Written Messages

 

                                                                       St Petersburg (Russia)

20 May 2013

 

Chapter 41

Higher people hear of the Tao
They diligently practice it
Average people hear of the Tao
They sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it
Lower people hear of the Tao
They laugh loudly at it
If they do not laugh, it would not be the Tao

 

Therefore a proverb has the following:
The clear Tao appears unclear
The advancing Tao appears to retreat
The smooth Tao appears uneven

High virtue appears like a valley

Great integrity appears like disgrace

Encompassing virtue appears insufficient

Building virtue appears inactive

True substance appears inconstant

The great square has no corners

The great vessel is late in completion

The great music is imperceptible in sound

The great image has no form

The Tao is hidden and nameless

Yet it is only the Tao

That excels in giving and completing everything

 

'Higher' means at the height of Awareness non-elective or choiceless. 'Average' means activity of 'I'-ness and its tricks and traps with Tao as toys for fancy and fun. 'Lower' means lost in the the myth called mind. Is it possible to meditate on the 'proverb' which indeed is the perception most profound? 'Completion' – the wholeness, the holiness – is the Tao.

 

Chapter 42

 

Tao produces one
One produces two
Two produce three
Three produce myriad things
Myriad things, backed by yin and embracing yang
Achieve harmony by integrating their energy
What the people dislike
Are alone, bereft, and unworthy
But the rulers call themselves with these terms

 

So with all things
Appear to take loss but benefit
Or receive benefit but lose
What the ancients taught I will also teach
The violent one cannot have a natural death
I will use this as the principal of all teachings

Psychotherapists are perhaps psychoterrorists and they will exist as long as human beings are not in life, but only in the manuevers and mischiefs of the mind deceiving  their ownselves as well as the others. Violence is mind. Love is life. Mind can never know what Love is. Even in verbal communication with a Guru Process, be available to that which is silently, naturally and spontaneously communicated non-verbally.

 

Chapter 43

The softest things of the world
Override the hardest things of the world

That which has no substance
Enters into that which has no openings

From this I know the benefits of unattached actions
The teaching without words

The benefits of actions without attachment
Are rarely matched in the world

Seeing is perception. Understanding is perception. Drawing an abstraction from seeing, from understanding is conceptulization.  Psychological attachment is caused  by thinking.  And thinking is becoming – from 'what is' to 'what should be'. 'Improvement' is not picking up another form of dependency to alleviate suffering from current dependency. 'Me', the becoming, is the disease. Freedom is in the immediate choiceless action of perception. Dreams are not necessary, if the movement during the day is in complete attention. Thought is an escape from the immediate action of seeing.

 

Chapter 44

Fame or the self, which is dearer?
The self or wealth, which is greater?
Gain or loss, which is more painful?

Thus excessive love must lead to great spending
Excessive hoarding must lead to heavy loss

Knowing contentment avoids disgrace
Knowing when to stop avoids danger
Thus one can endure indefinitely

 

 Sutras from Buddha

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions, like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred  because  the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.

 

Chapter 45

Great perfection seems flawed
Its function is without failure
Great fullness seems empty
Its function is without exhaustion
Great straightness seems bent

Great skill seems unrefined
Great eloquence seems inarticulate
Movement overcomes cold

Stillness overcomes heat

Clear quietness is the standard of the world

 

Let us listen to this story: A profound spiritual teacher was talking from time to time to his small group of students on matters deeply spiritual. One morning, just as he was about to begin, a bird came on to the window-sill and began to chant and sing. It did this for a while and flew away. And the teacher said: To-day's talk is over.

 

Chapter 46

When the world has the Tao
Fast horses are retired to till the soil
When the world lacks the Tao
Warhorses give birth on the battlefield

There is no crime greater than greed
No disaster greater than discontentment

No fault greater than avarice

Thus the satisfaction of contentment
is the lasting satisfaction

 

Observation without the past provocations from the observer is a flame of attention in which the wound, the feeling of hurt, the hate – all that is burnt away, gone totally.

 

Chapter 47

Without going out the door, know the world
Without peering out the window, see the
Heavenly Tao
The further one goes
The less one knows

Therefore the sage
Knows without going
Names without seeing

Achieves without striving

 Is it possible to explore fully the futility of seeking knowledge of the unknowable and to see that it is only when we cease seeking with intellect that we may indeed be free to perceive Reality, Truth, Bliss or God – whatever name or word we may use to point out towards the Divinity.

Chapter 48

Pursue knowledge, daily gain
Pursue Tao, daily loss

Loss and more loss
Until one reaches unattached action
With unattached action, there is nothing one cannot do

Take the world by constantly applying non-interference
The one who interferes is not qualified to take the world

 

Non-action on the part of 'I'-ness is the beginning of the greatest action by Intelligence (Chaitanya)

 

Chapter 49

The sages have no constant mind
They take the mind of the people as their mind
Those who are good, I am good to them
Those who are not good, I am also good to them
Thus the virtue of goodness
Those who believe, I believe them
Those who do not believe, I also believe them
Thus the virtue of belief

The sages live in the world
They cautiously merge their mind for the world
The people all pay attention with their ears and eyes
The sages care for them as children

 

It is wise to come out of the obscurity of opposites. It is prudent to be in sensory perception rather than in sensuality.

 

Chapter 50

Coming into life, entering death
The followers of life, three in ten
The followers of death, three in ten
Those whose lives are moved toward death
Also three in ten Why?
Because they live lives of excess

I've heard of those who are good at cultivating life
Traveling on the road, they do not encounter rhinos or tigers
Entering into an army, they are not harmed by weapons

Rhinos have nowhere to thrust their horns

Tigers have nowhere to clasp their claws

Soldiers have nowhere to lodge their blades

Why?
Because they have no place for death

The religious mind is entirely different from the mind that believes in religion. To be religious is to be psychologically free from the culture of the society or its belief-systems or its demands for 'religious' experience

 

Chapter 51

Tao produces them
Virtue raises them
Things shape them
Forces perfect them

Therefore all things respect the Tao and value virtue
The respect for Tao, the value of virtue
Not due to command but to constant nature

Thus Tao produces them
Virtue raises them
Grows them, educates them
Perfects them, matures them
Nurtures them, protects them

Produces but does not possess
Acts but does not flaunt

Nurtures but does not dominate

This is called Mystic Virtue

 

To be is to be related. We can discover ourselves as we are, in the midst of , in the mirror of relationship. And that is the beginning of wisdom. Virtue is in understanding the veracity of life, the 'no-mind'.

 

Chapter 52

The world has a beginning
We regard it as the mother of the world
Having its mother
We can know her children
Knowing her children
Still holding on to the mother
Live without danger all through life

Close the mouth
Shut the doors
Live without toil all through life
Open the mouth
Meddle in the affairs
Live without salvation all through life

Seeing details is called clarity
Holding on to the soft is called strength
Utilize the light
Return to the clarity
Leaving no disasters for the self
This is called practicing constancy

 

Mind is only instrument of communication, it can not measure that which is immeasurable. Reality is not to be spoken of; when it is, it is no longer reality. This is to be meditative.

 

Chapter 53

If I have a little knowledge
Walking on the great Tao
I fear only to deviate from it
The great Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths

The courts are corrupt
The fields are barren
The warehouses are empty

Officials wear fineries
Carry sharp swords
Fill up on drinks and food
Acquire excessive wealth

This is called robbery
It is not the Tao!

 

 Corruption comes from the word 'rupture' which means 'broken up'. Mind, the 'I' is corrupt. 'No-mind',  ‘no-I' is compassion and correctness.

 

Chapter 54

That which is well established cannot be uprooted
That which is strongly held cannot be taken

The descendants will commemorate it forever

Cultivate it in yourself; its virtue shall be true
Cultivate it in the family; its virtue shall be abundant
Cultivate it in the community; its virtue shall be lasting
Cultivate it in the country; its virtue shall be prosperous
Cultivate it in the world; its virtue shall be widespread

Therefore observe others with yourself
Observe other families with your family
Observe other communities with your community
Observe other countries with your country
Observe the world with the world
With what do I know the world?
With this

 

 Spreading and expanding energy of understanding is virtue of all virtues, the vitality of all vitalities.

 

Chapter 55

Those who hold an abundance of virtue
Are similar to newborn infants
Poisonous insects do not sting them
Wild beasts do not claw them
Birds of prey do not attack them
Their bones are weak, tendons are soft
But their grasp is firm
They do not know of sexual union but can manifest arousal
Due to the optimum of essence
They can cry the whole day and yet not be hoarse
Due to the optimum of harmony
Knowing harmony is said to be constancy
Knowing constancy is said to be clarity

Excessive vitality is said to be inauspicious
Mind overusing energy is said to be aggressive

Things become strong and then grow old

This is called contrary to the Tao

That which is contrary to the Tao will soon perish

 

 Optimum is the omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence.

Contentment is clarity.

 

Chapter 56

Those who know do not talk

Those who talk do not know

Close the mouth
Shut the doors
Blunt the sharpness
Unravel the knots
Dim the glare
Mix the dust
This is called Mystic Oneness

They cannot obtain this and be closer
They cannot obtain this and be distant
They cannot obtain this and be benefited
They cannot obtain this and be harmed

They cannot obtain this and be valued

They cannot obtain this and be degraded

Therefore, they become honored by the world

 

 Aloneness is All-oneness. Undertakings are not understanding.

Chapter 57

Govern a country with upright integrity
Deploy the military with surprise tactics
Take the world with non-interference
How do I know this is so?
With the following:

When there are many restrictions in the world
The people become more impoverished
When people have many sharp weapons
The country becomes more chaotic
When people have many clever tricks
More strange things occur
The more laws are posted
more robbers and thieves there are

Therefore the sage says:
I take unattached action, and the people transform themselves
I prefer quiet, and the people right themselves
I do not interfere, and the people enrich themselves
I have no desires, and the people simplify themselves

When ‘no-I' is in command, everything goes well. And when 'I' interferes, everything goes awkward!

 

Chapter 58

 

When governing is lackluster
The people are simple and honest
When governing is scrutinizing
The people are shrewd and crafty

Misfortune is what fortune depends upon
Fortune is where misfortune hides beneath
Who knows their ultimate end?
They have no determined outcome
Rightness reverts to become strange
Goodness reverts to become wicked
The confusion of people has lasted many long days

Therefore the sages are:
Righteous without being scathing
Incorruptible without being piercing
Straightforward without being ruthless
Illuminated without being flashy

 All opposites contain the elements of their own opposites.

 

Chapter 59

In governing people and serving Heaven

There is nothing like conservation
Only with conservation is it called submitting early
Submitting early is called emphasis on accumulating virtues
Accumulating virtues means there is nothing one cannot overcome
When there is nothing that one cannot overcome
One's limits are unknown
The limitations being unknown, one can possess sovereignty
With this mother principle of power, one can be everlasting
This is called deep roots and firm foundation
The Tao of longevity and lasting vision

 

Let there be sovereignty of Life. Let mind be only the subject for performing practical tasks.

Chapter 60

Ruling a large country is like cooking a small fish
Using the Tao to manage the world
Its demons have no power
Not only do its demons have no power
Its gods do not harm people

Not only do its gods not harm people
The sages also do not harm people
They both do no harm to one another
So virtue merges and returns

Power is profane, whether it is the power of 'God' or of  'Demon'.  Power is the denial of Energy of virtue & veracity.