Practical advice for daily life

[wandelaar]

What practical advice for daily life is contained in the Tao Te Ching?

 

Can you give some relevant quotes?

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[wandelaar]

Are there no parts of the received translation of the TTC that you agree upon, and that are relevant to this topic?

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[Cobie]

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[Cobie]

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[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[wandelaar]

It's been a busy day and it's getting late now. I would have read the whole TTC again to pick out the chapters. I hope to find the time to do so some other day.

[Nintendao]

I often think of this image of melting ice giving way, and other ways of acting reserved. Many today consider assertiveness more desirable. The scattering of energy became a tangible thing, with practice.

 

Quote

15

 

THE ancient adepts of the Tao were subtle and flexible, profound and comprehensive.
Their minds were too deep to be fathomed.

 

Because they are unfathomable,
One can only describe them vaguely by their appearance.

 

Hesitant like one wading a stream in winter;
Timid like one afraid of his neighbours on all sides;
Cautious and courteous like a guest;
Yielding like ice on the point of melting;
Simple like an uncarved block;
Hollow like a cave;
Confused like a muddy pool;
And yet who else could quietly and gradually evolve from the muddy to the clear?
Who else could slowly but steadily move from the inert to the living?

 

He who keeps the Tao does not want to be full.
But precisely because he is never full,
He can always remain like a hidden sprout,
And does not rush to early ripening.

 

[iinatti]

Chapter 42

...

Men hate to be “orphaned,” “widowed,” or “worthless,”
But this is how kings and lords describe themselves.

For one gains by losing
And loses by gaining.

...

 

Good things come to those that have it all.  Dont form attachment to physical things or personal status.  Being content with nothing is key to gaining everything.  

 

 

[awaken]

I think the Tao Te Ching has little influence on Easterners, but has a greater influence on Westerners, because Westerners have been indoctrinated by monotheism for a long time, and the thinking of finding God when they encounter problems has been deeply embedded in Westerners.

But the Tao Te Ching denies this fundamental concept of monotheism, which should have a greater influence on Westerners, right?

 

我認為道德經對東方人影響不大，對西方人影響比較大，因為西方人長期接受一神教的灌輸，遇到事情就要找上帝的思維，已經非常深入西方人的內在。

但是道德經則否定這種一神教的根本觀念，這應該對西方人影響比較大吧？

 

 

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[Cobie]

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Edited January 17, 2023 by Cobie

[iinatti]

2 hours ago, awaken said:

But the Tao Te Ching denies this fundamental concept of monotheism, which should have a greater influence on Westerners, right?

 

May be true.  It makes sense that the practical advice in the daodejing is of greater value to a westerner since a westerner comes from a different culture that does not necessarily reflect that philosophy.  How else would a westerner have any exposure to powerful, practical concepts such as the following:

Ch 47: 

... the sage knows without traveling;
He sees without looking;
He works without doing.

 

Reminds me... I should be working right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[awaken]

Orientals say they are grateful to the sky, but they don’t necessarily regard the sky as a god.

 

Especially the monotheistic ones.

[wandelaar]

Quotes from the TTC ordered according to the more important themes can be found here: https://www.taoistic.com/taothemes/

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[wandelaar]

These seem to be the themes relevant to daily life about which the TTC has something to say:

 

Knowledge and wisdom

Moderation and modesty

Humility and compassion

Desire, wealth and greed

Good and bad

Simplicity, stillness and silence

Fear and imperfection

The female, child and family

Yielding

Longevity and death

Seeing clearly

War and violence

 

(Based on: https://www.taoistic.com/taothemes/ )

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[wandelaar]

Retracted.

Edited January 17, 2023 by wandelaar

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[awaken]

5 hours ago, Cobie said:

 

Same difference imo.

 

I don’t thank my teapot for making tea for me. Similarly there’s no point thanking a Tian that you cannot influence. Thanking is a way of trying to influence future behaviour. The notion Tian can be influenced means Tian has been given an anthropomorphic character.

 

 

 

I would like to know more, how did you break away from going to church and believe in one God?

[wandelaar]

There is one line of the TTC that I think I remember but cannot find anymore: The Sage sees the easy as difficult.

 

This is a very important approach, whether it is actually in the TTC or not .

 

Most of the hassle in daily life happens because we underestimate the amount of work necessary to accomplish even apparently easy tasks. We tend to see ourselves as the center of the universe to whom our immediate surrounding will have to obey willy-nilly. But that's not the way the world works. Taking a more detached viewpoint makes for a better appreciation of what can and what cannot be done. And consequently leads to a more relaxed way of life.

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie

[Cobie]

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Edited January 18, 2023 by Cobie