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New Dao relatives and people who are just beginning to get in touch with the Dao often ask what religion Dao is associated with. Some even have the idea that Dao itself is a new kind of religion. In our present society, with all its complexities and contradict...

There is no doubt that we are among the most fortunate group of people in the world today. Why is this? Because we have effortlessly received Dao, the most precious gift in the universe. Dao is the ultimate truth that the saints and sages of the past searched ...

After "The Essence of Dao," and "The Relationship between Dao and Humankind," we can understand that Dao is the most precious gift in the universe, that it governs all matters, creates and nurtures all things. Everything in the universe has Dao. This includes ...

Although we have begun to study the essence of Dao, we may still find that there are some aspects that are difficult to comprehend or relate to our own lives and paths of cultivation. This chapter will focus on the subject of the relationship between Dao and h...

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In the past, people who wanted to receive Dao had to forsake their families and their worldly pursuits in order to seek a master who could pass Dao on to them. For us today, receiving Dao is a much less difficult process. Rather than having to search for the e...

The world is constantly changing. As time goes by, all people and societies seem to negate themselves and their values. In the present we negate the past. In the future, our present concerns will be negated. In the course of human history, many heroic figures ...

There was once a wise Chinese man named Zhang Liang, who said: Being human is difficult. A human is difficult to be. It is difficult to be human. Undoubtedly, playing our role as a human being is not easy. The journey of life is complex, unpredictable and su...

In the previous chapters so far we have come to understand that the soul is the owner and governing essence of the body. When body and soul combine, there is birth. When body and soul go their separate ways, death occurs. The body goes through the processes of...

We now live in a time when Dao can be part of our family life. It is no longer necessary for us to seclude ourselves in order to cultivate. After receiving Dao we can cultivate at home, together with all the other members of the family. As part of a family, we...

As human beings living between heaven and earth, we are blessed with all kinds of grace. Heaven unconditionally gives us air, sunshine, and water for our use. The earth unconditionally nurtures grains, vegetables, and fruit that provide us with food. Many othe...

In the San Zi Jing it is written: In its original state, human nature is kind and pure. In the beginning everyone has a similar nature, but because we all live under different conditions, our characters soon become widely divergent. Everyone’s original natur...

Whenever we think of Buddha, our thoughts also turn to the opposite of a Buddha—the sentient beings who suffer in the world. Most people imagine Buddhas as bright, pure, holy beings with devotion. Sentient beings, by contrast, are considered less developed. Pe...

道德經白話解說序 老子者，道德開始，存神過化，無始無終，一大至人也。 孔子者，生民未有，教集大成，無古無今，一大聖人也。 江神童希張者，則叉世紀穎悟絕倫，天人交徹，無無外，一大解人也。 唯大解人知大聖人，唯大聖人知大至人。 老子之學，歷數千百年無有知者。 關、尹、莊、列，淵源相承，具體而微。 厥後一變為陰陽家而老學失，再變為符籙家而老學失，再變為執著丹術家而老學又失。 此後老子之真面目，逐蔽於迷雲層霧，龍之一鱗一爪不得復觀矣。 知希之歎，當時已然，又何況數千百年後耶？ 孔子者，深知老子者也。 觀其《猶龍序》，一讚已...

道德經白話解說自序 小子幸生世界進化、器學發明的時代。 水有輸船，陸有火車，騰空有飛機，沉水有潛艇，直是五洲如一家，萬國如一室。 況且所用、所見、所聽的一切機器，沒有不便利、不精美的，幸會多多，快樂多多。 我飲水思源，不能不欽佩感激發明器學的先哲。 雖然發明器學的先哲，本有福國利民之美意，並無害人之惡心， 不料竟有慘毒不仁之人，竊取器學之功用，製造毒鈴毒砲，殺戮天下同胞。 一切大器學家，雖有妙手靈心，不但無可如何，還為他人利用，助其製造兇器。 這一切精美機器，不但不能抵制鎗砲，反而為其運兵載餉、傳達消息。 如此看來...

道德經白話解說（上篇） 山東歷城童子 江希張 識 Vernacular Explanation of the Dao De Jing (Upper Volume) By Jiang Xizhang of Licheng, Shandong

第一章 道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。 無名，天地之始；有名，萬物之母。 故常無欲以觀其妙，常有欲以觀其徼。 此兩者同出而異名，同謂之玄，玄之又玄，眾妙之門。 字解： 道：是道理。 可道：是可能言說出來的。 常：是常住不壞。 名：是名象。 妙：是神妙。 徼：是徼要（邊際、徵兆）。 玄：是深遠。 釋義： 道如果能言說出來，就不是常住不壞的道； 凡是能標記出來的名，就不是常住不壞的名。 「無名」是天地所從生的起頭； 「有名」是萬物所從生的母親。 所以合道為一體，常常真空，無意念以觀那道的妙； 常常妙有，有意念以觀...

第二章 天下皆知美之為美，斯惡已； 皆知善之為善，斯不善已。 故有無相生，難易相成，長短相形，高下相傾，音聲相和，前後相隨。 是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教； 萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有，為而不恃，功成而弗居。 夫惟弗居，是以不去。 釋義： 天下人都知道美，就有了醜； 都知道善，就有了不善。 所以有與無相生，難與易相成，長與短相比，高與低相傾，音與聲相和，前與後相隨。 聖人處事無為，行教不言； 萬物自然生成，聖人不辭勞； 萬物生長，聖人不據為己有； 事成功就，聖人不倚仗、不居功； 正因不居功，所以功業不會消退。 ...

第三章 不尚賢，使民不爭； 不貴難得之貨，使民不為盜； 不見可欲，使心不亂。 是以聖人之治，虛其心，實其腹，弱其志，強其骨。 常使民無知無欲，使夫智者不敢為也。 為無為，則無不治。 釋義與解說： 不崇尚賢能，就使百姓不爭奪名位。 若過於推崇賢能，則人人爭做賢能之人，爭奪之心起，社會便亂。 不珍視世上難得之貨，則百姓不會為此鋌而走險去做盜賊。 倘若珍視奇貨，則貪心起而盜賊生。 不展示可欲之物，則人心不被誘惑擾亂。 若可欲之物充斥眼前，人心必亂，邪思叢生。 所以，聖人治理國家，務使百姓心境空虛、寧靜，不起妄想，而腹中...

第四章 道沖，而用之或不盈。 淵兮，似萬物之宗； 挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵。 湛兮，似或存。 吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。 釋義與解說： 「沖」者，虛也。道體雖虛，而用之不盈，永無窮盡。 深邃啊，像是萬物的宗祖，包容一切而不偏倚。 它能挫銳氣，使人不鋒芒畢露； 能解紛爭，使爭端自然化解； 能和光，使光彩與世間融和； 能同塵，與萬物同處而不自高。 「湛」者，清靜深遠也。道的存在，幽深渾然，似有若無。 我不知道它是誰的子嗣，似乎早在天帝之前就已存在。 道之體，無形無象，不可測量； 然其德，能成就天地萬物，涵養人心，...