Wisdom of TAO Te Ching

THEME of TAO : “The emptiness of the circle ⭕️ is the fullness of its expression.”

 Use of languages,
a lexicon artifact,
with syntactic rules,
and with semantic structures,
is a study by itself.

I was a teacher.
Professor of linguistics.
Psycholinguistics.
How mind processes language.
How we interpret the world.

I was a teacher.
Student of word usages.
How language is used
with both noun and verb phrases,
in composing sentences.

Steeped in languages,
I developed a passion.
Became word punster,
making language my folk art;
a reservoir of wisdom.

How words have meaning;
many quite ambiguous,
and multilayered,
context interdependent,
that cannot be overlooked.

TAO teaches us
how life seems multilayered;
itself a puzzle,
full of ambiguities
that we are tasked to decide.

In this decoding,
in which life is like a maze,
we will find contrasts.
But the search must continue,
until we find unity.

There are many paths,
some conducted quite alone,
that lead to TAO.
Life offers many pathways.
Some crooked and, yes, some straight.

Some choose singleness,
the singleness of purpose.
An inward turning,
that’s ‘set apart’ from others;
as the life of a hermit.

Some choose company,
to live this life with others;
in life partnerships.
To learn from one another;
forging pathways together.

Life as a hermit
can produce enlightenment,
can provide wisdom;
but not without the TAO;
not without the Inner SELF.

TAO looks at both,
while seeking the impartial;
path of non-action.
By acting — without acting;
following path of Wu-Wei.

Language as hindrance,
is made of divergences;
of oppositions.
Based on what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’
On what is ‘good’ or is ‘bad.’

Language and contrasts
was something that I studied,
long before TAO;
becoming a professor
in this noble discipline.

I was a teacher
with bare knowledge of TAO.
Not yet a student.
Discussing art of language
without aid of the TAO.

I was a teacher.
In my retirement years,
I am a student.
A student of the TAO.
And the role of opposites.

That they are contrasts
which together make wholeness.
One needs The Other
for us to understand SELF
and our sense of Existence.

The SELF and TAO,
made of the same warp and woof,
are lifetime partners.
They are master artisans;
and we are all their subjects.

TAO informs us
about the relationship
of SELF to the world.
TAO is teaching
about our own true natures.

The TAO discerns
that the natural order
of the universe
is about knowledge of Self.
That is The Truth we all seek.

Such an arcane Truth
comes from teaching and learning.
The two in concert:
The Teacher as ‘The Father.’
Child as ‘Father-of-the-Man.’

Teaching is learning.
How else can one know TAO
except as student
sitting at the very feet
of one who is The Master.

From humility,
by humbling our outer selves,
we turn to TAO,
sitting as a disciple,
and thus turning inwardly.

The inward turning
is that of a disciple;
is that of student,
turning to embrace Psyche,
and in sync with the TAO.

I was a teacher.
In my retirement years,
I am a student.
A student of the TAO.
And the role of the opposites.

Consider this, friend.
TAO knows that The Teacher,
in order to grow,
must also be The Student.
One is linked to The Other.

So as a teacher,
having become a student,
and a disciple
of the Wisdom of TAO,
I have a different outlook.

Opposites as pairs,
are much more than antonyms.
They work together
to explain how the world works:
In Harmony as Oneness.

TAO is Teacher.
TAO is Master Teacher.
Teacher of Wisdom.
And we are its disciples.
Some compliant — and some not.

The path to knowledge
of ourselves and of the world,
is by TAO’s path.
A path that leads to ‘The Way’
of opposites united.

This, Life desires:
Relationship to the Self;
to the Inner Self;
residence of the TAO,
and of finding unity.

As a living soul,
who do you say that you are?
Do you KNOW your SELF;
that you are a child of TAO;
of Godly circumstances?

Consider this, friend:
The truth of knowing thy SELF,
is by NOT judging.
The beginning of Wisdom;
of Alpha and Omega.

Not judging others.
An existential wisdom
that can be discerned
by focusing on Spirit,
the source of all unity.

TAO has Wisdom.
TAO is non-judgmental;
seeking harmony.
The harmony and balance,
opposing oppositions.

Consider TAO.
It teaches us deepest truths:
Truth of Yin and Yang.
Beyond language and contrasts.
Wisdom of TAO TE CHING.