Take chapter 9, a photocopy of which hung on my office corkboard for years:įill your cup to the brim and it will spill. Mitchell’s lyrical rendering of the Tao Te Ching might read to some like silly hippie clichés, but there’s more to it than that. This slim book is both a quick read and a long study. Taoism seeks harmony by freeing the individual from the caustic effects of judgmental thinking, desire, and greed, and its fulcrum is the concept of “non-action,” or literally “doing not-doing.” Non-action, Mitchell writes in his introduction, is not the act of doing nothing but instead is the purest form of action: “The game plays the game the poem writes the poem we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.” With Taoism, even if you don’t believe in the Force-like nature of the Tao-and in case there’s any question, I don’t-you can still consider yourself a Taoist. In doing so the first three create division where the last seven seek harmony. For me, the tragedy of the Great List is that the three that top it serve only to divide the world into believers and nonbelievers: regardless how closely you follow the last seven, if you don’t believe in God you’re not worth a fig. Seven of the 10 Commandments don’t mention God and are sound advice designed to facilitate peaceful community relations: respect your elders, don't kill, don't cheat on your spouse, don't steal, don't tell lies, and don't lust after another's spouse or his belongings. Where the Tao Te Ching parts company with religious attempts at morality such as the 10 Commandments is in its inclusiveness. For me, the Tao Te Ching is more folk wisdom than religious treatise and is more useful than a million sermons. So it may seem strange that I’m reviewing the Tao Te Ching, the widely known and influential Taoist text, written by Lao-Tzu and poetically translated in this edition by Stephen Mitchell. It is content with the low places that people disdain.I'm an unbeliever and have been since the first time I played hooky from Sunday services and the Eye in the Sky didn’t say boo. Which nourishes all things without trying to. It’s not a literal translation, but it captures the spirit of the verse. S Michell made a interesting transliteration of the text. It’s, on the other hand, extremely powerful and able to penetrate a hard rock if it’s given time. It nourishes the world but never claims credit or try to compete with anyone. It’s selfless and willing to go to filthy places where no one wants to go, so it knows the ground well. It greets you with its pliability and softness. They teach us how to be soft and yet strong. They serve as good references to make our life more meaningful and what we do more effortless yet effective. In Verse 8 of Tao Te Ching, he enumerates the seven virtues of water. Lao Tzu likes to use water to illustrate the virtue of Tao and the ways to bring out the best in us. We can live without it, yet it never claims credit or tries to compete with anyone. It irrigates the farms and nourishes our bodies. When its balance is disrupted, it swings back to alignment with gravity. While pliable, water keeps to its center. Lao Tzu believes we should strive to be like water to be flexible and adaptable. It can adapt to any situation and take on any form. Staying close to the rock can even drill a hole through it if it’s allowed the time.Īlthough soft, water can over some of the hardest things in the world. Although soft, it never runs away, and the connection enables it to know the ground to find the best solutions to whatever problems it faces. It goes to filthy places others dread! This allows it to engage with anything, which can be as hard as a rock. It accepts whatever comes and doesn’t resist. It allows us to go with the flow of nature and actively engage with things we do, making what we do effective yet effortless.
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