Tao 22 -
I find that there is a tone to each paragraph in this chapter. In the first I believe that the Tao is trying to teach that in order to know anything good you must also be aware of the bad. Everything has its inverse. How willing are you to get what you want out of life? The next two paragraphs characterize what type of person we need to be.
Tao 24 -
This chapter has so much depth to it. My favorite phrase is, “He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures.” There are too many examples of men who have invested everything into their jobs while neglecting their families. Their jobs forgot about them once they retired or were fired; their families had all but abandoned them after years and years of abandonment and neglect. Overall, I would argue that this chapter identifies egoistic traits and how to avoid them.
Tao 25 -
To me, this chapter explains the relationship of the Tao or the way to man, the Earth and the universe. Each one plays a vital role in the flow of everything. Each one has pertinence to the other. We need to not be so self-centered. There is more to life that just us.
Tao 32 -
This chapter illustrates how the Tao pertains to everything and if one would center themselves around the Tao, “The world would become a paradise.” My favorite phrase here is, “When you have institutions, know where their functions should end.” This made me reflect on our government and how things are getting to the point to where we are being instructed in too many things. If we have an institution, we should know where its rule ends.
Tao 37 -
This chapter illustrates how if all things were centered around the Tao, there would be peace. If we all would think about it and do it, we would be content with all that we have. We would lose the competitive drive to “keep up with the Jone’s” next-door. We would know that happiness is not found in possessions, but in many other things such as family and friends.
Tao 49 -
Why are we not good to all people? The Master is good to everyone and trusts everyone. She holds no reservation for anyone and she has no expectations. It is a shame that we live in this crazy world where we cannot trust many people for fear of losing something of our own.
Tao 53 -
This chapter describes our present world. We are not keeping up with the Tao. As I have illustrated several times before, if we center ourselves on the Tao, all will be at peace.
Tao 56 -
Sometimes we need to restrain ourselves from speaking. Sometimes we just need to let things be and let things take their course. Too often we pass judgement where we are not qualified to pass judgement. These judgements lead us to treat people in ways that we would not like to be treated. If we centered ourselves on serving others and living the Tao, we would not be so quick to judge or harbor ill feelings towards others.
Tao 77 -
The Tao corrects the wrongs that occur in life. It is the constant that provides clarity to the unclear. It shows how the Tao is something that likes to stay out of the limelight. That’s interesting to me considering there is a religion based on Tao. It does not want credit, but it wants to profess schools of thought. Interesting...
Tao 79 -
This is my favorite of the 10 chapters. You can only blame yourself for your problems. Yes, other people or things can contribute to your problems, but you are ultimately the one who decides how you react to failure. Our culture as a whole needs to stop passing the buck and playing the blame game. We need to accept when we have failed and move on. Learn from it, but move on. It does us no good to continually blame others for problems that we brought upon ourselves.
