SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Tag: Laozi

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 20

    This chapter contrasts the attitude of the Daoist Sage with that of ordinary people, using paradoxes to reveal the essence of the Dao.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 19

    Laozi opposed the culture of the ruling class in ancient China. He believed that this culture, by establishing hypocritical moral concepts, conflicted with regular social phenomena—that is, with the Dao of Heaven. In his view, such culture contradicted the natural order and the principles of the Heavenly Dao.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 18

    This chapter can be understood from two perspectives.

    ‌First‌: Its direct content highlights how the loss of virtue in rulers and the abandonment of the great Dao create the need to promote benevolence and justice to counter social decay. Laozi thus diagnoses the pathological phenomena of his era, exposing the cracks in a corrupt system.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 17

    Chapter 17 of the Dao De Jing establishes a hierarchy of governance where political excellence is measured by its operational invisibility‌.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 13

    The attachment to the self denote subjective obsession with an illusory ego‌. Liberation arises solely through relinquishing egoic attachment‌.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 12

    There exists an maxim: “Humanity’s greatest adversary resides within oneself”. External temptations—sensory desires and transient pleasures—ensnare us effortlessly, eroding our primordial essence. As Laozi warns: “The five hues blind human vision; the five tones deafen human hearing; the five flavors numb human discernment” .

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 5

    Chapter 5 of the Dao De Jing embodies Laozi’s philosophy on the operation of the Dao, the cosmic harmony between heaven and humanity, and the fundamental equality of all phenomena.

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  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 1

    The ‘Dao’ (or ‘Tao’) is the core of the Dao De Jing (or Tao Te Ching). The entire text, composed of roughly five thousand Chinese characters, is dedicated to explaining this ‘Dao.’ Yet, Laozi laments from the very beginning that the ‘Dao’ cannot be clearly defined. It is akin to truth or reality—no definitive conclusion can ever be drawn about them. No matter how earnestly we strive, we only approach them incrementally, never fully grasping eternal truth or reality. Thus, Laozi chose to speak of the Dao by describing what it is not.

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  • What you should know before reading the Dao De Jing?

    For new readers of the Dao De Jing, there are two essential points to understand beforehand.

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