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Location: Melbourne, Australia

An Australian from a Chinese background who loves the India Yoga System taught by Sri. Pattabhi Jois. This page is a study note of the classic sutra of Tao Teh Ching by the Great Lao Tzu.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Tao Teh Ching Chapter 32

道常无名,朴虽小,天下莫能臣也。侯王若能守之,万物将自宾。天地相合以降甘露,民莫之令而自均。
始制有名,名亦既有,夫亦将知止,知止可以不殆。譬道之在天下,犹川谷之于江海。

Translation
The Tao has no name. However small may this simple Tao, nothing the whole world can be a master of it. If the kings can abide by it, all will submit spontaneously. When the heaven and earth are united, the sweet dew is formed and distributed evenly without the interference of Man.
When structure starts to form the name is given, after the creation of the names, the formation (the structure that has been formed, i.e. this world) should know when to stop. Knowing when to stop protects it from danger.
If we compare the Tao and this world, it is like compare the valleys and tributes to rivers and seas.


Comments

The first paragraph is fairly straightforward. The second one is not. I have to use some liberty here.
制, is rule, structure. 既 means having finished, after.
This is one of many times Lao Tzu says that the Tao does not have a name. What is the Tao? From the first paragraph, it seems to me that the union of the heaven and earth is the Tao in action, because in doing so, the dew is distributed evenly without human interference. Here I remember in Tibetan Buddhism the aim of life is to achieve the unification of the sun and moon. The sun and the moon are two extremes, so is heaven and earth. By uniting extremes, the duality is destroyed. The Tai Chi 太极, literally means that the edge of the extreme. At the edge of the extreme, extremity disappears.
始制有名,名亦既有,夫亦将知止,知止可以不殆。This is the second paragraph, which is quite difficult. After the names are invented for the structures form, the structure must know when to stop, otherwise it will lead to its own destruction.
譬道之在天下,犹川谷之于江海。In this sentence, we need to asked what does the valleys mean to the rivers and seas? Without the valleys and tributes, no river and seas will exist. So it is evident that the Tao is the origin of the world existence.

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