Dao De Jing as explained by Lao Zi

By Gilbert Tay

At last, the in-depth original meaning of Lao Zi in the Dao De Jing scripture is being studied and translated into English. A number of terminologies used in the original text in Chinese had been analysed, explained and translated into English. Some terms in Chinese without the parallel meaning in English were fully explained and Hanyu Pinyin was used. Examples are 'yin', 'yang', 'hun', 'po', 'jing', 'qi', 'shen' and 'wu-wei'.
Lao Zi was the first "Prophet" to explain "Dao" and "Dao cultivation", including nurturing one's moral virtue. Also, the philosophy of governance and military philosophy were also fully explained.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Jul 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9780228815242

Gilbert Tay

Gilbert Tay PhD (pen-name Ci En 慈恩 meaning compassion and gratitude) was originally Practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Quantum Medicine.Since 1985, he had been giving lectures on Dao cultivation; including lectures on Scriptures and Sutras in both Chinese and English.After retirement from his practice, he started to compile his lecture notes to be published into books for the benefit of mankind. It was the spiritual inspiration and intuition that he decided to compile the first book with the complete detailed explanation on Dao De Jing in English. The bilingual version in both Chinese and English is also being planned.Dated this 5th Day of April 2019 in Canada.

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Dao De Jing as explained by Lao Zi

Copyright © 2019 by Ci En (慈恩) (Gilbert Tay)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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978-0-2288-1523-5 (Paperback)

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道德經Dao De Jing

(Dao Jing: Chapter 1-37 De Jing: Chapter 38 – 81 explained in plain language)

道經 Dao Jing

Chapter 1 - 37

Lao Zi, 604-531 B.C.

Henan, Ancient China

Introduction of Lao Zi – Birth, Life and ‘Titles’

Lao Zi’s surname is Li(李), his given name is Er (耳)and the ‘courtesy name’ (bestowed at adulthood in some Asian countries) is Boyang (伯陽). Lao Zi (means old master) was a Chinese philosopher and writer born in 601 B.C. He is the reputed author of the Dao De Jing, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Daoism and traditional Chinese religions.

Legend says that Lao Zi’s mother, Lady Mother Lady Xuan Miao (聖母玄妙玉女)conceived Lao Zi during the Yin(殷) dynasty, Wang Yang Year Jia Geng (王陽甲庚) (B.C. 685).

‘Shen’ (申歲), (or ‘god/deity’), dreamed of colored rays embracing Tai Shang Lao Jun (太上老君) (the Golden Dragon King). He then descended from the sky and changed into five colored flowing beads. Lao Zi’s mother swallowed them and the Divine Embryo was conceived. She was pregnant for 81 years.

In Yin Dynasty Year Wang Wu Ding Gen (601 B.C.), her son was born in Chu Ku District Lai Xiang Qu Ren Li (楚苦縣賴鄉曲仁里). His birthday is thought to be the 15th of March or in the Xia (Chinese) Calendar, the 15th of February.

Lady Mother saw the sky open. Angels came from the sun. During birth, Lao Zi was white-haired and around his head was an aura like a halo. He could speak and move at birth. He walked nine steps. With his left hand he pointed to the sky and with the right hand he pointed to the earth and he said, "Upon Heaven and Earth, I am the dominating one (天上地下惟我獨尊). Then he referred to the plum (李) tree as his surname.

The truth was recorded in the Dao (道藏經).

During the Zhou Dynasty, Lao Zi was referred to as ‘Jun Zi’ (君子), which means gentleman, or person of noble character). Lao Zi left many scriptures, like the Dao De Jing and the Qing Jing Jing (清靜經). Confucius is also referred to in this way. Both Confucius and Lao Zi were regarded as having a ‘long sigh like dragon’ (猶龍之嘆), meaning that they were transformed in a spiritual way that is really difficult to fathom.

The purpose of the book is to lead people to return to purity and tranquility by examining the old annotations and explanations about how to cultivate reaching enlightenment. It is very difficult, but this translation will provide special instructions.

It is the Heavenly Mother’s command that the interpretation of the Dao provide the true meaning. I have provided vernacular commentary for easy study. However, after studying, how should it be? The saying goes, It is better to preach sutra than to recite sutra, better to practice sutra then to preach sutra. If believers can understand the meaning and put it into practice, then that fulfills the expectations!

Shi Ji (史記), the ‘Records of the Grand Historian’ describe: "Lao Zi, Country of Chu, Ku Province Li Xiang Qu people of Ren Li(楚苦縣厲鄉曲仁里人). Surname Li, name Er, word Dan(聃); Zhou Dynasty Officer for possession room (library). Born 601 B.C. and lived until 531 B.C. During Zhou Dynasty, was officer for possession room (library). Master for wu-wei (無為), (non-action, or action-less action, follow the natural path). Later became the founder of Daoism. Lao Zi cultivated moral virtue. He was self-taught. He lived for a long time in Zhou. When Zhou declined, he left. He reached Han Gu Gate (函谷關). The gate keeper Yu Xi (尹喜)said, Lao Zi is going to live in seclusion and write books.

The original intention of Lao Zi was not to leave any words behind, but after being persuaded by Yu Xi, he stayed for some time in Han Gu Guan and wrote the 5,000-word Dao, volumes I & II, conscientiously summing up his thoughts. Then he left the Han Gu Gate, riding a green cow in the opposite direction.

Lao Zi’ Daoism cultivates both spiritual and physical attributes. He advocates for tranquil sincerity and the cultivation of not debating with people.

In politics, Lao Zi advocated governing with wu-wei (non-action, or action-less action, follow the natural path) teaching without words. Lao Zi denounced the then-rulers and said, The citizens are hungry because of the excessive tax on food. The citizens look lightly on death. They rely on God for their livelihood. The citizens do not fear of death, and you can’t frighten them with death.

Lao Zi looked at Heaven as ‘natural and wu-wei’. Chapter five of the Dao De Jing says, Heaven and Earth are not humane and regard the people as straw dogs (in Chinese culture literally a figure of a dog made of straw, used as a ceremonial object and thrown away after use). ‘Not humane’ refers to ‘unintentional and non-changing’, doing but not depending on’, ‘growing but not killing’.

The written scriptures of Daoism present Lao Zi differently than the historical version. In Chinese culture, Lao Zi is revered as a philosopher who created the Dao teaching. In Daoism, Lao Zi is regarded as the avatar of Tai Shang Lao Jun (太上老君), the Golden Dragon King, who often came to Earth.

During the time of East Han (東漢) Dynasty, Wang Gu (王阜) of Chengdu compiled, Monument to Lady Mother of Lao Zi (老子聖母碑), which merged Lao Zi and Dao to be one, elevating Lao Zi from human to spiritual beings. It was at this time that Daoism became the prototype of creationism.

During the time of Han Hen Di (漢桓帝), Han Hen Di personally worshipped Lao Zi and treated Lao Zi as the Progenitor of the Immortals. Daoism respectfully called him ‘Dao De Tian Zun’ (道德天尊), or more commonly, ‘Tai Shang Lao Jun’ (太上老君), the name of one of the three Daoist Trinity Ancestors. Now, Lao Zi is worshiped as a deity particularly in trades professions such as blacksmith, coal miner, carpenter, dishwasher, chopsticks maker, farriers, etc.; all worship Lao Zi as the Patriarch.

Lao Zi is also known as Boyang (伯陽), Tai Shang Lao Jun (太上老君), Lao Jan (老聃), Lao Jun, Lao Zi Dao Jun (老子道君), Li Boyang (李伯陽) and Li Lao Jun (李老君).

The meaning of Shang Lao Jun is, ‘one Qi transformed into three purities; absolute purity residing in red fire; deity from Heaven ascending to extremely pure place; and, formed from mystical qi the treasured Sun God, most senior in moral virtue, first mixed God (一氣化三清太清居火赤天仙登太清境玄氣所成日神寶君道德天尊混元上帝). The shortened version is ‘Lao Jun’.

NOTE: In religious Daoism, the theory of how Dao produces One, Two, and Three is also explained. One – Wu-ji produces Tai-ji, representing the Great Dao, embodied by Hùndùn Wújí Yuánshǐ Tiānwáng (混沌無極元始天王), or Heavenly King of the Chaotic Never-ending Primordial Beginning, at a time of pre-creation when the universe was still null and the cosmos were in disorder. This manifested into the first of the Taoist Trinity, Yuánshǐ Tiān-zūn. Yuánshǐ Tiān-zūn oversees the earliest phase of Creation of the universe, and is henceforth known as Dào-bǎo (道寶), or Treasure of the Dao.

Two – Tai-ji produces Yin Yang, Yuan-shi Tian-zun manifests into Ling-bao. Tian-zun who separated the Yang from the Yin, the clear from the murky, and classified the elements into their rightful groups. Therefore, he is also known as Jīng-bǎo (經寶), or Treasure of the Law/Scripture. While Jīng, in popular understanding, means ‘scriptures’, in this context it also means ‘passing through’ (the phase of Creation) and the Laws of Nature of how things are meant to be.

Three – In the final phase of Creation, Dao-de Tian-zun is manifested from Líng-băo Tiān-zūn to bring civilization and preach the Law to all living beings. Therefore, He is also known as Shī-bǎo (師寶), or Treasure of the Master.

Lao Zi is also known as Dao De Tian Jun (道德天尊), Hun Yuan Lao Jun (混元老君), Jiang Shen Tian Jun (降生天尊), Tai Qing Da Di (太清大帝) etc.

In Daoist Temples (the Three Purity Temples), the statue of Lao Zi is at the left, his hand holding a rush leaf fan. The most incense is offered to him as a deity. The Daoist believe that Lao Zi is the avatar of Lao Jun, who ferried countless people to Heaven. Because Lao Zi passed down the Daoist Sutra, the Dao De Jing, he is also referred to as Dao De Tian Jun and been accorded the title of Founder of Daoism.

Preface

The 5,000-word work of Lao Zi on Dao and De was originally written in Chinese. The earliest texts were excavated from Ma Wang Dui in Changsha, China in 1972. Dao (道), usually translates into the way and De (德), means virtue. Both sections combined are the Dao De Jing, or the Scripture of the Way and Virtue.

Chapter 1 to 37 (Volume 1) of this work talk about Dao while Chapter 38 to 81 (Volume 2) talk about De. Originally, there was no such word as Jing (or classic). The original text was an anthology, not a cohesive and coherent whole. It was divided into 81 chapters during Han Dynasty. This made the meaning of sentences and paragraphs clearer.

With more than 30 years of experiences giving Dao lectures, I have been inspired to translate the original version of the Dao De Jing from Chinese into English. My version of this document is centered on Lao Zi’s original meaning in the Chinese text. It took me three years to complete the translation, as some of the original words in Chinese can be found only in classical Chinese dictionaries or other Buddhist terminology dictionaries.

Some of the terminology in the original script has no true English equivalent, so I used Hànyǔ Pīnyīn. Hànyǔ Pīnyīn ‘romanizes’ the Chinese language by denoting initial and final characters; for example, the initial of the character 酒 is ‘j’, and the final is ‘iu’, therefore the Mandarin syllable of the character is spelled as jiu.

An example is ‘wu-wei’ (無爲), pronounced as wu-wei, meaning ‘follow along the natural truth, do what should be done’ (non-action, or action-less action). I use the word ‘wu-wei’ in the following chapters as there is no corresponding English word.

I put great effort into trying to give the best descriptions and explanations of the essence and original meaning of the Dao De Jing as expressed by Lao Zi.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me during the translation of the profound and abstruse writings of Lao Zi.

All positive and constructive comments are welcome.

Compiled and translated by: Ci En 慈恩 (Gilbert Tay, Ph.D.)

Dated the 25th of March 2019; corresponding to Lunar Year 4716 Year Ji Hai, the nineteenth day of the Second Lunar Month.

Canada.

Chapter 1

Dao and the Name

The Way/Dao that can be followed/trodden is not the eternal/unchanging Dao.

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

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth

While naming is the origin of the myriad things (mother of all things)

Therefore, always desire-less, you see the mystery

Ever desiring, you see the manifestations.

These two are the same—

When they appear, they are named differently?

This sameness is the mystery,

As profound the mystery as it can be;

It is the gate to the essence of all life.

The Dao

What is Dao? The word Dao means the truth that existed before the myriad things in the universe were formed. It is means the energy of all things, whether formed or formless. That is why it is difficult for human beings to use words or speech to describe or depict dao. It cannot be seen but it is everywhere.

That can be followed

Unfortunately, mundane human beings like to use words or speech to express their concept of Dao, and they talk a lot, a lot.

Is not the eternal Dao