Critical Response to the Tao Te Ching

‘The way’ is cluttered with constant imagery of contradictory views which are both compelling and insightful, through which we are taken on a journey, our final destination being the true meaning of life. In a world where we are all yearning for the meaning for life, true harmony and real balance it is no surprise that the Tao Te Ching is a very haunting piece of literature that holds the reader in an almost trans like state of mind as it attempts to portray the way to accomplish the above.

As the rain began to come down in an awkward fashion, as if it were

Tao-te Ching (in English pronounced “dow deh jing”) is believed to be written by Lao-tzu (6th century B.C). However, it is not for certain that he wrote the book. Lao-tzu is translated as “Old Master”. He was born in the state of Ch’u in China. It’s been said that he worked in the court of the Chou dynasty. The day that he was leaving the court to start his own life, the keeper of the gate urged him to write his thoughts as a book. Lao-tzu’s work mostly illustrates Taoism –a religion founded by Chang Tao-ling A.D. 150. His main purpose in this piece is practicing peace, simplicity, naturalness, and humility. Lao-tzu believes that people are overloaded with temporal objects in this world. He recommends his readers to let go of everything

These Buddhist and Taoist principles mention are the backbone forming Li Mu Bai, but represents the basic antithesis to Jen Yu actions and reactions despite her skills of fighting. Instead of moving in harmony with the flow of chi she rebels against it. In the sequence there is a moment when they are both atop a bamboo stem and Jen Yu is trying hard to unbalance Li Mu Bai, but he looks at her with this pure innocent smile. He seems so calm and in balance with nature, because he and nature are both one. That affirms the Taoist and Buddhist beliefs. While, Jen Yu seems frustrated, unfocused, and unbalance.

Finally, Myers uses a metaphor/personification to show how freedom doesn’t come by that easily. For instance, "If you born with freedom in your mouth, you got to satisfy it" (Myers #). The word freedom is a very power throughout the book, it shows how the generations of the Lewis's fought to be free but could never make it there. The author compares how freedom is related to food because when you eat food, you always satisfy

Immortality does not mean living forever in the present physical body. In Taoism, death is just the final step in achieving complete unity with the universe when Taoist draws closer and closer to nature throughout their life. Taoism has a goal to raise the immortal practise to a higher level which is spiritual immortality. To attain it, people have to transform all their qi into primordial qi and proceed to refine it to subtler levels. This finer qi will eventually turn into pure spirit, with which practitioners increasingly identify to become transcendent spirit-people. To achieve this, intensive meditation and trance training as well as more radical forms of diet and other longevity practices are needed. Immortality implies the overcoming of the natural tendencies of the body and its transformation into a different kind of qi-constellation. It is a bypassing of death so that the end of the body has no impact on the continuation of the spirit-person. In addition, practitioners attain super-sensory powers and eventually gain residence in wondrous otherworldly paradises (Kohn 2005).

Throughout history, it can be argued that at the core of the majority of successful societies has stood an effective allocation of leadership. Accordingly, in their respective works “The Tao-te Ching” and “The Prince”, Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli have sought to reach a more complete understanding of this relationship. The theme of political leaders and their intricate relationship with society indeed manifests itself within both texts, however, both Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli approach this issue from almost entirely opposite positions. Lao-Tzu appears to focus the majority of his attention on letting problems or situations take their course and allowing good to prevail. On the

The Tao Te Ching can be helpful to all, and the reading of it may be enlightening. Reading the Tao can give much insight on the challenges and dangers that humans must face in this world, how a person should live his life, the dangers of a powerful ruler, how the state should rule, how citizens should serve the state, and the messages or forewarnings for us today.

Tao Te Ching of Lao-Tzu is a book with many chapters in it showing the two different sides to basically everything. To break it down, Tao means “path” or “way”, Te means “to get”, and Ching means “great book”. So the Tao was the force that controlled the universe and appreciated the way, to find balance between opposites. The book, Tao Te Ching has been said to been written by a Laozi—an old master—and has been said that the true author (or authors’) name has been lost. In the chapters between the book it tells how to live a life of integrity and of greatness per say. It also has contradictions or paradoxes which allows us to see the both perspectives of each side. It shows us that there are always two sides to everything. Tao Te Ching

Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.

Lao Tzu is the father of Daoism, and his book was a philosophical writing, which was mainly about the nature and philosophy of life. Lao Tzu is the first person who answered to the problem of the origin of the universe. Lao Tzu believed that before all things in the universe were occurred, the Dao, which means the road, were naturally existed already. Lao Tzu states, “there was something formless and perfect before the universe was born…Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe…I call it the Tao” (Ch 25). Lao Tzu also explains how the universe generated by stating that “the Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to Two. Two gives birth to Three. Three gives birth to all things” (Ch 42).

What I believe he means by this is that without limits we would not know what freedom is. If you could always do what you've always wanted the thought of not being able to do something would

When the early Christians had to keep their faith against the persecutions of the Roman Empire, they had -- obviously -- a visible enemy. Once their religion was legalized and established, however, they had new questions to ask concerning who they were, what could hurt their souls and their way of life. Some of them, at least, concluded that the materialism of the dominant Roman way of life was a non-agressive, but equally corrosive force that would destroy them -- not physically, but spiritually. These Fourth Century Christians, men and women, then left their societies and withdrew into the desert to be able to find true "paradise," not in a safe, secure niche in society, but in their relationship with

When first deciding to write my term paper on Taoism I thought it would be just another religion. In my research I found so many different translations that my head started spinning. There are really no known facts about the founder of Taoism, Lao Tsu, except that he was possibly a contemporary of Confucius. He was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted society during his lifetime. (Religious Tolerance, 2007) Since there are many aspects to Taoism in this paper I will do my best to explain what Taoism is and also explain some of its main concepts.

But these masters of the side roads looked from their perspectives upon only a single facet of the Dao … And as they did so, they plunged into deeper chaos in their own minds” (Xunzi 43-44). Xunzi believes that if one does not embody all of dao, their little dao will distract them, causing them a life of disorder. However, Xunzi does not discredit the other views of dao. Xunzi uses the word “facet,” and in doing so, acknowledges that each of the little daos is part of the one true dao. Therefore, Xunzi is arguing that one must look at dao as a whole and not get caught up in the smaller parts of it. Xunzi also discusses how a clear mind plays into following dao. In talking about how to keep the mind in a state of “emptiness,” Xunzi encourages “not allowing that which is stored up in the mind to interfere with what the mind newly receives” (Xunzi 45). By saying not to use what one already in new events, Xunzi values an open mind. Additionally, by taking in everything as a new interaction, one can go about life in a