Chapter 12 warns that excessive pursuit of sensory pleasures—colors, sounds, tastes, hunting, and rare treasures—leads to spiritual blindness and madness. The sage chooses inner nourishment over external stimulation.
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Cite This Chapter
Laozi, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 11, "Amagaba Aratandukanye ku Rimwe", laotzu.ai: https://www.laotzu.ai/rw/chapters/11/
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Chapter 12 warns that excessive pursuit of sensory pleasures—colors, sounds, tastes, hunting, and rare treasures—leads to spiritual blindness and madness. The sage chooses inner nourishment over external stimulation.
Bite byerekeye nanjye?
In my modern life filled with constant visual and auditory stimulation, I see how easily I become distracted and lose touch with my true nature. The sage's wisdom reminds me to seek depth, not breadth, in my experiences.
Nigute naciye ejo?
Today I will simplify my sensory input. I will turn off unnecessary distractions and focus on one mindful experience at a time, nourishing my inner self rather than chasing outer stimulation.
The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.
