Tuesday Musings on Tao Te Ching: Chapter 1

kennyskitchen (72) in tuesdaytaoteching • 6 years ago (edited)

View this post on Hive: Tuesday Musings on Tao Te Ching: Chapter 1

6 years ago by kennyskitchen (72)

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riverflows (72) · 6 years ago

"Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets; But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.

What struck me was this seemed to be about interactions with the mind and it's capacity to attach to things as reality when they aren't, they are fleeting, similar to Buddhist thought. But that also the joy of life is also in the desire.. you have to live and be part of the world yet not get too absorbed in desire that you aren't truly living.

I've never studied the Tao Te Ching so this dialogue is really interesting.. thanks for the musings, you two. Looking forward to the rest.

I also never knew Le Guin wrote commentary on the TTC. I love her writings. I'm just 're reading The Word for World is Forest.

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

Ya, I think part of why Taoism has spoken to me so strongly is because it often feels like a cross between Abraham-Hicks & Buddha. Don't be attached to it, don't think that what you see is what there is, but have fun seeing it & playing around with it!

I hadn't heard about UKLG's translation until researching for this article. That woman is ever astounding me :-)

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arqetype (60) · 6 years ago

Really cool series! I like this. Man the Tao te Ching is always to clear yet mysterious to me. This first chapter can be a real mind bogler but I feel has the essence of what spiritual maturity really is. Its accepting that no matter how hard we try we cannot define or name the infinite. The true nature of reality. That all language is a lie! That we have to succumb that whatever underlying forces that make up the universe are inherently unknowable and mindbogglingly and any attempt to say that we have nailed it down and figured it out, that our god it's names and all symbolic deification of it are pretty ridiculous. I love the simplicity of Taoism and its acceptance of really not knowing the ultimate truth and finding peace and balance within it. Thanks for starting this series. I look forward to reading your writings about the future chapters and participating. Much love!

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

Ya, I feel like this chapter definitely lends itself to a broad reading of MANY spiritual texts and diving down lots of different rabbit holes, since none of them will encapsulate the Truth, and yet all of them can offer some glimpse, some angle on that Truth.

I am so, so looking forward to diving into this wonderful text fully with @TheLynx, and with everyone else on STEEM that wants to get involved :-)

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andrewmarkmusic (67) · 6 years ago

This was one of the first books I read at Banyen Books as I began my quest about 40-years ago; that and a little black book called The Impersonal Self.
They've always stayed with me even as a Christian Gnostic. I see the Dualism as similar as is the Tao similar to the unknown God of the gnostic tradition.
I see all the rabbit holes as similar to all the theme parks within WestWorld.

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

I definitely see a ton of intertwining & commonalities between all of the spiritual traditions, and honestly that's part of the fun for me. Where are the key truths that they're all pointing at? Why are some of the key foundations of one school so polar opposite another when other factors are almost identical.

Most importantly, for me, it all comes down to what will help me to be the best that I can be and to live the happiest, healthiest life that I can :-)

I'll have to add The Impersonal Self to my list.

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andrewmarkmusic (67) · 6 years ago

All I can tell ya is that ole Schopenhauer becomes more compelling the older I get! lol
Your philosophy does make sense even if we are in the hell of an eternal recurrence...

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

I'm going to go pick up a copy today :-)

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emancipatedhuman (66) · 6 years ago

The Tao Te Ching has been a great influence in my life. Thank you for bringing light to it in our community. I'd love to be part of it if you open up for guests.

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

That is something I would absolutely love! We're going to head through chapter by chapter (so chapter 2 in five days), so any time you want to jump in just let me know and I'll include your insights into the post itself :-)

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emancipatedhuman (66) · 6 years ago

idk why i didnt see this comment until now. i apologize. what should i focus on now?

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

We're going to do chapter 3 tomorrow

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earthcustodians (67) · 6 years ago (edited)

think I am going to hang out here when I want to take a break, Taoism is such a valuable philosophy. Well I only read Mantak Chia so far. Will finish your blog this weekend when I wake up with my cup of tea.

Thank you for sharing @kennyskitchen... following of course

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

Awesome, super stoked to get as many wonderful Steemians as possible in on the conversation :-)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts after you finish it up!

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orl4ndo (56) · 6 years ago

Yin and yang the balance is important in life

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

It certainly is :-)

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homestead-guru (66) · 6 years ago

This is my first exposure to this text - thank you - I need some time to process...

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

It's definitely one of the most powerful spiritual texts I've wandered into myself :-)

It was on the periphery of my mind for a LONG time, and after reading @dbroze & @johnvibes first book Reflections on Anarchy & Spirituality, I knew that I needed to learn much, much more about it!

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minnowsupport (70) · 6 years ago

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mikeonfire (60) · 6 years ago

Excellent. I've been looking into Buddhism recently after reading "The Art of Communication". The author pointed out the practice of bowing as an act of awareness of the little Buddha within each of us. The "little Buddha" representing the highest potential of enlightenment, kindness and understanding within. I may end up taking that as my new greeting.

In regard to this chapter, I'm reminded of something Walter Russell suggested. That there is universal source that is Light and that that light exist everywhere, darkness is just space within the spectrum that we cannot see or chose not to. Which also reminds me of Dewey Larson's "Inverse Theory" which suggests the opposite of the whole is 1/the whole. It makes me wonder if matter and spirituality are a similar relationship, thus the final thought describing the same thing.

Very grateful to you both for your efforts to bring this to us.

I bow to the Buddha within each of you!

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kennyskitchen (72) · 6 years ago

I dig that, and remember how much the importance of bowing was focused on in most every martial arts class I took as a kid, regardless of the style or the culture from which it originated.

darkness is just space within the spectrum that we cannot see or chose not to

I love that!

It makes me wonder if matter and spirituality are a similar relationship, thus the final thought describing the same thing.

That certainly aligns with many of the teachings I have come across, which basically place physical reality as one side of the coin, which has consciousness as its other.

Thanks for your thoughts brother!

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metametheus (66) · 6 years ago

Great post.

So nice to see people getting into the Dao De Jing, reading the comments of people who’ve never encountered it before. It is a remarkably beautiful text, albeit hard to read sometimes. It definitely changed the course of my life when I first read the Richard Wilhelm version maaaaaaaany moons ago.

I’d like to offer a slightly different translation of a couple of lines from the second part of the verse, which shifts the understanding slightly.

故常無欲，以觀其妙；常有欲，以觀其徼。
Hence, one is always without desire, by means of beholding its subtle mysteriousness; Constantly having desire, by means of beholding its boundaries.

This is my translation. The idea being that the act of perceiving the “subtle mysteriousness” of the Dao will naturally bring about a lack of desire; and that conversely seeing the limitations of the Dao brings about the presence of desire. The writer here is using a grammatical tool to show the interdependence of polarity, which is also used in the next verse. This grammatical construct seems to me to be typical of a school of thought that began to think and write about paradox and the problem of language, so that’s why I would be dating this verse to somewhere around 3rd-2nd Centuries BCE.

It also puts it around the time that the Yinyang school was being developed, maybe just before, I’m not certain yet. I’ll only know once I finish with my translation, but I think there is no mention of “yin” or “yang” in this text, as these terms appear only around the start of the Han Dynasty, when this form of Daoism began to influence imperial policy.

Also the word 欲 gets translated as “desire”.... my understanding is that it is the equivalent of Kāma – passion, lust, etc. I’m not up on Sanskrit, but I think I remember reading somewhere that this is not the same word used in The Buddha’s 4 Noble Truths (the origin of dukka, suffering)...

But yes, very similar to Buddhist ideas, which is remarkable considering there is no evidence of contact between China and India before the 2nd Century CE... although ‘no evidence’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘didn’t happen’.

You’re right though about the ‘fractal’ nature of this text, and the Dao as a concept. I think it speaks to a true universal pluralism, with language and perception being the real constraints – it reminds me of a Terence McKenna quote:

If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed.

The sheer number of different translations and commentaries (and versions, a la the Mawangdui manuscript version and the Guodian version) shows that ancient Chinese thinkers placed an emphasis on personal engagement with the Dao, lived experience and felt sense being valuable. That’s why I love the last line in particular 衆妙之門 “its schools/portals are many and wondrous”, meaning there are many doors/portals/gates one can use to enter the “mystery of mysteries”.

Looking forward to reading tomorrow for verse 2.

😊🙏🏽☯️

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