To learn more and more, for the sake of Tao, it will be lost day by day, and it will be lost again and again, so that it will be nothing. It means: "A person who is studying, his sexual desire and culture will be increasing day by day; a person who is seeking the Tao, his sexual desire and culture will be increasing day by day." It decreases day by day. It decreases and decreases, and finally reaches the state of "doing nothing". "

From Chapter 48 of Laozi's "Tao Te Ching", original text excerpt:

Wei Xue. Day by day, for the sake of Tao, we are losing money, and we are losing again and again, until we do nothing, do nothing, and do nothing. To conquer the world, it is often necessary to have nothing to do, and even if there is something to do, it is not enough to conquer the world.

Translation:

Those who seek knowledge, their sexual ornaments will increase day by day; those who seek the Tao, their erotic ornaments will decrease day by day. Reduce and reduce, and finally reach the state of "inaction". Nothing is impossible if you follow the laws of nature. Those who govern the country should always take the principle of not disturbing the people as the basis of governing the country. If they often disturb the people with cumbersome policies, they are not worthy of governing the country.

Extended information:

Yi Guan's Commentary

"To learn more and more", knowledge relies on knowledge, reading, and experience, and is slowly accumulated bit by bit. of. Understand a little today, understand a little more tomorrow, and understand a little more the day after tomorrow. The more you work hard, the more you will gain. This is learning. Man-made knowledge is a promising method and a promising way. It must be gradually accumulated and increased, and it cannot reach the sky in one step.

“For the sake of Taoism, daily loss” means that learning Taoism is the opposite of doing knowledge. It means throwing away something. “Daily loss means losing a little bit every day and a little more tomorrow. You have to put down and throw away everything. People who practice Taoism often laugh. On the one hand, I have the desire to learn Taoism, but on the other hand, I am unwilling to give up reading. My biggest desire is to love reading.

"I lose it again and again, so that I do nothing." Everything is empty until the end. Empty it and empty it to the point where there is nothing; then everything is known and everything is present. This is the simple truth. The words are very simple and the meaning is very simple. The problem is, do it. It’s very difficult! How to lose yourself again and again, give up again and again, and put yourself in a place where you have nothing, in order to reach the state of knowing everything and having everything!

I tell us clearly here! To be able to achieve academic or religious achievements in life, one must have two kinds of abilities: "lifting up" means learning and learning "increasingly"; "letting go" means cultivating Taoism and letting go of everything. .

But it is too difficult for an ordinary person to have these two abilities, two kinds of wisdom, and two kinds of courage. It is so difficult for an ordinary person to be educated and study hard. After studying for a week, I felt very tired, so I stopped to play.

I couldn’t put it down if I wanted to practice Buddhism. After meditating for just a few days, I felt like I was sitting all day long. , tasteless, a waste of time, and you have to go out and have fun, so you can’t do it even if you are doing it for the sake of the Tao. I can't let go, I just live my life like that.