

-"I am confused when people tell me
to face reality. What is it?"

A good question!
Zen masters have been tackling
the question for ages, but our old
man knows the answer.

No Absolute Truth

-"What does «Nintendo» mean?

It means "Do nothing" Corporation.

NEXT>>

Tao by Matsumoto

松 本 乃 道

　　松　　本　　乃　　道