“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal tao." (Tao 1) I had only read the first line and already I found myself questioning. What is the Tao? The first sentence wasn't enough and neither was the first chapter to help me decipher what the Tao is. I think I deserve some more background information in order to understand the whole context. But this time, I will remain still. I will try to analyze the text and give it my own interpretation without any influence from an investigation. Yes, I'm cool. Anyways, with only reading the first chapter I also noticed how deep and meaningful this text was. It carries this poetic sense that makes the reading fluid and exciting.
The teachings of the Tao are very similar to those from previous texts. In class, we have discussed the existence of evil and agreed that evil exists because good exists so if there is good, there must be something to balance it. Others might see evil as the absence of good, but the idea remains the same. "All can know good as good only because there is evil." (Tao 2) This quote is really accurate for it says that we realize good only because there is an opposite to it. What would it be of good without evil? Adding more to this quote, I would respond that good wouldn't be good since there is nothing to contrast it and therefore, it wouldn't exist.
Chapter two starts out with another comparison of opposites. "Under heaven, all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness." (Tao 2) Again, it is pointing out that the only reason for us to see things with standards is for their differences. Without ugly, pretty wouldn't exist and thus everything would be seen as the same.
"In action, be aware of the time and the season." (Tao 8) A teaching of acts is given by saying that you should always keep in mind the time and place of what you do and how pertinent it is with the situation in which you are found in. I believe this teaching is helpful for everybody because there are many occasions in which you act in the wrong way towards the circumstances in which you are in. There is always a time and place to do things and not all are adequate and appropriate.
"The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao." (Tao 8) The first thing that captured my attention in this quote was the metaphor of water. Without water, live would not exist and since its being related to the Tao, I conclude that the Tao is an essential part of ones life. The importance given to the Tao is similar to that of Goodness in the Analects. The Tao is like "the highest good", what everyone would like to achieve. And so is Goodness.
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