Tao Te Ching Chapter 47

47th Chapter
Without going out the door, one can know the world (from the world’s influence on people around him).
Without looking out the window, one can understand Tao.
The more one seeks knowledge outwardly, the less true knowledge he has.
(True knowledge and wisdom are from the Creator, it can’t be found unless seeking inwardly.)

Therefore, the sage does not need to travel to know what is happening in the world.
He does not need to witness things in order to understand them.
He does things with his heart, not his mind, so he does not feel he is doing anything. Therefore, he accomplishes a lot.

Implications from the Holy Books

The All-Merciful hath conferred upon man the faculty of vision, and endowed him with the power of hearing. Some have described him as the “lesser world,” when, in reality, he should be regarded as the “greater world.” The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God. ── Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 162

O SON OF DUST!
Blind thine eyes, that thou mayest behold My beauty; stop thine ears, that thou mayest hearken unto the sweet melody of My voice; empty thyself of all learning, that thou mayest partake of My knowledge; and sanctify thyself from riches, that thou mayest obtain a lasting share from the ocean of My eternal wealth. Blind thine eyes, that is, to all save My beauty; stop thine ears to all save My word; empty thyself of all learning save the knowledge of Me; that with a clear vision, a pure heart and an attentive ear thou mayest enter the court of My holiness.—Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian 11

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