Tao te ching how many words

From this top ten list alone, we can get some feel for the basic themes of the scripture—truth, virtue, and mastery of self. Interestingly, the principle of Oneness is also a key part of Buddhism, showing some of the similarities between the two religions. That's all for now, but feel free to explore the visualization further; you can find it here. So please check back soon! I welcome your feedback and comments, so feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Ken Flerlage, March 1, Twitter LinkedIn TableauPublic. Tags : DataViz Religion Tableau. You Might Also Like Tableau. Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them. The Master is above the people, and no one feels oppressed. She goes ahead of the people, and no one feels manipulated. The whole world is grateful to her. Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.

Notes: The Master is above the people : Not that she feels superior, but that, looking from a higher vantage point, she can see more.

The whole world is grateful to her : Even those who think they are ungrateful. This was immensely interesting to read, though I found myself somewhat aggravated by the passivism that ran through the writing. It's almost like a poetical treatise on humility, but what of ambition and a drive to make the world a better place?

Should we all accept our station in life and never aim to improve? I think not. It accepts things as they are however they are and cannot conceive of a better future. Everything should stay the same, and exist within the natural order of things. But ho This was immensely interesting to read, though I found myself somewhat aggravated by the passivism that ran through the writing.

But how do we define the natural? VI The Spirit of the valley never dies This is called the mysterious female. The gateway of the mysterious female Is called the route of heaven on earth.

Dimly visible, it seems as if it were there, Yet use will never drain it. The poem speaks of mother nature as replenishing and everlasting; she will always endure and is the gateway to heaven on earth, to our own nirvana.

We can never completely spend her. The metaphor is for the path as Taoism and nature are one and the same here. For the speaker, Taoism or the way is the most natural of things we can partake in. We will also never drain the benefits of it and they will also last perpetually. And these ideas for me felt strong and real, but the writing also muses over empire.

The Empire is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it. Hence some things lead and some follow; Some breath gently and some breathe hard; Some are strong and some are weak; Some destroy and some are destroyed.

Therefore the sage avoids excess, extravagance and arrogance. I take so much issue with this quote. In what way can we ever refer to an Empire as natural? Empire's are always built with the blood of someone else. The quote also shows how people are all different, though it concludes that this is simply the way of things. A weak person should not try to make himself strong. Such a thing is an excess. We should simply stay humble and never challenge the norms of an Empire.

And that's when I stopped listening to what the book had to say. As an historical piece it's interesting to study, but I take absolutely no stock in the words. Lau which you can find HERE. In this space I just want to focus on what Ursula K.

Le Guin brings to the table and what exactly makes her rendition of the classic, unique from the plethora of other translations and renditions that are available.

I have to commend D. Lau for his fantastic translation of the Tao, which includes a wonderful introduction as well as two very informative appendices. And in poetry, beauty is no ornament; it is the meaning. Where some of the passages in other translations make it clear that this was, in many ways, a manual for rulers; Le Guin takes liberty in changing certain phrases to relate more to the everyday individual.

I loved the confidence she showed in taking on and re-interpreting this ancient work, whilst always showing respect to the material and addressing, clearly, any amendments that she made. In addition to her fantastic commentary on the chapters of the Tao, Le Guin also brings her own insight to the questionable origins of the text through analysis of the poem structures within.

What a keen mind. Lau comes to the same conclusion for similar reasons. Le Guin journey here. We, rise, flourish, fail. The way never fails. We are waves. It is the sea. It's somewhat uncertain when it was written circa 4th-3rd century BC , the author's life details are largely invented, and the existence of the author is not quite certain either Lao Tzu is just his title, and also it's not known if the text is by one author, or a group of authors worked over some years.

It was first translated in the late s, and the oldes existin review after rereading: This book's contents and history have both a sense of vagueness, but not in a bad way, in my opinion. It was first translated in the late s, and the oldes existing copy is from circa BC. It's a bit hard to categorise: ethics?

But really, in my view any of those would do. In a way it felt a bit like Dhammapada, which I've read earlier, in that even if you're not interested in the religion it's part of, it will still appeal, and is a pretty easy a read.

I read it quite quickly now. Taoism is clearly put as an opposite way of thinking against Confucianism - which shows in some parts of this text - the latter being based on duties to the community and the family, but somewhat rigidly black and white at its hardest.

Taoism is in its end less rigid, putting weight on the coexistence of the opposites, reverence of nature, flexibility and not being too controlling. The Tao is a force in the world, not completely graspable or something one can give a finite meaning, but which balances our world. It is gentleness, avoiding conflict of grasping, seeking peacefulness, simplicity, detachment and humility.

Making the point without engaging in rhetoric and arguments. The book's message is simple, the prose spare with plenty of natural imagery. The wisdom the Tao of the book is feminine, yin in balance with the yang while in Confucianism the yang seems sometimes bit heavily-leaned on.

The message seems simple, yet is deep. Quite a few sentences bounced out of the text as familiar, things I've seen quoted. Reading and rereading each page will most certainly happen for me in the future. The whole thing reads just like a beautiful ancient Chinese nature painting Such is this book. Sep 04, Farhan Khalid rated it really liked it Shelves: philosophy , religion , china. To understand the small is called clarity Knowing how to yield is called strength Those who know do not talk Those who talk do not know Act by not acting Do by not doing A journey of thousand miles starts with a single footstep If you rush into action, you will fail If you hold on too tight, you will lose your grip Compassion is the protector of Heaven's salvation View 1 comment.

The simplicity of Torode's translation makes it my favorite so far and lines up with the Taoist philosophy of simplicity. I may consider other works translated by Torode. He has some interesting works out there, such as "The Song of Solomon.

I love this book of philosophy. It gives great common sense 4. It gives great common sense and helps pave new thought patterns not taught in American culture, paths that lead to peace and sanity.

My favorite book of philosophy. Shows a path of peace, contentment and subtle, quiet, managable power. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue this long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure.

The quote has reminded me of the power of humility, and the deceptive and dichotomous nature of that power. Humility clothes itself in rags of weakness and frailty but draws superhuman strength, and the Tao Te Ching calls this an empty vessel being filled with another power.

I admire this amazing and deeply profound piece of religious literature. The philosophy coincides with my own faith. The book teaches, as already mentioned, the power of humility. It teaches the value of things considered meaningless, such as empty space.

We build houses, form rooms with four walls, but the basis of this structure lies upon the importance of the empty space. Empty space provides room to live, to breathe, to walk, to make love, to work. The power and mechanics of a wheel depend on the empty space. Thus, we consider worthless things, abased things, as meaningless.

We say we live life to the fullest when we have what we want, and when we lose it all, we have no meaning, no purpose, no life. The book attempts to explain this. The Yin-Yang. The point of the argument concludes with something underlying the whole of existence. One constant, the Tao. I like to think of this, in my personal paradigm of faith, as God. The Tao exists as the fundamental, underlying essence of the universe.

Under all these events we also have a soul, eternal and unchanging in nature. The book changed my perspective. As I experience grief, the thoughts come: life has no purpose now. I see a Father who loves me, and plays baseball with me, fishes with me. The high, the low. The wave. Up, down, up, down. I see a beautiful lady with sea-blue eyes lying on my chest of happiness. See it all. See life. See the beauty, the lesson. See the tenderness of a mother deer licking her baby. See the lion chasing and biting the bleeding neck of her prey.

This is life. The wonder, the blessing. We live. We experience. The experiences only flow through a constant medium, us. I believe we exist in a timeless place called soul, and this place holds it all, the good and bad, in memories. I believe this God has a face and He wants to be seen. The author points out the paradox of softness. He refers to women as feminine, or weak, but then turns to say weakness stands stronger than strength, because strength depends on the weakness, as the walls depend on the space for meaning.

He says maturity is the end, the death, and Tao has no place with this. When we master something, it ends. A full-grown tree has only to be full-grown, and eventually wither. A new tree has begun to grow, and has a softness, and in this potential to grow, most of life abounds, because the process has just begun.

My end becomes a new beginning, always, so long as air feeds oxygen into my lungs and body. Jan 13, Onaiza Khan rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction , favorites , philosophy.

This is just mindblowing. This version of the Dao De Jing, translated by Richard John Lynn, is highly recommended to those who are not looking for the touchy feely Laozi. Rather it is a translation for those interested in ancient Chinese thought. A wonderful translation. The Dao De Jing was probably written, by author or authors unknown, in the fourth century B. This version includes an interpretation of the text written by Wang Bi C. This theme challenges "male" or Yang values such as stability, positive action, and domination of nature, which can be referred to as "Confucian values.

Mair Returning In Tao the only motion is returning; The only useful quality, weakness. For though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being, Being itself is the product of Not-being. Waley Another theme is the eternal return, or what Mair calls "the continual return of the myriad creatures to the cosmic principle from which they arose.

The ten thousand creatures and all plants and trees while they are alive are supple and soft, but when and dead they become brittle and dry. This is returning to the beginning of things, or to one's own childhood. The Tao Te Ching focuses upon the beginnings of society, and describes a golden age in the past, comparable with the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Human problems arose from the "invention" of culture and civilization.

Waley However, "returning" is not a simplistic reactionary retreat. Two illustrations are the anti-Confucianist saying that, "Learning consists in adding to one's stock day by day; The practice of Tao consists in 'subtracting day by day'. Waley Diminishing one's ego, instead of "improving" it through study, is the path to real wisdom. Letting the enemy take the first step thus reducing his range of possibilities is the way to gain the upper hand. This theme is similar to psychological practices such as introspection or meditation, but one returns not to oneself but to nothingness, to "that which is".

Emptiness We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends. Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

Waley Philosophical vacuity is a common theme among Asian wisdom traditions including Taoism especially Wu wei "nonaction" , Buddhism, and some aspects of Confucianism. This resonates with the Buddhist Shunyata philosophy of "form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness can mean having no fixed preconceptions, preferences, intentions, or agenda. Since "The Sage has no heart of his own; He uses the heart of the people as his heart.

From a ruler's point of view, it is a laissez-faire approach: So a wise leader may say: "I practice inaction, and the people look after themselves. Waley Knowledge Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self requires strength; He who knows he has enough is rich. Perseverance is a sign of will power. Laozi translates simply as "old master" — a hint that the author's or authors' true name has been lost for ever.

Tao Te Ching translates very roughly as "the way of integrity". In its 81 verses it delivers a treatise on how to live in the world with goodness and integrity: an important kind of wisdom in a world where many people believe such a thing to be impossible.

Texts as old as the Tao Te Ching are subject to the problems of both translation and interpretation. Take this collection of more than versions of the famous opening verse:. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. Translated by James Legge The Tao-Path is not the All-Tao. The Name is not the Thing named. Translated by Aleister Crowley The tao that can be told, is not the eternal Tao. Translated by Stephen Mitchell The third is from the most popular modern translation by Stephen Mitchell.