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The Tao Te Ching (Tzu & Needleman, 1989) is a classical Chinese text attributed to Laozi, the revered philosopher and sage considered the founder of Taoism, comprises 81 concise chapters. Often written in poetic and aphoristic styles, these chapters offer profound teachings on living in harmony with the Tao (the Way), a fundamental principle that governs the universe. Renowned as one of the most influential texts in Chinese philosophy, its impact extends far beyond the East, shaping various schools of thought.

Key Concepts

1. The Tao (The Way): The Tao, the central concept of the text, embodies the natural flow of the universe. Described as formless, timeless, and beyond human comprehension, it transcends the concept of a deity. Instead, it represents an underlying principle that shapes and connects all things. Laozi emphasizes the importance of aligning oneself with the Tao, embracing its simplicity and natural flow rather than attempting to control or impose one’s will upon the world.
2. Wu Wei (Non-action): A key teaching of the Tao Te Ching is the concept of wu wei, which translates to “non-action” or “effortless action.” It suggests that one should act in accordance with the Tao, not forcing things but allowing them to unfold naturally. Wu wei is not about inaction but rather about taking action in a spontaneous, uncontrived, and harmonious manner with the natural world.
3. Dualities and Balance: The text underscores the interplay between opposites, such as light and dark, strong and weak, male and female, and life and death. Laozi teaches that these dualities are interdependent and cannot exist without one another. The concept of balance is central to Taoist thought, and the Tao Te Ching encourages individuals to embrace the natural flow of life, finding harmony in the yin and yang, or the complementary forces of the universe.
4. Simplicity and Humility: The Tao Te Ching emphasizes the significance of simplicity in all aspects of life. Laozi advocates for a life devoid of excessive desires, ambitions, and complexity. Humility is another crucial virtue in Taoism, and Laozi teaches that those who are humble and modest find peace and success, while those who seek power and control face challenges.

In governance and leadership, Laozi offers wisdom, encouraging rulers to govern with gentleness and restraint. He suggests that the most effective leaders are those who are least noticeable, allowing their people to live freely and harmoniously without excessive interference.

According to Laozi, a good leader does not impose strict laws or harsh controls but creates an environment where people can naturally thrive and align themselves with the Tao.

The text explores the cyclical nature of life, highlighting that all things are born, grow, and eventually return to their source. This transformative cycle is seen as a natural reflection of the Tao.

Laozi emphasizes the importance of embracing this return to the source, accepting the impermanence of life and the inevitability of change.

In virtue and inner strength, the Tao Te Ching underscores the significance of cultivating inner virtues and strength rather than relying on external achievements or accolades.

Laozi advocates for self-cultivation and the development of virtues such as compassion, humility, and moderation, which enable individuals to live in harmony with the Tao and navigate life’s challenges with wisdom and grace.

Takeaways

• Embrace the flow: By aligning oneself with the natural rhythms of the universe, one can achieve a sense of peace and balance.
• Strive for simplicity: Seek a life that is uncomplicated and unpretentious, free from the excesses of desires.
• Practice humility: Humble yourself and recognize your interconnectedness with the greater whole, rather than viewing yourself as separate.

The Tao Te Ching offers a timeless and profound philosophy for living in harmony with the world. It teaches that by embracing simplicity, non-action, humility, and balance, individuals can align themselves with the Tao, achieving peace, wisdom, and clarity. The text encourages self-reflection and provides practical guidance on how to lead a virtuous life filled with inner strength and harmony with oneself and the world. Through its elegant and often paradoxical language, the Tao Te Ching continues to inspire readers to seek a deeper understanding of the mysteries of existence.

Miscellaneous Notes

• p.viii: Toinette Lippehe thought the translated manuscript was not as good as the photographs that were contained in the manuscript.
• Other translations of the original were not accessible.
• p.ix: Witter’s translation took liberties in translations but expressed its spirits.
• Toinette compared Gia-Fu’s manuscript to the 12 translations that she’d reviewed. Then she found a way to express Gia-Fu’s writing in a simple and natural way using words that were not used by other translators (it was the opposite of plagiarism). Finally, she read each page to a young Mexican friend and if she didn’t grasp it naturally, she would then adjust the writing until the meaning was conveyed clearly. after that she sent these edits to Gia-Fu, he then approved or occasionally disapproved
• p.ix: Toinette didn’t know what to write in the jacket of the published book for a long time. When she had only 20 min in the deadline, she uttered a wonderful paragraph.
• Work proceeds more quickly and easily if we stop trying, if we stop making extra effort, if we stop looking for results.
• Tao (pronounced dow) means the way or natural way. Te (pronounced deh) may be translated as “virtue”. Ching means book.
• p.xi: See book: Still Point of the Turning World: The Life of Gia-fu Feng by Carol Ann Wilson.
• p.xi: Jane English delighted in taking photographs that were on the boundary between being and non-being, e.g. tree branches that delicately merge with the sky (like Leonardo da Vinci’s painting style no visible contour lines).
• p.xiii: Toinette wrote at the end of Forward: This is a great honor and I offer her a deep bow.
• p.xv: The book’s appeal is as broad as its meaning is deep.
• Understand human nature and human condition rather than the socio-cultured aspects that float on the surface.
• p.xviii: My words are easy to understand and easy to perform. Yet no one under the heaven knows them or practices them. - Lao Tzu
• Tao refers to the way things are. also refers to the way what human nature constitutes
• Te: virtue, ethics rooted in metaphysics, separate from rules of social morality.
• Science is the product largely of the intellect alone and not of our whole being. Science impose our own will upon nature.
• Crisis of moral leadership
• Naturalness is not “left alone policy” or “sloppiness”. o be natural is something we must work on.
• When all you do comes from nothingness, then you have everything.
• p.xxviii: We see only things, entities, events; we di not directly experience the forces and laws that govern nature and the cosmos.

one who is desireless
can see the mystery
one who is desiring
can see the manifestations

• In the rough-and-tumble vortex of life, we function outwardly – think, play, fight and create.
• p.xxxii: Meditation is the process of becoming familiar with one’s own real structure as a human being, i.e. definite conditions such as physical posture ad mental attitude.
• n2s: The ying and yang in the mind, automatically brings racing chaos to surface. You must work to purify your thoughts and sort them out continuously.

Know the strength of a man
But keep a woman's care

• p.xxxvii: To make non-doing into non-struggling is to be an advocate of what has become merely one of world’s great half-truths.
• See Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts by Toshihiko Izutsu
• See Tao Te Ching: The Wisdom of Lao Tzu by David Stellar
• Also https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-laotzu-book.htm

Two

Creating, yet not possessing
Working, yet not taking credit
Work is done, then forgotten
Therefore it lasts forever

All opposing things exist because of each other, when they confront each other, they cancel each other.

Three

Let life take its course
If nothing is done
Then all will be well

Four

Blunt the sharpness
Untangle the knot
Soften the glare
Merge with the dust

If you encounter zero, surface one; encountered one, then surface zero.

Five

Wise see the people as they are. More words count less, hold fast to the centre.

Six

If you see the veil that can be barely seen then you will never fail to see the hidden.

Seven

The wise stay behind and are thus ahead.

Eight

In business, be competent. In action, watch the timing.

Nine

Better stop short than fill to the brim
Retire when the work is done.

Ten

Give birth and bourish
Bear but do not possess
Work but do not take credit
Lead but do not dominate
This is the Primal Virtue

Also see [[#Fifty-one]]

Eleven

Thirty spokes are joined in the wheel's hub.
The hole in the middle makes it useful.
Mold clay into a bowl.
The empty space makes it useful.
Cut out doors and windows for the house.
The holes make it useful.
 
Therefore, the value comes from what is there,
But the use comes from what is not there.

When absence made useful, you fulfilled your duty.

Twelve

Be guided by what you sense not by what you see.

Thirteen

Accept disgrace and accept misfortune. Both result from human condition.

Fourteen

The form of the formless
The image of the imageless
The sound of the soundless

Twenty-six

The still is the master of unrest
To be restless is to lose control

Twenty-seven

A good door needs no lock
Yet no one can open it
Good binding requires no knots
Yet no one can loosen it

Twenty-eight

Know the white
But keep the black

Twenty-nine

The universe is sacred
You cannot imporove it
If you try to change it
You will ruin it
If you try to hold on to it
You will lose it

Thirty

Just do what needs to be done, never take advantage of power. The wise avoid extremes, excess and complacency.

Thirty-one

Weapons are instruments of fear, they are not tools of the wise
Peace and quiet are dear to your heart
And victory, no cause for rejoicing

Thirty-two

Create conditions where people no longer need laws and where all things take their course. How does nature function? (Natural laws exist and people unknowingly obey them, i.e. gravity, entropy, enthalpy).

By knowing when to stop, you stop soon to happen trouble.

Thirty-three

If you think you don't have enough, you're poor  
When you realize you have enough, you're rich

Thirty-seven

Abide in non-action
Yet nothing is left undone
If powerful observed this
All things would develop naturally

Thirty-eight

Truly good people do nothing
And yet leave nothing undone
Foolish people are always doing
Yet much remains to be done

Thirty-nine

Too much success is not an advantage.

Forty-one

The easy way seems hard
The higher virtue seems empty

Forty-two

A violent person will die a violent death.

Forty-four

Attachment to things bring suffering.

Forty-six

When you know enough is enough, you will always have enough.

Forty-seven

The wise know without traveling
See without looking
Work without doing

Forty-eight

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone
The world is governed by letting things take their course
It cannot be governed through interference

Fifty-one

Doing without taking credit
Guiding without interfering 
Creating without claiming
This is Primal Virtue

Fifty-one

Doing without taking credit
Guiding without interfering 
Creating without claiming
This is Primal Virtue

Fifty-two

Keep your mouth shut
Guard your senses
And life is always full
Open your mouth
Always be busy
And your life is beyond hope

Talking and busyness remove you from your tranquility.

Fifty-six

Close your mouth
Guard your senses
Temper your sharpness
Simplify your problems
Mask your brightness
Be at one with the dust of the earth
This is primal union

Those who have achieved this state
Do not distinguish between friend and enemies
Between good or harm, between honor and grace
This is the highest state of being

Fifty-seven

The more laws and restrictions there are
The poorer people become
The more rules and regulations
The more thieves and robber

Fifty-eight

There's no honesty
Honesty becomes dishonest
Goodness becomes delusion
People's delusion lasts for a long time

Sixty

Ruling a country is like cooking a small fish
Approach the universe with Tao
And evil will have no power
Not that evil is not powerful
But it's power will not harm others
Not only will it do no harm to others
But the wise wise will also be protected

Sixty-three

Practice non-action
Work without doing
Taste the tasteless
Magnify the small, increase the few
Reward bitterness with care
See simplicity in the complicated
Achieve greatness in small things

Also see [[#Ten]]

2024-02-13: The Art of Learning

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