If You Don't Know What to Do Next, Don't Do Anything

I can't believe we finished another book already. For me, it was very fast. And I have to say I learned a lot; possibly more than with the rest of the books we have read. I also enjoyed it more than the rest, and I believe in most of its teachings.

The first thing I want to say is that if I could summarize the whole book into one major word or teaching it would be non-action. It is just mentioned the greatest number of times throughout the book, and everything said seems to add up to it. They are always saying things like "the world is ruled by letting things take their course (48)" or "...when nothing is done, nothing is left undone (48)." I think I actually like that they are like that, because most religions or philosophies would ask you to do something, which after all might be more difficult than not doing anything.

I don't have that much quotes today because the majority of the teachings could be put in the category of inaction. Anyways, I do have some I would like to share with you. The first is about something I could compare with Buddhism, like the many things I've compared to it until now. "In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped (48)." I liked this concept a lot, because it is the one of detachment, which Buddhism so strongly believes in. It is a different way of looking at life that says that you should "drop" all your stuff and the things you are attached to to be able to be happy.

The next quote answers some questions, and is very interesting to me. It goes like this, "Those who know do not talk. / Those who talk do not know (56)." I really like this, because all my life I have seen the pattern that many people who know a lot are not very social and don't like to talk much. I don't know if having no friends is what Lao meant, but that is what I think of this quote, and my interpretation of it. Also, in that same teaching there was a quote that said "...Mask your brightness (56)." That was something that genuinely surprised me. I didn't know that the Tao didn't want you to show off your intelligence and what you know. I thought they would want you to spread it and tell people so that they would be into the Tao also.

I want to share this line with you specifically because I think it is very pretty, and others might enjoy reading as much as I did: "A tree as great as a man's embrace springs from a small shoot; / A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth; / A journey of a thousand miles starts from one's feet (64)." I think it is very pretty, because it is much like the line we have been told all our lives of "it all starts with a grain of sand." I don't have much to say about it; I just hope everyone sees its beauty as much as I do.

I'm not sure if this is called that way, but I like the "alliteration" made in the following lines, along with their meaning: "Knowing ignorance is strength. / Ignoring knowledge is sickness. / If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick. / The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness. / Therefore he is not sick (71)." I like how it repeats the words, and I completely agree that "Knowing ignorance is strength." I really liked that line.

Finally, we have gotten to my last analysis of the Tao Te Ching. I wasn't going to put more, but this one got my attention so much that I had to put it. "Why do people think so little of death? / Because the rulers demand too much of life (75)." I really liked it, because I had never really stopped to think about it. I hadn't realized that many times we don't have time to think about death, because we are so caught up in life.

I want to finish my last post not with an analysis, but with a simple quote from its last teaching. Hope you enjoy it! "Truthful words are not beautiful; / Beautiful words are not truthful. / Good men do not argue; / Those who argue are not good. / Those who know are not learned; / The learned do not know (81)."