In my opinion, I feel like this poem relates to what we were talking about in class on Tuesday. “Empty yourself of everything” already gives the reader a hint about what this poem is mostly about. Instead of getting caught up with everything in reality, it’s okay to take a step back. A major theme that’s happening here is reality. “Let the mind become still” shows that one simple step brings us closer to “Tao”- life or god- and makes us appreciate every little thing in life. “The ten thousand things rise and fall” symbolizes the cycle of what everyone goes through in their daily life. In reality, a person cannot predict the future and in order to realized that it’s to be open minded. Without all the pressure, life becomes more meaningful. Thus, “being at one with the Tao is eternal” can improve a person in a better way. These are life lessons that one can’t just toss out but will be kept eternity.
2 Responses to Tao Te Ching (#16)
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I believe you have great interpretation of the poem. Tao was a firm believer of the philosophical idea of Daoism. It is usually practiced in Asia, by those who, like you said, “appreciate every little thing in life”. Taoist do not question their surroundings, instead they appreciated effortlessness. You also quoted “ten thousand things rise and fall”, which I would also put into context; Tao most likely meant to question “why do we call the sun and the moon, sun and moon, where there are other things that rise and fall”. The idea of categorization and naming things is wrong for those who follow the idea of Daoism. Great job Wong.
I found both the original post, and ensuing comment, to be extremely enlightening. Both in the explanation of Taoism’s fundamental desire to avoid labels and categorization, while choosing instead to focus primarily on appreciation. Empty yourself of everything is a quote that can be interpreted in a number of ways, and yet the manner in which it was interpreted here intrigued me. I love the notion of letting go in order to grab more out of life, and due to the highlighting of Taoism’s emphasis on this concept, I was able to think about this poem differently than I had upon first reading it. Great Job.