Tao

i skip the introduction. if the book goes in the trash, i want it to go because of my thoughts on it, not because of some Asshole's thoughts who wrote the introduction.
the text begins. i consists of a series of short poems numbered one through eighty-one. the first one says that the Tao is that which has no name and is beyond any sort of name. it says that the names are not necessary for that which is real and for that which is eternal. it says that if we are free from desire, we can realize mystery, that if we are caught in desire, we only realize manifestations. it says mystery and manifestations arise from the same source, which is darkness. it says darkness within darkness is the key to all understanding. it is not enough to make me throw it away, but i am also not convinced.
i keep going.
number two. if there is beauty, there is ugliness. if there is good, there is bad. being and nonbeing and difficult and easy and high and low and long and short and before and after need, depend, create and define each other. those who live with the Tao act without doing and teach without saying. they let things come and they let things go and they live without possession and they live without expectation. they do not need, depend, create or define. they do not see beauty or ugliness or good or bad. there just is. just be.
number three. over-esteem men and people become powerless. overvalue possessions and people begin to steal. empty your mind and fill your core. weaken your ambition and toughen your resolve. lose everything you know and everything you desire and ignore those who say they know. practice not wanting, desiring, judging, doing, fighting, knowing. practice just being. everything will fall into place.
four. the Tao is used, but never used up. an eternal void, it is filled with infinite possibilities. it is not there, but always there. it is older and more powerful than any God. it is not there, but always there. it is older and more powerful than any God.
i stop reading and read again. one through four, again and again. the words and the words together and the meaning and the context are simple, so simple and basic, so basic and true and that is all that matters true. they speak to me, make sense to me, reverberate within me, calm ease sedate relax still pacify me. they ring true and that is all that matters truth.