Some might ask why a zen monk is interested in the Tao De Ching. This comes from my teaching that zen is the combination of Buddhism with Taoism and Shinto. So I study zen, and all three of these, as the sources of the lineage I have inherited.
The Tao De Ching is said to have been written by Lao Tsu. I was taught that Lao Tsu was a philosopher and record archive keeper in 6th century China, but that the teachings he wrote down in the Tao De Ching were accumulated from earlier works of past Chinese Masters. That through his archive work for the emperor he spent many hours reading and meditating. He had no formal school of students and the term Taoist was not even invented yet.
Lao Tsu became disenchanted with the world and wanted only to sit and contemplate more. He left the court and headed west to find a secluded place away from the politics and the hedonism of the day.
It is said that a border guard stopped him, and questioned him. The guard recognized who or what he was, and refused to let him cross until he would write down his wisdom, so that it would not be lost with his departure.
Having no choice, Lao Tsu wrote down 5,000 + Chinese Characters we now call the Tao De Ching.
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