The Sage

"The sage has no mind of his own.
He is aware of the needs of others.

I am good to people who are good.
I am also good to people who are not good.
Because Virtue is goodness.
I have faith in people who are faithful.
I also have faith in people who are not faithful.
Because Virtue is faithfulness.

The sage is shy and humble - to the world
he seems confusing.
Others look to him and listen.
He behaves like a little child."


When I opened the Tao Te Ching I found my self looking at chapter forty-nine and it caught my eye from the get go. While reading the chapter I found some of the descriptions of the sage as some of the personality traits that I see in myself and that others have told me that they see in me.


I also realized that I knew many other people that also seem to posses the traits of a sage as well. Some of these people are people I go to for advice and people that also come to me so I think that in everyone there is a sage even if you do not notice it that it is there.


I think that this is what Lao Tsu wants the reader to realize while looking over his words and that they will then take those words and apply them to their lives to help others find the sage in themselves so that we can all help one another in times of need, and to help us all on our path of life.



Thoughts??

The Greatest Virtue

"The greatest Virtue is to follow Tao and Tao alone. The Tao is elusive and intangible. Oh, it is intangible and elusive, and yet within is image. Oh, it is elusive and intangible, and yet within is form".

From my brief journey into absorbing what Tao is, here I feel is a most important statement. Lao Tsu is attempting to show the reader that what he can tell you is not the Tao because in order to understand the Tao, one must experience it and see it through their own eyes and perceive it for themselves. It is elusive because what one can be told of the Tao is not in fact the Tao because it must be understood and absorbed in a way that can not be ultimately taught. To me it seems that the Tao is something that is "unteachable", that one must find their own meanings and take it to heart as they will.

Another translation of this passage reads, " The grandest forms of active force, From Tao come, their only source. Who can of Tao the nature tell? Our sight it flies, our touch as well. Eluding sight, eluding touch".

As a fledgling student in Eastern philosophies, I appreciate this translation even more. To me it implies that everything I will learn about the Tao will ultimately come from me. No matter what I read, or am taught, what I take to heart are the ideas that I have formed and have tailored to suit myself. As a student I relish in the thought that these ideas and readings will only, as I see it, be what might be considered the Tao when I reflect personally upon them and make them my own.

This reflection of mine was from chapter Twenty-One on page 23. I have left many of my other thoughts of this passage out, but mentioned what resonated with me the most.

The Circle of Tao

This is from the passage sixteen on page 18.

The main thing that I noticed with this passage was that it centered

a lot around the theme of how everything is connected.

You can not have one thing without the other in the world of Tao.

Such as in the first part where it states

"Empty yourself of everything.

Let the mind become still.

The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches

their return.

They grow and flourish and then return to the source.

Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.

The way of nature is unchanging."

I interpreted this as being Self as something that is observing

yourself/body's journey but that Self is created by the process of

pieces or the Ten thousand things as we know it. This means that

yourself is made up of components of pieces to make a whole/Tao.

That every living thing is made up of dead things to make a whole.

Therefore the natural/biological state of things is death and that

everything returns to and is created from death. With death there

is life and so fourth. If you think about it we then spend more

time being dead then alive and that our Self dies when our body dies

Therefore we should not be worrying about death but appreciating

what we are experiencing in life, To not get so wrapped up in

materialistic things that we can not see the true beauty that

surrounds us everyday. That life is a gift and we should take care

of it not destroy it.

The second part is

"Knowing constancy is insight.

Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.

Knowing constancy the mind is open.

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.

Being openhearted, you will act royally.

Being royal, you will attain the divine.

Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.

Being at one with the Tao is eternal.

And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away."

Here I took the word of royally/royal to mean greatness but

greatness is a process. You keep trying to become more and more

great until you reach the top when you realize that nothing

really matters. Once you transcend from the greatness you will

finally realize that you do not have to be great to be enlightened.

You would then be aware of your Self and therefore you will

eventually find Tao. Once you do you will realize how everything

is connected and though individual are one at the same time. With

that knowledge you would begin to appreciate life and no longer

fear death for it is all part of the natural order of things.

The Power of Five~

Whilst Flipping through the Tao, I was brought to the 14th page

in our book, the section of the Tao labelled "Twelve". After reading this section and being amused by the fact that it mentions

five three times, which just happens to be my favorite number, I was taken by the words written there.

For those of us who are without their book, this is what it said -

" The Five Colors Blind The Eye.

The Five Tones Deafen the Ear.

The Five Flavors Dull The Taste.

Racing and Hunting Madden The Mind.

Precious Things Lead One Astray.

Therefore The Sage Is Guided By What He Feels And Not By What He Sees.

He Lets Go Of That And Chooses This. "

These words struck me as ironic because this passage speaks to being overwhelmed by things that lead to a person being disabled in three area's of sense. It was ironic to me because people today typically spice EVERYTHING, and lose the essence of the singular flavor of what we are experiencing. The part that I found ironic is that it says that" precious things lead one astray" , five is my favorite number, and typically good things happen when five is associated, so to an extent I value what five can represent for me , thus making it "precious" so I wondered, where and or if I have gone astray.

I can relate to the last portion of this passage because for me I have tried to do things based upon how I feel rather then what I see both literally and metaphorically. The best example I have of me following a feeling is like when I traipse around in our woodlot here on campus, I don't follow a specific route always and sometimes I just let myself be lead somewhere, on two occasions without actually having been to a place in the woods, I was told of two separate trees that I had never seen before, Both times shortly after having been told about these tree's without trying to follow thoughts about where they could be or following directions I was lead right to them. It was both entertaining to find myself at these places I had never been before and ending up at them on a feeling, but the fact that I was lead to them after hearing about them, they are gorgeous by the way and hold strong presences in our woodlot. I find myself at peace during these times when I let myself be lead by this feeling of something drawing me,and also enjoy the placid slow paced joy that comes from walking without purpose in the woods. sss

So Now that I am done rambling about how I feel I relate to this Verse, I feel like it is saying that for anyone to truly find the path or the way they need to let go of their attachment to what they can hear, or see, or taste, and follow where they are lead, because focusing to intensely on anything or being overwhelmed by to many things can lead you to missing out in life and in the world itself.

Fun Video by the Way - Mike

Picture Courtesy of - http://www.easytaichi.co.uk/images/five_elements.gif

Video Courtesy of -http://www.youtube.com/v/-fZEZSqHIqc&hl=en_US&fs=1&amp

Wandering Taoism: Tao Te Ching--Twenty

Give up on learning, and put an end to your troubles.


Is there a difference between yes and no?
Is there a difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense!
Other people are contented, enjoying the sacrificial feast of the ox.
In spring some go to the park, and climb the terrace,
But I alone am drifting, not knowing where I am.
Like a newborn babe before it learns to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.


Others have more than they need, but I alone have nothing.
I am a fool. Oh, yes! I am confused.
Others are clear and bright,
But I alone am dim and weak.
Others are sharp and clever,
But I alone am dull and stupid.
Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea,
Without direction, like the restless wind.


Everyone else is busy,
But I alone am aimless and depressed.
I am different.
I am nourished by the great mother.

The above passage found me. It was the first one I turned to while "playing magic book." In essence, it basically describes my life and outlook. Overall, It describes a wanderer who doesn't know a lot of the things most people who live in society know. It describes a vagabond who doesn't think like everyone else. It describes a nomad who is raised by nature. It is saying to go out, with an empty mind, and just experience, and you will eventually gather all you need to know. You must be an empty vessel. Knowledge and wisdom are nothing compared to the things you can see and experience in the wide world and nature.


"Give up on learning and put an end to your troubles." Learning isn't living. Learning is just schooling. It is just collecting useless facts and such. They just cloud up your mind, not leaving enough space for the important things to rest. Learning, especially when attending to the questions of "Why," just creates unneeded stress that can be avoided when you just live life as an empty vessel.


To be a wander is like Wu Wei. I think that is what this section is basically getting out. It is stressing natural action and doing while not doing. "Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea, without direction like the restless wind." The waves of the sea and the wind are all natural. They follow their own paths, yet they get things accomplished. They do what is natural. The wanderer described in this passage does this as well. It is saying to just go along, and everything that you need will come to you. It is natural. You don't need to be bright or clever. You will know things other people are too blind to know. Their heads are too full of facts and figures, and they are trying to hard to find the answers. When, really, the answers will come to you.


The world will teach you everything you need to know.

Tao Te Ching

When I opened my Tao Te Ching book, chapter 56 was in front of me. The first time I read it, I understood almost all of it. I looked over it again and also looked it up online to see what other versions I could find. I found one version of chapter 56 that had the title "impartiality". What this means is basically making decisions based on the facts and objective materials, not based on bias or prejudice.

The first part of the chapter states, "Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know." I think this basically means that those who understand things don't go preaching it to everyone, and those who think they know it all (when really they don't) are the ones to preach.

I think the next section means to live simply, and don't over-do it. Don't listen to yourself or your senses, and don't try to judge other people. I think the line "mask your brightness" means to be humble. Just because you have special talents or good looks doesn't mean you have to show yourself off.
The last 2 lines in this section talk about "being at one with the dust of the earth". I think this basically means accept the world as it is.

The last section of this chapter talks about what happens after you achieve this state. When you are not affected by "friends & enemies, good & harm, and honor & disgrace", the world will accept you. The last line states "This therefore is the highest state of man".

Does anyone have anything else to add?