Section 14
There is one thing in the universe that we can not see with our eyes, nor hear with our ears, nor grasp by our perceiving mind, which our senses fail to perceive or our mind fails to grasp yet may be realized in meditation … If we concentrate our mind upon it, our mind becomes unified with it and becomes as empty as open space.
The fifth-dimensional concept of the Tao is way beyond the third- and fourth-dimensional capabilities of words and thought, which is why you must have a silence to have any true knowledge of it. You must learn about the silence yourself.
What most people call silence is only an absence of noise, an absence of the rattling around of the formatory apparatus and associative thinking. Getting rid of the noise is the first step, and is all that the mind is capable of. You have to work hard to get some silence in yourself, first by practising Ramnam – you come to the silence by remembrance.
When the silence does happen, it is there, it is something you have discovered in yourself. It has been there all the time, you have not heard it because of all the junk inside yourself, then one day you get a taste of it. Then it will be remembrance that brings you back to it.
Section 16
The idea of the silence is repeated throughout the Tao-Teh-King because it is Lao Tse’s way of trying to approach the Tao. Everything has to go back to its original Source, the ‘eternal state’. Remember the silence is a force which is always there and which you can become part of if you tap into it. It is not something you do, but something you can participate in. It is a part of the force we call space; silence and space form the third force of the solar system.
Very few people could achieve a silence simply by saying to themselves they were going to have a silence; you have to put your mind into a state whereby the silence comes. People often think they can achieve it by emptying their minds and holding off their thoughts, but usually they would be so identified they would be practising quietism. The main difference between quietism and the silence is that with the former you are asleep and identified and with the latter you are awake and there is a separation.
To work toward getting into the silence you must first put into your mind a mantra to divert and replace the associative thinking which is the ‘confusion and evil activity’ of the mind. The simplest and best method is to say God’s name in your heart; choose a two-syllable name such as Allah, Buddha, Jesus or any other that is meaningful to you, and keep repeating it with awareness of what you are doing. You must know that you are saying God’s name. This will slowly quieten the associative thinking until you are full of the idea of God in yourself, and then the silence will come.
Section 19
If you can stop the chatter and activity in your head, then there is some chance of something higher coming through. While associative thinking is going on or your mind is wandering in any way you are outside yourself, spreading yourself out, fragmenting yourself. So you have to try to be contained, learn how to make a real separation in yourself and not interfere. The aim is to overcome complexity and get some simplicity in yourself, which means trying to overcome your ego. This requires an attitude of inner sincerity, and sustained struggle without ambition.
On the surface there is more complexity and sophistication in our lives today, but in a real sense human nature has not changed much in three or even ten thousand years. Just as today, most people in Lao Tse’s day were selfish, fearful, greedy and so on, with a few other people crying in the wilderness trying to give them the right ideas. For a while many people followed the Taoist ideas, then they followed Confucius and became materialists. Movements towards the truth tend to go in such surges, but for the masses of people Mammon has been the only consistent god in the world. Mammon was the name for the golden calf in the Hebrew teaching, but in the wider sense it means wealth, power and possessions. Today the worship of Mammon is evident in the glorification of the profit motive which leaves room for very little real religion in the world.
‘Primal values’ for a human being operating on this planet outwardly involve selfless service and consideration of others, and inwardly involve obtaining a silence in yourself. The inward part is the most important because without the silence you cannot really hear anything. When you are completely silent in yourself you are completely virtuous. Returning to primal values is something each individual has to do for himself; talking about values and even legislating for them does not work.
Section 32
The most important teaching in this passage is contained in the sentence: ‘To know when to be satisfied and to restrain desire is to know the secret of longevity.’ This refers to the subtle point that in learning to have acceptance and overcoming negative emotions in the sense of your desires, you will be conserving your energy, feeding it back into yourself instead of wasting it.
A feeling of contentment and an understanding that you do not need to chase after more may be gained in a third-dimensional way, from a balanced name part, but a more complete understanding would come from the spirit. When you have that acceptance and control you will know the ‘secret’ – your third-dimensional efforts will lead you to it because they create finer energies which can be used by the Tao to complete the process.
You cannot force an understanding of Tao, it cannot be coerced. But the efforts you make create the possibility of the secret flowing through you. Your struggles are the little streams which accumulate to lead to the broad river of Tao.
Section 41
One of the signs of the developed man is that he is virtually unrecognisable. The enlightened person knows he does not count and is just God’s instrument, so he is not trying to push anybody or collect followers to show his importance. He knows exactly where he is going and what he has to do, and just does it. While the masses of people are looking for all kinds of complexity, he is quite simple; he knows it is entirely up to God whether he is required to become famous or not.
For several years the Buddha had only a few people wandering around with him, and attracted great numbers only toward the end of his life. Mohammed too had only a few followers for ten or fifteen years, until others decided he would fit the role of the king they were looking for. On the other hand, there was a man in thirteenth-century Germany who influenced all the inner part of religious life yet never became known to the masses of people. The Tao does what it wants to do.
Section 51
The ‘spontaneous’ recognition of Tao and teh comes not through ordinary thinking but from inside yourself. Lao Tse has used a variety of words to describe attributes of teh, but words can only give you a taste. You are left to form your own conception of it, but the real understanding comes from a stillness or silence within yourself. Once you have entered this mystery it is still very difficult to talk about.
