Ben Bethers

IB English
Moosman Period 2
November 25, 2022

Tao Te Ching Reflection

In our day, there are many literary works that have great philosophical and religious
values. Many texts both recent and ancient, well known and less known, have significant insights
on the human experience. Books such as the Bible, the Quran, the Republic, and works from
Shakespeare all have great value from the past hundreds or even thousands of years to the
modern day. One such work is Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. This book is the father work of the
world wide philosophy of Taoism from roughly 400 B.C. and holds many important lessons for
humanity to learn and draw from. Throughout reading this book, I have gained knowledge of
moderation and balance, even though I may not entirely believe that there is a forceful,
permeating indifferent energy that drives everything, I do think that there is great value
The book starts off by defining the Tao in a way. Although the book states that the Tao, or
the way, is an undefinable, unlimited, and all-encompassing force that permeates the universe.
Throughout the book, Tzu places great emphasis on this unlimited and simultaneously
undefinable trait of the Tao. Along with this, the book continues to define the Tao as an
indifferent and ultimately balanced force, which thrives in dichotomy. The good and the bad
balance eachother out, as you must have bad to appreciate the good in your life. The hot and the
cold are born from one another as there is no concept of temperature without the two. Examples
like this and the explanations of them in the book explain the sentiment behind the Tao, where
there is great value in opposites. I think that this is valuable to pay attention to in order to
understand why some things that are viewed as bad are beneficial in that they bring about good.
One conversation that I had with my parents one time immediately came to mind when the book
started introducing dichotomy, where they told me that bad things happen because we need the
lows in order to feel the highs. This sentiment seems very close to that of the Tao, in that there is
value in both the good and the bad, and that the way that the Tao has in balancing out one
extreme or outcome with the corresponding opposite. I greatly appreciated throughout the book
the message of balance and appreciating the bad side of the balance and its potential to bring
about the corresponding good.
Furthermore, I think that the themes of balance and dichotomy connected very well to
the later themes of moderation and thankfulness that manifest in the later versus of the book.
Within the book, there are more lessons that place emphasis on the virtue of moderation. Lzu
explains throughout the book that man naturally wants more wealth, comfort, food, and more. In
the pattern of continually wanting more, men can never attain their goals because the bar keeps
on getting higher once they are close to getting what they originally want. In the book in verse
forty six, one of my favorite quotes is “There is no crime greater than having too many desires;
There is no disaster greater than not being content; There is no misfortune greater than covetous;
Hence in being content, one will always have enough” (Verse 46). I feel like it is a good sign
when someone is humble and can not only show moderation, but also be thankful for what they
have. Especially after Thanksgiving, I loved reviewing some verses from this book for reflection.
Lastly, I think that the last part of the book I found to be significant was the great
emphasis on leadership and the qualities a leader should possess. I loved how the book said that,
better than being a loved leader, you would be a leader that does not take too much credit and
operates things so smoothly and skillfully that they would barely be noticed. I like that the book
also places great value on leadership in the first place. It goes along with one of my beliefs that
all should be leaders in at least one area of their life, teaching responsibility and building
character. I link how the leadership aspect also goes hand in hand with the other two values of
moderation and balance.
Overall, I loved the consistency in this book and how it aligned with some of my core
values. I think that, ultimately, this book is a great resource for humans all over the world to
coincide with existing beliefs. I think that, although I may not have agreed with some of the
concepts in this book, I still really enjoyed reading this book and going through the thoughts it
invoked. I think that this book holds many valuable life lessons that can help people have a better
mindset of content. One of the analogies I like in this book is that our mindset can be like water.
If we should allow ourselves to be truly indifferent like the Tao, we will become better people
and better leaders. We will settle where we fall and make the most out of where we are in life.
Overall, I really liked this book because of its deep, thought provoking contents and its valuable
philosophies.