Opposites Attract

Ladies and Gentleman, the Tao.

Today I started reading the Tao Te Ching and there is just one word that can describe it: CONFUSING. I have read the first chapters over and over again and as hard as I try to understand it, nothing seems to make sense. The Tao starts by saying,

“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name” (Chapter 1)

WTF? I really didn’t understand this. The only interpretation that I found for this is that if the Tao´s teachings are spread, the Tao will remain eternal and people will learn from it.

Since I didn’t get the first chapter I decided to read the next ones and found many interesting things. Some of these cool teachings were:

“When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and non-being produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other” (Chapter 2)

This aphorism really caught my attention since it shows how everything in life has a balance and things complement each other. Everything known to us has an opposite which creates a balance in society. For example: black and white, good and evil, difficult and easy, high and low, tall and short, front and back, etc. This makes total sense since everything and everyone is different so as the Tao says, when we know beauty and we find other stuff which doesn’t fit into the beauty description, then, ugliness has to appear. I find very good how everything complements each other, but somehow this believe has been a little mistaken by the community. Why do we have to have such extremes as right or left? I mean, who can really judge if something is beautiful or ugly? Why is society always giving such stereotypes and since when beauty is perfection? How can we know what is good and what is evil? We are all humans and we have been brainwashed and shaped to have certain ideals when nobody actually knows how things should work.

“Bearing it, rearing it
Bearing without possession
Achieving without arrogance
Raising without domination
This is called the Mystic Virtue” (Chapter 10)

Ok, so basically what the Tao is saying here is the key to success and happiness. I really liked this part of chapter 10 since taking the path of goodness and being able of controlling your action is really hard. It is absolutely true that when you achieve you shouldn’t be arrogant. I could relate this part with many daily experiences. In many occasions when someone wins they start bragging about it, and this is really rude and may cause other people to become upset. Instead of being arrogant, one should be humble and by being like this you will win the respect and appreciation of others. The same happens with rising without domination. You may rise and get a better position, but you should always remember where you came from and shouldn’t take domination over people with lower positions. The Mystic virtue is mainly saying that we should always find a good balance and act with goodness. We may get better and gain more power, but that doesn’t mean we are superior and can treat others unequally.

“Therefore the sages care for the stomach and not the eyes
That is why they discard the other and take this” (Chapter 12)

At first, I really didn’t get the meaning of this aphorism, but after trying to analyze it I came up with an interpretation. So, I think that what the Tao is saying here is that you should act by following your feelings and not what you see. So, what does this mean? Basically, while reading this I couldn’t stop thinking about Mulan. In the movie, Mulan is always saying that one should follow what your heart tells you and not what your brain or logic wants you to do. This teaching also remembered me about one of my close friends who always repeats this phrase,
“If you feel like doing it, do it. If you want it, go get it.”
This is absolutely true since you should always try to follow your instincts and feelings, since if you don’t feel like doing something nobody, but yourself, can force you to do it.

Now, that I have read some of the Tao I am starting to like it and I’m enjoying reading it. I love how the teachings are so deep, make total sense, and can be applied into reality. Until now, I can say that this is much better than the Analects of Confucius.