"See others as yourself."

Tao Te Ching — Chapter 54

The Taoist Classic by Lao Tzu
Translated and Explained

54

The last line of this chapter is almost a riddle: "By this." The two words are not very explanatory. By what? The scholars have different ideas about it. The most likely answer is that Lao Tzu simply refers to what he has stated in the preceding lines of the chapter.

       Chapter 21 ends with the same words.

Confucian Obligations

The world is like this, because the virtue of it connects all parts of it in the manner described. The chain from the individual through family, town, country, to the whole world, is quite Confucian.

       Kung Tzu, Confucius, was according to legend contemporary with Lao Tzu, even slightly his junior. But it's at least as likely that it was the other way around. Taoism can be seen as a reaction to Confucianism. Whatever the case, there are some similarities among the many contradictions.

       Confucianism stresses heavily the links of obligations one has towards family members and country.

       But Lao Tzu is no friend of obligations. He prefers such bonds to be voluntary. They should be consequences of one's virtue, and one's sense of what's natural, and not some laws to which we are forced to surrender.

       Virtue should be cultivated, and not preached. One needs to find it within oneself, in one's search for the Way. Otherwise, the virtue is ill planted and ill held, so it will be uprooted and escape.

       Virtue only remains if it's reached by personal conviction. If it's demanded of us, we have no way of knowing if it's true, and then surely it will not be lasting.

Others as Yourself

When Lao Tzu says that you should see others as yourself, other families as your own, and so on, he doesn't necessarily mean that you must treat strangers with the same care you show the near and dear ones. It's possible that he says so, but it can also be a way of saying that other people, their needs and actions, can be understood by comparing to oneself.

       If you want to understand others, you must start by understanding yourself. If you want to understand other countries, start by examining your own country.

       It works the opposite way as well. If you want to understand yourself, compare with what you learn from watching others. It leads to the conclusion that you should treat others like you need to be treated. Again something that Jesus would agree with.

       Lao Tzu might be slightly different from Jesus in how he motivates the principle. Although he wants us to be good, that's not the foremost issue in this chapter. Instead, he focuses on understanding the people involved and what virtue would apply.

       It's a process of learning, more than one of compassion. It will lead to compassion, but without reaching it by learning, our compassion will be superfluous and misguided, just like our virtue will be if not firmly established according to Tao.

       It's all a matter of cultivation. Virtue is no simple rule to memorize, but an endeavor of growing insight. It's a time consuming quest.

© Stefan Stenudd.

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Tao Te Ching Explained

Preface

Introduction

Literature

The 81 Chapters of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
translated and explained by Stefan Stenudd.

1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35	36
37	38	39	40	41	42
43	44	45	46	47	48
49	50	51	52	53	54
55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66
67	68	69	70	71	72
73	74	75	76	77	78
79	80	81

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Tao Te Ching Explained

James Legge's Tao Te Ching

Aleister Crowley's Tao Te Ching

The 1st Chapter of Tao Te Ching in 76 Versions

Lao Tzu — Legendary Author of Tao Te Ching

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