The four layers of the “One who knows doesn’t speak” quote of the Tao Te Ching
Peeling off layers of the famous quote from chapter LVI of the Tao Te Ching
Last week, I was reading chapter LVI of the Tao Te Ching and reflecting on it. I arrived at the conclusion that knowing more and expressing that knowledge doesn’t always go down well and that people who have little knowledge tend to be more confident. This is also known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. But today, I found more layers in this famous quote about speaking and knowledge. Three more layers. Join me in unpacking these layers of the Tao, in the peeling of this fascinating union.
Layer 1: humility
The most immediate reading of the famous quote about those that know don’t speak is to read it as a call to humility. There is a clear call to be humble in the chapter: “block the openings, shut the doors, blunt the sharpness, untangle the knots, soften the glare”. That doesn’t leave much room for interpretation at first reading. The Tao, the way cannot be harmed or ennobled if you are humble. There is value in humility. If you have knowledge of a subject, be humble about it. That is an obvious good virtue. But that can’t be all there is to it. The Tao as far as I understand it is not about virtues. In chapter XXXVIII Lao Tzu writes: “A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue and that is why he has virtue.” The Tao is not about labelling things as good or bad. So there must me more to this chapter than just describing a virtue.
Layer 2: language creates separation
The Tao is a state of being that is like water. A state of being that flows without thinking. A state of being that is spontaneous. No mind is a central concept to the Tao. Oneness with the world and flowing effortlessly. If we look at this chapter through this quote by Zhuangzi: “If man would once forsake this habit of labelling things good and bad, desirable or undesirable, then the man-made ills, which are the product of man’s purposeful and value ridden actions, would disappear, …”, we start to see how language is the foundational technology for thinking and labelling. The Tao is beyond labelling. Beyond good and bad. To label things as good and bad, to think about these things, we need language. Language needs the difference between this and that. A chair is not a table. Language needs separation. Language creates separation. If we have language, we can create labels. If we have labels, we can have rules. If we have rules, we can judge. If we can judge, we can control. If we can control, we can have power. The way I see the Tao is that the Tao wants to break this cycle, this pattern, this system. Language is a powerful tool. But each tool both gives us something but it also takes something away. Having meetings in Microsoft Teams allows us to have meetings with people all over the world but it takes away the body language in communicating. Language allows us to think but through that, it stands in the way of spontaneity. That is why I think the Tao promotes no mind: a space without language and thinking, a space where things are not separated, a space where there is no this and that, a space where we are one with the world. That is why one who knows doesn’t speak because language creates separation and the Tao is about oneness. Language creates thinking and thinking stands in the way of spontaneity.
“When there is no separation between this and that, it is called the still-point of the Tao. And the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.” — Zhuangzi
Layer 3: teaching without words
What to do when you do not speak? What to do when you do not think? What to do when you do not use language? Do. Doing requires no thinking. We often criticize people who act without thinking. But that is what spontaneity is about. We value thinking so highly. We value rationality so highly. We value speaking so highly. But there is a whole world beyond thinking, rationality, and speaking. That is the world of doing. Actions speak louder than words. People can say a lot of things but the only thing that matters in the end is what they do. The area where speaking is so clearly inferior to doing is teaching. The best way to teach someone something is by giving a good example by doing it yourself. I learned that from my kids. The best way to get them to clean their room is to clean my room. The best way to instill the joy of cooking is to enjoy cooking. The best way to teach them to be creative is to create. The best way to teach them to think freely is to think freely. The best way to teach them to take risks is to take risks. Those with ears will hear. Those with eyes will see. Trying to teach people that do not see and do not hear with words is futile. Lead by example. Teach without words. Those who know, know, they know speaking is futile, they teach without words.
Layer 4: discard Taoism
The Tao is not the Tao Te Ching. The Tao is not in the writings of Lao Tzu or Zhuangzi. The Tao Te Ching is a system, a tool. It is a system of words. But it is not about the words. The words are pointing to something that is beyond words. The words are Taoism. The words are the path to the Tao. Taoism is the path to the Tao. Taoism uses words to get you to a place of no words. It uses the mind to get to a place of no mind. It uses paradoxes and poetry to get the mind out of the habit of thinking. Once the Tao is reached, one should discard Taoism because Taoism is thinking because Taoism uses words because Taoists speak. Those who know, those who have reached the Tao, don’t speak, don’t think, don’t use language.
Union of speaking and not speaking
I think people who have reached the Tao actually do think and actually do use language. Language is a wonderful tool, language is one of the most powerful technologies we have. They are just aware of what we lose when we use language and are aware that there is a whole world beyond language. They don’t let language limit them. They don’t let thinking worry them. They don’t let labels create separation and conflict. Taoism is an antidote against the supremacy of language, thinking, labelling, judging. But the Tao is the union of thinking and not thinking, speaking and not speaking, language and no language. Tao is Yoga.
“The word ‘Yoga’ is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, meaning ‘to join’ or ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite’.” — Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
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