More emptiness

More reasons emptiness is a virtue:
Emptiness makes things useful. A pot is only good for something when it’s empty. A room is only good for something when it’s empty. When things are empty, you can use them as often as you want and never use them up. It’s like a renewable resource.
As far as people [...]

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Emptiness

Here’s a really disturbing passage: “The wise soul governing people would empty their minds, fill their bellies, weaken their wishes, strengthen their bones, keep people unknowing, unwanting, keep the ones who do know from doing anything.”
When I first read this, I thought Lao Tzu wanted the government to keep people fat, happy and brainwashed. But [...]

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Names

I looked just about every place names (or namelessness) are mentioned in the Tao, and here’s what I’ve found:
 Basic creation myth: The unnamed gives birth to Name, and Name gives birth to Nature (“the ten thousand things”) The deepest, most eternal truth is the unnamed.
 The Way is also talked about as nameless or inexplicable. In that sense [...]

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The Tao Te Ching

I started reading LeGuin’s favorite translation of the Tao Te Ching with commentary last week. What follows in this category is just going to be reflections on what’s inside this book. I’m trying to pick out motifs like nature, the wise soul, and emptiness and discover how they play out in the the Tao Te Ching. You [...]

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