The Tao Te Ching has only more than 5,000 words, and later generations divided it into 8 1 chapters. Although there are not many words, it is a wonderful chapter with careful words. It can be described as a wonderful book. Truth is naturally "mysterious and mysterious", so many people look at "Tao" and sigh. This is not surprising, after all, this book is all-encompassing, covering the dialectical methods of world outlook, outlook on life and values, including the wisdom of governing the country, philosophy of life, cultivation of human nature, military philosophy and health preservation.
Many people at home and abroad write book reviews for Tao Te Ching, and some people also write books for it. For example, Mr. Lu Xun once said, "If you don't read the Tao Te Ching, you won't know the true meaning of China culture and life." Another example is Ryutagawa of Japan, who thinks this book has a unique charm and gives people who are exhausted under the oppression of the secular world a magical power. Indeed, the era we live in now is like a withered seedling, eager to absorb the essence of Tao Te Ching. After all, human vanity and desire are full of it. And we don't have enough concentration to meditate and purify our hearts. Selfless and selfish. So learn the Tao.
If I ask you what "Tao" is, you may say a lot of things, others will listen in a fog, and even you don't know what you are talking about. No one seems to give Tao a standard explanation. Lao Tzu explained at the beginning of the first chapter: "Tao can be Tao, but it is extraordinary." The name can be named. It's very famous. "In other words, if Tao can be said, it is not an ordinary Tao. It is difficult for us to understand Tao, so not many people pursue Tao, and even fewer people become Tao. Based on this, the well-known Taoists are mostly monks and Taoists who see through the world of mortals and enter an empty net. If so, the meaning of this book is too shallow. When I frown and have no idea about Tao. Chapter 8 "Goodness is like water" reminds me of Lao Tzu's view that "Tao" is like water, striving for the goodness of all things and the evil of all things. Open-minded, inclusive of heaven and earth, no desire to give to all beings, open-minded to cross the crowd. Tao is like water, moistening things silently, and water is a manifestation of Tao. But the Tao it carries is only a tiny part of it.
So, how do we understand Tao?
"Tao" seems difficult to explain. We often use Tao, but we don't know its meaning. In science, we don't know why a person lives long, so we give a very broad concept because there is time. In this book, only one word "Tao" is used to profoundly interpret people's life, which is simple but refined. Similarly, in the known science, we know that there are quarks in protons, and there will be things in quarks, even! We don't know, so we use Tao to describe it. For things or things that people can't explain, this book gives a concise but exact answer-Tao. Laozi said: "People should be everywhere, the land should follow the sky, the sky should follow the Tao, and the Tao is natural." What does this "nature" mean? "Self" is freedom itself, and so is "Ran". So Tao is "nature" and "nature" is Tao. There is no need to imitate anyone at all, then Tao is the origin of the universe and its laws.
Tao nurtures all things. Take the earth as an example. Tao makes everything do its job and evolve a stable ecosystem, with death and life, and life and death. Don't make any of them too happy or too weak. Plants can become natural nutrients after decay, providing sufficient nutrients for the next plant growing here. Herbivores feed on these plants, while birds and carnivores feed on them. After these animals die, they create nutrients for new plants! Everything starts from the root, so everything is simple and clear. Tao is as big as the formation of the universe and as small as the operation of electrons. The revolution and rotation of the planet are regular, cyclical, uninterrupted and regular! The orderly arrangement of electrons is a law! Maybe it will be easier to be understood and accepted. However, this is only my interpretation, and my understanding of Tao can only be said to be simple. Tao is like the function image of sinα in mathematics. The role of both sides is endless, and we can only keep exploring … to find the true meaning of Tao.
Some people may think that we humans are an exception because we have superb wisdom and advanced technology. Since mankind has such advanced technology, why did the experiment of "Biosphere II" fail? The reason is simple, human beings can never surpass nature and Tao! If we repeatedly violate the law of Tao and do the opposite, then we will be punished by Tao. Don't you see the consequences of human beings going their own way? Frequent earthquakes have never happened before, and the climate anomaly is getting more and more serious ... Humans compare themselves with Tao whose brain is slightly larger than other animals, but they don't know that the wisdom of Tao is hard for you to ponder. It permeates everything, and these things are contained by Tao, which can be said to be the "Gate of Wan Qi".
At this point, we should know how to act according to the laws of Tao. Human desires are endless, but we can only release them appropriately, and we can't do whatever we want. In fact, it is what Taoism calls "inaction." Inaction is not inaction, but inaction. That is to say, fooling around without violating the rules. Some people are carried away by desire and run amok. For example, Wen Qiang of Chongqing, who was a good official to safeguard people's interests, couldn't stand the temptation of money and got out of hand, so he lost his reputation and spent his life in prison. In adolescence, we sometimes compete with each other for vanity, wearing brand-name clothes and expensive jewelry. In fact, they don't understand that really beautiful things don't need any decoration. More specifically, they don't know the truth. Excessive greed will only get you into pain. There are countless harem beauties in Shang Zhouwang, so we have to collect folk beauties and eat meat and drink casually. You should set up a wine pool and a meat forest for recreation, and the people can't bear it. Therefore, the King of Wu attacked and overthrew the Shang Dynasty, so people later called Zhou Wang a heartless and bad king. Vanity is often harmful to people. The heroine in The Necklace spent more than ten years of her youth for vanity. Tao makes everything thrive, selfless without desire, let nature take its course, govern by doing nothing, benefit everything, and ask for nothing in return. In our society full of money and desire, what we lack is the good quality of selfishness. The fiery desire makes it difficult for us to calm down and purify our hearts. The infinite wisdom of Tao tells us that to live freely, we must be "extreme, quiet and sincere".
Don't let desire and vanity control you, treat the outside world and your heart rationally, and don't deviate from the law of Tao. Only in this way can we "do whatever we want" and do anything, as long as we follow the laws and rules of Tao.
Tao Te Ching is a treasure of Chinese civilization, and the secret lies in reading it yourself. Everyone can get different Tao when reading.