TAO TE KING # 01/28 - INTRODUÇÃO - Leitura comentada LÚCIA HELENA GALVÃO

Good evening to everyone! Welcome! I had the pleasure of meeting some of you. Anyone coming today for the first time? Well, then we have an audience aware of our proposal, which is the circle of reading. We just finished a book, which was the Kybalion, which makes a modern commentary on principles, believed to be based on the work of Hermes Trismegistus. Before that, we did "In Search of Wisdom", from a modern Indian author, Sri Ram, and we also previously, we did "The Prophet" of Khalil Gibran. We have a YouTube channel where people give suggestions and there

were a large number of requests for this book. So we are starting the adventure of reflecting a little about Tao Te King. I'm going to start by apologizing about the pronunciations. Because there are words that are truly unpronounceable. It's really a complex vocabulary. But we will try, more than just words, to take a little practical content of this book. Which is the goal of New Acropolis. Make these classic works, and this is one of the most widespread around the world, we'll see that it's one of the books that has the largest number of versions. Let's

try to make it a little more practical. Because it's very common for people to say that it's a mysterious book, almost impenetrable. And in fact, every book of this type has its difficulties. If you try "The Analects" of Confucius, or, I don't know, Bhagavad Gita, and say that it's easy, it means you didn't pay much attention. It requires a little dedication and reflection. But also not impregnable, as it's usually said. So let's go. A detail that is important, because as I told you today, in terms of editions, it seems that the Holy Bible, Bhagavad Gita

and the Tao Te King are among the most published books in the world. They are among the most published in the world. So there are versions for all tastes, of all kinds. And sometimes with very significant diversity between them. If you ever wrote a poem, and someone had to recite, and changed a word, you must have been upset. Because a poem, when you change a word, breaks the metric, breaks the rhyme, ends with it. Now imagine a poem that, in addition to having an aesthetic purpose, has a very deep depth. Many changes have already been

made on this text's basis. So we have to make a choice, and I chose this version, which is the version of the Editorial Pensamento, for a very simple reason, we'll talk about it soon. It's because of its translator. So let's work with this edition. I don't know if it's the best, I haven't read all of them. I couldn't do it. But from what I know, from my horizon of possibilities, it seems to me an excellent version, for some advantages that we will talk about soon. So... Richard Wilhine, who is the translator of this version that

we are using, he translates Tao Te King, or "Dao de Jing" as it would be original, as the book of meaning and life. The meaning as an abstraction, as an idea. It's like the book of ideas and their applications in the world. Of ideas and their manifestation. That is, the origin and its reproduction in the manifested world. There are several versions of translations of this name. But at first think. It's a book that communicates the world of essences with the world of appearances. And tends to communicate the two worlds and explain the meaning of them.

This is Tao Te King's goal. It is, as I said, of the law and its application, is another interpretation. As I said, one of the books that best represents Chinese thought and one of the most reproduced in the world. They say that China, which is a culture that has a remarkable antiquity. Today, I don't know, it's hard to say how many are like this, but maybe India, which kept the same name, although it has had many cultural changes over time, but kept the same name over millennia of history. And China has two very strong philosophical

focuses, which are Taoism and Confucianism. Of course, Buddhism also comes in there, has a lot of influence, but anyway, remember, Buddhism is of Indian origin. So, at first, it's foreign philosophy. The native philosophies are Taoism and Confucianism. And they had such an influence that bended history, they went through millennia. Confucianism was the philosophy of the Chinese state, in all the moments that it was unified, and even when it was not. So it has a fundamental importance, not only for China, but for humanity as a whole. I told you about these three publications, which are among

the most translated and published books in the world. So you will not find one or two versions of Tao Te King, you will find dozens. Just do a simple Google search, and you will find dozens of versions. And I'll explain why I choose this edition. It is a continuity of the Chinese spiritual tradition. This is important to understand. That is, Lao Tse's Taoism is not original, in the sense of being the first time these things were spoken. So much so that there's, in our historical moment, a very large group of historians, of sinologists, who say

that Lao Tse didn't exist. Did you know that? Many people say that he didn't exist. That he was a collection of thinkers, and that a unification of that was made. I, in particular, along with the translator of this work, I don't believe in that. But there are many people who say it. There is nothing that's absolutely original, everything has been said for a long time. There is even a classical thinker from China, who wrote a work of classical history, which is the Shi Chi, who said the sixth book of Tao Te King is not from

Lao Tse, is from the Yellow Emperor. Well, the Yellow Emperor is a mythical character. What we can understand is that this sixth book already existed, all of it, and before. Written by someone. I believe it's not just the sixth book. The concept of Tao is millenary in Chinese history, much earlier than Lao Tse himself. So Taoism is a consistent continuity, within a book called Tao Te King, of traditions that already existed within China. It is not entirely original. So there are some things that we sometimes in the West don't know. Questioned authorship, we've commented, but

don't be surprised. There is no sacred book that has no questioned authorship. I don't know. Do you know any? I don't. They question everyone. I usually use the biblical phrase, "Ye shall know them by their fruits". An author who has at least 2000 years of historical impact, and say that he didn't exist, that it was a gathering. Who did it, then? Who gave so much cohesion, these 81 aphorisms, these 81 verses of Tao Te King? Who did that? The footprints are the size of the walker. To leave such a great historical mark, it must have

been a great man. Compilation, usually there's no cohesion. It's a lot of people thinking differently. And there's no historical strength and this protagonism that this book had. So I honestly believe that every great book had a great author. That corresponds to the historical impact he generated. He was probably a man of that size. Another thing, we've said it, right? The cohesion of the work, considering its impact, is proof that he existed. And this thought, which is not mine, is that of Richard Wilhelm himself. He says, the most important of all, whether Lao Tse existed or

not, may not be so important, considering that he himself didn't like any kind of publicity for his personality. If you think of a person who didn't want fame, it was Lao Tse. He hid in all ways. The important thing is, Tao Te King exists. It exists, it's there. This is undisputed. The impact it produces, whoever has made it, is a real thing and it crosses history. It is very interesting to imagine a being, considering a historical moment like ours, where we are so materialistic, so intranscendent in our concerns, someone who can have impact, not in

one or two generations. But how many generations will be produced in at least 26 centuries? It's considered Lao Tse lived at least 2600 years. There are those who say he lived 1300 BC. Imagine what it's to do something like that. A historical impact that crosses time in a fantastic way. So Tao Te King exists and it's a very important book. Here is something interesting for you to see how, in all these traditions, the legend mixes with history. I tried to bring some engravings, watercolors, nanquim, more ancient, for you to realize how time generates a syncretism

that no one splits anymore. This painting shows nothing less than Lao Tse presenting to Confucius, the young Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. That is, a work of such an imagination. From a certain moment on, no one distinguishes nothing else. Funny, because there was obviously no such encounter, although it seems that Confucius and Lao Tse are very likely to have met, really. They lived in the same, let's say, in such a huge territory, but in close regions, and in close historical moments. But certainly they didn't meet with Siddhartha Gautama. But the date is close. If you want

to enter a time machine and go back to the past, this time of the 6th or 7th century BC, is an interesting time. If you go to Greece, the pre-Socrates are starting to emerge. According to some traditions, if you go there by Persia, Zoroaster would also be there, although this date is also very uncertain. Some people say that Zoroaster didn't exist, too. Thank you. So Lao Tse and Confucius were in the territory of what we now call China. Continuing, the biography I brought to you is summary. First, because Lao Tse's biography is the most controversial

thing. No one agrees on anything about it. Second, because many people say that he didn't even exist. And third, because this is not the focus of our study object in this reading group. So I brought you some summary facts about which there's some kind of consensus. History in this sense, the sinologists are very controversial. So it seems that he was born in the province of Ho-Nan, between 1300 BC and 600 BC. There's the discussion between the Taoist canon and the historical sources. Do you know what that means? The Taoist religion has nothing to do directly

with Lao Tse. Did you know that? Although he is a god within the Taoist religious tradition, he was a god probably inserted later. Even by the modesty that characterized him, I think he never wanted go into history as a god. The Taoist tradition is very old. It is a collection of popular religiosity that suffered, as it's said, even by Indian influences. And he was inserted as a character already in a late form, in what is called the Taoist canon. And the Taoist canon has an absolutely original story about Lao Tse. Including a own dating, which

says he lived in 1300 BC. While history puts it around 600 and something. So this is a huge margin of error. From 1300 to 600, there are many centuries in the middle. So we don't know exactly when Lao Tse existed. The biography, which is considered to be one of the most reliable, we will talk about him, which is Sima Qian, was written 400 years later than what would probably've been his life according to historical sources. That is, in the second century BC. Which is the so-called Shi Chi. It is a super important history book. And

Sima Qian says this sentence: "his mission was to hide and stay anonymous." That is, Lao Tse had no desire for popularity. He lived in an extremely discreet way. And with all this effort, entering history with the importance he did, it's at least admirable. So this Shi Chi is one of the sources, the so-called book of tradition, is one of the sources, one of the many sources, that speak about Lao Tse. But one of the latest, sorry, one of the oldest, not latest, but there are several sources, including Confucianists. It was established a kind of controversy

between Confucianism and Taoism. Especially among disciples. Based on a worldview that, when it's no longer understood so well, began to be considered contradictory. In fact, it's not. So there are Confucianist books that talk about the advent of Taoism and the master, the old master, of the so-called great Taoist sage. Names are also a controversial issue, because the names are all symbolic. So it's said that Lao Tse would be the "old master", the "old child". The truth is that he is old. Now, not literally old, but because the tradition he represented was very old. But you

know that when something sometimes turns into a religious faith, myths are taken literally. So we will see within the Taoist annals, Lao Tse born as an old man. I even brought you a engraving showing this. He would have been born an old man, according to the mythical version of history. But saying that he was an "old master", or the "old child", means that he represented a renewal of a very old tradition. Or this other name, which they say was original of him. How do you know the name of a person you don't even know if

existed? But, it's said, one of the many possible names he had, is "Er Dan Li", which means big ears. Ears! Because the ear represented, you must have seen Buddhist statues, that have a lot of that, big ears means a great ability to learn. Wisdom! Plum ears, because his mother would have swallowed a plum seed, and would have had a long gestation, where this old boy came to light. This is part of the myth. This is Sima Qian. This is a version, let's say, the oldest that is owned in museums, of the so-called Shi Chi, the

book of tradition, which speaks for the first time of a biography, of the existence of this historical character. The myth, as we have already spoken, his mother, according to the myth, would be ancient, and would have had a gestation of 81 years. Highly symbolic, right? That is, it would have been a being that was gestated very slowly. This has many possibilities of interpretation. Someone who gestates himself very slowly, from the womb of the mother, which is the manifestation itself. Within the Taoist tradition, the mother is associated with the earth, with the manifested world. So he

gestated very slowly, that means he acquired his wisdom with a lot of prudence, very slowly. And when he is known, he was already old, that is, he was already wise. When he comes to be known to the world, he was already a wise man. He becomes, according to the imperial court archivist, he dealt with the archives, with historical documents, and it would have been on this occasion that he would have met Confucius. And this story is portrayed in several ways, I didn't even put the dialogues, which are so different, that probably none of them is

very faithful to what happened there. But Confucius would have been very impressed with the knowledge of this sage, but their points of view were a bit different, Confucius was more focused on the rite, on the ceremonial, on politics, on the organization of states. While Lao Tse was much more metaphysical, focused more on a spiritual plan, and determined to realize that the world's reform is part of the inner spiritual reform of man. And anything that is done from the outside in would be a waste of time. So they have views that I wouldn't say that are

antipodes, they are complementary, because one reinforces the other. It is evident that the wise man creates the world, but it's evident that the world, when it becomes better, also invites man to become wise. So it's almost a feedback, a retro-feeding process. Well, this book, Shi Chi, I told you about it, and the "Li Gi", a Confucianist book, which also talks about Lao Tse. So as Confucianism itself cites, at least the translator of this version, considers it probable. This was not a random person. Richard Wilhelm lived 25 years in China. So he considers, from all the

sources he knew, that it's very likely that this meeting really happened. Which is a fantastic thing, people. Imagine a similar situation, of two characters of this relevance, physically meeting in history, there's nothing similar. I don't know any. So a very peculiar episode. See, this is also a painting, this one is much more recent, which shows the probable birth of Lao Tse. You see that in the tub, where he is bathed by the handmaids, he's an old man, the child is old. That is, he would have shown his wisdom from the moment he came to know

the world. It's said that at a certain moment, he was impacted by the decline of the world he lived in. He considered that it was not a moment, nor a very appropriate place for the knowledge he tried to convey. And he decided to leave. "Bye, I'm leaving." Towards the West, towards India. He mounted a bull. On a occasion I told you about it. The most unlikely way for a person to go so far is on top of a bull. That is, this is very likely symbolic. You will see that within the universe of ancient traditions,

and the Far East, it's no exception, to mount a bull means to dominate your own material nature, to find spirituality, to be a lord of yourself. But it's said that he mounted a bull and left. When he was crossing the border, he meets a border guard, Hintzi, who says, "who are you?" "- Ah, I am a person who seeks the truth. - Did you find any truth? "- I think I found something. - So you're not leaving! "You'll have to write something, leave something documented. Whoever found the truth, you can't let it vanish, otherwise no

one will remember or know what you found. Then, according to it, it probably is a mythical episode too, very likely, that no one would know about this level of detail. He would have dismounted the bull, gone to the house of this border guard, and would have written the 81 stanzas of what we know as The Tao Te King. Which is what we know as the Taoist tradition. There is a very beautiful poem by Bertolt Brecht, in which he tells this story. "We thank not only the wise, but also the common man, who made him dismount

and tell his story." So, in some way, someone made him harnessed the bull and tell his story. We don't know how much reality exists in this episode. It says he writes this in one night. Imagine what he would do in several nights. If this is real. Here is a painting, showing this. He is sitting on his bull, quietly, it seems that the bull had that method of orientation that we use on the computer? GPS. Because he never drives the bull, it just goes on towards India. It felt the indian path. It is very curious. I

gave a lecture some time ago, about the human evolution according to oriental tradition. There's a bullfighter's tale, which shows it. The wise man, who no longer needs to drive the bull. The bull knows the way. It is a man who has full control of himself. In such a way that his material personality already knows the way. It doesn't need to be constantly admonished, repressed or corrected. It already knows the way. It was educated, it was trained. It is a very clear symbolism of the domain of the material self. Well, as I told you, there's a

difference between what we know as Taoism religion, a very significant difference. You will realize that if you go to our dear Google and search for Taoist gods, you will find divinities, spirits of nature. An animist religion of nature. Lao Tse never, ever said anything about it. It's a tradition that already existed. Probably with influence from other neighboring traditions. In fact, China has an unusual wealth of ethnicities. So no one knows exactly what the roots of the Taoist religion are. But for sure, most of its beliefs don't come from Lao Tse. Although Lao Tse has been

incorporated as a divinity. So not even a school. In life, Lao Tse didn't establish disciples and a school. This was done later by his followers. So he was a very lonely figure and very inwardly focused. Very introspective. Which is the basis of his philosophy. How to find yourself. How to go back inside. How to find the way and then manifest it in the world. The "Tao" and the "Te". Well. The religion is called "Tao Chiao". While philosophy is called "Tao Chia". They are two things, including within the current tradition, recognized as absolutely different. And they

had a very strong influence, for those who know anything about Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism was born in China, as a Chan school. Then it goes to Japan and becomes Zen. It is a very strong influence of Taoism. That thing of almost not saying anything, or not saying anything at all. Achieve a state of Satori, through a deep reflection. This is a very direct influence of Taoism. Buddhism has this flexibility of taking the color of the places where it passes. So, Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaist, is absolutely different from any other Buddhism. Also Buddhism, when it passes through

China. It mixes a lot with local traditions. And when it goes to Japan, it's influenced by Shintoism. And reinforces these characteristics. Anyway. Taoism is very present within this Zen tradition. A very strong influence. Look, this is Lao Tse, God of the Taoist religion. This is his representation as a divine being, within a theological body, which is called the Taoist religion. Which has nothing to do with Taoist philosophy, at least, not so directly. Of course it receives influence. But philosophy is a reflection that is made apart of theological considerations. Countless interpretations, countless, don't be modest, countless

indeed. Everyone interpreted Tao Te King the way they needed. And this is a dangerous thing. Because the need precedes the interpretation. This is the kind of dangerous thing. So you'll see when it comes to chinese alchemy, Taoism was used strongly for this. To find the elixir of long life. It was considered that manipulations could be made. Alchemy is a phenomenon that is not restricted to China, but in China, you find one of its oldest cribs. A physical interpretation of Tao Te King, as the manipulation of elements to obtain an elixir, which allowed an eternal youth,

or even an eternal life. The Philosopher's Stone, that is, what would generate in man, because the Philosopher's Stone also is symbolic, but taken literally, it would be any substance that would give man longevity, health, anyway. Many magical manipulations were made with Taoism, in such a way that it made, even for the West, before knowing the tradition, in a slightly deeper way, a slightly negative impression of Taoism as a kind of magic. Or many times it was used, for political purposes, which it's not so good at. Confucianism is more focused on that. Also for military purposes.

I was curious to search on the internet. It's curious. There is a book on Taoist cuisine. There is a book on Taoist agriculture. On Taoist military training. Now, if anyone can tell me how to convert Tao Te King into culinary, please teach me. Because maybe it's my hope to learn something about culinary, through Lao Tse. Because I can't conceive something like that. But it's very important, we will talk about it again soon, that you know the danger it's to start from the answer and then go after the question. And you will manipulate to get to

that answer. I'm not going to say that everyone who interpreted did that. But what I find very unlikely, to find culinary within Tao Te King, I honestly think. So there were many manipulations, because it's very synthetic. And being very synthetic, if you reduce to very few sentences, you're subject to many unfoldings. Obviously, to protect us from that, I had to adopt a philosophical criterion, which I'll tell you soon. It's dangerous. The more synthetic a text is, the more you take from it whatever they want. Remember that I was joking with you and talked about the

"Law of the seeker". Who looks for it, finds it here. So you can use any text to prove anything you want, as long as you know how to handle well and manipulate ideas well. So you can't put previous answers before asking the question. Which is something complex. Here is a scene of manipulation of chemical elements to try to obtain the elixir of the long life. There are those who say, Lao Tse was an alchemist. Alchemist? Well, maybe in the metaphysical sense. To want to discover the gold of wisdom. But that Lao Tse has manipulated elements

to obtain the elixir of the long life, I think it's unlikely. He was very metaphysical for that. It was not his field. This is the translation I brought to you. Richard Wilhelm. A German who makes this translation for the German, then the translation is made for English and then for Portuguese. Why is not adopted a version that comes directly from Chinese to Portuguese? They already exist. There are translations of this type. Because what this guy says is very special. Because he was someone very special. So he is able to add certain elements that translate the

Taoist mentality as far as possible to the West. This cannot be despised. Because this is rare. For those who know, or have heard something, this man who was born in 1873, dies in 1930 in Stuttgart, a German. He lived 25 years in China and among other interesting things in his life, he was a close friend of Carl Jung. And Carl Jung says: "he was one of the most important influences in my intellectual life." He goes there as a missionary, as a theologian and falls in love with philosophy. He doesn'thing more, nothing less than the best

translation of the I Ching that exists, the translation of the "Secret of the Golden Flower" and the translation of the Tao Te King. That is, he wasn't kidding. He translated everything that was most important to his reach. Translates to German. And is the basis of many translations today. So, Wilhelm, sinologist, theologian and a close friend of Carl Jung. For those who are curious, this book… which is a wonderful book, "The Secret of the Golden Flower", also authored by ancient Chinese traditions and also translated by Wilhelm, it's a book that has in its introduction the necrology

of Richard Wilhelm, made by Jung. He speaks in his funeral, in his burial. Wilhelm lived much less than Jung. He died in 1931, Jung was alive until the 1960s. And when his friend dies, he is called to make a speech in Stuttgart, in the friend's funeral. He'll say very beautiful and very interesting things. That really, when you see Wilhelm's approach, you realize that what he is saying is a fact. So I brought you a little of that. He is a man who dies in a very sudden and early way, as soon as he returns from

China. And this is the text of Carl Jung in the introduction to the book. He says the following, "Wilhelm possessed the charisma of a maternal nature, "to which his intuitive capacity is due "in relation to Chinese thinking, allowing him to create incomparable translations." Male and female, there they are associated with the Chinese tradition itself, yin and yang, rational and intuitive. He says, a German rationalist man, who arrived in China, and held on to rationalism, would not understand it. He would not be able to open himself to what the Chinese tradition demands, because it's pararational for

an occidental. He works with time and space equations in a way that is crazy for an occidental. He saw that he almost wants to open give up on his identity as an occidental man. A huge sacrifice that this sinologist made. Jung says, this must have affected his physical health. Because he is almost denying his maternal identity, to be able to become a translator of a totally different culture. He says, it was one of the most powerful influences in my professional life. It's amazing how he managed to express that. Decode this richness of the Chinese universe

to the Western world. He will say some other things that I find very interesting. He will say, I was a doctor, a Swiss doctor. And he was a German sinologist. What does one thing have to do with another? We didn't get together for intellectual or academic reasons. We did it for the love of the human condition and its mysteries. We almost attract each other. He passed through my life like a meteor. This passage is from Wilhelm's funeral. Jung says, "we found ourselves in the human sphere, "which begins beyond the academic borders. "Then jumped the spark

that would be one of the main events of my life." He says, I would never have the understanding of the Chinese universe, because he brought it to me. He brought the raw material on which I worked from then on. It was a decisive influence on my life. It is one of the things that are interesting. I usually don't recommend you to read prefaces before reading the work. And even in this case, I don't recommend. Because you have a conditioned vision by the author. But after reading Tao Te King, read Wilhelm's Preface. Do not forget to

read it. Because it's fantastic. What he does is so exempt from tendencies, it's so deep, that you can't stop reading. It's very interesting that you realize. You come to a philosophy school, New Acropolis, an international philosophy movement, that proposes philosophy as something experiential, as the art of living. If you're going to talk to a friend about philosophy, you can't just quote Plato. You have to have tried to live something and add your experience. Because that will make sense to her. This will update this experience for her. That is, when it comes to philosophy, which is

the art of living, you have to add a little of your own life as an ingredient, as a spice of it. Because if not, it gets bland. Because you can read Plato at your own house. Understand? You could read Tao Te King, at your own house. If you don't add, in the art of living, a pinch of your own life, it doesn't taste good. So it's interesting how this German translator is able to do that. He adds a lot of his life, of his love, of his passion, of his intuitive capacity. So Wilhelm's introduction is

amazing. It's worth reading. Maybe at the end of reading the book. But it's worth reading. I brought a little more about Jung. I'm not talking about Jung, who has nothing to do with it. But he puts a polarity, which was the point at which he joined with Wilhelm, that is worth knowing. So this analyst psychology creator, a Swiss who died in 1961, he had a belief that he shared a lot with this translator. That men didn't need anymore intellectualism, but couldn't fall to the other extreme, which was irrationalism. They needed to be able to penetrate

into traditions, reflect and make them their own, through reflection. Neither blind denial, nor blind acceptance. He said, I've always been afraid of these two things. The intellectual who says, "the oriental didn't think". "I have nothing to learn from them." And on the other hand, those who said, "East's the cradle of wisdom, I'll live everything they said." It also doesn't work. You also need to reflect, assimilate, learn what you're able to learn. And the oriental world is also a dual world, which can incur on your flaws too. You can't take the liberty of reflecting on anything.

And then I took, once again, from Wilhelm's necrologist, these sentences by Jung, which he speaks in the speech he makes to the dead friend. Look how interesting! "People are tired of rational intellectualism. "They want to hear a truth that doesn't limit, but expand. "That doesn't obscure, but illuminates. That doesn't drain like water, but penetrates into the bones." That is, no one else wants mere concepts, but something that's reflected in life. That is the "Te", that is life, that is practice. That is, how can I become a more human being, from this knowledge? Those who watched

our series about Kybalion, know the principle of correspondence, "just as it's above and below." If this is an intellectual reality in some plan, it has to be a living reality in my life too, because all plans correspond. How can knowledge be true in the intellectual plan, and in my life it has no meaning? Something is misunderstood. No one wants something that slides through the skin. People want something that penetrates into the bones. They want knowledge that is experiential, transformative, that throws light on their lives. However, when the pendulum is thrown to the other side, what

can happen? That's what he's going to say. "Unfortunately, the spiritual beggars of our time "are too inclined to accept the brambles of the East "and unreflectively imitate their customs. Wilhem also realized that." He's Jung, if you get angry, be with him. I love to use this excuse. It's very good. But look at what he says. Don't take the East to the letter. We are not oriental. We are not even living in the time of Lao Tse. It is necessary to taste, to realize what can be lived and what cannot. It is necessary to filter what

was proper for an oriental man from six or seven centuries before Christ. Today it has to adapt. Probably the essence is still valid. But you can't take it all to the letter, because we are all wearing kimonos on the street. If they were wearing kimonos at that time. That is, you realize that orientalism, little endowed with discernment, can become a mania. Almost a fantasy. We are not oriental men from the sixth century before Christ. Neither seventh nor thirteenth. So you have to be able to reflect and delve into this tradition, to find its essence. He

says, look, Wilhelm really realized that. That orientalism was becoming a fanaticism. If it was at that time, what will it be today? It's amazing that every time I get a book that tells me what happened a century ago, The Kybalion is from 1908, what they said was happening today happens even more. Worse. From a technological point of view, we are much better. It seems that something's getting better and something's involuting. Man looks more primitive about his ability to discern. But a technological experiment out of the ordinary. It a contradiction there. Things don't grow in parallel.

We live different historical moments. It seems that certain things in our emotional maturity are medieval. But it's 21st century technology. Isn't that curious? There are anachronisms mixed in the middle of our contemporaneity. I've already told you about this. Whether or not to read an introduction. Read it. But let them read at the end. Read the book first. And dare to have your own conclusions. Because if not, this reading group is useless. Dare to reflect and draw your own conclusions. Then see. It may be that there are exaggerations, but you have to try. Trust your human

nature a little. That recognizes another human nature. It is able to bring out something of the lotus. Like a lotus born from Vishnu's navel, in the Indian tradition. Something in us blooms when it sees something deeply human. You have to realize that. If you don't trust yourself, there will be no such Tao Te King that can solve us anything. You need to identify within yourself this human nature. And in the face of great works, it's a magnificent moment for it. Well, premises. We have our page on YouTube. I've told you. And many people suggested reading

Tao Te King. And then a certain person, I found it interesting, she said, "how brave you are". I thought, why am I brave? To do a reading like this. Because courage cannot be imprudence. It has to start from certain premises. I don't know if I can execute them at the most, but I'll try. These premises are fundamental to read a book like this. First place, the Socratic premise: "I just know that I know nothing." I can't start and try that… if I can't, you help me. I can't start from any ideological premise. I think Lao

Tse was such and such." And then I'll read it trying to prove it. Why do we manipulate? You have to enter Tao Te King knowing that I know nothing. I hope I get somewhere. Let me see what it offers me. But with absolutely empty hands. If you enter with premises, you will distort the reading to take it where you want. And the human being is an expert in doing this. "I want it to prove something". It will prove it. Because you will make it proves. So, entering a reading like this, you enter without thinking that

you'll find a recipe for your culinary book. Or a way to manipulate the earth. Or whatever it's. Nothing. You come in wanting to know. What does it have to offer me? Do not start with ideology if you want to know. Plato said it "The worst impediment for those who want to know is to think they already know." You will manipulate. So what are we going to find in Tao Te King? I don't know, we'll see. Try not to start from anything. So that we don't commit great... ...runovers in the middle of this reading. "The knowledge

of the size of man." This is another very important thing. "Do not force beyond what is within our reach. Nor take questions as answered." That is, what will we get from Tao Te King? Whatever is within our reach. In our size. But never say: "this chapter twenty, we talked about everything he said." How so? No. Yourself, in a year, if you've grown as a human being, you'll read and find more things. Myself, everyone. If in a year we don't find more things, it means that we are exactly the same as we are today. You will

pick up proportionally the internal magnitude that you have reached. Be it the level of discernment, the level of wisdom. No symbolic work can be taken as finished. "I've interpreted, that's it." How so? No way. So this care also has to be taken. What are we picking? Whatever is our size. Who are we? Seekers of wisdom, philosophers, learners. So it's Tao Te King for philosophers, learners. Not for wise men, there is none here. Not even pretentiously. Philosophers apprentices. Now, it's also important to consider this third premise. "Do not fall into the trap of false humility. "At

each degree, "there's something that fits you. That can and must be collected." Imagine a staircase of human evolution. There are, whatever, 300 steps. I'm in the third, and I can't get anything. I can, but what's due to the third. If I don't get it, it's out of my carelessness. Because I could get it. And I should've caught it. So there's Plato for the third steppers, Aristotle for the third steppers, Confucius for third steppers. And Taoism too, why not? "Ah, I can't get anything the size I am." Look, this is false humility. In general, let me

tell you very secretly, that no one listens to us, except all the YouTube listeners. False humility has a little bit of inertia, of laziness. Speaking good mother language, and not Mandarin. In good mother language. "Ah, it's so difficult, so I won't even try." Look, this can be a Taoist laziness. There is what corresponds to us, the size we are, and not collecting it's a waste. In any tradition. We are in the first or in the second step, there is Taoism for the second step. There is something that applies to my reality now. And to throw

it away? Spend life without collectin what was left to me? Is a waste! So none of us is pr intending to be neither above nor below to what is. We're intending to reap the fruits that correspond to us. At the level we are, as philosophers' apprentices. And nothing more, but also nothing less. Understand? So with these premises, I hope we can have an interesting adventure. And finally, you will say, Wow, she didn't even get to Tao Te King. Just so you don't say I didn't get into it. You will realize, that it would be impossible

to put all the ideas it develops, although it's a small book, but not so small as to fit in the slide. Our lecture is to be about an hour. But these ideas are very recurrent and very strong. And we will talk about them all the time. Which is the issue of monism. That is, behind all dual appearances, you have a unity. And behind this unity, the void, the mysterious, from where all things emanate, the root of heaven and earth, from where all law emanates, which crosses the universe. The concept, of "Tao" and of "Te", that

is, what would be this abstraction, which in a way, reminds the plan of Plato's ideas. Wilhelm himself talks about it. Sometimes he remembers the plan of Plato's ideas. It's true. Remember that abstract plan, where all things are thought before they are manifested? So "Tao", which is abstraction, origin, the root of heaven and earth, and its shadow in the world. It's so beautiful, people. You need to see Jung talking about it. He says, "I once met Wilhelm in Germany, and he threw the I Ching for me", those little sticks. "And he predicted with exactness facts of

my life two years later." Although it's not done with the purpose of guessing the future of anyone's personality, if you're going to marry or not, for example, it was not for purposes of that kind. But it's curious that Jung says, "the world, each moment, this moment, has a symbolic key. "That represents the level we are at, "the attempt we are making, "the posture we face life with, "at this moment, can be read symbolically. And can be interpreted by some tradition." The I Ching hexagrams try to generate a symbol that corresponds to the symbol of life.

Jung will say, remember the principle of causality? We saw it in the Kybalion. What the Chinese tradition says is not that causality doesn't exist. But we think that cause and effect is one after the other. And the Chinese tradition believes that causes can be simultaneous to their effects. That is, at this moment you're living a moment of impasse. And there may be a symbolic element that happens in your life that represents this. That expresses what is happening now. This is a theory that Jung develops called "Synchronicity". Just to tell you a case, I'm not a

Jungian, I'm a philosopher. I'm not a psychologist, I'm not from this area. But he said that on occasion he talked to a patient inside his office in a tall building and talked about that crisis that he was living as a crisis of renewal. That would allow him to create wings and take flight in life. And through the window of the office entered a kind of a beetle similar to a scarab. Which is the symbol of this in Egypt. The Knum. Have you seen that round beetle, it looks like the car? You think it doesn't fly,

bu it does! It is a symbol of the human being that suddenly discovers his wings. He thinks he'll be crawling forever and suddenly flies off. The probability of these things happening at the same time even more in a tall room like that this animal doesn't fly so high. It is a phenomenon as if it were a symbolism that life uses to reinforce another simultaneous symbolism. It's cause and effect, but not one after another, at the same time. It is synchronicity. He says that this logic that breaks the linearity of time which is so typical of

Chinese philosophy not everyone understands. And Wilhelm had to rebuild himself as a human being to understand this. It is a fantastic thing. It is very interesting the respect and recognition he had for this German sinologist. Well… The central experience or inner light. I even brought a sentence as a closing, which is from the Taoist tradition itself, which speaks of this need to find the root of heaven and earth represented within us. We will look for outside, which you will not be able to interpret if not illuminated by the light that comes from within. Because if

you don't illuminate by the light from within, it will be by the light of momentary preferences. Do you get it? A person for whom I am in love, I will illuminate by passion, I will say that it's the most perfect person in the world. Like story of the princess and the toad. The princess said it was a prince, everyone said it was a toad. But it was basically a toad illuminated by passion. That is, any facts of our life will generate multifaceted appearances and all of them illusory. There is only one way to see the

reality of things. When we find the reality within us, and we illuminate from there. So the way out is always inside. The more inside, the more out. Remember this phrase we uses a lot in the Kybalion? So it's one of the keys he will use a lot. The abstraction of dualities. He says that if you want something, the world is all dual, in a certain way, its opposite is in the shadows inside you. And it will affect and at some point you will go there. If you're stuck in one of the polarities of the manifested

world, you haven't yet found the center. Therefore, you will be oscillating in these polarities. Very similar to what we saw in the Kybalion. Whenever you adopt a polarity, the other is in the shadow influencing you. The ideal would be the ideal of the center. The names! He says that man invents a lot of names for things that don't exist, just to have where to project his desires. Who has read the Republic of Plato knows that. He builds an ideal city, perfect in his imagination. Then a young man who was in the dialogue says but it's

a city of pigs, there's nothing, what a precarious city! He says, "do you want luxuries?" "Yes, I want luxuries." "Ok, I will make luxuries." But I will also create the vices of men. From the moment you create artificial things, give names to them, men start to desire them, never to reach them and get stuck there, forever. And they no longer recognize what's natural and what is really necessary. So the question of names, it's very interesting in Lao Tse, that creation as if it were of artificial ideas that don't find real shadows in the world. The

names that had to be created were all created. From what is real. When a man begins to invent names, he finds a shadow of it in the world. He is stuck in these illusions, he is stuck in a fantasy. It is the idea of ​​non-action. That is, not to act in the name of illusions. It is not to stand still. Non-action is an active man, but for everything that is real. Seeking what's real. "The spontaneity as the greatest mystery of life." And then spontaneity, also a concept… that has nothing to do with what we understand

today. Spontaneity today is to do anything. The concept from dictionary: spontaneous is a man who manifests what he is. So for you to be spontaneous, what you will need? To know who you are. Sometimes we think a rude person is spontaneous. Is this a spontaneity of an animal, not of a human being. The human being was not born to be rude. Spontaneity is manifesting what you are and for that it would demand first to find what you are. The laws that exist within you, the harmony inside you that longs to be manifest. When you find

what you are, you can express yourself spontaneously. Not before, otherwise you're expressing a mask that represses your spontaneity instead of manifesting it. So natural life, spontaneous life is one of the very strong elements within The Tao Te King. And finally, we're already in our time, this sentence by Wilhelm, which he puts in his introductory commentary to the book, talking about one of the essential elements of the Tao Te King. "The eternity of the Tao "is based on the fact that "all its movements return to the interior of itself." That is, the man who walks in

the correct way will have more and more interior life. If he is more and more superficial, he is not walking in the right way. That is, you say, this is the symbol we know so well, Yin and yang, and Tao. It has two poles, not a center. The two poles rotate around this center, which is invisible to the eyes, but it's there. They don't rotate around the upper or lower pole, but around an invisible center, that gives tone to the movement. The man harmonizes the dualities of the world when he perceives within himself this center,

that the senses don't perceive. But his intelligence has to perceive, his intuition has to perceive. The center is our essence, what we are. All the dualities of the world revolve around this invisible center. They harmonize instead of fighting with each other. If you don't have a center, the dualities separate and go into war. That is, if it's evolving it's coming to the center. It is like symbolism which Wilhelm himself uses, I find it interesting, from the Christmas tree, which goes spiraling to the apex, more and more to the center and elevated. This is a man

who is evolving. Because nature is like this. All things that evolve, according to him, are concentrated. And, evidently, the adaptation of this to human consciousness would be an equivalent psychological effect. A concentration around our true identity, which transcends the polarities of the world. Harmony by opposition. So we will see that these 81 chapters we have ahead, revolve around these ideas or related ones. Simple, lean, sometimes disconcerting, because he doesn't have much concern in describing. Simple, lean and disconcerting, but infallibly certain. They want to touch something asleep inside us. Our true essence, our center. Which is

a manifestation, a shadow of the world, of the sacred Tao, which is the essence and the root of heaven and earth. Well, that's it. Don't be upset with me, but really the time we have is short. It's just an hour. So today is an introduction. It'll be very useful for everything to come. We can't get into the book today. Next week we will start. I don't know how to tell you how many chapters we will see. Don't be upset with me because of that. Because the chapters are of very different sizes. I can't say I'll

see the same amount every week. It will depend on the amount, the size, the observations that are necessary. But as it's a small book, I believe we should have, I think, about ten meetings. No one will be very scared with that. Because we had 15 in the Kybalion, we had 26 in the Prophet, and we all survived. So I invite you to make this trip with us, continue it from next week, and invite people to come, to meet.