A Commentary on Tao Teh King, by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 Returning to the Root
“The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their original state). When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root. This returning to their root is what we call the state of stillness; and that stillness may be called a reporting that they have fulfilled their appointed end.
“The report of that fulfillment is the regular, unchanging rule. To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it leads to wild movements and evil issues. The knowledge of that unchanging rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things). From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Tao. Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay” (Tao Teh King 16).
The translation of Lin Yutang is much clearer, I think; here it is:
“Attain the utmost in Passivity, hold firm to the basis of Quietude.
“The myriad things take shape and rise to activity, but I watch them fall back to their repose. Like vegetation that luxuriantly grows but returns to the root (soil) from which it springs.
“To return to the root is Repose; it is called going back to one’s Destiny. Going back to one’s Destiny is to find the Eternal Law. To know the Eternal Law is Enlightenment. And not to know the Eternal Law is to court disaster.
“He who knows the Eternal Law is tolerant; being tolerant, he is impartial; being impartial, he is kingly; being kingly, he is in accord with Nature; being in accord with Nature, he is in accord with Tao; being in accord with Tao, he is eternal, and his whole life is preserved from harm.”
- Attain the utmost in Passivity, hold firm to the basis of Quietude.
The ideal of the Tao Teh King, the Bhagavad Gita, and the teachings of Buddha are the same: we must transfer our awareness into the Stillpoint, the Silence that is the unmoving Consciousness which is our true Being. At the same time we must move through the world skillfully, so living as to end the compulsion to further rebirth. Meditation enables us to “attain the utmost in Passivity.” That is, it enables us to live centered in the unmoving Silence while being fully and effectively active. Through long practice of meditation we become able to “hold firm to the basis of Quietude” at all times.
- The myriad things take shape and rise to activity, but I watch them fall back to their repose. Like vegetation that luxuriantly grows but returns to the root (soil) from which it springs.
Here we have another unanimity. All things arise into manifestation from the “primal soup” that consists of numberless elements that themselves are composites. Since coming implies going and getting implies losing--for there is an inexhorable impulse to ever return to the original state--it is inevitable that all things will return to non-manifestation, which Lao Tzu sees not as death or destruction, but a return to repose, to peace and freedom from the tension or stress inherent in all forms. There is a Root to all things: the Tao which is both Origin and Completion.
- To return to the root is Repose; it is called going back to one’s Destiny.
Total union/identity with the Tao is the only real destiny anything or anyone has. There is no real distinction between sentient and insentient being--all is Tao. And about That nothing can be said.
- Going back to one’s Destiny is to find the Eternal Law.
This is a perfect definition of Dharma: the return to the One. Anything that aids in this return is dharmic, and that which hinders the return is adharmic. This is the only basis upon which we should determine what is right or wrong, good or evil. Return is “the Eternal Law.”
- To know the Eternal Law is Enlightenment.
“Death is certain for the born. Rebirth is certain for the dead” (Bhagavad Gita 2:27). Those who are born are without exception destined to die, so in a sense they are “dead” the moment they are born. In the same way, those that tread the way of the Eternal Law which ends in enlightenment are already enightened by the fact of their pilgrimage. For this reason, those who walk the Way deserve our utmost respect, and those who persevere unto the end deserve our reverence--and imitation.
- And not to know the Eternal Law is to court disaster.
That is so obvious to anyone with a functioning mind that it needs no comment.
- He who knows the Eternal Law is tolerant; being tolerant, he is impartial; being impartial, he is kingly; being kingly, he is in accord with Nature; being in accord with Nature, he is in accord with Tao; being in accord with Tao, he is eternal, and his whole life is preserved from harm.
Those who walk the Way advance in unfoldment of character setp by step as outlined here until they are the Tao alone.
Read more Commentary on the Tao Teh King.
A Commentary on the Dhammapada, by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 Craving
The Pali word translated “craving” is tanha, which is the exact equivalent of the Sanskrit word trishna which means internal or external thirst, craving, or desire that is based on material objects. Since this is the cause of so much activity and eventual suffering, and its elimination bring peace, an entire section of the Dhammapada is devoted to the subject.
Increase of craving
“The desire of a thoughtlessly living man grows like a creeper. He drifts from one life to another like a monkey looking for fruit in the forest” (Dhammapada 334). Thanissaro Bhikkhu: “When a person lives heedlessly, his craving grows like a creeping vine. He runs now here and now there, as if looking for fruit: a monkey in the forest.”
Heedless living is the order of the day. Narada Thera renders it “addicted to careless living,” reminiscent of Judge Robert Bork’s book title: Slouching Toward Gomorrah. In the main people dress, act, speak, and think like slouches. Cheapness and heedlessness are the marks of contemporary society. Some might call it “casual,” but only a fool lives casually, and Buddha explains why. Beneath the pretence of the easy-going mellowness of the “no sweat” slouchers intense craving festers, but since they are so indolent they crave the easily attained, especially turning to drugs to achieve mental and emotional states they are too lazy to pursue legitimately. Their “recreation” is equally banal and pointless--as are their lives in every aspect. Those who can afford it sometimes become hyper-active Beautiful People, but their cheapness and shallowness just costs a lot more.
Although those in the grip of desire do go from life to life, that is an interpretive translation. Thanissaro Bhikkhu renders it literally, which makes more sense. People run here and there, “channel surfing” their life, living like a restless monkey in the forest of desire.
Increase of sorrow
“When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one’s sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain. But when one masters this wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome, then one’s sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus” (Dhammapada 335, 336).
We are surrounded by a deluge of books, articles, talks, and seminars on “peace” but there is no peace. Yoga is touted as a way to peace, “getting saved” is a supposed way to peace, and of course there are the hostile endeavors of “peace activism” and the futility of “peace conferences” and “peace negotiations.” It is totally without value or effect. Why? because craving increases sorrow like grass growing after rain. There is only one way out: the overcoming of desire. It is hard to do, but there is no other way. When desire is gone, sorrow is gone. The lotus is not really touched by the water. Its oily surface repels it. And wisdom repels desire.
The way to peace
“This is what I say to you--Good luck be with you, gathered here. Dig up the root of craving, as one does a weed for its fragrant root. Do not let Mara destroy you again and again, like a stream does its reeds” (Dhammapada 337).
Buddha truly wishes us well (“good luck be with you”), so he tells us the straight truth. Craving must not just be suppressed, made dormant, or lessened--it must be dug totally out of our minds and heart. Otherwise we will be drowned in the river of ignorance and negativity again and again--even from life to life. Let us face it: life in this world kills us; and the root of worldly life is desire. Otherwise: “In the same way that even a felled tree will grow again if its root is strong and undamaged, so if latent desire has not been rooted out, then suffering shoots up again and again” (Dhammapada 338).
Streams of craving
“When the thirty six pleasure-bound streams of craving are strong in a man, then numerous desire-based thoughts pull the deluded man along. The streams (of craving) flow everywhere, and the creeper shoots up and establishes itself, so when you see the creeper shooting up, cut away its root with your understanding” (Dhammapada 339, 340).
It is insight alone, true intuitional wisdom, that can cut away craving.
Seekers of enjoyment
“The recollection and attraction of pleasures occur to a man, and those who are attached to the agreeable and seeking enjoyment, they are the people subject to birth and aging” (Dhammapada 341).
“Are you happy?” this is the mindless cant of “those who are attached to the agreeable and seeking enjoyment.” “The pursuit of happiness” is a pathetic exercise in futility when it is out-turned, for happiness (sukha) and joy (ananda) are found only within. “It tastes like ‘more’” is a kind of southern pleasantry when eating something good, but it unfortunately becomes a philosophy of life: “If it feels good, do it.” What insanity. It reminds me of the radio adaption of Arsenic and Old Lace. One of the old ladies fondly remembers that one of the old men they poisoned “lived long enough to say it tasted good.” Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote of people who ingest spiritual poison and “sweetly drink in their death.” Birth and decay are the bitterness within the “good things of life” as they experience but yet do not learn.
Trapped
“People beset by desire run here and there, like a snared rabbit, and those trapped in the bonds of attachments keep returning for a long time to suffering. People beset by desire run here and there, like a snared rabbit, so one should get rid of one’s craving if it is freedom from desire that one wants” (Dhammapada 342, 343).
Hamsters run and run in their wheel and get absolutely nowhere; in the same way people rush here and there, busy and distracted, not knowing that they are really tied down. As Sri Ramakrishna said, a human’s “free will” is nothing more than the length of the rope an animal is tied to. It moves about freely in that area, but no more. Everyone is tied to the stake of death and does not know it. They are awaiting slaughter all unaware. I once saw a herd of ducks obsessively and fearfully clustering around their owner as he went to market. When he got there, they crowded up to him and stood completely still. Every so often someone would approach and point out a duck they wanted to buy. He would reach down, pick up the duck, and deftly break its neck in one swift movement. And that duck had felt so secure, so safe, being near him. Freedom from desire in the only real freedom and safety.
Return to bondage
“When a man out of the forest of desire is drawn back into the forest, then free from the forest as he is, he runs back into it. Look at him--free, he is running back to chains” (Dhammapada 344).
A lot of people manage a momentary escape from the bonds of earthly life and then turn and run right back into the prison. In the same way people temporarily are free of desire--especially when great sorrow comes to them or death is witnessed. But it is only a momentary distraction, and in a bit they are gripped and driven by craving. Someone’s spouse dies and they swear they will never marry anyone else, but often in a matter of months “the old ball and chain” gets welded on again. People are grieved at the death of a beloved pet and declare that they will never get another one, but after a bit they get not one, but two! If freedom is not permanent it is not freedom at all.
Read more Commentary on the Dhammapada.
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