1. 1. QUESTION

   Analysis of selections from the Tao Te Ching    

   Read the Tao Te Ching up through stanza 46 and choose 3 stanzas that you feel reflect either, a personal ethical viewpoint, or a societal problem or issue and copy the stanzas, and then in 80 words or more per stanza discuss how and why you think they apply to ethics. I am going to choose 1 page double space for this assignment please use all the words I choose.

   To do this you will need to read one of the translations of the Tao Te Ching. I have already choose the 3 stanza for you from those translation. Going to paste down below. Please do not use any outside source for this assignment only use the provided source. I am going to provide example down below how other student did this assignment. So you have an idea how to do this assignment. I am also going to provide a presentation provided by instructor about Introduction To Tao Te Ching down below so you can understand about Tao Te Ching. But you don’t need to use that presentation in this assignment. That presentation is only for your understanding about the topic. Please see the provided example down below by other student. So you have an idea.

   Thank You!

    

   These all 3 Stanza you have to answer:

   3

   Do not exalt the worthy, so that the people shall not compete.
   Do not value rare treasures, so that the people shall not steal.
   Do not display objects of desire, so that the people’s hearts shall not be disturbed.
   Therefore in the government of the sage, He keeps their hearts vacuous, Fills their bellies, Weakens their ambitions, And strengthens their bones,
   He always causes his people to be without knowledge (cunning) or desire, And the crafty to be afraid to act.
   By acting without action, all things will be in order.

    

   5

   Heaven and Earth are not humane. They regard all things a straw dogs.
   The sage is not humane. He regards all people as straw dogs.
   How Heaven and Earth are like a bellows. While vacuous, it is never exhausted. When active, it produces even more.
   Much talk will of course come to a dead end. It is better to keep to the centre.

    

   35

   Hold fast to the great form (Tao), And all the world will come. They come and will encounter no harm; But enjoy comfort, peace, and health.
   When there are music and dainties, Passing strangers will stay.
   But the words uttered by Tao, How insipid and tasteless! We look at it; it is imperceptible. We listen to it; it is inaudible. We use it; it is inexhaustible.

    

    

    

    

   Example By other student for you how they did this assignment:

   9

   To hold and fill a cup to overflowing Is not as good as to stop in time.

   Sharpen a sword edge to its very sharpest, And the (edge) will not last long.

   When gold and jade fill your hall, You will not be able to keep them.

   To be proud with honour and wealth Is to cause one’s own downfall.

   withdraw as soon as your work is done. Such is Heaven’s Way.

   This stanza relates to the idea of when one exhibits the Tao, they are practicing virtue. In this stanza, the virtuous action is temperance. To have control over oneself is the best way to embark on the Tao’s path of existence, so Lao Tzu is asserting that one should acknowledge when they’ve reached their limit in an activity. I think this stanza relates to both ethics and politics because when one loses control over themselves, it can affect others, which is political in itself. 

   27

   A good traveller leaves no track or trace. A good speech leaves no flaws. A good reckoner uses no counters.

   A well-shut door needs no bolts, and yet it cannot be opened. A well-tied knot needs no rope and yet none can untie it.

   Therefore the sage is always good in saving men and consequently no man is rejected. He is always good in saving things and consequently nothing is rejected. This is called following the light (of Nature).

   Therefore the good man is the teacher of the bad, And the bad is the material from which the good may learn.

   He who does not value the teacher, Or greatly care for the material, Is greatly deluded although he may be learned. Such is the essential mystery.

   This stanza relates to the importance of having wisdom. When one is well-versed in something they are interested in, they are less likely to make mistakes. Tzu relates this to the Tao because when one has temperance, they are well connected with Nature, which is the catalyst for all our experiences. Tzu also introduces oppositional concepts by saying that a good man teaches the bad, which means that in life, those who are aware of the faults of the world are less bound to partake in them. This stanza is written from a viewpoint relating to ethics because it suggests that in order to live our greatest lives, we must follow the “light” of nature. 

   36

   In order to contract, It is necessary first to expand. In order to weaken, It is necessary first to strengthen. In order to destroy, It is necessary first to promote. In order to grasp, It is necessary first to give.

   This is called subtle light. The weak and the tender overcome the hard and the strong.

   Fish should not be taken away from water. And sharp weapons of state should not be displayed to the people.

   The subtle light symbolizes the idea that all of our actions have consequences, especially when we have certain motives when performing them. This relates to the idea of Tao because when one embarks on that path, they are not embarking upon a certain destination, which means that they are free of desires of self-benefit. When one acts to benefit themselves, they make themselves vulnerable and that is how they become weak. Tzu warns against this vulnerability by asserting to not take fish from water or present weapons to civilians; those two situations lead to the weakness and demise of the parties in question. This could apply to one’s everyday life but also to the way our society is run; it is vital to instill humility and caution in our actions.

    

   Presentation: Introduction to Tao Te Ching

   Introduction To Tao Te Ching

    

    

    

   The magnificent Chinese spiritual and philosophical text, Tao Te Ching, is attributed to the great Chinese historian and sage, Lao Tzu. The title in Chinese means literally: the book of Tao and Virtue. There are many different legends and stories surrounding the actual life of its author, Lao Tzu. Most scholars place him as having lived at some point during the “Warring States” period in Chinese history. We may say that the very mysteriousness of Lao Tzu’s identity lends itself to the nature of his text the Tao Te Ching, and of Taoism itself. Defining Taoism is a rather awkward because it is a Westernized term, but generally it is thought of as a way of living and thinking that is to do with cultivating a mystical harmonious union with nature (Fung Yu Lan 170). In some ways the Taoists were similar to the European Romantic thinkers of the late eighteenth, and early nineteenth century and of the the early American nineteenth century Transcendentalists, like Thoreau, and Emerson. And, in fact, both Emerson and Thoreau were exposed to Taoist ideas.

   Tao is a concept that pervades all of Classical Chinese philosophical thought. We can define the word, Tao, as “the way”, or “the path.” This meaning is in keeping with the idea that Tao is a process that is integrated with nature and not something stagnant. Since Tao is “the way” it has many interesting spiritual, ethical, and even political implications. It can be regarded as the “way” of living for the human being in the world. In come cases Tao can be manifested in the practice of virtue—as in cultivating harmony within the world. It is transcendent but it is a worldly experience and not a supernatural one. The Chinese philosophers and thinkers were always concerned with what would bring happiness and harmony in every day life. Indeed the Chinese philosophers were simultaneously mystical thinkers and practical thinkers; for they understood that these were one in the same experiences.

   And this is what makes Tao different from Western European Classical thinking. It is a concept that focuses on the metaphysical perspective of life in the every day human world, and the entire cosmos. It is not a Platonic idealized concept, rather it is real and tangible in the world in which we live. But, I should like to emphasize to you that Tao, as Lao Tzu tells us is, “nameless” and “formless.” So, it cannot really be defined. A Christian thinker might refer to Tao as God or Spirit and thus Tao could be thought of as a spiritual end, or union with something divine. However from a Chinese philosophical perspective, Tao is really more of an experience of a connection to nature or cosmos, the way of heave, and thus Tao is an existential concept.

   The question then arises that if this is “nameless” and “formless” what is this Tao, anyway? What the student must do when approaching the Tao Te Ching is to let go of any notion of attempting to actually define Tao. What we need to examine are its aspects; how it is described to us. Lao Tzu tells us Tao is the “Cosmic Mystery,” “the Gate to the Secret of all life.” He also tells us that Tao is something “unfathomable,” and he describes it like a bow: “Stretch a (bow) to the very full,/And you will wish you had stopped in time”(9). Tao unites all things in the cosmos. Non-being is essential to express being. Both of these ideas are essential to understanding Tao. Tao is a path—we walk the path of our existence, not toward any particular destination but simply as an experience of the constant changing of life—no goals; no desires!

   In order to derive a greater understanding of the Tao Te Ching, we may want consider what expressions that Lao Tzu uses to explain Tao. Lao Tzu uses a motif of “opposites” to give characteristics of Tao. He describes it as, “ever hidden”, and also, “always manifest” at the same time:

    

   When the people of the Earth all know beauty as beauty,

               There arises (the recognition of) ugliness.

   When the people of Earth all know the good as good,

               There arises (the recognition of) evil. (II)

    

   In his discussion of the Tao, Lao Tzu describes the Tao as “nameless”, and also “nameable” but still it cannot be named. Tao is described as “unfathomable,” and it is really described in relationship to its function—that of something that exists everywhere in a constant cosmic dance. The concepts that are expressed in the Tao Te Ching are often oppositional. Western Christian theologians refer to this kind of language as “Negative Theology.” The early Christian Mystics used “opposites” and “negatives” in their mystical texts to achieve a closer union with the divine. This is understood as “apophaticism,” a turning away from positive affirmations of the divine in order to actually feel closer to the divine–it is a paradoxical experience. The Romantic poets also often used this kind of motif to express the “sublime” in nature. Pseudo Dionysius, the Christian sixth century mystic in his text entitled “Divine Names,” uses negative imagery to show that his god can never be actually defined or named. In the Tao Te Ching the motif of negatives and opposites are evident throughout the entire text, as in the phrase at stanza 5, “Empty, yet it gives a supply that never fails;” (5). The Chinese philosopher always thinks of the sublime within the context of the every day world. So much so, that the most important question for the Chinese thinkers was: “how best to enjoy life?”(Yutang Lin) They preferred instead, to focus on how to cultivate joy in the mundane world.

   What are the political implications of the relationship between opposing concepts in the Tao Te Ching? This is an important question in reading the text. I believe that what Lao Tzu is revealing to us also corresponds to Aristotle’s idea of the “mean, ” or to live a temperate life. If you manage to become balanced in the way you live your daily life, you will be able to live more harmoniously in the universe. This also has scientific possibilities. The universe always maintains a balance. There is order in the Cosmos, and the cosmic order also embraces ethics and morality in the human realm. Lao Tzu offers therefore a code of living:

   Exalt not the wise,

               So that the people shall not scheme and contend;

   Prize not rare objects,

               So that the people shall not steal;

   Shut out from sight the things of desire,

               So that the people’s hearts shall not be disturbed. (III)

   Thus the Tao Te Ching is simultaneously a political-ethical-spiritual treatise. From an ethical standpoint the Tao Te Ching exhorts us to relinquish control. A leader who is controlling or tyrannical is not a good leader. Lao Tzu tells us to cultivate our lives so that we become more aware of who we are and what our connection to the harmony of nature is. We then begin to realize that all of Tao is already contained within us—we only needed to uncover what was already present in us. Chuang Tzu the other Taoist philosopher stated: “The ordinary mind is Tao.” His point is that we are already Tao—we only need to acknowledge it. To be Tao—to be aware of Tao, is to be liberated in the world. In modern Mandarin the word Tao is used to express knowing as in: “I know the way,” or “”我知道.” Hence the path is the process of experiential understanding and we travel on it—it is a participatory and not passive, in that we experience it as neither positive or negative, but just to enjoy that moment of the path itself. Thus, I invite you to take a moment and contemplate the idea of a balance and harmonious relationship with nature.

    

    

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