Lao-tzu: Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching

Imagine a perfect world composed of harmony and enlightenment. When people follow the Tao, life becomes harmonious and people become enlightened. How do you achieve enlightenment or harmony? By following the Tao of course, as Lao-tzu says. Lao-tzu forces his readers to think by using paradoxes. His statement, "Practice not-doing, /and everything will fall into place," contains both limits and benefits (22).

"Practice not-doing" is a very limited statement because practicing implies action of some sort. The more you practice the better you get, and Lao-tzu wants his readers to reach a certain state of mind. The statement clearly contradicts itself. What Lao-tzu is trying to say is if you practice over and over, you attempt to achieve some kind of goal. So if you stop practicing, everything will fall into place. The world works on its own, independently of people, so by constantly practicing for perfection, you never let things fall into their rightful places (i.e. trying too hard). Also, Lao-tzu says, "Let go of fixed plans and concepts, /and the world will govern itself" (27).

Some of the many benefits of "Practice not-doing," include achieving harmony and enlightenment as Lao-tzu describes. Only by following the Tao, can you achieve such greatness. The world becomes harmonious because chaos is removed when people follow the Tao. For example, if a single person in the world has one item, then presumably everyone else in the world would want the item. When the rest of the population lacks the particular item, they get angry and feel cheated. To create harmony in the world, everyone would have to own the same item, so nobody feels cheated. By following the Tao, "People would be content /with their simple, everyday lives, /in harmony and free of desire" (25).

Lao-tzu then goes on describing enlightenment. Enlightenment is obtainable if you follow the Tao. For example, if someone knows the answer to a question, no one can sway his thoughts. You can try all night and day and you will never sway their thinking, for they "know the truth." The Tao creates confusion and forces people to think about certain instances as these, and reconsider their thinking. The statement gets you to think and forces you to accept new ideas.

Practicing implies action or doing. So Lao-tzu is telling his readers to both do and don't do something simultaneously. So how can anyone follow the Tao? Lao-tzu says just to let go and everything will follow. He advises people to "Stay centered within the Tao" (27). If you just let go, then only good will come, including harmony, peace, enlightenment etc. His thoughts contain limits and benefits, which people may apply to their daily lives. Only through confusion do you truly "get" the Tao.

Work Cited

Lao-tzu. "Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers.

6th ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 22-31.