Book Review

Hua Hu Ching: The Later Teachings of Lao Tzu
 Translated by Hua-Ching Ni
 Publisher: Boston: Shambhala, 1995.
 ISBN 1-57062-079-2

The Hua Hu Ching is traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching, the single most important text of Taoism. It is said that after Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching (circa 500 BCE), he travelled to the west, and when he reached the western boundary of China, he composed the Hua Hu Ching. Then, it is believed, the eighty-one short chapters of the Hua Hu Ching were passed down orally for nearly a thousand years before being written down. Most modern scholars doubt this early and august origin for the text, believing it to be the work of a Taoist Master of the fourth or fifth century CE. Yet, whether written by Lao Tzu or another teacher, the work offers us a great treasure of spiritual wisdom.

The Hua Hu Ching opens with the following scene:

There once was a great white-bearded Master who appeared at the boundary of the Central Territory [China] on his journey to the west. Followers came from everywhere to sit at his feet, for he was a model of universal harmony. His teaching was simple, yet profound. His instruction was neither religion nor worldly wisdom, yet it revealed the truth of every aspect of the universe. All his friends and followers … maintained a peaceful, righteous way of life and enjoyed the abundance of their being. After their daily work … they went to the garden where the old Master stayed and awaited his precious instruction.

The rest of the book is a series of conversations between the old Master and the group of disciples. The Master’s gentleness, humility and simplicity are evident in every scene. Many of the exchanges concern one follower who is a prince.

The prince addressed the Master once again. “Venerable Teacher, according to the Universal Way, when one attains subtle awareness he should not label it an achievement. Is that correct?”
The Master kindly answered, “Yes, this is very true, dear prince…. If a person thinks in terms of attaining something, that means he believes there is something to obtain or achieve external to his own nature. It means that he fails to realize that his own true nature is the integral nature of the universe itself.”

At one point the prince says he wants to leave his worldly responsibilities and practise meditation twenty-four hours a day, and the Master tells him that both the outward life of serving others and the inward work of focused meditation are necessary. Though they seem to pull in opposite directions, actually they support each other. To illustrate this point, he relates the following story:

A blind man and a lame man shared the same dwelling, and one day a cinder flew out of the fireplace. Within a short time the entire house was in flames. Each man tried separately to escape, but neither could go out of the house. Finally the blind man said to the lame man, “You have eyes and I have legs. If you climb on my back, you can direct me to the door.” In a few moments they were safely outside.

Strikingly, at the end of eighty chapters reporting his discussions with the circle of disciples, the old Master reveals that the words he has spoken during this extended conversation are not his real teaching:

Kind prince, I have talked a lot. Did I really say anything since you have been with me? My dear disciples, since I started my journey to the west I have not said one thing. The subtle truth cannot be concluded in words. What all of you have listened to is the eternal breath of the Universal Truth which has been emanating through me and all of you.

The sage urges his disciples to attune themselves to the Tao, translated here as “the subtle voice of the universal origin.”

The subtle voice of the universal origin has been speaking since the beginning of the universe. To those whose energy can respond to it, this sound is very distinct. To those whose energy cannot respond to it, the sound is muffled and obscure. The subtle melody of universal life is eternal and constant, yet only those who are in consonance with it can perceive it…. My beloved disciples, … the voice of the Universal One will always be with you! Always listen for the non-verbal voice and you will reach the Divine Origin. When all words are exhausted, the truth appears.

In the final two chapters, the sage describes the nature of a true spiritual Master.

They are the true father and mother, true brother and sister, and true friend of their disciples. Their grace always illuminates the dark corners of the disciples’ minds. They share their divine energy with their disciples and are always aware of their problems. They dissolve their disciples’ pain in the ocean of their compassion. The sadness, imperfection and false personalities of the disciples vanish before their eyes and they see only the disciples’ true nature.

Such a spiritual teacher, he says, “is not ambitious to be a leader unless the responsibility falls to him; he will make no scheme to take it. He fulfills the task that is assigned to him and then takes no credit and holds no attachment to it. He merely offers himself to serve.”

The sage proclaims that the Taoist sage and the Tao are one. (Note that here in Ni’s translation, the sage or Taoist Master is translated as “Mentor” and the Tao is translated as “universal subtle truth” and “Universal Truth”.)

Kind prince, true Mentors are the embodiment of heavenly energy. They are the direct expression of the universal subtle truth…. To be with them is to experience the living truth. Their minds are as deep and all-encompassing as the Universal Truth…. They are the revelation of the mystery of the great universal triad: Heaven, Earth and Man. Their smiles radiate light, wisdom and bliss.

The Tao Te Ching has been translated into English more than fifty times, and anyone who compares these translations realizes the challenge of translating Taoist mystical texts, expressed in pictograms suggesting many possible meanings, into English. The Hua Hu Ching, in comparison, has been translated into English only twice. While Ni chose to translate the Hua Hu Ching into prose, the other translation, The Hua Hu Ching: The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) by Brian Walker, renders the sage’s words in a sparse poetic form close to the suggestive, sometimes elusive, original. For example,

Do you imagine that the universe is agitated?
Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars.
This practice should answer your question.
The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky.
By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it.
Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind
becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.

Ni’s translation may be easier for the English reader to approach since it gives the text a more explicit meaning. But, given that Ni is a contemporary Taoist Master, and part of the centuries-old Union of Tao and Man lineage, his rendering of the Hua Hu Ching probably reflects the interpretation given the book by that lineage. Readers inspired to plumb the text still further may wish to read the two translations side by side.

_{Book reviews express the opinions of the reviewers and not of the publisher.}