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How are you supposed to read the Tao Te Ching? I’ve picked up a few copies and didn’t quite understand.

softwaredoug 3y ago
They’re like koans worth contemplating. Not usually direct advice (though that’s there too!). Taoism is about the limitations of our ability to comprehend and “name” things. So by definition it would say we cannot have a literal understanding of the Dao or the universe. A lot of Taoism is about opposites. Both coexisting / feeding on each other and they’re waxing and waning. You can’t achieve victory without inevitably seeing what you fought for defeated. Learning and unlearning. Power through subservience, etc Taoism is also about the connection to the natural state of things. In terms of physics this is about things unfolding in a way towards highest entropy and lowest potential energy. I see it as a reminder of both how transitory and eternal life / the universe is. We’re all part of an ongoing flow. It’s a way of finding balance, and a degree of tranquility, as a mortal in this world
- browningstreet 3y ago
  Thank you.
jayavanth 3y ago
You should revisit the book in a few years. Tao can't be explained. It's something that should be experienced first-hand. Chapter 1 says: The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. There are several ways to experience it even if it's transitory: Being in nature, Deep meditation, Flow states during any activity, sensory enhancement/depravation (e.g. float tank), Psychoactive substances (last option) etc.
Foofoobar12345 3y ago
I read it while under the influence of some psychedelics; all the dots connected, and it instantly clicked. YMMV.
rramadass 3y ago
Very good question; let me attempt an answer :-) Any aphoristic philosophical text has a certain "Worldview" which it tries to convey via many means viz. Directly/Symbolically/Analogically/Metaphorically/Allegorically. This "Worldview" is the background canvas on which a philosophical text paints a specific picture. In the case of "Tao Te Ching/Dao De Jing" a good starting point can be found in wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao#Buddhist_interpretations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao#Buddhist_interpretations The Tao is the natural way of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom...This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being...Its name, "Tao", or "Dao"...signifies the way, path, route, road, or sometimes more loosely doctrine, principle, or holistic belief. Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness. The Tao is "eternally nameless" and should be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its manifestations, ... The Tao can be roughly thought of as the "flow of the universe", or as some essence or pattern behind the natural world that keeps the Universe balanced and ordered... The Tao is a non-dualistic principle—it is the greater whole from which all the individual elements of the Universe derive. The Tao is usually described in terms of elements of nature, and in particular, as similar to water. Like water it is undifferentiated, endlessly self-replenishing, soft and quiet but immensely powerful, and impassively generous Much of Taoist philosophy centers on the cyclical continuity of the natural world and its contrast to the linear, goal-oriented actions of human beings, as well as the perception that the Tao is "the source of all being, in which life and death are the same. So in simple terms "Living holistically everyday according to Natural order" (analogous to "Systems Thinking"). The idea of "Natural Order" is somewhat similar to "Divine Providence" of western theology but more abstract since there is no "God" here. You have a primordial "Tao" from which everything comes into being and which has inlaid the rules of creation, preservation and destruction and the cycle keeps going indefinitely. If one then adapts one's everyday behaviours, attitudes and actions to harmonize with the above "Worldview" in mind (i.e. holistic viewpoint) one can bear all trials and tribulations with equanimity and grace. The above background should be enough to start reading the text itself. I recommend reading Red Pine's translation along with any others you might like. PS: I also recommend reading a simpler text (but with similar ideas) named Caigentan (Vegetable Root Discourses) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caigentan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caigentan) which you might find helpful in grasping certain concepts.

They’re like koans worth contemplating. Not usually direct advice (though that’s there too!). Taoism is about the limitations of our ability to comprehend and “name” things. So by definition it would say we cannot have a literal understanding of the Dao or the universe. A lot of Taoism is about opposites. Both coexisting / feeding on each other and they’re waxing and waning. You can’t achieve victory without inevitably seeing what you fought for defeated. Learning and unlearning. Power through subservience, etc Taoism is also about the connection to the natural state of things. In terms of physics this is about things unfolding in a way towards highest entropy and lowest potential energy. I see it as a reminder of both how transitory and eternal life / the universe is. We’re all part of an ongoing flow. It’s a way of finding balance, and a degree of tranquility, as a mortal in this world

browningstreet 3y ago
Thank you.

jayavanth 3y ago

You should revisit the book in a few years. Tao can't be explained. It's something that should be experienced first-hand. Chapter 1 says: The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. There are several ways to experience it even if it's transitory: Being in nature, Deep meditation, Flow states during any activity, sensory enhancement/depravation (e.g. float tank), Psychoactive substances (last option) etc.

Foofoobar12345 3y ago

I read it while under the influence of some psychedelics; all the dots connected, and it instantly clicked. YMMV.

rramadass 3y ago

Very good question; let me attempt an answer :-) Any aphoristic philosophical text has a certain "Worldview" which it tries to convey via many means viz. Directly/Symbolically/Analogically/Metaphorically/Allegorically. This "Worldview" is the background canvas on which a philosophical text paints a specific picture. In the case of "Tao Te Ching/Dao De Jing" a good starting point can be found in wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao#Buddhist_interpretations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao#Buddhist_interpretations The Tao is the natural way of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom...This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being...Its name, "Tao", or "Dao"...signifies the way, path, route, road, or sometimes more loosely doctrine, principle, or holistic belief. Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness. The Tao is "eternally nameless" and should be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its manifestations, ... The Tao can be roughly thought of as the "flow of the universe", or as some essence or pattern behind the natural world that keeps the Universe balanced and ordered... The Tao is a non-dualistic principle—it is the greater whole from which all the individual elements of the Universe derive. The Tao is usually described in terms of elements of nature, and in particular, as similar to water. Like water it is undifferentiated, endlessly self-replenishing, soft and quiet but immensely powerful, and impassively generous Much of Taoist philosophy centers on the cyclical continuity of the natural world and its contrast to the linear, goal-oriented actions of human beings, as well as the perception that the Tao is "the source of all being, in which life and death are the same. So in simple terms "Living holistically everyday according to Natural order" (analogous to "Systems Thinking"). The idea of "Natural Order" is somewhat similar to "Divine Providence" of western theology but more abstract since there is no "God" here. You have a primordial "Tao" from which everything comes into being and which has inlaid the rules of creation, preservation and destruction and the cycle keeps going indefinitely. If one then adapts one's everyday behaviours, attitudes and actions to harmonize with the above "Worldview" in mind (i.e. holistic viewpoint) one can bear all trials and tribulations with equanimity and grace. The above background should be enough to start reading the text itself. I recommend reading Red Pine's translation along with any others you might like. PS: I also recommend reading a simpler text (but with similar ideas) named Caigentan (Vegetable Root Discourses) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caigentan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caigentan) which you might find helpful in grasping certain concepts.