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"The Tao that can be understood cannot be the primal, or cosmic, Tao, just as an idea that can be expressed in words cannot be the infinite idea.
And yet this ineffable Tao was the source of all spirit and matter, and being expressed was the mother of all created things.
Therefore not to desire the things of sense is to know the freedom of spirituality; and to desire is to learn the limitation of matter. These two things spirit and matter, so different in nature, have the same origin. This unity of origin is the mystery of mysteries, but it is the gateway to spirituality."
This was a cosmic read more than a rocket read. It was short and that is the most redeeming thing about it. I still don't understand why timeless sacred texts have to be so big, long and hard to read. This was none of those.
What is the Tao Te Ching?
The Tao Te Ching is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Lao-Tsu. The text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi.
The Tao, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. It also strongly influenced other schools of Chinese philosophy and religion, including Legalism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism, which was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts when it was originally introduced to China. Many artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and gardeners, have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its influence has spread widely out and it is one of the most translated work in world literature.
When I read the Tao Te Ching... I feel like I'm in the tattoo parlour in Calgary with my friend Mike. I am not there to get a tattoo, but I am there to learn and listen. That is what I did with this read. I had no intention to convert to Taoism (pronounced dowism)... but I understood there is wisdom in those pages. So I downloaded a copy.
"Neglecting to praise the worthy deters people from emulating them; just as not prizing rare treasures deters a man from becoming a thief; or ignoring the things which awaken desire keeps the heart at rest."
It has been a slow read, or rather a slow chew. I felt like I needed to masticate a little more with this. Before I swallowed, I needed to sit with the words and let them savour in my brain. Wisdom always takes a little extra effort.
Something else I like about the Tao Te Ching is that it isn't about the author, it's about the content. Lao-Tzu may just be a legendary character that they ascribe the writings to. It's not for certain that he even existed, much less authored this Chinese sacred text. But it doesn't seem to matter. What matters is the words.
"Continuing to fill a pail after it is full the water will be wasted. Continuing to grind an axe after it is sharp will soon wear it away."
I hope I have that much humility one day to release my words without the need to have my name attached. I still struggle with that. I want notoriety for what I have written. Maybe sacred texts aren't needing an author. Maybe the words can speak for themselves. Maybe one day I will even be able to read the bible again just for the words, because all the certainty in authorship is a sailed ship.
"Therefore the wise man trusting in goodness always saves men, for there is no outcast to him. Trusting in goodness he saves all things for there is nothing valueless to him. This is recognizing concealed values."
What so I find inspirational about Tao?
“ Tao is obscure and without name, and yet it is precisely this Tao that alone can give and complete.”
Maybe Tao is just another name given by a finite human to label that which was really beyond labelling, but as a human, we need names for things. But there is a emphasis on the futility that Tao is limited by it's name. As the first quote says... it isn't Tao if it can be understood.
This concept isn't unique to the Tao Te Ching.
“A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?”
― W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge
I am still an ant in an anthill that doesn't have the job in measuring the back yard. I am a poet. I am not a scientist, a priest or a bible scholar. There is a romance or attraction to the letting go of the need to have all the answers, understand everything, know it all, and be able to explain what is really beyond all explaining. Call it the Universe, call it the Cosmos, call it God... or call it Tao.
"Tao gives life to all creatures; Te feeds them; materiality shapes them; energy completes them. Therefore among all things there is none that does not honor Tao and esteem Te. Honor for Tao and esteem for Te is never compelled, it is always spontaneous. Therefore Tao gives life to them, but Te nurses them, raises them, nurtures, completes, matures, rears, protects them.
Tao gives life to them but makes no claim of ownership; Te forms them but makes no claim upon them, raises them but does not rule them. This is profound vitality (Te)."
Imagine an artist that paints a landscape. The artist asks nothing of the painting. It doesn't even sign it. It just paints it and lets the beauty be enjoyed by others. No one knows the artist, and maybe some wonder who that artist is, but the artist cares not about recognition. It was never about recognition... it was only about beauty.
One more bonus... I can quote the words and I don't need to mar the beauty of the wisdom with an address.
"A tree that it takes both arms to encircle grew from a tiny rootlet. A pagoda of nine stories was erected by placing small bricks. A journey of three thousand miles begins with one step.
If one tries to improve a thing, he mars it; if he seizes it, he loses it. The wise man, therefore, not attempting to form things does not mar them, and not grasping after things he does not lose them."
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