Devotional Notes - Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are dogs; saints are not benevolent, and people are dogs. Between the heavens and the earth, is it still slender? Virtual and unyielding, moving and out. Too many words and too few words, it is better to stay in the middle.

[Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and regard all things as dogs; saints are not benevolent, and they regard the common people as dogs. 】

Between heaven and earth, there is no moral code. The sage is never limited by secular norms and standards, because from the point of view of the Tao: everything in the world is illusory, and what it embodies is not His essence.

If we say that there are errors in our cognition of the nature of all that is, how can we say that the so-called moral standards and cognition of the world are not based on our subjectivity?

[Between heaven and earth, how still is it? Virtual and unyielding, moving and out. Too many words and too few words, it is better to stay in the middle. 】

The law of the movement of the heavens and the earth is like the scorpion. When it is not pushed, it looks empty and cannot feel the existence of the wind. Conversely, the more you push it, the more wind will appear. Saying too much is easy to go astray and misinterpret, so it is better to stop in moderation.

The metaphor here is that the essence of "Tao" (emptiness) seems to be nothing, but it is full of various possibilities. And the critical boundary is between motion and stillness. And this "movement" reflects more changes! That is why the Saha world is so complex and changeable.

楊籥: a bellows used in forging in ancient times

This chapter cites an example to reinforce the descriptions of the previous chapters:

Between heaven and earth (compared to the Saha world), all that exists is just like the scorpion, and the more it moves, the more it emerges. why?

Because the essence of "Tao" is "doing nothing". The ability to distinguish between "good" and "evil" is created because of the discriminating mind. Neither side will ever exist alone; no matter which side is favored, the other side will also be in opposition to achieve balance.

So this Saha world is like that scorpion. The more we separate, the more fear and scarcity we create. And live on and on...

Therefore, the only way is to stay in the middle, not to be biased towards any one side, and not to be discriminatory. Only then can we approach the essence of "Tao".