Verse 2

"Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,

only because there is ugliness.

All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Being and nonbeing produce each other.

The difficult is born in the easy.

Long is defined by short, the high by the low.

Before and after go along with each other.

So the sage lives openly with apparent duality.

and paradoxical unity.

The sage can act without effort

and teach without words.

Nurturing things without possessing them,

he works, but not for rewards;

he competes, but not for results.

When the work is done, it is forgotten.

That is why it lasts forever."

In this verse it appears that Lao Tzu is showing us a "the way it is versus the way it should be" kind of living. Truly, when one thinks about society and where it guides our thoughts, we see how everything must be split up into one or the other; beautiful or ugly, easy or hard and so on. But consider the everyday sayings like "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" or "every pot has its cover". Each of us can remember a multitude of instances where there was disagreement over the beauty of an item such as a car, a house or even a landscape. When we walk through a park we might be inclined to admire a tree that stands tall with full branches of green leaves and colorful flowers but then turn and mock a tree that stands crooked and appears uneven. In reality there is no difference between them as they are both exactly how they are supposed to be doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. I often walk through the trees on my property and marvel at how every one has its own unique beauty. Some are "tall" some are "short" some "bushy" and some "sparse". All perfect and perfectly doing what they were intended to do. I can't help but stop on my walks and absorb the Loving energy that they offer me. At that moment I feel engulfed in an unconditional, non-judgmental Love and this is what I offer back to them. Indeed this should be how we approach every thing and everybody in this world as we are all of God and therefore all one and the same being.

 When I move past the world of form and live in spirit I feel the unity and perfection that we are meant to feel in this world of 10,000 things. When we realize that all that we do, all that we encounter is part of  "the plan", part of our journey, hard and easy begin to melt away and only the vision of experience and growth remain. Everything is viewed as necessary now and unnecessary when it is over. For it has played its part in teaching and is no longer needed. Think about how we tend to judge "easy" and "hard" jobs differently  before we begin them. Yet how many times has the outcome been the same? Maybe an understanding that it was necessary coupled with the joy in what we have learned or achieved.

 A truly God realized being or sage understands his place in this wonderful universe. He lives "in the world but not of it". He understands that all things are necessary on the path and therefore doesn't tag things "easy" or "hard", "good" or "bad". His only competition lies within, to be as good as he can be, better than he was before. To care and nurture all that are in need, not only the ones he is close to for we are all one. There is no medal, no tag, no ribbon or recognition for his achievements because as the task is done it is no longer necessary and need not be remembered. All that is important is his purpose, what lies next on his journey. As with God and nature, he moves with the flow of things and lives in every moment.

Verse 1

"The Toa that can be told is not the eternal Toa.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The Toa is both named and nameless.

As nameless it is the origin of all things;

as named it is the Mother of 10,000 things.

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery;

ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.

And the mystery itself is the doorway

to all understanding."

What is so amazing to me is how obvious all these observations were to Loa Tzu. Truly he must have been enlightened. In this first verse he lays the foundations for all the following verses, that is, God is both material and spiritual. When referring to the Toa that can be told or named he is referring to the Physicality of The Toa or if you prefer, God. This is the God that we see. I guess we need to take a few steps back at this point to look at what that actually means. 

 The God that we see, refers to everything in the physical world, or what Loa Tzu refers to as the "10,000 things". God is not only the creator of this vast wonderful universe/multiverse, he is the universe. In many religions God is portrayed as a spiritual being sitting up in the sky somewhere. But when we start to search for God we inevitably find Him everywhere. Everything we view as "physical or solid or material" came from a state of non-being or nothingness. That is to say from Spirit. God did indeed create everything, and it was created from what we consider nothingness from a worldly view. It actually comes down to understanding that everything of physical form was created out of spiritual energy or Love. When we hear the saying "God is Love" how many of us actually take it literally? I digress. Even in the field of Quantum Physics it is understood that being, or physical particles come from non-being or energy. Alternatively we could say that everything on this plane comes from the spiritual plane. This is the key to manifestation. But I digress again.

 So now that we understand the "Toa that can be named" we can understand that it is not eternal, as all things of being or material form will eventually become non being again sooner or later or, they will die. But it is still God as everything and everybody is a part of the Wholeness of Him. 

 Now that we know all of this it is clear that the "nameless Toa" is the Spirit. And being Spirit, is the creating force behind all that we see. It is therefore obvious that Spirit or the nameless Toa is where the true importance lies. For from this place of supposed non being, we are born.

 Now we venture on to the final two sentences. What Loa Tzu is trying to convey is that if you truly want to know the truth, you must not hunt for it but allow it to present itself to you. This is another foundation of the Toa teaching. The "Wu Wei" that epitomizes the way of God. The non-action or non-doing. As it says in the Bible, God created the earth and then allowed it to be. He stepped back in non-action, he allowed. I think we can all remember an incident were we lost or forgot something, the more or harder we tried to find it the more it eluded us. Yet once we finally gave up (allowed), it presented itself. Sometimes in remarkable ways. This is a perfect example and again the saying "Let go and let God" bears repeating here. So to sum it up, the "mystery" is the awe of Gods creative Spirit. The spirit realm, and trying to see it will only lead you to see what it has produced, the material realm (manifestations) here and now. Now I think the last sentence becomes obvious, but if not, here it goes in plain ole' english. God, Spirit, the Toa is the truth, the way and the life!

 Hopefully this brings you to a place of deeper understanding. I welcome all questions, answers and comments. If you can add light to the way for others please do so. We are all here to learn. 

 Until next time, thank you.

 Namaste

Welcome to Loa Tzu's Tao Te Ching

Hello all, 
 I'm not a good writer but feel compelled to start this blog in the interests of bringing a better awareness of peace and understanding to the world. Many of the verses of the Tao parallel the Bible so closely as well as other holy texts that one could swear that they were taken from the same "book". If this teaches us anything, it's that wisdom has come all through the ages from many enlightened individuals. It is our job as human beings to embrace this wisdom and understand that it doesn't lie in any one "religion" but instead  manifests itself through many different channels. When we learn to tear down the barriers of Religion, Culture and all other separatist beliefs,  and realize that we are One People, One Family ,One Whole, we will begin to change the world. 
 Although there are many books written on the Tao, I recommend reading "Change your thoughts, change your life. Living the wisdom of the Tao" by Dr Wayne Dyer. In his book, Dr Dyer Quotes each Verse followed by a short and to the point interpretation of what the Sage meant to teach us. I think I can safely say that the combined knowledge of the original Sage and Dr Dyer have come together to create a very powerful book.
 It is my wish to see this blog become a reading and meeting place where like and opposing minds can come together and share all of their thoughts. All that I ask is that we remember to be respectful of all opinions and ideas remembering that there are many roads that lead us to the Truth. It is worth mentioning that all the fragmented ideas we bring to the table will do their part in piecing together the Eternal Truth of God
 So with that in mind, I wish you all the Peace, Love and Happiness that is God. Together we can make a difference in this world, for this world.  Namaste.

Humbly, a servant to all,

Erik