The Tao is described more and more as I move on in the book, and I am afraid to say, that I am not getting half of what is said.
TEWNTY NINE says that we cannot change the universe because it is not possible and that is how my reading today started. Sometimes we humans think we can change everything to make it better, but from what I have observed, we cannot and what we have changed has become worse. After this it is said that men with ambitions and proud are not good men and are defiantly not fit to be leaders, “Achieve results, but never be proud” (THIRTY).
Then I understood better what was being said, one should not be proud of victory in a battle, one never should be proud of death. He says victory should be seen as a funeral. The Tao refuses the use of weapons and refers to the ones that use them, as un-wise. I know it has nothing to do with it, or maybe it does, but I couldn`t help not thinking in the president of Venezuela, Chavez and the threats with weapons and war he has been making the past weeks towards Colombia. I found it really interesting how he relates the right with violence and the left with wisdom. He says that it takes much of a strong and smart person to control oneself than others.
Lao Tsu then writes what are the standards to know if a man is truly wise. Resuming what I understood, I would say a good man is one that is one that is good and doesn`t know it and one that is wise is one that is and is not bragging about it. It is like being humble and at the same naturally modest. I don`t know how to describe it.
I once again was captivated by the parts where Tsu talked about detachment. He says that people that are not attached to what they have don`t suffer when they lose them and so on. This time I what specially called my attention was that desire was called a sin, “There is no greater sin than desire” (FORTY-SIX). I still don`t understand this teaching or idea, so to say, very well. I don`t understand how one could have a good life without liking anything or disliking anything, it seems so plain and boring to me. I think attachment is sometimes worth the suffering that comes with it, because life needs a little of spice, I think.
Ying and the yang where mentioned in the scroll FOURTY-TWO, “The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang. They achieve harmony by combining these forces”. First I was surprised when I realized it is Yin not YING, and second I wasn`t expecting to find this words here.
This is all for today, I am extremely tired and I feel I cannot write anything smart in this state.