Wisdom and Tao
To say nothing, of course !
But if nobody speaks about...
Last update : 5 / 1 / 2021
Wisdom and Self-realization are not and cannot be spectacular. That's for us, Westerners, a very serious problem, which unbalances not only our culture and civilization, but also the individual with a mental or spiritual life.
Tao and Non-Duality are identical, only the approach is different. And there is nothing special about. To realize that reality is obviously as it is cannot be spectacular, but, at most, more authentic than what we think of it.
The incredible plenitude of each moment, are we really aware of the experience we live day after day, minute after minute, second after second ? Or are we blind people obsessed by our mental life, which makes us so self-centered that we know nothing else ?
We can only be wise by searching relentless for wisdom, it's even more volatile than nitrous oxide. And when that crazy quest becomes natural, we can start to relax and be at peace. The plenitude and sacred of wisdom are not anymore concepts, words, nothing more than noises in the mind. Wisdom becomes a fact, a very true enlightenment.
1 / 3 / 2019
Simplicity that might upset
"And you, who are you ?"
"Me, I'm everything you want, everything you can think of. Don't you know me in your own mind ?"
6 /1 / 2019
What is it ?
If wisdom is not a thought, what is it ?
Let us say that wisdom could be the consequence of a certain way of thinking, a consequence that could somehow result from a thinking process, but which cannot be itself a specific thought. So what is it ?
If there is such a thing as wisdom, how could we integrate it in our ordinary life ? That's obviously the purpose of any sort of wisdom. To be wise or kind of sage is maybe only an expression, but we can nevertheless see in everyday life people who are able to be wise in their behaviors, and others who cannot without even talking to them. Consequently, wisdom is not limited to a certain way of thinking. So what is it ?
We may also wonder in the very same way about spiritual awakening, enlightenment and liberation, about anything concerning real spiritual life, quest and realization. Wisdom must be something, and yet we don't know what it is. But we can experience it every time we search for it. Everybody knows that !
7 / 1 / 2019
Starting block
The very best in wisdom thinking is that no one would ever think "I'm done".
8 / 1 / 2019
Please, bring some order to all that chaos
“The world is not to be put in order. The world is order. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order.”
Nope, those are not the words of a Taoist monk lost somewhere in beautiful mountains or of a Rishi contemplating clouds in the Himalaya, but from Henry Miller in complete disarray living with his wife in Brooklyn. Which goes to show that anyone can find wisdom where there is none !
9 / 2 / 2019
Keeping quiet
"The sage avoids excess, extreme and pride." Lao Tzu (29)
Now what about so-called spiritual awakenings supposed to free instantly from mental suffering, non-ordinary and psychedelic experiences quite spectacular and sometimes traumatizing if not every time, spiritual teachers or guides claiming to be awakened and somehow liberated or enlightened, but who spend their life worrying about "money and marketing", then "sex, notoriety and power", "crazy wisdom" leading to perversity and immorality, teachings full of paradoxes, which are nothing else than contradictions and nonsense, when they are not completely absurd, or to put it in a nutshell, the whole Neo spirituality Satsang and PayPal gurus ? A little bit excessive, extreme and arrogant maybe ! A spiritual experience solving instantly every personal problem, is that a joke ? Does it pay the bills too ?
I Ching, absolute wisdom
When we love wisdom, it would be difficult to ignore the I Ching, it is without a doubt the most subtle and ingenious book of wisdom ever created, which still exists in our world and already for quite a very long time. Nobody knows its origin, not as a book, but as a system to approach wisdom and reasonable thinking. The Tao Te Ching is also a book of remarkable wisdom unfortunately much more difficult to grasp especially if we don't know Chinese culture and language. But this book called "Classic of changes" made of 64 hexagrams is also an enigma because on top of the wisdom it contains, it's also an oracle, a book of divination supposed to answer general or very precise questions concerning the situations where we are located personally at the very moment we ask questions. And anyone who consults this oracle with 3 coins or 50 stalks of yarrow plants is usually shocked by the relevance and intelligence of its answers.
It's a magical book without any comparison with other means of divination such as the Tarot, for instance, which uses a symbolism that can always be interpreted more or less as we like and especially according to the information we already have on the person who raises questions. But that's not the case with the I Ching since the symbolism of the hexagrams is too abstract to be really understood. We can therefore wonder how this book works and especially what "blind chance" or coincidence mean, and which, of course, reveal its magical aspect. There is nothing more mysterious or frankly speaking foolish than flipping a coin to make a choice before taking a decision, and yet it's on this principle that the I Ching works and draws its wisdom since it also uses a binary language such as heads or tails to draw hexagrams composed of 6 strokes Yin or Yang in order to answer questions according to an incomprehensible and hazardous power, kind of free will destiny if you will, of which the consequences may be favorable or unfortunate. In the domain of science and reason, it's obviously a completely irrational and crazy way of knowing anything, especially about life and its future.
Not to explain such a mystery, which is formally impossible, but just to imagine, that is to say, to figure out and see with our own two eyes how this oracle works, since it is often said that one only believes what can be seen, we can, for those interested in such a topic, carefully study the chart made to find the hexagrams of the book of transformations (page 406 in the translation of Richard Wilhelm, still the best known today, and reproduced below), take a sheet of graph paper, which will be easier for people who don't know how to use software drawing geometric figures, then draw a square made of 64 points with 8 points on each side, and simply connect by a straight line all the Yang and Yin numbers, starting, with points 1 and 2, then 3 and 4, and so on until 63 and 64. The diagram obtained is very interesting because, unless to be blind, it obviously represents an archetypal form of a human being, and moreover a little being with a Chinese hat, in other words, kind of microcosm made of energy channels well known in Chinese medicine and especially acupuncture.
Once this small human being or microcosm obtained by drawing it in geometrical form thus constituted of 32 straight lines connecting the 64 points of the square, we can wonder where is the macrocosm, the universe in which should be located this archetypal human being and where he or she obviously lives by thinking and acting according to a cosmic order and natural laws. The concepts of microcosm and macrocosm, which are inseparable, determine obviously a very specific order, the cosmic order or natural laws rightly explained in the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, and which, by consulting it, should help us live better by making wise decisions in order to harmonize and readjust our thoughts, choices and actions to this universal order of all things in life.
We have to keep in mind that when we speak of cosmos, micro or macro cosmos, it doesn't matter, it's obviously about a vast organization, a universal system organized according to a specific order, very precise rules and laws. It's the very anti-thesis of chaos. And if we watch how our body, emotions, thinking process, life in general and the whole universe around work, it's certainly not a chaos since it will not allow life to manifest. We simply discover organized systems working within other systems, ad infinitum.
So to figure out in what kind of binary universe and order this archetypal human also constituted of binary principles such as Yin and Yang really lives, we only need to study the diagram found on the first page of the I Ching (from the same translation and reproduced below), which also represents a square, classic symbol of the human being or microcosm, but now in a circle, classic symbol of the cosmos or macrocosm, the whole diagram made up of 64×3 hexagrams, and then repeat the same operation by connecting the pairs of Yin and Yang, Yang and Yin, etc. by a straight line. There are an infinite number of combinations possible. It is very easy to achieve because each hexagram is numbered in the I Ching, it only takes to convert the hexagrams by their numbers and draw a straight line.
Have fun and watch carefully the evolution of your layout, it's very instructive to understand what is completely incomprehensible, and that will remain so anyway. On the other hand, it will show you how the mind and the cosmic intelligence work, and you will see with your own eyes something truly magical. And if you still don't understand how the I Ching works, just ask it your questions since that's its function. No doubt that it will be happy to answer you, and it will still be up to you to understand the answers.
The I Ching is, if one wants to hear it that way, a representation of the universal intelligence, the one that organizes the universe, our thoughts and our whole life. If such a cosmogonic model in geometric forms is not magical, what could it be ? Well understood, the ultimate power of spiritual awakening, enlightenment and liberation from all bondage, misery, slavery, suffering and dissatisfaction, in other words, treading the Tao, is nothing more than the expression of a life in perfect harmony with the cosmic order and universal intelligence, that is to say the expression of "extreme simplicity", which can become, of course, extremely complex, but on which we can nevertheless meditate. And there is obviously nothing simpler than the binary language, Yin or Yang, positive or negative, 0 and 1 in order to describe that extreme simplicity and its unthinkable complexity.
This is also the one used by all the computers in the world, and when we see what they are capable of doing, the intelligence and complexity they can develop, there is really something ecstatic about it compared to what a human brain can perform. The only difference between a computer working with an artificial intelligence and the cosmic order organized according to universal principles and natural laws is that the former is able to create a virtual reality that can be somehow "unplugged" at any moment – that's at least what scientists expect in the future if something goes wrong – and the second creates a potential world equally powerful, but realized and constantly updating itself in space and time, in other words, a real world beyond our personal power to create and do anything about it. And if we humbly realize that this natural world is and will always be beyond our desires, dreams and imagination, the only thing we can truly "do" with our own intelligence is to adapt and readjust continuously to this cosmic order and universal intelligence, the Tao as Lao Tzu explains, and which is also, of course, the whole purpose of the I Ching and its wisdom. This readjustment or search for harmony and simplicity allow the full potential of human creativity to express itself, but not for any reasons, not anymore for trivial, personal, lousy and selfish reasons, as they take into account the movement and change of the whole universe, including everything that happens in our everyday life.
Does this mean that human beings are potentially able to know and do everything ? Yes, without a doubt, but only if they remain in harmony with the cosmic order and universal intelligence, which will prevent them to be mistaken, that is to say, to know and do things they should not touch. In fact, the true human freedom, creativity and supreme intelligence can only be expressed by realizing and actualizing those that allow them to exist forever.
10 / 1 / 2019
Tao or total absence of fantasy
"The Tao that can be 'taorized' is not the Tao."
Do we understand that what we really search for in spirituality cannot be thought, conceptualized and intellectualized in any ways, but only experienced and finally realized, that is to say continually updated in everyday life, i.e. integrated as we say today ? If we really do, therefore it's enough to stop thinking in order to finally be free from a crazy spiritual quest, which always tends to reduce spirituality to ideas, philosophical thoughts and more or less metaphysical talks that most of the time do not make sense at all.
In the traditional Chinese mind, which is very rational and practical, if not materialistic and expressing a remarkable kindness since kindness and respect for others not only equals good manners, but also happiness, spiritual seeking cannot be more complicated than that. And it would be difficult to say that Chinese people understood nothing about spirituality since it's perfectly obvious. As a matter of fact, what would be the point to think about what cannot be thought anyway ?
Westerners will cry out then : "Easy to say, but how to stop thinking ? That's the very reason of thinking so much about it." The Chinese people with a Traditional mind, perhaps a little bit flabbergasted by such a remark, will answer them that the function of all the Taoist arts is precisely to stop thinking, and moreover to produce something absolutely extraordinary since it is an art and not the expression of our ordinary life. For instance, it's enough to see old people practicing Taiji in a park to immediately see that such a motion in space are not at all ordinary, and that if they had to think to perform all those asymmetrical and slow movements becoming artistic, it would simply be impossible. And yet they perform that extraordinary art in an ordinary park and during their very ordinary daily life.
It would be very difficult for Westerners obviously proud of their culture to say that art is pointless. But what's the point of it, we don't really know. That art could be the means to realize that life is in truth spiritual, or that art is in fact sacred, is nothing more than Chinese language for us, it just means nothing. In our Western society, art is obviously a jewel or flagship of culture and civilization, and for some a very good financial investment, we just have to admire the masterpieces of Andy Warhol with his Brillo boxes containing laundry detergent or his Campbell's soup cans, Jean Michel Basquiat with his graffiti and various objects coming directly from rubbish bins or Damien Hirst with his lovely little Mickey mouses and skulls to realize it. Art is cultural, it surely belongs to a culture and civilization, but as far as spirituality or the sacred are concerned, it's pretty much a mystery even when we admire Russian icons from the Middle Age.
Whatever we may think about art, it's completely useless, nobody needs any sort of art to be human and live a very ordinary daily life, except for the one who practices or perform it, and for the others who appreciate and enjoy it, maybe thinking that they can do the same, probably better or differently. But the point is that it is still very important to do it instead of thinking about it.
That said about something that may or may not be spiritual and sacred, a spirituality teaching that there is nothing to do or practice, but it's simply necessary to think and speak of it, guess what ? That's completely useless and pointless, and it's not even an art. It's nothing more than blah blah blah.
12 / 1 / 2019
More meaningful than
Wisdom doesn't care if we are rich or poor, kind of VIP or pretty hopeless, awesome or just ordinary, it's always the same for everybody. On the other hand, we can really wonder about a spirituality that doesn't hesitate to discriminate between those who would be apparently awakened or awakening from those who would not be or just don't care, those who would have lost their ego and those who would still have it as if it was kind of infected tick attached behind the ear or in the brain, those who "think" to be liberated from those who still live with or in their mind like anybody else. Wisdom laughs at that kind of concepts because it cannot fail to recognize that we are all human beings and not alone in the world whatever we might think about ourselves. In other words, "we are all One, Oneness, universal consciousness, cosmic intelligence, pure energy" or other very funny things of the kind is not its cup of tea.
Wisdom simply means seeking to be wise in the domain of our thoughts, emotions, feelings, behaviors and actions, while recognizing, of course, that we cannot discover it before going to the trouble of searching what it could be, which obviously implies at least an act of will, free will and the expression of a sane desire. Seeking wisdom is above all to humbly recognize our own ignorance instead of pretending to have realized the truth, any truth or anything related to it. In fact, it's a meeting with the unknown and wondering what would be possible to do in order to get out of it very quickly since the unknown and therefore insecurity are always uneasy and pretty dangerous for the mind.
We only search for wisdom because we don't know what it is, and moreover knowing that we will never find it once and for all. The one that could be true now will perhaps be inadequate later on. Wisdom is always renewing itself, that's why there is no point trying to define it – as Lao Tzu says : "The Tao that can be spoken of is not the Tao." And it's also somewhat a lot more entertaining and inspiring than any so-called Self-realization or more specifically in truth Ego-realization – a very common psychosis today after a non-ordinary experience at the very least ultra self-centered as anyone can easily discover in the speech of those who has lived it – kind of enlightenment that would be able to free from the intricacies, subtleties and infinite richness of the various adjustments in daily living.
If we start a spiritual quest or simply live with the arrogant, narcissistic and psychotic state of mind "I am, I know, I understood, I realized, I am awakened, liberated…, and so I can teach and in all humility give lessons to anyone in the world", we can be sure that consciousness, being as such, life, body, mind, ego, depression, old age, sickness, death, the whole universe and especially wisdom will smile and rub their hands : "So now, just show us what you can do... and be, you who have understood everything and know absolutely nothing !"
Ignorance can also evolve in a very inspiring sense of awe and wonder : "I know nothing, so what ? It's not going to be the end of the world."
"The sage knows without making things more complicated than they are, understands without intellectualizing, realizes without any sort of doing." Lao Tzu (47)
"The sage has no personal interest, those of the others are his own." Lao Tzu (49)
"If I had the least of common sense, I would tread on the Tao only fearing to stray from it." Lao Tzu (53)
1 / 3 / 2020
When "more" becomes "less"
"Elevation and power cast down.
Humility and gentleness overcome." Lao Tzu (76)
"The sage realizes without pride.
He accomplishes without worrying about.
He has no merit because such considerations are the least of his concerns." Lao Tzu (77)
The sentiment, impression or feeling of elevation, spiritual awakening, ascension above the others, enlightenment or any other sort of distinction is for sure the ultimate sign of complete ignorance and non realization of anything that could truly be spiritual. It's nothing more than a ludicrous ego-trip, a very ordinary manifestation of self-importance. Ultimately, wisdom is silence, everything as such is absolutely perfect, and there is nothing to speak about.
Does the mind can understand such a point of self-effacement ? Maybe not because it's not really its function. But for the intellect, it won't be very difficult. And as far as consciousness is concerned, it's already a plain fact.
2 / 1 / 2020
Even simpler than complicated
The pursuit of personal fulfillment or accomplishment such as spiritual awakening, enlightenment, liberation, Self-realization or the absolute end of suffering cannot be anything else than an ego-trip. And the ego surely doesn't need it being already more than fulfilled and accomplished in its own mind by all sorts of mental, emotional, physical states and experiences that could be perceived as pleasing or really unpleasant, positive or negative as we would say nowadays.
Therefore, there must be in spirituality something other than "Me, I, mine..., I wish, I desire, I want, I would like, I should, I could, I would do anything to be or get..., etc. ". But what could be that thing beyond expectation and so simple that the word simplicity itself would make it even more complicated. The word "wisdom" would be a good answer and do justice to this so-called natural simplicity, so simple that we could call it "just nature", i.e. to simply be what we really and already are.
The concept of just, right or good nature is surely not very trendy in our Neo spirituality, but we should not forget that the so-called "spiritual awakening", enlightenment or Self-realization that everybody is searching for today as if it was kind of magic wound able to solve all our personal problems is closely related to the concept of "natural state", Sahaja Samadhi in Sanskrit. This means that we cannot separate as we are doing now "natural state", that is to say the Self and the realization of it, from "just, right and good nature" that we should embody if we really wish for a spiritual awakening or being awakened, nor we should differentiate "consciousness", the faculty of knowing and being fully aware of, from "conscience", the simple faculty that everybody has in order to know the difference between right and wrong at least for oneself.
And this also means that not only many Neo gurus have a serious problem in our spirituality when we know the number of all sorts of scandals that surround them, but their followers too who are not always better than their guru since they endorse at the very least this type of so-called spirituality. When we will realize that there is no spirituality and wisdom without a very basic and natural morality and ethics, nothing more than a simple discernment between right and wrong based on common sense, that is to say being simply honest and aware of what we really are, think and do, we will at last be able to speak of spiritual renaissance in the West, not before !
It would be great to realize once and for all that the word "Morality" is not the privilege of Judeo-Christian traditions, it's nothing more than a term found in every modern dictionary that even people without religion or spirituality understand very well. It only determines a correct way of being, thinking and living. So does the word "correct" have also lost its meaning ? As far as we are personally concerned, we can absolutely be sure that the ego has at least a very clear idea of what "would be" correct in its own life. And if it is just a little bit smart, it could also have one beyond its navel, and that's exactly what the word "morality" means, nothing religious in it.
We can rightly think that ethics and morality don't really matter in spirituality and the world today. But we should not forget that the Dharma, the cosmic and natural order of everything, and especially our life as far as we are personally concerned, has to express this correct way of being, thinking and living, and if we really wish for a spiritual awakening or liberation, we have to readjust ourselves to this cosmic and natural order by obviously thinking and living correctly. Does it make sense or is it too simple to understand ?
That said, if we take into consideration the concept of "Self-realization", or awakening and liberation, it cannot be the exclusive realization of an absolute or transcendental consciousness as Neo gurus teach nowadays. This realization must necessarily include the cosmic order that this consciousness expresses and, of course, uses to manifest the universe, since we obviously don't live anywhere else, and it's in this universe we realize the Self or start to be awakened. So it clearly means that there is no Self-realization or spiritual awakening without realizing what the cosmic order is in our own life, and if we truly realize what it is, we cannot do otherwise than know and embody that cosmic order, ethics and morality.
Such concepts are probably far too evolved or just disturbing in Western spirituality, but it's nothing more than what every sage like Buddha, Lao Tzu and Jesus brought back in the world, without forgetting Socrates and Diogenes who are so close to our culture that they are greatly contributed to its origin even though we never speak about in our spirituality. And we may wonder why since they are the most adequate sages to our crazy time.
4 / 1 / 2020
Find by searching
Wisdom is never disappointing, how could it be if it’s the expression of a quest for serenity, contentment and moderation ? So that means that the quest for wisdom cannot be either, because we can only find that wisdom by searching for it. It’s obviously not something that we could pretend to have discovered and hold once and for all, such a pretension would surely not be wise at all.
On the other hand, the quest for spiritual awakening by means of non-ordinary experiences can only be disappointing and moreover frustrating for the good reason that all experiences necessarily have a beginning and end. From there to say that an authentic spiritual awakening has in fact nothing to do with any experiences, that seems rather sensible.
Therefore, can we sincerely imagine sages disappointed to be wise ? The wisdom they discover by searching for it can only show them that they are perfectly happy and at peace with who they are and what they have here and now, whatever realization they would have about anything. And if for some reasons they cease to be happy and at peace, it’s of course because they are no longer wise.
There are absolutely sublime cosmic laws that we could even call logical and even funny when we realize what they are, and above all that they never leave us. Such spiritual topics are not about kind of wishful realization, "I got it and I'm done with it", it's more about a spiritual potential we can have if we choose and want it sincerely.
5 / 1 / 2020
Ego-trip
The complete absence of pretension is the key that can open the mind. It's obviously not the only one, but a very big spiritual key in our Western culture where the personal identity, the ego as we say today, must be praised, glorified, or at the very least, recognized by its suffering and misery, in other words different from the others, special, non-ordinary, the "ordinary" being considered as kind of curse, if not the expression of an inferiority complex, and finally abnormal, i.e. beyond every norm. In such a cultural frame of mind, a strong personality, especially if it's suffering, is therefore a good and smart sign of prestige, it doesn't matter if it's a complete disaster in the mental life of the individual.
As our Neo gurus continually repeat in their Satsang, we are all One, Oneness, universal consciousness, a cosmic being, God or divine principle, and so on, but only if gurus are awakened and the others are not, otherwise, let us be a reasonable, how could they sell their awakening ? That means very clearly that we are actually all equal and human only if some are a lot more equal and enlightened than the others, and in the end, if everyone is more or less different and spiritual than everybody else. Somehow, despite the obvious nonsense, it should make sense in our completely absurd Neo spirituality and wisdom teachings.
On the other hand, the complete absence of pretension means the end of the personal story, an ordinary and functional ego doing its job, a peaceful mind not losing its time with "Me, I, mine..., me, me me, I, I, I..." since it's not difficult to do better and especially a lot more interesting. Should we say consequently that the absence of pretension would be kind of big vacation, liberation and bliss, and why not a sign of intelligence ? Who knows..., in that Western culture, nobody can know, of course !
6 / 3 / 2020
Lao Tzu 48
Learning consists in accumulating more and more know-how every day.
Practicing the Tao consists in not paying attention to the mind day by day.
Keep on ignoring what the mind pills up until you reach a state of no-doing.
It’s by this non-action that everything is perfectly done.
The Tao rules over the whole universe, everything takes its course.
Nothing is won by interfering and trying to take control.
Simply watch and let it go its own natural way.
8 / 1 / 2020
Tao of smart wisdom
Just ask yourself every morning what the word “wisdom” means, and live your day according to what you think about. You will be more enlightened and liberated than any so-called awakened people. And don't forget to start again every morning till your last breath because your opinions on the subject might evolve day after day since you will have to take account of what you have experienced in the past, and especially during the former day. "Was it really smart and wise to... ?" The answer might be "yes", but it might also be sometimes "What a damn fool I've been !".
Everywhere in the world, there are women and men of Tao who certainly don’t define themselves as such. Instead of searching for enlightenment and spiritual experience that would liberate them from their personal problems, as if a beautiful experience could be a psychological remedy, kind of magical pill, they only search for adjusting themselves to the cosmic order of everything in their life and the world as it is. And that doesn't prevent them, of course, to live their life and in the world as they choose to.
And every time they succeed to adjust to this cosmic order they will never leave anyway, which is very easy once they know the trick, it’s a lot more liberating and peaceful than any sort of awakening, enlightenment or non-ordinary experience. It’s a powerful flow of purifying and blissful energy, which doesn’t require any special meditative practice to be perceived all over their body and mind. Such a liberation is not difficult to experience, it’s available everywhere they bring their attention with the intention to be in perfect harmony with the cosmic order and natural flow of their life.
Some people don’t like their life and the world as they are because they don’t satisfy their desires and whims, they are like dreamers struggling against the current. Other people know they don’t need to change the world or their life since they already are perfect and magical, they seem to only surf the waves without the least effort.
As a matter of fact, what would be more magical and extraordinary than life, body and mind, let alone death and consciousness, the greatest mysteries of all time ?
9 / 1 / 2020
Lao Tzu 81
A true speech is never beautiful.
A beautiful speech is never true.
10 / 1 / 2020
Lao Tzu 31
Weapons are instruments of evil to inflict suffering.
Only on necessity will the sage use them without rejoicing.
It’s, of course, not evil that he loves, but peace and calm.
Even in victory, he has no sense of pride since causing suffering is never gratifying, not even smart.
How could he achieve any fulfillment among the others in hurting them ?
Lao Tzu often speaks in his "Tao and Natural Flow of Life" about the art of governing, war and the life of people during the Han dynasty. It can also be interpreted much more personally as the art of governing oneself, thinking and behaving among the others. Everything he writes could be, if we want to, considered as analogies because his holistic view of the Tao does not allow him to separate the individual with his psychology from the world in which he lives. The person and his mental functioning, society and its cultural or political aspect naturally form an indivisible whole. In other words, he doesn't separate the Tao from any daily reality, not even the most ordinary one.
And in this quite amazing speech, he clearly explains that the sage will fight with weapons if he has to..., but fight against what and with what kind of weapons ? What could be the enemy of peace and calm, of the natural flow of his inner or outer life ? Is he really speaking about an enemy outside himself or the mind ? Sincerely speaking, could there be any true enemy of peace and calm outside the mind ? It's a very disturbing question because it suggests that the sage takes, in fact, his life, that is to say the inner and outer world, as it is, and never try to change it. His only real concern is how he is going to psychologically react to it. And it means that his true enemy is noting else than himself.
Lao Tzu doesn't deny as many do now in their spiritual quest the need to sometimes come into conflict with the mind and the ego, their character and how they manifest personally. He is always ready to fight against anything that might disturb his inner peace, that is to say the inherent calmness and peace of consciousness and true nature. And it's quite obvious that the weapons he will use in this fight will hurt the mind and its own image, the ego since, as he said, they will inflict suffering. They will surely not allow the mind to rejoice and win in such a battle.
What then can these weapons be against all the stupid manifestations of the mind and ego disturbing peace and calm ? Lao Tzu often mentions among many other weapons the ultimate one bringing back the sage on the Tao in order to restore peace of mind, it is "Wu Wei", non-action, the power to remain unmoved and watch carefully how the mind manifests in order to instantly reduce it to nothing or more accurately to what it should be, a human function and mental faculty. And that without the slightest pride, of course, because it would only be a new unnecessary manifestation of the mind and not its real function.
In truth, Lao Tzu explains with a lot of humor that the supreme fight with oneself is the complete absence of fight, the power to watch and let it go, including the worst manifestations of the mind without worrying. The concept "Wu Wei" is obviously not easy to understand with a rational mind, and it may seem completely absurd when we try to make sense of it. In fact, only by treading the Tao, we can understand what is absolutely incomprehensible. In others words, there is nothing to understand, it's enough to practice a Taoist art, "Wu Wei" and what Lao Tzu explains in a very subtle and poetic way.
11 / 1 / 2020
Lao Tzu 20
Give up trying to understand and interpret everything when in truth, you know nothing.
That will put an end to all your worries.
What is the difference between yes and no, black and white, right and wrong, when we ignore the real facts about a situation ?
Should I fear what others fear ?
Non-doing…, how to do it ?
The concept of non-doing or non-action might seem pretty strange or nonsensical, but it should be quite meaningful for anyone practicing a Taoist art such as Qigong, Taiji Quan, calligraphy, painting, music and so on.
It is associated with the idea of performing without force, strength and tension. In other words, it means without "fatigue". Someone feeling tired after practicing a Qigong, for instance, is not, in fact, practicing a Qigong, but a physical and mental exercise. Instead of using muscular power and the mind, mainly thinking, the practitioner should use inner energy and breathing, that is to say Qi, and performing natural and harmonious movements. Qigong is therefore without effort, or more precisely with the very least possible physical and mental activities.
That absence of physical and mental strength or effort provoking tensions and somehow useless dispersion of energy is also related to the idea of "Extreme Simplicity" and "Contemplation of Nature", i.e. watching and discovering the natural flow or course of life. As a matter of fact, it’s difficult to conceive that a blade of grass or a tree forces its own growth in order to live and survive or that our planet suffers from turning on itself and around the sun. Since everything in nature goes and evolve in its own natural way, why could prevent us from doing… or "non-doing" the very same in our daily life and mind ?
12 / 1 / 2020
Lao Tzu 66
Since sages compete, fight and contend with nobody, no one can compete, fight and contend with sages.
Because the sages have nothing to prove and pretend, one can only listen to the wisdom of the sages and wonder about.
And that's their teaching : how to get smarter and wiser, really enlightened and humane if you will, by simply asking ourselves meaningful questions.
1 / 1 / 2021
Lao Tzu 32
Lao Tzu is without any doubt a remarkable poet, but above all, he is a great sage of Tao, if not the most important. He uses poetry as a sublime vehicle for passing on a teaching, and like many other spiritual teachings, his is not always easy to understand. We could almost say that, in fact, his teaching never is unless we try to give it an interpretation that might suit some people but not everybody. So let's take verse 32 to at least understand it better in our own cultural and intellectual context, which, of course, is quite different from the one of Lao Tzu :
Tao is not a concept.
Insignificant in its original simplicity,
it is, however, inferior to nothing we know.
If only rulers could bow down to admire it
everybody would honor them.
Heavens and Earth would harmonize,
and the whole world would be covered with a gentle dew.
Peace and order would reign among the people
without any law and command to bother and corrupt them.
When the original simplicity has diversified,
a multitude of names appeared.
Are there not enough now ?
Wouldn't it be the right time to stop creating more ?
Knowing when to stop preserve from danger.
The Tao is to this world what rivers and oceans are to torrents and streams.
After reading this poem, it’s easy to understand that Lao Tzu invites us to be wise. As for explaining precisely by what means, we can ask ourselves many questions. The analogy of torrents and streams flowing into rivers and oceans is not really obvious. Let us therefore proceed to a kind of deciphering by replacing certain words with others easier to understand in our contemporary spirituality and culture. We can, for instance, take the word "Tao" and replace it with "consciousness", a very common word today in some scientific and spiritual domains, and terms such as "world, people, names, etc.", that is to say everything we can be aware of, by "mind" or "mental". And now does it make more sense ?
The presence of consciousness cannot be apprehended like a mental phenomenon.
Although its existence is usually ignored,
it is never absent in everything we perceive.
If only the ego could realize it,
the mental chaos causing its suffering would cease instantly.
Outer world and mind would not conflict anymore,
and the self could finally find peace without trying to put any order in it.
When the true nature of consciousness has manifested,
a multitude of mental representations appeared.
Don't we have enough now ?
Shouldn't we, on the contrary, reduce the flow of our thoughts ?
Knowing when and how to stop it protects from suffering.
Consciousness is to the mind what inner peace is to all our thoughts and emotions.
It goes without saying that such an interpretation will be more comprehensible to those who practice meditation and especially Mindfulness. Anyhow, it doesn’t really matter how we interpret it, a spiritual teaching in the guise of poetic language must be understood in one way or another otherwise what would be the point of it ? Lao Tzu doesn’t write for the sake of poetry, but to teach us how to live peacefully with the Tao.
Let us be clear and somehow a bit modest ! Whether we like it or not, no one is going to change the great cosmic order of our life and destiny of humanity. We might as well adapt to it as best we can when we obviously have no other choice. Would it be a sort of pessimistic thinking ? It’s only about sanity and wisdom, nothing more than what Lao Tzu advocates in all his teachings.
2 / 1 / 2021
Lao Tzu 79
When hatred is left behind, there will certainly remain unresolved resentment.
What can be done about it ?
Sages take their own responsibility and don’t put the blame on the others.
They go on performing their duty while the others will try to solve the problems generated by their denial.
The Tao is impartial, it is always in favor with those with correct intentions.
It is said in the West and in our old and still very Judeo-Christian culture that "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". For hypocrites, such an adage will surely be very convenient in order to assert their rights to the detriment of others, but no one will be fooled by their real desires and ulterior motives.
Lao Tzu is well aware that life in general or in society is never easy and perfect. He doesn't care about being recognized as a sage or faultless person, but to be honest because he knows that the Tao doesn't lie. Everybody knows, of course, even scientists and psychologists, that a cosmic order and its universal laws rule over everything, and especially our physical, emotional and mental reactions or, if you will, unconscious forces apparently unknown.
But the great cosmic order of our life, a concept pretty abstract in our Western culture if we are unable to grasp the idea of "natural and universal morality", is in truth perfectly obvious to everyone who wants to know it. It’s quite enough, for instance, to search for what is good in order to immediately find out what should not be done or simply be instead of wasting our time intellectualizing and philosophizing about everything as we love so much to entertain ourselves in the West, so much so that we finally don't know what we should be or do. It doesn't mean either that we should not think intelligently. As a matter of fact, there is a basic difference between intellectualization and intelligence or wisdom as the Tao Te Ching explains very clearly,
We could even say that Lao Tzu is truly an anti-intellectual who prefers to contemplate and live with the Tao instead of speaking of it as a great master or philosopher. The legend concerning his life easily proves it. If the guard at the border of the empire had not made him write the Tao Te Ching, he would have gone to the West without leaving any evidence of his teaching, which simply means that he has no lessons to teach others. That’s probably what true wisdom and the total absence of any sort of ego-trip or narcissism are all about : "Wu Wei, non-doing and the complete lack of action or speech based on personal convictions, to say the least, arbitrary." And the irony of this little story very funny and typically Chinese is that we should, in fact, thank a soldier for the Tao Te Ching and not Lao Tzu who never intended to write a book at the end of his life.
The Tao is, everything is its very best or worst manifestation. Each one is free to live with or without its absolute power and virtue.
As in the former poetry 32, we could also take Lao Tzu's words in a much more spiritual and personal context. If, for instance, "the sage" or "sages" determine the presence of consciousness, the faculty of watching, realizing and understanding intuitively without thinking endlessly for nothing or no real purpose going beyond egotism, what is called in Vedanta the Atman, the witness, and that "the other" or "others" embody the mind and the ego, those words will have a very different meaning :
After a serious disagreement, memory will never forget anything.
What can we do about it ?
Instead of trying to justify our mistakes as the mind and ego will systematically strive for, we might as well watch such a mind game and give it up because it is pointless.
And moreover, it only breeds suffering, hypocrisy and lies, ludicrous excuses and pretexts detrimental to the mind.
Consciousness does not judge, it observes carefully, knows and understands spontaneously.
It brings inner peace to those who trust the power of their consciousness and inseparable conscience, and live harmoniously with the natural evolution of their life.
We could almost sum up Lao Tzu's words as follows : "In the absence of all pretensions, the mind disappears." Tao and spiritual liberation are nothing else, so to speak, than the end of the great ego-trip, the cult of the ego... or hero who thinks to always be right before blaming others or the world in which he lives.
3 / 1 / 2021
Lao Tzu 65
Here we are… with a big smile !
The stanza 65 is without any doubt the most amazing, if not the most shocking poetry of the Tao Te Ching. We can wonder if Lao Tzu is a sage, a spiritual Master or, for the emperor, a political adviser pretty much deceitful or quite Machiavellian. So let us take the most literal and pretty simplistic translation of this stanza, which can only be an interpretation anyway, since Chinese language is far too complex and subtle to have only one translation in another language, and then, we will try to understand its meaning :
In the old days, those who realize what the Tao is and how to live in harmony with did not try to enlighten the people, but keep them ignorant and simple.
The reason why people are difficult to govern is that they are too clever and cunning, and they know too much.
Therefore, he who is cunning and rules the state with cleverness will be a thief for the people,
and he who rules without cleverness and giving them knowledge will be a blessing to the country.
Those who understand these two basic principles will know the deep and mysterious virtue.
Clear and far-reaching is this secret virtue and power.
That’s how everything returns to its original natural state and the great harmony is achieved.
The two first sentences of this poetry are, to say the least, provocative. The third is even more disturbing, and then, it’s completely incomprehensible. Is Lao Tzu promoting stupidity and dumbness, a complete lack of education, information and culture, in order to live in peace and become some sort of enlightened idiot riding a foolish dragon ? We can raise the question even more so that Chinese people consider education and culture to be the pillars of civilization. But if we agree that Lao Tzu is a sage and spiritual Master, the only reason to read his writings, it’s obviously impossible. So what is he really speaking about and trying to teach ?
As it has already been explained in former comments, Lao Tzu has a very peculiar sense of humor, and he loves playing with metaphors. "He who rule", just like the charioteer in the Bhagavata Gita, is nothing else than consciousness, and "the people, country and state" determine the complexity of the mind. If we interpret this stanza with such concepts, it becomes at last a very clear spiritual teaching :
A long time ago, the enlightened ones did not feed the mind with always more and more conceptual knowledge.
The mind is difficult to control because it always gets lost in thinking and pointless reasoning.
Therefore, those who have a very simple contemplative life will know pure consciousness, the Tao, and how to live in harmony with its great cosmic order, nothing more than their everyday life.
As a matter of fact, nobody in the world indeed searches for more than peace and happiness even if the approach seems to be diametrically opposed to this end. Who really cares of an egotistical enlightenment or narcissistic liberation, which can only have counter-effects ? The unveiling of the Tao and perfection of our ordinary life is the liberating enlightenment.
4 / 1 / 2021
One word might be enough
If we had to sum up the whole Tao Te Ching in only one word,
humility or moderation would probably be one of the best.
It would almost delete instantly every thought
and without any doubt all our emotions.
Woah…, what peace !
The humble man does not kneel in order to humiliate himself,
5 / 1 / 2021
A bit of wisdom never hurts... or maybe ?
"The universe came into being with us together.
With us, all things are one."
Chuang Tzu translated by Fung Yu-lan
As everyone knows, Chuang Tzu is a very important Master of Tao, that is to say of the great cosmic order and what precedes before it manifests all things in its own uniqueness.
A little further to the West, Vedic knowledge relies on the concept of "One without a second" and Dharma, "the natural and cosmic order", that is to say Maya, "the big dream and illusion", or in more simple words, how all things appear and are only one without a second.
And still further West, the ancient Greeks remind us that everything is “Macrocosm and Microcosm”, the great and small cosmic order manifesting, of course, the very same cosmos at the origin of all things.
Is it necessary to explain that a cosmic order is a perfect organization or universe ruled by natural laws, and that there is no difference between an organization and an organism, a living organism such as a human being, for instance ?
We can therefore wonder what are these natural and cosmic laws, which rule over our life... willy-nilly, we like them or not ? Sincerely speaking, we just have to ask ourselves the question to know them, nothing more ! We are obviously born with and only because of them, and moreover, we only live and survive by means of the laws of Mother Nature who, for the truth seeker, is without doubt the greatest spiritual Master, the only one who can really teach to everybody without discrimination the purpose and meaning of life.
All these natural and cosmic laws are all over our body, heart and mind. And even more, they show their true nature in all our actions and relations with our inner and outer life, with the micro or macrocosm. Some call them Karma, the relation of cause and effect, principles and consequences if you will, which cannot be ignored unless to be and act in bad faith. And others prefer to disregard, not to say clearly, despise them.
But let us say that our naivety and confusion typical of the mind does not allow us to know what they are, every traditional spirituality are still in our world to explain those natural and universal laws in every detail. They are changeless and eternal, and pretty well-known for a very long time. And even though spirituality would be the least of our concern, the greatest book of knowledge is still and always everywhere around us, it's enough to take a walk in the nature and open the eyes to read it.
So we don't really have any excuse to say or think : "I'm sorry, but I didn't know, I couldn't know, I'm not guilty, let me live in peace, that's not my business, leave me alone, etc." As a matter of fact, consciousness and common sense prevent us to enjoy such a frivolity. We can deny obvious truths, but we surely cannot ignore them. In other words, whatever our life is, we, as conscious beings, are responsible for our own thoughts and actions, our states of mind, which includes obviously all our emotions.
Therefore, wouldn't it be enough to recognize, agree and make peace with these universal laws and rules in order to bring about our physical, emotional and mental faculties back into harmony with the great cosmic order, which anyway will never change to satisfy our desires, ambitions and egotistical dreams, or to be more precise, our egoism, hypocrisy and greed ?
Okay..., but what about the amazing awakening, enlightenment and spiritual liberation that we hear so much nowadays in the West ? As Mahatma Gandhi said about another topic : "That would be a good idea."
Idea..., nothing more than an idea, is that a joke ? Everybody is searching today for that crazy spiritual awakening, which at last is going to solve all our personal problems, and even, as Neo gurus pretend now, save humanity, if not the whole world. And why not the entire universe either !
Come on, folks, let's be a bit serious. Have you ever seen or heard of liberated ones disappearing from planet Earth during enlightenment in order to go right away into Brahma Loka or some of other paradise, or even better, to dissolve into the Self as a river in the ocean ? If that kind of crazy enlightenment could happen, they would simply not be in our world to be seen or heard of. And yet, the body mind organism, the microcosm they embody, is obviously still here since we know them. So by realizing the true nature of everything, including the true nature of consciousness, of course, how do they possibly live in peace and happy in our world becoming completely mad, free and in bliss as we imagine ?
The answer is pretty simple, instead of going against the natural flow of the Tao as everybody does because of ignorance or denial to know it, the liberated ones dance with the Tao and its cosmic laws. How do they perform such a dance ? They only respect the natural laws and rules of living by simply being human in this world. And that is true spiritual liberation, nothing really fancy about it, only living the fullness of humanness towards the others and oneself without mentioning the environment.
When our Neo crazy gurus will stop teaching their narcissistic awakening that they think to be a liberating and amazing Oneness, kind of insane ocean of bliss with about 8 billion of lovely and especially innocent little waves, maybe..., just maybe, a true spiritual awakening will happen in the West or at least inside ourselves.