'My words are easy to understand and easy to perform, Yet no man under heaven knows them or practices them. My words have ancient beginnings. My actions are disciplined. Because men do not understand, they have no knowledge of me.Those that know me are few; Those that abuse me are honored. Therefore the sage wears rough clothing and holds the jewel in his heart.'- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (Feng and English translation)It is interesting that Eastern religious texts are so much more serene and calm (and a fair bit more liberal in social attitudes, not tangling their teachings in fleeting phenomena) than say, the Old Testament or the Qur'an (reading either of which one is often struck by the feeling that a brittle man with a rod stands sternly behind every word, daring one to defy Him), and how they value wholesome thought rather than moral industry.As a reader of Lao Tzu will have revealed to them, base cunning and competition, and more so making a successful living using the instinct for these whilst paying token heed to ethical strictures of limited scope bound in laws and rituals come rather easily to the individual, but none of these abide nor save him from the pains and ravages of myriad uncertain affairs divorced from the oneness, scuttling about as they are in chaos. What is difficult and therefore presents a hope for the individual as he is buffeted by changeable phenomena is to remove oneself from the rush through giving, surrender and non-resistance (characterised in the work by constancy, humility and the feminine) and thereby conquering it. The contrast is exemplified by a quote from Freud I reproduce here from my review of the Dhammapada: "Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires". It is often said of Eastern religious teachings that they are more philosophies than religions, but this is a limited way of thinking- they are also more measured religions than those that dominate today.Making sense of the Way, or 'Tao', which might (inadequately) be described as the essence permeating all things in their harmonious state, is then difficult indeed when saddled with preconceptions. Lao Tzu does not make the labour of comprehension much easier because the Tao touches all things and makes completeness a futile hope. What he does do however, is provide signs of the Way and express through them what of its nature might be explained. Language is a barrier which compounds the problem with preconceptions since this is the kind of ambiguous, subtext-ridden and allusive work (in comparison to say, The Dhammapada) where a slight change in the translator's phrasing might slip a profound aphorism to a reprehensible one. The quote with which I began this review (the 70th poem out of the 81 the Tao Te Ching is comprised of) is meant to convey this difficulty, which can only be surmounted with a reasonably wide sampling of translations which take the least liberties with both the text and its philosophy while retaining some of the suggestive qualities.For instance, when a return to unity is mentioned it is not a simpler, primordial existence (the truth of which would have been chaotic, whatever modern romantic imaginings offer) which is meant, but an ideal where order supersedes time and space and all that move within their confines and excesses are gotten rid of. When emptiness and detachment are spoken of, these are not meant to be protections from extant troubles and woes demanding any glimmer of hope for future pleasures be abandoned however simple, but a state of perfection, the loss of which precipitated these pains. The distinctions are subtle, but leaving them unacknowledged and alternatives not considered can distort not only the specific entries in contention, but also the overall spirit of the work. Then, despite the short length, this is a work which may require considerable patience to eke out meaning, especially to one who has been trained on simple polarities of what is good and what is evil and has had ambiguities subsumed conveniently under one label or the other.For translations, the Feng and English version I've quoted from at the start is a very accessible and elegant offering. It can be found at-http://www.duhtao.com/translations/je...The Red Pine translation is a good complement to this one or on its own and is found at http://wayist.org/ttc%20compared/redp...Apart from these, Waley's, Legge's and Lau's are very much serviceable and may well offer new facets to a poem (I'm especially fond of Waley's renderings).See http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.ph... and the external links on the Wikipedia article.Sam Hamill's is another poignant and economical translation, available to browse at http://en.calameo.com/read/0000392576...
“The Tao is always nameless” (Chapter 71)Trying to narrow down the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching with limiting words is to violate its primordial essence. How can one describe the Universe, the natural order of things, the incessant flowing from being to non-being, the circular unity of a reality traditionally mismatched in dualistic terms? The Tao Te Ching doesn’t provide answers because there needn’t be questions, just the harmony of moulding to the landscape rather than trying to impose a particular shape on it.The Tao Te Ching is the route in itself, the path to emptying the human mind of ambitions, schemes and desires and allow it to be flooded with the smoothness of humility and the exhilarating liberation of a simple life.The Tao Te Ching exults the feminine yin over the masculine yang in the eternal interdependence of opposites, identifying its indwelling suppleness with the intrinsic elements of the Tao. “The great state should be like a river basin.The mixing place of the world,The feminine of the world.The feminine always overcomes the masculine by its softnessBecause softness is lesser.” (Chapter 61)Thus the Tao cannot be expressed, it has no name, it is indivisible, inaudible and immutable but also the origin of multiplicity that gives way to ambivalent interpretation, which in turn engenders the befuddling suspicion that the more one wants to unravel the Tao the less one masters it because its aim relays precisely in attaining unforced wisdom.Composed of eighty one aphorisms with aesthetic lyricism reminiscent of ancient riddles or even taunting wordplay, the Tao Te Ching dismisses moral teachings, embraces paradoxical dichotomies and differentiates itself from other doctrines like Confucianism because it relays in intuition rather than in duty rooted on imposed moral principles or any other contrived authority.According to the introduction (*), some schools of thought have accused the Tao of endorsing chaotic anarchy and of not responding to consistent criteria, but such ambiguity in the use of language and its playful axioms are in fact a pure reflection of its skeptical views on measuring all actions according to artificial rules disguised as traditional rituals.I can’t claim to have found everlasting serenity in connecting to the natural flow of Taoism and accepting its philosophy of “action through inaction”, but the idea of finding comfort in the constant contradiction of the positive and negative forces within oneself in order to embrace the convoluted intricacies of existence casts an overwhelming shadow to the absolute dichotomies and blind beliefs prompted by the more familiar monotheistic “fear based” religions, where guilt, punishment and suffering are the conduits to salvation.Why crave for redemption if we learn to follow the “way things are” and welcome the natural interdependence between opposites, accepting disorder, nothingness and non-being as part of the indestructible unity of all things?“There is nothing better than to know that you don’t know” (Chapter 71)(*) Note: The Barnes & Nobles edition comes with an explanatory introduction about the origins of the Tao, a very useful epilogue and an historical timeline of the identity of its mysterious author(s). Highly recommended edition.
What do You think about Tao Te Ching (1989)?
Interesting in that round-about way, the way ambiguous wordplay in poetry tend to be. Overall though it couldn't hold my attention for long. I had to stop and restart a page several times because my mind wandered. It had nothing to do with the content of the writing, but rather the soothing rhythmic "beat" that made it easy for me to not focus. Half the time I didn't even realized I was doing it until I reached a photo page. This book might be better as an audio. That soothing rhythmic beat would be even more interesting when read aloud, preferably by a narrator with a soothing voice. (view spoiler)[Perfect sleep aid. (hide spoiler)]
—Mimi
The Tao Te Ching is a book that cannot be read directly. Unfortunately, I have little experience reading books indirectly, so I found this a difficult book to read, end even more difficult to discern what was being said by the author. A friend told me that he thought Heraclitus, the Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, was somewhat like Lao Tzu. Heraclitus said "you can't step in the same river twice". He believed that reality was a flux composed of a unity of opposites. I suppose it is possible to consider Lao Tzu's "the way" in this manner and see it as a unifying force. I liken it to the ancient Greek notion of substance that underlies all things but does not have a separate existence. The Tao te Ching seems to suggest action is good, except when inaction is required; that it is good to experience things with an open mind, but do not become too attached to one way of looking at reality for it may suddenly be going in the other direction. In other words, it is difficult to determine exactly what this book is saying, especially when it suggests that words cannot describe the way; thus the way is not that which is called by that name (don't worry - I don't know what that means either). The best thing about the Tao te Ching is that the act of reading it stirs your mind, gets you thinking about deep questions and others. That alone makes it worth the effort, even though it may take a lifetime to make some progress toward answers.Perhaps it is appropriate to turn to a twentieth century poet and thinker for some Tao-like advice. Here is a stanza from "Burnt Norton"At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.T. S. Eliot, FOUR QUARTETS
—James
(My translation by R.B. Blakney)Because I'm a born again skeptic, I do my best to avoid the obligatory respectful concessions towards mystical texts, especially ones that celebrate the 'wisdom of ancient China' on the cover. I arch an eyebrow at the thought that ancient peoples were in any way privy to profound revelations that have somehow escaped us modern folk, what with our freaky science and all. We do stand both technologically and philosophically on the shoulders of giants, but we must be so careful not to overdo it when trading in tenth-hand manuscripts from the demon haunted world. The Tao Te Ching is a wonderful collection of ancient poetry, dealing with all manner of subjects from good government to personal happiness. The Way of Life or the Wise Man is one largely based around self denial and the loss of desire, concepts that find little practice in the West. The simplicity is charming, often profound, and its understandable why so many people would resonate with it.As for myself, it depends which part we're talking about. The world may be knownWithout leaving the house;The Way may be seenApart from the windows.The further you go,The less you will know.Passages like these demonstrate some of the deepest truths about human existence, but of course there's no accounting for bronze-age tyranny.The ancients who were skilled in the WayDid not enlighten the people by their ruleBut had them ever held in ignorance:The more the folk know what is going onThe harder it becomes to govern them.Reveling in something like that is an embrace of evil as profound as anything else you'll read. Still, the one or two exceptions doesn't rule out a collection which may have been written by several hands. I was stirred by many pieces and would not hesitate in recommending this particular mystic text.
—A.J.
