great works in literature II 2850 kta 2:55-4:35— Shades of Truth . . .

Poem 25 talks about something great and the person speaking doesn’t know it’s name, so he/she calls it by the name of “Tao”. When examined this Tao being can be compared to the God of Christianity. Everything in the first stanza talk about this singular being with great power. “Something mysteriously formed,” is the first line of the stanza, this Tao is something of which we don’t know it’s origin. In Christianity, we don’t know where God came from, his very origins are shrouded in mystery. “Born before heaven and Earth.”, Tao existed before there was even heaven or Earth. In Christianity, God created Earth, so he existed before it. “Standing alone and unchanging,”, Tao has always been there by himself with no one else similar to him. This is similar to there being only one god in Christianity. “Perhaps it is the mother of ten thousand things.”, Tao has the ability to create tens of thousands of things, similar to how God created the Earth and everything on it. In the third stanza greatness, everything has greatness the 4 ruling powers in the universe, ““Tao is great;Heaven is great;Earth is great;The king is also great.” These are the four great powers of the universe, And the king is one of them.”. The quote about the king being one of the great powers of the universe is similar to the Pope being the single mortal being closest to God. The last stanza explains the roles in this universe, “Man follows Earth. Earth follows heaven. Heaven follows the Tao. Tao follows what is natural.”. That stanza states that each of the 4 great powers follow one thing, they follow what is natural.

Often, the mistakes we make in life bring us down. Mistakes are usually followed by a sense of embarrassment or even shame, but in the poem Thirteen, there seems to be a underlying meaning of learning to embrace your mistakes. The poem begins with the simple line of “Accept disgrace willingly.” This can mean to recognize the mistakes you have made in the past and to take that past disgrace upon your shoulders with honor. The poem also goes on to say “Accept misfortune as the human condition”, a line that tells the reader that we should accept the flaws and mishaps in life as it is part of being human. As a human one of the main things we go through are mistakes, and the reason is to learn so we can become a better person.

The poem ends with “Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things. Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.” In this ending line, the writer is not saying to give yourself up, but rather to be humble and accept your mistakes and flaws as being apart of who you are. It is only when you learn to accept yourself in this world, that you can accept everything else that is apart of it. Loving yourself will help you understand how to love someone else for their good and bad qualities. I found the message in this poem to be very positive as it clearly sends a message to accept yourself as you are.

Poem Sixteen discusses the emotional and mental process of meditation. It states”empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still.” Stillness is a very powerful thing to master. On a day to day basis our minds are clouded with hundreds of different thoughts. Shutting those thoughts down and listening to your body and mind is a technique that many people have not  mastered.

Throughout Poem Sixteen, there is  a striking comparison of nature and stillness. The author notes “they grow and flourish and then return to the source.  Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.” As a self proclaimed mediation guru this quote stood out to me. I have always believed that when we empty our minds we essentially become pure again. . If we successfully meditate we free ourselves from negative thoughts and energy. I also believe that meditation can  help us transcend to new spiritual heights. 

A major idea that is found in Four, is emptiness and the sudden urge to fill this emptiness. The poem begins with, “The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled. Oh, unfathomable source of ten thousand things!” When we feel empty, we are driven to fill this gap because we associate emptiness with negative feelings. Yet, emptiness seems to be a trait of the Tao. The next lines, “Blunt the sharpness, Untangle the knot, Soften the glare,” express the actions or evaluations one must take to accept emptiness. The narrator illustrates that trying to stay sharp or secure does not last. The knots or problems in our lives do become free. Darkness does arise in this cycle. The main message is if the reader decides to let time restore the problem or let time obliterate. Although Four discusses Tao, the poem also explains the different stages of life that is effected by our behavior and emotions. “Oh, hidden deep but ever present!” The Tao is not easy to find and hard to pinpoint it’s existence which is similar to the idea that humans have a hard time coming to terms of certain stages of life.

This poem is about women and how being a women naturally comes with roles that you must balance in your everyday life. This is essential when it comes to living and existing in society. This poem shows the good and bad qualities of womanhood. This is mostly shown through the ending lines of the poem, “Bearing yet not possessing, working yet not taking credit, leading yet not dominating, this is the Primal Virtue”. Women are simply existing, they do not stand out or make any waves. They must follow this, but on the contrary, they also have to have a balance of love and respect. This is shown through the line, “Loving all men and ruling the country”. A women must be a lover and a fighter at the same time. If a women is too submissive and has no power she will have failed and not achieved the Primal Virtue. The following line, “Can you be without cleverness?” emphasizes how important it is to always be strong and independent for their own sake, but to society, they must be flexible, openminded, loving and caring.

This piece reminds me of meditation, specifically Zen meditation. Zen is hard to describe because it has many meanings such as, clearing your mind and body for inner peace, experiencing and connecting to the world around you and experiencing that world in the present. As well as appreciating life and everything that surrounds it.

The poem incorporates many of the aspects of Zen, starting with inner peace, “empty yourself of everything, let the mind become still.” Many times during meditation instructors usually say the best way to peace is by relieving yourself of anything and everything that is on your mind and just focus on nothing and become one with yourself.

Once this peace is achieved it is like being connected to the world on a high spiritual level and it makes it easier to appreciate the world no matter what state it is in, “The ten thousand things rise and fall while the self watches their return.” Which shows it is best to appreciate everything no matter what state it is in because nature goes through the same phases every time. If you appreciate a blooming flower also appreciate the wilted one which will disappear soon after, because it will once again bloom. “They grow and flourish and then return to the source.”

The poem is very spiritual and encourages inner peace through meditation, like Zen meditation. Then will we be able to fully experience and appreciate the world around us.

While reading this poem, I was instantly reminded of a phenomenon I have recently learned in one of my psychology classes regarding Western culture. The first line of the poem, “Accept disgrace willingly”, introduces the theme that we, as humans, are imperfect and are bound to make mistakes. Through psychological studies, it has been found that in Western culture, as opposed to other parts of the world, “self-enhancement defense” or simply put, excuse-making, is very popular. We often lack ownership of our mistakes and reject any negative feedback that we receive. “Accept misfortune as the human condition”, or in other words, realize that life is not meant to be easy and we will often be put in difficult situations. However, how we deal with these situations and how we view them is more important because it could determine and shape who we are. I found the line, “Accept being unimportant. Do not be concerned with loss or gain” particularly important; many people strive to have a certain reputation or to have a certain amount of money, when in reality, that is not the answer to happiness. Being truly happy does not necessarily correspond to the number in our bank account or our status in society, it comes from within.

This poem is very ironic in the sense that it begins by telling the reader to be indifferent toward the ups and downs in life “do not be concerned with loss or gain”, and to see the very existence of life as a form of catastrophe “misfortune comes from having a body”; however, at the very end it teaches the reader that the only way to lead a happy life is to do the opposite of what was written in the beginning of the poem.  This contrast can be seen by the apparent difference in line two and the last line of the poem, where line two suggest the reader to accept life as misfortune and the last line advises the reader to learn to love his or her own self even when its existence happens to be a misfortune “love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things”.  In conclusion, it may be true that misfortune arises from having a vessel for our soul in this world but that is not all there is to life; once we learn the method to counter it then perhaps we can give meanings to life other than misfortune.

When reading this poem what sticks out to me as the most prevalent theme is that wholeness is found when you live a simple and humble life. The poem says “empty and be full”. I believe it is pointing out to us that when you empty your life of all the things that overcrowd it, you can find more fullness and clarity. I know from experience, when I clean out all the things I do not use or need anymore my mind feels clearer. Another example can be of an individual that does a fast, the body releases toxins and at the end the individual gains more energy and clarity, which in turn can be perceived or even felt as full wholeness of the body, mind, and soul. Another example the poem points out is when it says, “have little and gain”. Many people that live minimal lives say that when you have less things you gain much more, especially time to think and work on the projects in your life that are most meaningful to you. This can also be seen as wholeness of who you are as an individual and what brings you the most happiness. My last point of this poem is another example about wholeness and humility the poem brings out is “Therefore the wise embrace the one and set an example to all.” What it is possibly saying, is that when we are humble and we realize that there is something much bigger than we are, something beyond nature, something that is deep within us that teaches us what love and to love is, we are able to live a full life and set a positive example to everyone around us.

From my common knowledge of Asian Studies, I am aware that this poem is created by a member of a religious tradition know as Daoism. Daoism stresses the idea of living in harmony with nature; including not giving names to anything: “The name that can be named is not the eternal name.” In other words the objects of Earth should not be categorized, explained, or named. It is also the religion in which effort is wrong, and things should just naturally flow. Those who usually practice the religion or philosophical idea of Daoism live in the mountains or surrounded by plant life rather than in modern areas. Tao also states “Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.Ever desiring, one sees the manifestation”. To summarize this stanza, Tao expresses how unnecessary it is to be curious and to want to learn about anything in existence; Tao believes that “ignorance is bliss”.