No More Tao is Not Tao

Tao Te Ching 48-81

No, I don't get the title either.
SO SHUT UP!

Sorry about that.
I have finished the Tao Te Ching. Hm. It was shorter than I expected it to be. After all, it is the second most printed book, the first bring the Bible. A few last comments before I really finish the Tao Te Ching.

The book was nice. It really showed me what Daoism was, unlike Confucius, who left me confused. Even as I finished reading the book, it kept emphasizing balance. Even if it wouldn't be considered 'balanced', there were always at least two sentences that complimented each other, helped understand the other, and stuff like that. Look at the following quote for example.

"Truthful words are not beautiful.

Beautiful words are not truthful.

Good men do not argue.
Those who argue are not good.

Those who know are not learned.

The learned do not know." (Tao Te Ching 81)

The quote was from the last page of the book. Even until the end of the text, it had to be balance-ish, didn't it? Well, it was cool. Actually, this was one of the quotes that I liked. I quite agree with what it says here, maybe except for where it says that the learned don't know. It's so true that true words are not pretty. Reality is harsh. Yup. That, it is. I also thought that arguing too much isn't that good either, unlike my English teacher, who insists on teaching us how to argue. Well, it contradicts the book. I'm not sure if the last two lines have some kind of 'secret meaning' or something, because to me, it doesn't make sense.

Speaking of balance, look at this photo!

It's the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy, taken by NASA.
When I see pictures like this, I sometimes do think that nature is full of balance. I mean look at that! It's balance-ish. Haha, sorry. I don't have a good word to explain that. I'm just saying.

Tao Te Ching. The book of Daoism.
Very cool, short, not that bad to read.
NEVER READING IT AGAIN, thank you very much.

Balance

Tao Te Ching 1-12

As you might have noticed, I am reading a new book. It's called Tao Te Ching. Wow. My English teacher sure knows how to choose books. We read the Bible, Greek mythology, Confucianism, Hindu, and now, Daoism. Don't we ever get to read fun (some were fun. I mean like more of a sci-fi or some teenage *beep* like that) books? Well, whatever. It's English class.

So, the Tao Te Ching.
It's a book about Daoism. Right.
This book was different yet again. But this time, there was something VERY different. It was the first book without main characters. Even the Analects had characters like the Master and Zigong. This book, however, has none. It's basically a bunch of short teachings (kind of) of Daoism. They're just statements. No dialogues, no questions, no teenage vampires (thank goodness), and no plot.

The Tao Te Ching's main key term seems to be balance, as can be seen from some of the quotes in the text:
"Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short give each other contrast.
High and low require each other.
Voice and music harmonize with each other.
Front and back follow one another." (Tao Te Ching II Chapter 2)


I like this idea. Without this, there can't be that.
Stuff like that.

I don't remember where I heard it, but there was a saying that said: If there were no evil, there would be no good. Therefore, it must be good to be evil. Something like that. I thought it was cool.

Anyways, I hope this book gets more interesting (unlike the Analects).
Looking forward to it.