Knowing the Tao

In the discussion earlier, it was mentioned that the pursuit of the Tao can be made possible when one has known the self. I understood it in a way that the answer to the queries about the reality of the Tao is identified through the capabilities of man. The Tao is not found through other people but through the self. It is the self that can only understand the Tao.

Knowing the self is said to be like a child. It is in the nature of the child that he is innocent of the world and so, in trying to grasp the reality of the world, he asks. It is through asking that he is acquainted with the world. Lao Tzu says that the inquiry done by the child should also be done by grown ups especially those who are in search of the Tao. It is there that the person’s characteristics are revealed to him. It is by that, that he learns to know his self and what he really wants and capable of doing.

The understanding of the reality of the Tao is done through inquiry of the self. It is knowing the self, the characteristics and the capabilities of the self that would help in knowing the Tao. The Tao is not really fully known by a person that is why only the person who inquires and discovers the Tao can be the only one who knows the Tao. It cannot be known through asking people because they may have different interpretations of it and so the person may end up confused. The nature of the Tao is revealed through the person involved in asking.