Can we talk about The book of Tao and Teh from Lao Zi?

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   kinsposted 8 years ago

   Now the world becomes more small and we need to know different cultures in this world,The book of Tao and Teh offers us a guide,can we talk about this famous book?

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2. 81

   Aquaposted 8 years ago

   We just started studying this subject in my Eastern Religions Philosophy class. I don't know too much about it yet but I'm looking forward to learning more.

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   rebekahELLEposted 8 years ago

   I do have a copy and read it at times, and find it very helpful.
   I like its simplicity and beauty.

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   Paradise7posted 8 years ago

   I'm going to have to get onto Amazon and get that book.  I haven't read it yet.  What is it?  Is it the Buddhist book of proverbs that I've heard so much about lately?  Please pardon my ignorance.  I would so much like to hear more.

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      rebekahELLEposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sure the OP could explain better than I can. It is very inspiring and yes, I guess you could say it's somewhat like a Buddhist book of proverbs, but what I like about it is that it is more about self-discovery, understanding others, life without judging. it is what it is kind of thought.

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   Paradise7posted 8 years ago

   Thank you, rebekaELLE.

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   Pearldiverposted 8 years ago

   Hi rebekahEllE.......How often does your private library hold its garage sales?

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      rebekahELLEposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      not often PD. books are like art to me. I do have many.

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   Sexy jontyposted 8 years ago

   This book sounds interesting ..... I will look for it, if it is available as ebook somewhere....

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8. 46

   rgl100posted 8 years ago

   May I propose that you post a few lines from the book and people can comment on the lines? This would be of great interest to me.

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      Pacal Votanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      This is a passage that summarizes the book:
      (it also summarizes taoism)
      
      "Therefore the Master
      acts without doing anything
      and teaches without saying anything.
      Things arise and she lets them come;
      things disappear and she lets them go.
      She has but doesn't possess,
      acts but doesn't expect.
      When her work is done, she forgets it.
      That is why it lasts forever."
      
      However, to understand what it means you must study the subject in-depth.

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         wesleyacarterposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         "Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything."
         
         To act without doing anything. The idea of acting without benefit or reward. Of acting upon what cannot be seen or noticed. Like the wind, invisible but effective and necessary. To teach without saying anything, to lead by example. Teaching absent of self-involvement or miscommunication.
         
         "Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect."
         
         Detachment from what is temporary. Understanding what is temporary vs. what is permanent. no sense of entitlement. no restrictions on time. No possession. absence of enslavement to things. discovery.
         
         "when her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever."
         
         Her work is divine, absent of time, complete in its awareness of here and now. uncontrolled by past and future. Within the infinite.
         
         
         i wish to read this book in its entirety.

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            Jeff Berndtposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            It's not a long book. You can read it cover to cover in maybe an hour. Understanding it, though....
            
            I like the concept of flowing water. The water flows. It meets a rock. The rock will not move. It can force the water to take a different path. The water flows past the rock, around it, and eventually reaches the sea. If the water keeps flowing past the rock, eventually the rock is worn smooth, and even worn away entirely. Which has the greater power?

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               rebekahELLEposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               beautiful. I love this thought. thanks for reviving the thread.
               
               here is another about man/water.
               
               The best of men is like water;
                  Water benefits all things
                  And does not compete with them.
               It dwells in (the lowly) places that all disdain -
                  Wherein it comes near to the Tao.

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                  Jeff Berndtposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Ah, nice one!
                  
                  I hope more folks will post their thoughts on the Tao. Mine is limited, to say the least. I'd love to hear more folks' thoughts.
                  
                  As an aside, I highly recommend Benjamin Hoff's The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet as companion volumes to Tao Te Ching. I mean, if you don't speak/read Chinese and can't read it in the original. (I can't.)

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                     crmhaskeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     The Tao of Pooh is a really good one, I used it as a reference for a paper on wu wei I wrote that I then re-wrote as a hub.

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   Arthur Fontesposted 8 years ago

   I own both of these books.
   
   I also enjoy The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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10. 81

    Arthur Fontesposted 8 years ago

    Good warriors do not arm,
    good fighters don't get mad,
    good winners don't contend,
    good employers serve their workers.
    This is called the virtue of noncontention;
    this is called mating with the supremely natural and pristine.

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