The Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching in a nutshell.
We’ll be looking into quotes from a rather new translation of Jonathan Star. The reason for choosing the Verses as I did is a question: What is Tao?

Verse 1
A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name

Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things

A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere forms of this world

Tao and this world seem different
but in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them

Verse 4
Tao is empty
yet it fills every vessel with endless supply
Tao is hidden
yet it shines in every corner of the universe

[…]

So deep, so pure, so still
It has been this way forever
You may ask, “Whose child is it?”
but I cannot say
This child was here before the Great Ancestor

Verse 6
[…]

Whatever we see or don’t see
Whatever exists or doesn’t exist
Is nothing but the creation of this Supreme Power

Tao is limitless, unborn, eternal -
It can only be reached through the Hidden Creator
She is the very face of the Absolute
The gate to the source of all things eternal

Verse 10
Hold fast to the Power of the One
It will unify the body
and merge it with the spirit
It will cleanse the vision
and reveal the world as flawless
It will focus the life-force
and make one supple as a newborn

[…]

Verse 13
[…]

Man’s true self is eternal,
yet he thinks, “I am this body, I will soon die”
This false sense of self
is the cause of all his sorrow
When a person does not identify himself with the body
tell me, what troubles could touch him?

One who sees himself as everything
is fit to be guardian of the world
One who loves himself as everyone
is fit to be teacher of the world

Verse 14
Eyes look but cannot see it
Ears listen but cannot hear it
Hands grasp but cannot touch it
Beyond the senses lies the great Unity –
invisible, inaudible, intangible

What rises up appears bright
What settles down appears dark
Yet there is neither darkness nor light
just an unbroken dance of shadows
From nothingness to fullness
and back again to nothingness
This formless form
This imageless image
cannot be grasped by mind or might
Try to face it
In what place will you stand?
Try to follow it
To what place will you go?

Know That which is beyond all beginnings
and you will know everything here and now
Know everything in this moment
and you will know the Eternal Tao

Verse 16
Become totally empty
Quiet the restlessness of the mind
Only then will you witness everything
unfolding from emptiness

[…]

Be still
Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity
Eternity embraces the all-possible
The all-possible leads to a vision of oneness
A vision of oneness brings about universal love
Universal love supports the great truth of Nature
The great truth of Nature is Tao

Verse 18
When the greatness of Tao is present
action arises from one’s own heart
When the greatness of Tao is absent
action comes from the rules
of “kindness” and “justice”
If you need rules to be kind and just,
if you act virtuous,
this is a sure sign that virtue is absent
Thus we see the great hypocrisy

[…]

Verse 20
[…]

I am but a guest in this world
While others rush about to get things done
I accept what is offered
Oh, my mind is like that of a fool
aloof to the clamor of life around me
Everyone seems so bright and alive
with the sharp distinctions of day
I appear dark and dull
with the blending of differences by night

I am drifting like an ocean, floating like the high winds
Everyone is so rooted in this world
yet I have no place to rest my head
[…]

Verse 21
[…]

“But is it real?” you ask
I say its evidence is all of creation!

From the first moment to the present
The Name has been sounding
It is the gate
through which the universe enters
The witness
by which the universe sees

How have I come to know all this?
That very Name has told me,
That Name which is sounding right here,
right now

Verse 25
Something formless, complete in itself
There before Heaven and Earth
Tranquil, vast, standing alone, unchanging
It provides for all things yet cannot be exhausted
It is the mother of the universe
I do not know its name
so I call it “Tao”
Forced to name it further
I call it
“The greatness of all things”
“The end of all endings”
I call it
“That which is beyond the beyond”
“That to which all things return”

[…]

Verse 26
[…]

The Sage travels all day
yet never leaves his inner treasure
Though the views are captivating and beg attention
he remains calm and uninvolved
Tell me, does the lord of a great empire
go out begging for rice?

One who seeks his treasure in the outer world .
is cut off from his own roots
Without roots, he becomes restless
Being restless, his mind is weak .
And with a mind such as this
he loses all command below Heaven

Verse 32
Tao is eternal, one without a second
[…]
If princes and kings could just hold it
All things would flock to their kingdom
[…]
Everyone would live in harmony,
not by official decree,
but by their own inner goodness

[…]
One who sees the things of this world
as being real and self-existent
has lost sight of the truth
[…]

One who knows the truth
that underlies all things
lives in this world without danger
To him, every word reflects the universe
every moment brings enlightenment

[…]

Verse 35
[…]

One may look for fulfillment in this world
but his longings will never be exhausted
The only thing he ever finds
is that he himself is exhausted

Verse 38
[…]

When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue
When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
And when the high-blown rules of conduct are not followed
people are seized by the arm and it is forced on them
The rules of conduct
are just an outer show of devotion and loyalty –
quite confusing to the heart
And when men rely on these rules for guidance –
Oh, what ignorance abounds!

Verse 41
When the best seeker hears of Tao
he strives with great effort to know it
When an average seeker hears of Tao
he thinks of it now and again
When the poorest seeker hears of Tao
he laughs out loud

Tao is always becoming
what we have need for it to become
If it could not do this
it would not be Tao

[…]

Verse 48
To become learned, gain daily
To obtain Tao, reduce daily
Reduce and reduce again
until all action is reduced to non-action
Then no one is left
Nothing is done
yet nothing is left undone

[…]

Verse 52
[…]

The sun in all its glory
reveals but a passing world
Only the inner light illumines eternity
Only that light can guide us back home

Have faith
Follow your own shining
Be aware of your own awareness
On the darkest nights you will not stumble
On the brightest days you will not blink
This is called
“The Practice of Eternal Light”

Verse 53
If I had the least bit of wisdom
I could follow the path of Tao quite well
My only fear would be trying to go my own way
The Great Path is simple and direct
yet people love to take the side-routes

[…]

Verse 62
Tao is the treasure-house
the true nature
the secret source of everything
It is the great wealth of those who are awake
the great protector of those still sleeping

If a person seems wicked
do not cast him away
Awaken him with your words
Elevate him with your deeds
Requite his injury with your kindness
Do not cast him away
cast away his wickedness

[…]

Verse 68
The best warrior
leads without haste
fights without anger
overcomes without confrontation
He puts himself below
and brings out the highest in his men

This is the virtue of not confronting
of working with the abilities you have
of complying with the laws of Heaven

This is the ancient path that leads to perfection

Verse 69
[…]

There is no greater misfortune than feeling
“I have an enemy”
For when “1” and “enemy” exist together
there is no room left for my treasure

Thus, when two opponents meet I
the one without an enemy
will surely triumph

Verse 72
When the people do not fear worldly power
a greater power will arrive

Don’t limit the view of yourself
Don’t despise the conditions of your birth
Don’t resist the natural course of your life
In this way you will never weary of this world

The Sage knows himself, but not as himself
he loves himself, but not as himself
he honors himself, but not as himself
Thus, he discards the view of his own self
and chooses the view of the universe

Verse 75
[…]

Why do the people regard death so lightly?
Because they are so involved with their own living
That’s why they regard death so lightly

In the end,
The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on
and gained by those who let go

The End of Your World

This is a video blog about The End of Your World.

But, to clarify, we are not talking about the end of OUR world here. In fact, we’re kind of talking about the well-being of it!
It’s about the end of your world - your attachment to your thoughts and desires - which have this incredible power over you and send your feelings through an emotional rollercoaster ride!

Let’s listen to our inner thoughts - isn’t it asking: Where’s the happiness? I mean REAL happiness? Mh, but when I think about it, what is it that will give it to me? After all, what do I want to achieve?
I want to be … a better me!
Huh! But I am already me… Somehow I’m caught… in a maze of my own mind! How real can it be?
We can be sure of one thing. MY maze definitely doesn’t exist for YOU. But – your maze might feel quite real for yourself!



Don’t we want to open the eyes and leave into an unrestricted freedom? Of course we do!
And to do so, we first have to loose control. Then, start to dismantle your belief-systems.

Here are some very basic and common beliefs:
What the society dictates is good and I need to go along to be happy.
( You don’t.)
I need to know what’s going on in the world because it makes me a better person.
(It doesn’t.)
People are naturally evil and need rules to act good.
(They don’t if we dismantle our belief-systems )

Naturally, if you become aware of these beliefs and reflect on them, you will feel their falseness rather quickly. Maybe you are able to stop believing in them.

But then, there are deeper beliefs, for example religious beliefs, like:
God only loves me if I strain myself, or
My religion is true because the scriptures say so.
God doesn’t exist OR let’s call it: It’s logical that God doesn’t exist because religion is illogical (which quite is the Atheistic belief-system).

It is much more complicated to become aware of beliefs like this, or even to dispel them.
Especcially since they aren’t even close to the roots because even deeper lie the Core Paradigms of Mankind. They are our maze!

So let’s start to open our eyes by looking at the following statements. And what you need to do is inquire on them and find your own truth in them.

# Science will never be able to give answers to why we exist, it looks in the wrong direction - because
# Reality is NOT what we see – or can touch – because
Matter is not as real as we were taught. - and
# Time is essentially different from what we make of it. – so as an example
# Existence wasn’t created with the Big Bang. Existence is timeless – forever
# Past and Future are constructs we make up in our minds. There is only Now.
# You are not your mind!
# You are not your body.
# Consciousness is what makes you experience the world.
# Consciousness is not a result of biological processes in the brain.
# When you look at the world, what you see is yourself.
# You are not a separate being.
# You don’t need to DO anything to achieve happiness. It’s already there.
# You are ready to find out.

The more the world of your ego fades, the more you become selfless. And good things grow out of selflessness.

We all can reach such a way of being in the world,
- A world in which we see through the maze of our minds and our suffering
- A world in which look into the hearts of people and not to their outer appearance.
- A world in which we can suddenly understand each other even in conflicts,
- A world which is just the blink of an eye away.