Devotional Notes - The Tenth Chapter of the Xuande Chapter of the Tao Te Ching

Carrying the camp and holding one, can you be inseparable? Dedicated and gentle, can you be a baby? Clean up the mystery, can it be flawless? Love the country and govern the people, can you be ignorant? When the gate of heaven opens and closes, can you be a female? Understand Si Da, can you do nothing? Born, animal. To be born without being, to act without relying on it, to grow without slaughtering, is called Xuande.

To understand the Tao Te Ching, you must first understand its structure. It can be divided into "Tao" and "Virtue" to explain, but at the same time they are inseparable~

This chapter Xuande Zhang, Xuande: The supreme virtue, the "virtue" closest to the essence of Tao

Lao Tzu divided it into seven parts to remind the world:

1. Can I live without leaving? (in one)

2. Dedicated and soft, can you be like a baby? (pure)

3. Clean up the mysterious, can it be flawless? (Without me)

4. To patriotism and governing the people, can you do nothing? (do nothing)

5. When the gate of heaven opens and closes, can you be a female? (one body)

6. If you understand Si Da, can you be ignorant? (ignorance)

7. The accumulation of life, the life without having it, the action without relying on it, the growth without slaughtering, this is called Xuande. (Summarize)

[Carrying the camp soul and hugging one, can you stay away from it? 】

The camp is "尟" and "soul". Therefore, the soul is the solution of the soul, the soul is yang, and the soul is yin

Po: the form of human beings

The essence of human beings is called "soul", and the body is called "soul" - "Taiping Yulan" quoted "Book of Rites"

The soul and the soul are independent, but inseparable. Whether we do what we appear to be, whether we truly embrace everything about ourselves, and love ourselves. Only then can we truly live in the "now".

"Now": There is no time and space, everything can be changed and created by the present.

[Dedicated and soft, can you be like a baby? 】

Can we make our essence and life be as soft, smooth, pure and natural as a baby, so that we can return to nature?

[Purify Xuan Lan, can it be flawless? 】

Can we make our minds like a mirror, without making any judgments on everything, and be aware of it all the time?

Defects: make criticisms. There are faults and flaws, but this is the product of "separation".

【Do you care about patriotism and governing the people? 】

Can patriotism govern the people without doing anything?

(Please refer to Chapter 3 for details)

[The gate of heaven is opened and closed, can you be a female? 】

The Word we seek is not in heaven, or anywhere else.

He is omnipresent and includes everything in heaven and earth, because He is the source of all that is.

The "Tianmen" and "Female" in this section echo each other.

Female: It can be interpreted as "earth", which means "the mother of the earth". So use the word female.

Here we are reminded that the way to the "Tao" is not elsewhere. Everything in life is, and all that is is.

Because "Tao" means "unity".

[Understand Si Da, can you be ignorant? 】

Even if we are very knowledgeable, we know the past and the present. Is it possible to be non-attached.

Any knowledge and answers that will vary with different conditions are not truth.

Because the essence of "Tao" is eternal and unchanging.

Because what we know is full of too much subjectivity, and discrimination creates too much criticism. So much so that we forget the true nature of all that is.

[The animal that is born, is born without being born, does not depend on it, grows without slaughtering, this is called Xuande. 】

Animals born of life = born of Tao and animals of virtue (see Chapter 51 of the original text)

Tao: Do all the original solution, and that is the truth.

De: The Saha world we live in and the rules by which everything works. (the virtue closest to Tao)

The relationship is: Dao = emptiness ↔️ Virtue = form.

"Tao" is the source of all things, and He nurtures all things, but He will not interfere or dominate in any way. He embraces everything, and does not take credit for it. To be so close to the essence of "Tao" is the highest virtue between heaven and earth, and all that exists.