In Tao Te Ching, I liked page 67. The term “sage” is an interesting concept in Daoism. The idea of trusting people who are trustworthy and not trustworthy bewilders me. How does “sage” create harmony? Then it does to Te meaning goodness and trust. Then on page 51, Te is now respect. Fast forward to page 64 and Sage “desires no desires/ prizes no prizes.” I am still trying to figure out what these terms mean, and it might just take me re reading the poems.
On page 67 it talks about compassion, frugality, and presumption. I like how it says, “Nowadays,/ people reject compassion/ but want to be brave,/ reject frugality/ but want to be generous/ reject humility/ and want to come first.” I feel this describes American culture because our society is focused on “me” and how can I come in first, do whatever it takes to get that high paid job, and we certainty don’t live frugal lifestyles. We can agree to disagree, but I don’t think we value the three treasures of compassion, frugality, and humility as a society. I think it is interesting that this poem is trying to teach these three treasures to the Chinese.