Tao Te Ching Philosophy

SecularFuture · Post by **SecularFuture** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:53 am

What is your opinion of the philosophy that is described in the Tao Te Ching?

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Discussion on Tao Te Ching translations has been split into this thread.
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Student of Sophia · Post by **Student of Sophia** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 2:17 am

For what it's worth, I think it is a particularly beautiful expression of the perennial philosophy.

nanaimo · Post by **nanaimo** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:17 am

I'm far from an expert (read the Tao Te Ching and The Tao of Pooh) but I definitely took away some useful things from it. Namely: stay aware of the big picture instead of bogging yourself down in small details that overwhelm you. Be aware of your state of mind and cultivate a positive one. Try to experience things as they are, without all of your past experiences skewing your perception.

Simple, effective tools that take a lifetime to perfect.

pescifish · Post by **pescifish** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:30 am

SecularFuture, I'm going to check out the translation you linked and revisit my own thoughts on the Tao before attempting a decent reply (and ...erm... dealing with some holiday stuff...) In the meantime I can toss out my personal interpretation of how the Tao relates to each person's own way of living. This particular nugget 'popped' for me during one of Yoda's Jedi-philosophy speeches in a Star Wars movie.

While Yoda said "Do, or do not. There is no try." what came to mind for me was something I took away from my studies of the Tao der Ching: "Be, or don't be. There is no do or try."

If one is true to his/her own nature, then a person simply 'is' and all actions, reactions, interactions, etc. come without effort or deliberation.

pescifish · Post by **pescifish** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:32 am

[quote=""Student of Sophia""]For what it's worth, I think it is a particularly beautiful expression of the perennial philosophy.[/quote]Thanks for the link, Student of Sophia. I hope to look into this as well.

SecularFuture · Post by **SecularFuture** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:22 am

[quote=""Student of Sophia""]For what it's worth, I think it is a particularly beautiful expression of the perennial philosophy.[/quote]
I don't think I've ever heard of the perennial philosophy. I'll give it a peek. Thank you for the link.

[quote=""nanaimo""]I'm far from an expert (read the Tao Te Ching and The Tao of Pooh) but I definitely took away some useful things from it. Namely: stay aware of the big picture instead of bogging yourself down in small details that overwhelm you. Be aware of your state of mind and cultivate a positive one. Try to experience things as they are, without all of your past experiences skewing your perception.

Simple, effective tools that take a lifetime to perfect.[/quote]
From what I remember, I picked up similar advice.

I love how concise the text as a whole is.

[quote=""pescifish""]SecularFuture, I'm going to check out the translation you linked and revisit my own thoughts on the Tao before attempting a decent reply (and ...erm... dealing with some holiday stuff...)[/quote]
I'm re-reading the Tao Te Ching as we speak for the same reasons.

In the meantime I can toss out my personal interpretation of how the Tao relates to each person's own way of living. This particular nugget 'popped' for me during one of Yoda's Jedi-philosophy speeches in a Star Wars movie.

A fellow Star Wars fan?

While Yoda said "Do, or do not. There is no try." what came to mind for me was something I took away from my studies of the Tao der Ching: "Be, or don't be. There is no do or try."

If one is true to his/her own nature, then a person simply 'is' and all actions, reactions, interactions, etc. come without effort or deliberation.

Very good philosophy.

Jimmy Higgins · Post by **Jimmy Higgins** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:48 pm

The Tao Te Ching is the most meaningful book I've ever read. Taoism is a religion or philosophy which is just as susceptible to being corrupted with silliness as any other philosophy or religion.

The best things in life are short and with the fewest caveats possible (think the US Constitution). The Tao Te Ching does a great job of relating what is and isn't important, what does and doesn't have value (how nothing can be important).

premjan · Post by **premjan** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:08 pm

The nice thing about nondualism is that it provides an easy way to make sense of religion without having to oppose it. I find the Tao Te Ching to be a somewhat crisper and more condensed, less self-important version of the Upanishads. A work of comparable crispness but in more secular matters is IMO the Tirukkural. A lot of works of philosophy and religion tend to ramble far too much or contain too much approximate truth but these tend to be to the point.

aupmanyav · Post by **aupmanyav** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:36 am

Premjan, was there a thread in which Tirukkural was discussed? Sorry that I have not read one of the gems of Indian wisdom. Thanks for the link.

Lugubert · Post by **Lugubert** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:12 pm

[quote=""premjan""]The nice thing about nondualism is that it provides an easy way to make sense of religion without having to oppose it. I find the Tao Te Ching to be a somewhat crisper and more condensed, less self-important version of the Upanishads. A work of comparable crispness but in more secular matters is IMO the Tirukkural. A lot of works of philosophy and religion tend to ramble far too much or contain too much approximate truth but these tend to be to the point.[/quote]

I've read the Tirukkural in a much lauded Swedish direct translation from the original. Not many such without intermediate versions exist. Left me no more than slightly interested. Dao De Jing in numerous versions: academically interesting, not much more to me. For Daoism, I read and re-read and return to Zhuangzi in Watson, Burton (translator) (1968); The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231031479.

If I'm allowed such a pretentious label, my "philosophy of life" is mainly influenced by Zhuangzi Daoism.