Lesson Seventy-Two: Students
The Tao is born, the virtue is stored, the form of things, and the potential is to be virtuous because all things do not respect the Tao. The dignity of the Tao, the nobility of virtue, the fate of Fu Mo, and the constant nature. Therefore, the Tao is born, and the virtue is stored. The long nurture, the pavilion poison, the nourishment of the overthrow. To be born without being, to be for nothing, to be long and not to be slaughtered, is to be called Xuande.
Here Lao Tzu admonishes us: Fu Mo's destiny is always natural. Monasticism is not for life, but is always in a state of nature. Studying the Tao Te Ching is not specifically designed to solve the problem of survival, not to make you have a high standard of food, clothing, shelter and transportation, but to make you look down on all this, so that you can be in a natural state.
When most of us begin to study the Tao Te Ching, we hope to solve some of our own problems, such as: physical diseases, family conflicts, work failures, etc., and some want to decorate their "façade", and even want to get fame and fortune through this way. Lao Tzu told us that when studying the Tao Te Ching, we should achieve the four low-level voids, and we should look down on food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, and not fight for these things. Look down on these, people will be loose, carefree, you are natural, do not compare with others, selfish desires are less, you can be in a natural state.
The vast majority of us now are busy all day, physically and mentally exhausted, that is, for food, clothing, shelter and transportation. It's not that we don't need food, clothing, shelter, or work, it's not that we don't need to work hard, but it's that we should look down on these things and don't be satisfied in order to pursue a high standard of life. Only by seeing this clearly and knowing contentment can people live easily and naturally.
Zhu Zhidan color