"Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil." (2)
Everything about this is true. What if evil didn't exist? Would good still be considered good or would there be something else? Something even better than good that would ask more of humanity. What if this other good would be so good, that what we considered good would be evil? Just a thought. But as it says, "Difficult and easy complement each other. Long and short contrast each other; High and low rest upon each other; Voice and sound harmonize each other; Front and back follow one another."(2) Without "evil" there wouldn't be any "good". Everything in the world exists in order to complement something else. Opposites do attract seeing it this way.
"If nothing is done then all will be well." (3) Could this refer to peace? To let things be and work out because in the end it all happens for a reason and one does not need to interfere?
"In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of the time and the season.
No fight: No blame." (8)
This should be put up on a huge billboard on the streets or something, for everyone to see. That we have to know peace and swallow pride. But to be honest and straightforward, Tao hasn't spoken of capitalism and war and politics and why it is so damn hard to do so. It's as if he is describing how one should be with his inner self and in a somewhat small-scale. Personal. Which is very separate from business (capitalism, war, politics, and all those things that make peace complicated), that shouldn't be taken personally. For example in a business deal when you might be forced to evict a person from their home, it has nothing to do with who they are and how you would treat them if you actually knew them. It's just business, nothing personal. No fight: No blame, it's nothing personal. Perhaps on a personal level, the person evicting you from your home would treat you as the Tao says. I do agree that these are an amazing way to be and a great guide on how to live.
Heaven and Earth are two terms that were mentioned in Tao Te Ching. "Heaven and earth last forever. Why do heaven and earth last forever? They are unborn, So ever living."(7) "Retire when work is done. This is the way of heaven." (9) The way I see it, one is supposed to be the way "Heaven" and "Earth" wants us to be simply because that is the way it is meant to be. Because they are "unborn" and "so ever living" and we live here, we are supposed to be the way we are supposed to be. Since "Heaven" and "Earth" have been here the longest and will be here the longest, they know what they're doing better than we do.
I was very pleased with the Tao's interpretation of women and their hard work, which wasn't very much acknowledged in our previous readings.
"Can you play the role of woman?
Understanding and being open to all things,
Are you able to do nothing?
Giving birth and nourishing,
Bearing yet not possessing,
Working yet not taking credit,
Leading yet not dominating,
This is the Primal Virtue." (10)
Asking yourself if "You are able to do nothing?" in this passage might mean that man shouldn't think himself superior than "woman" and let pride get in the way of giving her credit. If you are able to do nothing it means that you are able to control yourself from doing things that might make your insecurities feel better. And end up hurting someone else.
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