First Text Study

I chose to do my first text study on the Tao Te Ching, an ancient text of the Taoist philosophy. The Tao relates to three core beliefs that I have: the ineffectiveness of words, Parkour, and being responsible for more than just myself. The Tao is where I first encountered the idea that words don't mean as much as society thinks, and this belief of mine traces back to reading about it there. In studying this text for my inquiry, I discovered that there are many aspects about Taoism and Parkour that are similar. Putting the interest of something greater than yourself is a common theme in the Tao, and is similar to my value of Loyalty.

The idea of words not having as much power as we think they do is an underlying theme in the Tao. The first two lines of the whole book read: “The Tao that can be told / is not the eternal Tao.” Chapter two talks more about labels, “When people see some things as good, / other things become bad” “Long and short define each other.” This has profound meaning to me, describing “good” and “bad” as a spectrum gets at the core of my belief of the ineffectiveness of labels. Chapter 11 describes how the some of the things we label (pots, houses) aren't actually what we use. In 33 it talks about labeling other people meaning only what they are in comparison to something else. Chapter 81 ends the book with how complex words and phrases aren't as true as simpler ways of saying the same thing, as complexity can cause confusion.

There are several chapters in the Tao that relate to Parkour philosophy. Chapter 30 talks about accepting what you can't change and changing the only thing you can control: yourself. This is exactly like Parkour's philosophy of overcoming any kind of obstacle. Chapter 68 speaks to friendly non-competition, an idea of competing without worrying about what the other people do.

Acting in the interest of others instead of one's self is described is the Tao Te Ching as humility, which makes sense to me. Chapters 30, 61, 79, and 80 talk about this in great detail. A great metaphor that the Tao uses is that of water, it is content with being lower than others, and moves that way as a matter of course, without second thoughts or doubt about it's worth.

I often use the Tao as a guide for my life, because it is so similar to my own beliefs. The one problem I have with it is it's indifference. I believe that passion and caring is an important part of life, and the Tao's disagreement with me, while having the same outcome, is disconcerting.