The Mother of All Things

Thus it is that the Tao produces (all things), nourishes them, brings them to their full growth, nurses them, completes them, matures them, and overspreads them.



Verse 50

For there is in him no place of death?

I found this chapter/verse a bit tricky.  It speaks to how man lives in the present life time he is in, alluding to reincarnation?

 Three out of every ten men minster to living the good life for themselves, while  three out of every ten ministers to death ( focuses on death, dies young?).  Another three out of the ten may aspire to live but tend( focus on ) to death instead  of living because they are constantly trying to extend their lives in fear of death. One percent of men are able to manage their life successfully and are safe in the forms they are in, safe from  weapons or wild animals like the horn of the rhinoceros.  Why?  Because they live fully the life they were given without focusing on death.

Is he basically saying how the fear of death diminishes the quality of our lives?

Verse 51

Here Lao Tzu speaks to The mysterious operation. All things, all things are created and helped to grow to maturity through the Tao. They are brought into certain circumstances and manifestations and  because of that they honour its "outflowing operation".   All things honour the Tao, not because it was ordained to be superior way but because it is simply natural to do so. The Tao does not possess these thing it creates, nor does it profess its ability to do so, nor does it control them.  It just provides the means  for them to grow to maturity. ...mysteriously.

Verse 52

The Tao is the mother of all things under the sky. Once we understand the Mother, we can anticipate what the child will be like.  Man will be free of peril if he seeks to guard the qualities of the Mother of all things, the Tao.  (Seeks to be like her).

If he keeps his mouth shut and blocks his nostrils he will be exempt from having to work hard.  (He will also be dead won't he?)  But if he keeps his mouth open in order to promote his affairs (and himself in ego ways through speech?)  he will never be safe.

Being able to see what is small is clear sightedness.  Guarding what is soft and tender (like the Mother's heart?) is the secret of strength.

Moral: Be like the Mother, be like the Tao...humble, gentle, tender.

Verse 53

Lao Tzu says here that if he ever became recognized and known or put in a position of leadership the thing he would be most afraid of is a "boastful display." Ego ( though this word is not used obviously) is the by-way of the Tao and not the Tao?  People tend to prefer the appearance of greatness and abundance, over actually having it: Court yards well kept, while fields are ill-cultivated.  Their appearances may display wealth and they may have lots of 'stuff' but they are not wealthy in the Tao.  Just the opposite.

Verse 54

I really don't like it when Legge rhymes lol

I think...and I only guess that what is meant here is that to truly know if the effect of the Tao is taking place in some one's life is to observe.  Observe to see if the plants they planted are strong enough, to  never be up torn.  (Wasn't sure how that applied to what can not be borne from enfolded arms.)  I think though he did mean if a man follows the Tao his sons will bring him sacrifices. 

If we seek to nurture the Tao within ourselves, it will become true to us. And going within to the Tao will lead to blessing in the world around the faithful.  The effects of the Tao, when nurtured, will be seen in the person, the family, the neighborhood, state and kingdom.  The effect of one's faith is wide spread.

Verse 55

Lao Tzu compares the man who follows the way as to an infant. The infant's bones though weak allow him to grasp firmly; though it knows not sex it can have an erection,  and it can cry all day long without getting hoarse.  Meaning, I believe, that despite its softness, innocence and intensity...it is endurable and  untouchable. If we can remain soft and innocent the Tao will be shown to us.  We will find Truth.  We will endure.

All "life-increasing arts" however will turn to evil for strength is false.  When things become strong they become old which is the opposite of the infantile nature of the Tao.  Whatever is contrary to the Tao will end.

Verse 56

He who knows the Tao does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready) to speak about it does not know it.

The Tao can not be explained with words or concepts.  It is beyond conceptual knowledge or understanding.

The Mysterious Agreement is what is expressed when one knows the Tao.  The person who truly knows teh Tao doesn't speak about it (what's with holding the mouth and nostrils closed???) , he will not appear sharp, or bright, and be just as obscure as everyone else.  He will be humble and not stand out thus making him noble to heaven.  He will at teh same time be falling between familiarity and distance, between  profit and injury from others; and between nobility and "meanness' on earth.  He who professes to know the Tao mysteriously agrees to be mediocre????


Verse 57

Even though a state can be run by corrective measures and weapons of war it, freedom and ownership only come from doing nothing of purpose.  Lao Tzu argues this is true by saying that if there is too much corrective force poverty increases; and the more striving to regain profit, the more chaotic things become.  It also leads to more craftiness among men and more thieves and robbers.

"I will do nothing (of purpose) and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct.  I will take no trouble about it, and the people themselves become rich.  I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity."

More or less, we need to let the people rule themselves.

Add on....May 19, 2021: Thinking of how the line from Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind applies here, To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. page 13

Verse 58

The above is reinforced here.  The less a government meddles, the best it is for the people.

Happiness and misery go together.  We must dispense with correction because it can become distortion, and the good in it can turn to evil.

The sage is like a square that cuts no one with its angles; a corner that injures no one with its sharpness.

He is straightforward and honest but allows himself no license to be.  He is bright but does not dazzle.


Hmmm!  I have a hard time with the rhyming and with the input of brackets which I think are Legge's interpretations not what Lao Tzu actually  had written,

All is well.

James Legge (1895) https://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm