The Tao reached its end and I am more than happy to say that it has been my favorite reading so far. I really enjoyed analyzing all of its teachings and adding my own point of view to the actual context. I believe this text is really deep and meaningful. As I read it, I found myself completely relaxed and almost as if I was in another world. Each axiom seemed extremely short, but what was written in those few verses, was able to say so much; each axiom was worth a page of meaning and thought. Its poetic sense comes to contradict itself in some parts in order to show reality. It talks about the world as it is or how it should be, by being ruled by someone that shares and treats everybody equal. Values, good examples, and "tips" are given through the lecture of the Tao Te Ching.
On the last teachings, governing issues were mentioned constantly. It said how one should govern and how one shouldn't. It talked all about the consequences and reactions of the people if these governing methods weren't applied. Again, the balancing of opposites was of great importance for it was used in order to represent the differences among ways. The first governing topic that comes up for me to discuss is the fact that non action leads to success.
On my last post, it had been stated how one should not try to change the universe because you would ruin it and you should not try to hold it because you would lose it. In other words, what was told was that one should not interfere with the universe because it is sacred and you cannot improve it. This idea is repeated again in axiom fourty-eight when it says that "the world is ruled by letting things take their course and it cannot be ruled by interfering." So, this means that if you do nothing and just stay put and let things go their own way, ruling will be achieved. But how can this happen? Wasn't a good governor that that could take control of things in a moderate and perfect way? One that could cause change for a better place? For this reason, I find this excerpt inaccurate and contradicting on what the world is really today. People always try to make things better in order to be happier, but what the Tao is saying is that this is impossible. How so? If I was the ruler, this method wouldn't convince me at all.
"There is no greater catastrophe than underestimating your enemy." (Tao 69) I, as a sports player, have heard this quote more than a few times in the past years. It means that you should never be overconfident of oneself as a player or as a whole team while playing a match. You should never misjudge the opposite squad that will compete against you. But the Tao isn't about sports, and much less about volleyball. It is all about governing and being who you should be according to Lao Tzu, the great leader. So why is this quote being brought in the text if it is completely against violence and is always favoring harmony? Is it because of war? Well, all along the reading I believed that the Tao was absolutely against war since it opposes violence, but now I know that for peace to exist, there has to be war as well. It also said previously that when war is the case and you can't turn back, one should succeed in it without enjoying the victory. This mean that it is indeed against war because it is against the glory of deaths. Therefore, this excerpt means that in war issues, one should never underestimate the enemy of the battle field.
I would like to end with my favorite quote of the book which was the most meaningful to me. "Truthful words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not truthful." (Tao 81) This is so true and realistic that it makes me realize how things really are. Those words that sound beautiful to you when they are told, are the ones that are deceitful. And those truthful words that can be told, may not be beautiful at all. The truth is something that hurts hearing, and this is usually told with truthful words which aren't beautiful to you. Why is this the ugly truth? Why can't truthful words be beautiful always?
There is this song that is stuck in my head that actually reminds me of the Tao. Some of its lyrics correspond to the teachings it tries to deliver.
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