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Tao Te Ching, seriously There is a lot of emphasis on simplicity and that things are the best when they work seamlessly. Chapter 17, from the translation by D

by stared 3y ago

Tao Te Ching, seriously There is a lot of emphasis on simplicity and that things are the best when they work seamlessly. Chapter 17, from the translation by Derek Lin, which I wholeheartedly recommend: The highest rulers, people do not know they have them The next level, people love them and praise them The next level, people fear them The next level, people despise them

drannex 3y ago
And if you want something a bit more relaxed and updated, The Dude De Ching[1], is quite good. It's a rewrite based around the core concepts of Dudeism, a fan-made spiritual practice based on the character "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski. > The rug is a fabrication which ties our ruminations together. 1. https://dudeism.com/thedudedeching/ https://dudeism.com/thedudedeching/ Edit: There is an online version available as well, https://aui.me/text/the-dude-de-ching/ https://aui.me/text/the-dude-de-ching/
morelisp 3y ago
Discussed most recently/productively here at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37686713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37686713 I think.
- stared 3y ago
  This very thread inspired me to read not only this book, but also this particular translation.
  - therealmocker 3y ago
    Read through the thread and didn't see references to the translation by Derek Lin, could you point to why you selected that version?
    - stared 3y ago
      It is in the linked post, not - comments.
hyggetrold 3y ago
Another great translation is by Witter Bynner - the book is titled The Way of Life rather than Tao Te Ching.
FrustratedMonky 3y ago
For Eastern Influence. I think AI Engineers would be interested in a more Zen take, examining 'conceptual mind', 'subjective experience'. ""The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind"" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/276779.The_Zen_Teaching_of_Huang_Po https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/276779.The_Zen_Teaching_...
hosh 3y ago
There are several ways to approach the Tao Te Ching, including the mystical, but I think that there's a great book that explains the underlying approach the Chinese have, called, Treatise on Efficacy. Essentially, in Chinese philosophy, any given situation has a propensity (water tends to run downhill). It is therefore more effective to work with that propensity, than it is to work heroically against that propensity. This is very much a layer in what the Tao Te Ching talks about.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- svat 3y ago
  > Essentially, in Chinese philosophy, any given situation has a propensity (water tends to run downhill). It is therefore more effective to work with that propensity, than it is to work heroically against that propensity. Interesting, this is similar to the Hindu/Indic idea of dharma (e.g. the dharma of water is to flow) and the idea of working with/towards dharma (both of oneself and the world generally). (Dharma refers to both the proper order of things and to the actions one takes to uphold it.) Edit: The "See also" section on the Wikipedia page for Ṛta is interesting: • Asha (Zoroastrianism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha • Maat (Egyptian religion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat • Me (Sumerian religion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_(mythology) • Tao (Chinese Taoism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao and a few others. In Hinduism there are Ṛta, Dharma, etc. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%9Ata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%9Ata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma) (also in Buddhism Jainism etc)
  - hosh 3y ago
    What's also interesting to me is that there are enough similarities between Vedic and ancient Greek thought, and yet here we are with Aristolean ideas in the West, and in India, things went the way of the Puranas. (Treatise of Efficacy went into the flaw baked into Aristolean thoughts separating Theory and Practice, and how going with the propensity bypasses that). The Chinese word for this propensity of the situation is shi (勢), rather than dao (道). There are other texts that talk about exploiting and profiting from propensity (shi), rather than what the Dao De Jing talks about with wei wuwei (為無為).

by stared 3y ago

drannex 3y ago

And if you want something a bit more relaxed and updated, The Dude De Ching[1], is quite good. It's a rewrite based around the core concepts of Dudeism, a fan-made spiritual practice based on the character "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski. > The rug is a fabrication which ties our ruminations together. 1. https://dudeism.com/thedudedeching/ https://dudeism.com/thedudedeching/ Edit: There is an online version available as well, https://aui.me/text/the-dude-de-ching/ https://aui.me/text/the-dude-de-ching/

morelisp 3y ago

Discussed most recently/productively here at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37686713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37686713 I think.

stared 3y ago
This very thread inspired me to read not only this book, but also this particular translation.
- therealmocker 3y ago
  Read through the thread and didn't see references to the translation by Derek Lin, could you point to why you selected that version?
  - stared 3y ago
    It is in the linked post, not - comments.

hyggetrold 3y ago

Another great translation is by Witter Bynner - the book is titled The Way of Life rather than Tao Te Ching.

FrustratedMonky 3y ago

For Eastern Influence. I think AI Engineers would be interested in a more Zen take, examining 'conceptual mind', 'subjective experience'. ""The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind"" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/276779.The_Zen_Teaching_of_Huang_Po https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/276779.The_Zen_Teaching_...

hosh 3y ago

There are several ways to approach the Tao Te Ching, including the mystical, but I think that there's a great book that explains the underlying approach the Chinese have, called, Treatise on Efficacy. Essentially, in Chinese philosophy, any given situation has a propensity (water tends to run downhill). It is therefore more effective to work with that propensity, than it is to work heroically against that propensity. This is very much a layer in what the Tao Te Ching talks about.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
svat 3y ago
> Essentially, in Chinese philosophy, any given situation has a propensity (water tends to run downhill). It is therefore more effective to work with that propensity, than it is to work heroically against that propensity. Interesting, this is similar to the Hindu/Indic idea of dharma (e.g. the dharma of water is to flow) and the idea of working with/towards dharma (both of oneself and the world generally). (Dharma refers to both the proper order of things and to the actions one takes to uphold it.) Edit: The "See also" section on the Wikipedia page for Ṛta is interesting: • Asha (Zoroastrianism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha • Maat (Egyptian religion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maat • Me (Sumerian religion) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_(mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_(mythology) • Tao (Chinese Taoism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao and a few others. In Hinduism there are Ṛta, Dharma, etc. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%9Ata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%9Ata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma) (also in Buddhism Jainism etc)
- hosh 3y ago
  What's also interesting to me is that there are enough similarities between Vedic and ancient Greek thought, and yet here we are with Aristolean ideas in the West, and in India, things went the way of the Puranas. (Treatise of Efficacy went into the flaw baked into Aristolean thoughts separating Theory and Practice, and how going with the propensity bypasses that). The Chinese word for this propensity of the situation is shi (勢), rather than dao (道). There are other texts that talk about exploiting and profiting from propensity (shi), rather than what the Dao De Jing talks about with wei wuwei (為無為).