Tao Te Ching, 50

Man comes into life and goes out to death.

Three out of ten are companions of life.

Three out of ten are companions of death.

And three out of ten in their lives lead from activity to death.

And for what reason?

Because of man’s intensive striving after life.

I have heard that one who is a good preserver of life will not meet tigers or wild buffalos,

And in fighting will not try to escape from weapons of war.

The wild buffalo cannot butt its horns against him,

The tiger cannot fasten its claws in him,

And weapons of war cannot thrust their blades into him.

And for what reason?

Because in him there is no room for death.

(Tao Te Ching, 50)

Today, I would try to interpret the above text from the topic " No Knowledge, No Desires ".

In the first part of the text, it was mentioned that there are people who live just to die. This is because they are looking forward for their life after death. In here, it can be understood that these people do not care in their present life but just for their after life. In the middle part until the last part of the text, it was mentioned that, in contrast to the first part, these people do not want to die and they are looking forward to their present life. They will do everything just for them to preserve their lives.

Both kinds of men are men who plan their lives. In what I have understood in this chapter, men should not plan ahead or have a motivation in living that is outside the Tao. This is to say that their kind of living should not be rooted by other forces other than the Tao. Having knowledge of what the person's life would be like, he/she would tend to forget about the Tao and focus more on accomplishing his goal which is not rooted in the Tao.

In the discussion, it was said that Taoism does not promote having knowledge and desire about things as it creates distinctions among things and it lets the person go beyond his natural pace. When a person does not have knowledge of what his life would be like, then he wouldn't push himself in achieving it making him stick to his natural ways which is what Taoism promotes.