muteness  Chinese for "muteness"



The more you dwell in the spirit,
The farther you are from common ways.
If you want to speak of Tao’s wonders,
Few will listen.



If you spend a long period of time in study and self-cultivation, you will enter Tao. By doing so, you also enter a world of extraordinary perceptions. You experience unimaginable things, receive thoughts and learning as if from nowhere, perceive things that could be classified as prescient. Yet if you try to communicate what you experience, there is no one to understand you, no one who will believe you. The more you walk this road, the farther you are from the ordinary ways of society. You may see the truth, but you will find that people would rather listen to politicians, performers and charlatans.

If you are known as a follower of Tao, people may seek you out, but  they are seldom the ones who will truly understand Tao. They are people who would exploit Tao as a crutch. To speak to them of the wonders you have seen is often to engage in a futile bout of miscommunication. That is why it is said that those who know do not speak.

Why not simply stay quiet? Enjoy Tao as you will. Let others think you are dumb. Inside yourself, you will know the joy of Tao’s mysteries. If you meet someone who can profit by your experience, you should share. But if you are merely a wanderer in a crowd of strangers, it is wisdom to be silent.
muteness
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9
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Tibet, Treasures from the Roof of the World    
TIBET: TREASURES FROM  THE ROOF OF THE WORLD
Four-armed Mahakala
Tibet, 12th — 13th Century
Tibet Museum
Photo Courtesy of Bowers Museum
One of the earliest and most important works in the exhibition, this 12th or 13th century sculpture presents Mahakala, a protector deity worshipped by all Tibetan sects. Wearing a five-skull crown, he has three eyes wide open in wrathful expression, and his hair stands on end. The orange color of his hair and moustache refers to his function as a wrathful deity, one called upon to protect and defend.

T  A  O   t e  C  H  I  N  G 
hand drawn calligraphy of the word dao
t  w  e  n  t  y  -  f  i  v  e

tao 25
There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.

It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.

The Tao is great.
The universe is great.
Earth is great.
Man is great.
These are the four great powers.

Man follows the earth.
Earth follows the universe.
The universe follows the Tao.
The Tao follows only itself.
— today's translation is by Steven Mitchell


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