True Learning

The Tao mentions some things that I agree with completely but like everything I don’t agree with all its ideas. It leaves much room for interpretation which I already mentioned could be a good thing or a bad thing but it also mentions some things that I find are very straight forward. In chapter twenty they mention “Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles. Is there a difference between yes and no? Is there a difference between good and evil? Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense!” (chapter. 20) It is very clear to me that there is no room for interpretation where they say to give up learning. This is an idea which I totally disagree with. I can understand his point very well when he mentions that our ideas are influenced by others and therefore we can’t for our own ideas. This is true but you also have to understand that our ideas have to be formed on a combination of what we learn. A human learns from many things like experiences, school and family and if we take a combination of all these teachings we will be able to have an all around knowledge.

Many things in the Tao have led me to have two very different opinions. I agree with what it has to say and at the same time I don’t. This is something that I like about text because it can lead to very different opinions which are both very well supported. It has taught me that true learning lies where you see everybody’s point of view and then you form your own.