Tao Te Ching was written by Laozi for the rulers of his time. What does his book or Tao have to do with our way of life today? Gratifying intellectual curiosity aside, the answer may depend upon how we see ourselves as humans in nature, this reality. We can be either self-governed individuals, rulers of our individual selves in political philosophy, or individual life products of mother nature in anthropology. Neither way of reasoning seems to go against Laozi's normal way of nature in social ethics. It is all about the understanding of nature: not the common view of nature we generally hold, that controlling, omniscient force bequeathed to us. Rather, Taoism embodies the behavior of nature and how best to align ourselves with it-with the way of nature-do nothing unto others. Anyone can be a Taoist. It doesn't matter who you are or what you believe. It is about what you do unto others. We all came from nature, and we ought to follow the way of nature.
show more
