The Way of the Ways: Tao

This is a very unusual book as it has a rather long section at the start that discusses certain aspects of the Tao, and then a long section of the notes that examine some verses in detail.

It is very obvious from the first section that the author is not exactly a friend of how things are done today.

p.16

'While interchange between family members survives, at least as a means of vocalizing hostilities, conversation as the ancient mainstay of household pleasure has given way to solitary pursuits, in particular the watching of television, which appears to be a cultural choice of a people, and incidentally the function of television to see lies, stimulate fears, enthrall with violence, and besot the emotions. The prime function of television is simply to keep people watching television. It is a projected self that makes it difficult to do at home anything other than keeping to one's self and savoring the artificial spice of canned hostility.'

This is just what many people who have never heard of the Tao say. Television has come to dominate much of our lives and distract us from other, more positive, pursuits. There's the current argument about whether or not the violence on television and in video games actually causes young people in particular to become more violent. Watching television is a very passive activity. There are others that are much more action-oriented such as playing games, doing arts and crafts, taking walks, etc.

On page 17 he talks about hostility in the bedroom, and how that some people consider it's more gratifying to have more than two people involved at one time. The hostility is nothing new, though, as men have abused women physically for probably as long as humans have actually existed. Statistics on child abuse, spousal abuse and rape all point to the majority of the actions being precipitated by males. So that's nothing new. As far as multiple partners being new or not, it's hard to say.

On page 21 he does a good job of explaining what nothing-doing means.

'But nothing-doing means more than avoiding interference. Negatively, it means not projecting self as the center of all that happens, not impressing one's will on events, not manipulating people and things, not devising grandiose plans or sequences of plans, or simply not combating other people, not violating nature, not destroying things, not murdering people. Something-doing, which to Lao Tzu is virtually synonymous with violence, comes from self-will which is false to the Way, false to nature, false to the nature of man.

In Verse 1, he has the strangest use of words I have yet seen for the opening of that verse.

'If Tao can be Taoed, it's not Tao.'

Normally it's something like 'The Tao that can be told/named'. Maybe this is being a little nitpicky here, but he's taking a noun, Tao, and turning it into a verb, Taoed. This is something that causes some people who are into grammar to cringe quite strongly.

Verse 8 True goodness is like water.
Water benefits the ten thousand things
But does not compete with them.
It says in places disliked by man.
Therefore comes close to Tao.

For a dwelling keep to the ground
In your heart keep to the deeps.

In dealing with others, keep to gentleness.
In speaking, keep to truth.
In governing, keep to order.
In business, keep to efficiency.
In making moves, keep the right pace.

If you do not compete
You will not be faulted.

I like the third section in this verse. The last couple of lines are hard to manage, though, since so much of our society is geared to competition. Students from elementary school on compete with each other for grades and physical abilities. They are required to take numerous standardized tests where they again compete with others, this time not only the others in their class but others everywhere in the nation.

Then they get in college and compete for good grades and sports positions. Then into life they compete for jobs. Life has become one constant series of competitions which, inevitably, leave winners and people who are not winners, but feel they are losers because they did not win. This type of thing can lead to the violent incidents at schools that we see so much of nowadays.

Verse 50

This version which refers to a rhino not harming a person with its horn. In this author's translation, though, the animal is a buffalo. This is the only time I've ever seen that animal referred to in a translation.


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