Hi @kaixin
It's the one thing I regret that I can't read the Tao Te Ching in its original language.
The Tao was my first introduction to ancient wisdom as I found a copy of an English translation of it in my mother's book collection when I was about 17 years of age. Even then it had an effect on me, although I didn't fully understand the ethemiral nature of its philosophy back then.
I read it again in my early 20's and understood it better I think. At the time I had just discovered meditating as a tool to help me combat depression, and that second reading of the Tao Te Ching resonated with the practice of meditation like the ring of a tuning fork.
In my mind, Taoism is regarded as a kind of dialectical philosophy: if without the ugly, without the beautiful.
I agree. The many 'seemingly' paradoxical statements in the Tao Te Ching serve as a kind of linguistic mental gymnastics to point at concepts that are beyond language.
That's why I used that Buddhist metaphor of the finger pointing to the moon. It's truly wonderful when the majesty of the moon becomes apparent. When the 'seemingly' nonsensical words point you to the knowing that is at the heart of the Tao. It's the same feeling I get when I stare at a tree swaying in the wind and feel a deep peace descend. The writer in me likes to believe it's the tree's spirit communicating with me, but it could just as equally be me feeling the silent observant nature of the tree.
Anyway, I've started to ramble 😂
Thanks for your thoughtful comment👍🙂