Tao Te Ching, The Way

The Tao Te Ching and Tao Te Ching is the basic and fundamental book of Taoism. Attributed to Lao Tzu, a sage who according to tradition lived in China in the sixth century BC, collected sayings and teachings but going back to times immemorial.

In fact, his world, human beings and the universe, who would later become known as Taoism, appears in several older cultures of the Far East, as in the well-known treatise called Ching · I ¨.

Tao means Way, Path. The word I translated as efficacy, virtue ... Ching King or amounts to the book, so we could talk about the Book of the Way Home, but for many initiatives in these areas is simply the Book of Tao, they have internalized a sense of the word Tao and do not need translation.

On the other hand, it is important to note that when China became Buddhist philosophy there was a syncretism between Taoism and Buddhism, leading to Chan, better known in the West with its Japanese name Zen

· Walk On · According to the Tao Te Ching

In principle, the idea of ​​Tao is not easy to understand, the same book tells us:



¨ The Tao that can be expressed in words is not the Tao ...

The Tao is elusive and intangible, yet

contains all forms ¨.



We later clarified:

· Something mysteriously formed existed before heaven and earth.

No sound or form, remains unique and immutable

pervades everything and is never depleted.

You could call the mother of the universe,

but do not know his name.

If I have to name it, I call it Tao ¨.



And then gives some guidelines for better understanding:

¨ The man follows the laws of the land.

Earth follows the laws of heaven.

Heaven follows the laws of Tao.

The Tao follows nature ¨.

Some have tried to explain the Tao as the Middle Way, a way of coping with life, our reactions and responses from a central point, aim, conscious, balancing opposites, known as the Yin (the moon, the receptive, feminine, fruits, etc.., etc..) and Yang (the sun, expansive, masculine, hot dishes, etc.., etc.).. It is curious that, according to Eastern teaching, in every aspect there is a point yin yang, and yang in everything there is a point yin.



¨ All things contain within it the yin and yang

and harmony obtained by the combination of these forces ¨.



The Tao would then not only something that melt at levels · Spirituality ·, but also and primarily a system, a way to live every moment of human existence, transcending the complementary opposites Yin and Yang, leading to a level of higher consciousness.



· Close your mouth,

keep your senses,

attenuates the contrasts,

simplifies your problems,

smooths out your forms,

yourself humble as dust.

Therein lies the mysterious union with the Tao ¨.



Throughout the book we find various keys and formulas in behavior, attitude and reflection, which have been applied for centuries in the East by the seekers of inner knowledge:



To know others is wise,

knowing yourself is enlightenment.

Beating others requires force,

overcome self requires strength.

Who knows content is rich.

Who lives the eternal this does not die ¨.



It also gives us several paradigms on how to be wise, as, for example.:



¨ no clinging to anything and so nothing lost,

the wise is not serious about their desires,

not interested in the most precious,

does not conform to their ideas.

The sage does not accumulate possessions.

The more he gives to others, richer.

The plus delivery, plus get ¨.



Finally, the last two aphorisms of the Tao Te Ching are to summarize the whole lesson learned in his wonderful content:



¨ The Tao sky without jeopardizing benefits.

The Tao of the sage works without opposing ¨.



Ruben Gonzalez and Agnes Martin

http://www.actiweb.es/conocimientointerior/