Written Messages

 

                                                            St Petersburg (Russia)

21 May 2013

Chapter 61

 

The large country is like the lowest river
The converging point of the world
The receptive female of the world
The female always overcomes the male with serenity
Using serenity as the lower position

Thus if the large country is lower than the small country
Then it can take the small country
If the small country is lower than the large country

Then it can be taken by the large country

Thus one uses the lower position to take

The other uses the lower position to be taken

The large country only wishes to gather and protect people

The small country only wishes to join and serve people

So that both obtain what they wish

The larger one should assume the lower position

 

 Let us remember Sufi woman Rubiya. She canceled the line in Koran 'Hate the devil'. Hassan, her mystic friend, was shocked. He said: You can not do it. It is blasphemy. Koran is perfect. But Rubiya expressed her inability to be available to hate. Light does not become darkness when it falls on a dirty object. Love can not change  itself as hate, even if it faces a devil. Love is breath. One can not stop breathing when a devil comes. Rubiya submitted that she only re-adjusted in her copy of Koran. She did not interfere with others' copies!

 

Chapter 62

 

The Tao is the wonder of all things
The treasure of the kind person
The protection of the unkind person

Admirable words can win the public's respect
Admirable actions can improve people
Those who are unkind
How can they be abandoned?

Therefore, when crowning the Emperor
And installing the three ministers
Although there is the offering of jade before four horses
None of it can compare to being seated in this Tao

Why did the ancients value this Tao so much?
Is it not said that those who seek will find,

And those with guilt will not be faulted?

Therefore, it is the greatest value in the world

 

 What you seek, you may find; but what you will find is not truth, but merely an idea about truth. Guilt invites gullibility and thus belief-systems can be imposed. The conspiracy is to make you feel guilty to control you, to prevent awakening of Intelligence – Chaitanya. Tao, as presented in this translation is of no value.

Chapter 63

 

Act without action
Manage without meddling
Taste without tasting
Great, small, many, few
Respond to hatred with virtue

Plan difficult tasks through the simplest tasks
Achieve large tasks through the smallest tasks
The difficult tasks of the world
Must be handled through the simple tasks
The large tasks of the world
Must be handled through the small tasks
Therefore, sages never attempt great deeds all through life
Thus they can achieve greatness

One who makes promises lightly must deserve little trust
One who sees many easy tasks must encounter much difficulty
Therefore, sages regard things as difficult

So they never encounter difficulties all through life

 

Be available to sensory perception (Tanmatra), not to sensuality (Indriya). Activities of 'I' are not right action. Sages regard things seriously – not as difficult.

 

Chapter 64

 

When it is peaceful, it is easy to maintain
When it shows no signs, it is easy to plan
When it is fragile, it is easy to break
When it is small, it is easy to scatter
Act on it when it has not yet begun
Treat it when it is not yet chaotic
A tree thick enough to embrace
Grows from the tiny sapling
A tower of nine levels
Starts from the dirt heap
A journey of a thousand miles
Begins beneath the feet

The one who meddles will fail
The one who grasps will lose
Therefore, sages do not meddle and thus do not fail
They do not grasp and thus do not lose

People, in handling affairs
Often come close to completion and fail
If they are as careful in the end as the beginning
Then they would have no failure

Therefore, sages desire not to desire
They do not value goods that are hard to acquire

They learn to unlearn

To redeem the fault of the people

To assist the nature of all things

Without daring to meddle

 Let us have a new look at Sat-Chit-Anand!
1) Sat: Humans seek peaceful existence, but run into its opposite as excitement and agitation!
2) Chit: Humans seek Divinity – the non-divisive holistic state of consciousness which is life, but run into its opposite as separative consciousness of mind. Thus, without knowing anything worthwhile, humans just get into pretension and pleasure of borrowed knowledge, thus remaining amused in false gratification and glorification.
3) Anand: Humans seek joyful existence of life, but run into its opposite as pleasure-sorrow network of the mind.
Can there be a 'seeking' of Sat-Chit-Anand without any seekership whatsoever? Please discover by and for yourself within yourself!

 Chapter 65

 

Those of ancient times who were adept at the Tao
Used it not to make people brighter
But to keep them simple
The difficulty in governing people
Is due their excessive cleverness
Therefore, using cleverness to govern the state
Is being a thief of the state
Not using cleverness to govern the state Is being a blessing of the state

Know that these two are both standards
Always knowing these standards

Is called Mystic Virtue
Mystic Virtue: Profound! Far-reaching!

It goes opposite to material things

Then it reaches great congruence

'Absolute' does not depend on anything – entirely self-moving, self-active, and has no cause at all. 'Absolute' is beyond all Emptiness which is Energy existing in Silence. It can not be put into words. Any attempt to put it into words makes it relative. The word 'God' implies ! ''Get out, Divinity''. 'Allah' implies ''Abandon Love & Light , Acquire Hypocrisy (in the name of Divinity)''.
'Bhagawan' implies ''Banish Hypocrisy And Get Anand, Wisdom, Awareness, 'No-mind''.
Perhaps this Sanskrit word is somewhat close to Divinity. But stupid  'Hindus' won't  understand because a real Hindu is actually an ‘Undo’! He is undoing all conditioning imposed by the stupid belief systems.

 

Chapter 66

 

Rivers and oceans can be the kings of a hundred valleys
Because of their goodness in staying low
So they can be the kings of a hundred valleys
Thus if sages wish to be over people
They must speak humbly to them
If they wish to be in front of people
They must place themselves behind them
Thus the sages are positioned above
But the people do not feel burdened
They are positioned in front
But the people do not feel harmed
Thus the world is glad to push them forward without resentment
Because they do not contend
So the world cannot contend with them

 There is nothing beyond 'Absolute'! That is the beginning and the ending of everything! The ending and the beginning are the same! 'Absolute' does not begin nor end! Emptiness is the death of everything that the mind has cultivated! This Emptiness is not the product of the mind.

Chapter 67

 

Everyone in the world calls my Tao great
As if it is beyond compare
It is only because of its greatness
That it seems beyond compare
If it can be compared
It would already be insignificant long ago!

I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
Compassionate, thus able to have courage
Conserving, thus able to reach widely
Not daring to be ahead in the world
Thus able to assume leadership
Now if one has courage but discards compassion
Reaches widely but discards conservation
Goes ahead but discards being behind
Then death!
If one fights with compassion, then victory
With defense, then security
Heaven shall save them
And with compassion guard them

Being divided, most follow the outer movement of knowledge, ideas, beliefs, authority, security, prosperity and so on. In reaction to this, one follows the so-called inner life, with its visions, experiences, hopes, aspirations, secrecies, conflicts, despairs, depressions. As this movement is reaction, it is in conflict with the outer. So there is the contradiction, with its aches, anxieties and escapes!

Chapter 68

 

The great generals are not warlike
The great warriors do not get angry
Those who are good at defeating enemies do not engage them
Those who are good at managing people lower themselves
It is called the virtue of non-contention
It is called the power of managing people
It is called being harmonious with Heaven
The ultimate principle of the ancients

With the understanding of the outer, the inner movement begins, not in opposition nor in contradiction. As conflict is eliminated, the brain, though highly sensitive and alert, becomes quiet. Then only the inner movement has validity and significance.

Chapter 69

 

In using the military, there is a saying:
I dare not be the host, but prefer to be the guest
I dare not advance an inch, but prefer to withdraw a foot

This is called marching in formation without formation
Raising arms without arms
Grappling enemies without enemies
Holding weapons without weapons
There is no greater disaster than to underestimate the enemy
Underestimating the enemy almost made me lose my treasures

So when evenly matched armies meet
The side that is compassionate shall win

 

Out of this inner movement there is a generosity and compassion that is not the outcome of reason and purposeful self-denial. The flower is strong in its beauty as it can be forgotten, set aside or destroyed!

 

Chapter 70

My words are easy to understand, easy to practice
The world cannot understand, cannot practice
My words have basis
My actions have principle
People do not understand this
Therefore they do not understand me
Those who understand me are few
Thus I am highly valued
Therefore the sage wears plain clothes but holds jade

 

The ambitious people do not know beauty. The feeling of essence is beauty.

Chapter 71

 

To know that you do not know is highest
To not know but think you know is flawed

Only when one recognizes the fault as a fault can one be without fault

The sages are without fault
Because they recognize the fault as a fault
That is why they are without fault

Sacredness is not in the market to be bought or sold. Like beauty, it can not be seen through its opposite for it has no opposite!

 

Chapter 72

 

When people no longer fear force
They bring about greater force

Do not limit their place
Do not reject their livelihood
Because the ruler does not reject them
Therefore they do not reject the ruler

Therefore the sages:
Know themselves but do not glorify themselves
Respect themselves but do not praise themselves
Thus they discard that and take this

That which is Sacred has no attributes. Humans call an image, an icon,  a symbol sacred. But are they sacred or rather something to be worshipped out of complicated urges, fears and longings. Thought (and its 'thinker') puts together the intricacies of systems, dogmas, beliefs and the images. The symbols it projects are no more holy than the blueprint of a bridge or the design of a new airplane. Thought is matter and it can be made into anything, ugly or beautiful!

 

Chapter 73

The bold in daring will be killed
The bold in not daring will survive

Of these two, one may benefit, the other may harm
The one hated by Heaven – who knows the reason?
Even the sages still find this difficult

The Tao of Heaven:
Does not contend and yet excels in winning
Does not speak and yet excels in responding
Is not summoned and yet comes on its own
Is unhurried and yet excels in planning
The heavenly net is vast
Loose, and yet does not let anything slip through

 

There is a Sanctity that is not of thought! It is not cognized by thought nor can it be utilized by thought. Thought can not formulate it. It is not communicable by thought. It is a fact!

 

Chapter 74

 

People do not fear death
How can they be threatened with death?
If people are made to constantly fear death
Then those who act unlawfully I can capture and kill them
Who would dare?
There exists a master executioner that kills
If we substitute for the master executioner to kill
It is like substituting for the great carpenter to cut
Those who substitute for the great carpenter to cut
It is rare that they do not hurt their own hands

 

 A fact is to be seen and the seeing is not through the word. When a fact is interpreted, it ceases to be a fact. Interpreter is the traitor. The seeing is of highest importance. Seeing is immediate, instantaneous. What is seen in the fire of seeing, is never the same again!

 

Chapter 75

The people's hunger
Is due to the excess of their ruler's taxation
So they starve
The people's difficulty in being governed
Is due to the meddling of their ruler
So they are difficult to govern
The people's disregard for death
Is due to the glut in their ruler's pursuit of life
So they disregard death
Therefore those who do not strive for living
Are better than those who value living

The 'Presence' is here filling the room, spilling over the road and the river, beyond the waters, covering the earth.

 

Chapter 76 

While alive, the body is soft and pliant
When dead, it is hard and rigid
All living things, grass and trees,
While alive, are soft and supple
When dead, become dry and brittle
Thus that which is hard and stiff is the follower of death
That which is soft and yielding is the follower of life
Therefore, an inflexible army will not win
A strong tree will be cut down
The big and forceful occupy a lowly position
While the soft and pliant occupy a higher place

You have to die to everything you know, to your memories, to your miseries, to your pleasures. And when there is no jealosy, no envy, no craving, no torture of despair or depression, then you will know what love is; and you may come upon that which may be called Sacred and Absolute!

 

Chapter 77 

The Tao of Heaven
Is like drawing a bow
Lower that which is high
Raise that which is low
Reduce that which has excess
Add to that which is lacking

The Tao of heaven
Reduces the excessive
And adds to the lacking

The Tao of people is not so
It reduces the lacking
In order to offer to the excessive

Who can offer their excess to the world?
Only those who have the Tao
Therefore sages act without conceit
Achieve without claiming credit
They do not wish to display their virtue!

 A great river may become polluted as it flows past a town; but if the pollution is not too much, the river cleanses itself as it goes along. When the mind comes upon the sacredness, then every act is a cleansing act.

 

Chapter 78 

Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water
Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong
This is because nothing can replace it

That the weak overcomes the strong
And the soft overcomes the hard
Everybody in the world knows
But cannot put into practice

Therefore sages say:
The one who accepts the humiliation of the state
Is called its master
The one who accepts the misfortune of the state
Becomes king of the world
The truth seems like the opposite

 When the mind is not accumulating psychological registrations, it is making itself innocent. The mind, touched by a strange innocence, is in constant revolution. Such a mind is a rebel in which an inner revolution is happening. This is the only revolution  -  not the economic or social revolution - which are just re-evaluations, a mere modified continuity!

 

 

Chapter 79

After settling a great dispute
There must be remaining resentments
How can this be considered good?
Therefore the sage holds the left part of the contract
But does not demand payment from the other person
Those who have virtue hold the contract
Those without virtue hold the collections

The Heavenly Tao has no favorites
It constantly gives to the kind people

Pettiness is not ended by gathering more information, by more knowledge, by listening to great music, by seeing the beauty spots of the world and so on. What brings about the ending of pettiness is the clarity of self-knowing! It is only such a mind that is deeply religious.

 

Chapter 80

Small country, few people
Let them have many weapons but not use them
Let the people regard death seriously
And not migrate far away

Although they have boats and chariots
They have no need to take them
Although they have armors and weapons
They have no need to display them

Let the people return to tying knots and using them
Savor their food, admire their clothes
Content in their homes, happy in their customs

Neighboring countries see one another
Hear the sounds of roosters and dogs from one another
The people, until they grow old and die
Do not go back and forth with one another

Your experiences are translated and conditioned according to your background. You demand more experiences, the more you are strengthening that background. This process does not put an end to your sorrow, it is only an escape from sorrow. A mind that is clear in its self-knowing, has no need of experience. It is what it is. Clarity does not come through the instructions of another, whether he be a clever writer, a psychologist, a philosopher, or a so-called religious teacher.

 

Chapter 81

 

True words are not beautiful
Beautiful words are not true
Those who are good do not debate
Those who debate are not good
Those who know are not broad of knowledge
Those who are broad of knowledge do not know

Sages do not accumulate
The more they assist others, the more they possess
The more they give to others, the more they gain

The Tao of heaven
Benefits and does not harm
The Tao of sages
Assists and does not contend

 

It is one of the most marvellous things in life to discover something unexpectedly, spontaneously; to come upon something without pre-concept or pre-determined conclusion. But the mind that is seeking and wanting to find, is never in that position at all!

 

 

                                      Jai Tao