“Some help others in order to receive blessings and admiration. This is simply meaningless. Some cultivate themselves in part to serve others, in part to serve their own pride. They will understand, at best, half of the truth. But those who improve themselves for the sake of the world -- to these, the whole truth of the universe will be revealed”
- Lao Tzu -
If you disagree please back it up with non-circular logic, thank you!
2006-09-27 07:14:10 · 15 answers · asked by Shinkirou Hasukage 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I_I: ??? A Circle? Its perfectly logical to me, it has a different end and beginning, not circular at all, I do not understand what you are saying...
2006-09-27 07:21:01 · update #1
Preacher: Since your whole argument has no logical foundation, I am going to have to trash it. Really, I got dizzy just reading that answer. You, my firend are the naive one, you believe something that has no proof whatsoever and then you have the nerve to try to use it against much more stable arguments. Well, if you throw a clay dish at a brick wall it is obviously going to shatter.
2006-09-27 07:29:13 · update #2
Josh: I'd rather live for humanity any day
2006-09-27 07:31:57 · update #3
how can anyone disagree with that!! again I thank you!
2006-09-27 07:18:07 · answer #1 · answered by Joeygirl 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I would believe it to be true had Lao-Tzu found the whole truth of the universe. But he did not.
He makes two valid observations--that seeking to help in order to garner for oneself blessings or in order to fan the flames of one's vanity is a useless enterprise. But what he does not understand is that to improve oneself "for the sake of the world" has at its base numerous emptinesses as well. First, what is "the world"? If he is speaking of the earth and its flora and fauna, how exactly is improving myself going to benefit all of the world? How do I improve myself? What is the guide? Am I to lift weights and go on a macrobiotic diet, for example? Or am I to seek to eradicate myself of vanity, for example? If the latter, how am I to do that? What assistance do I need? Because if I am looking to myself to eradicate something within myself, I am assuming, indirectly, that the tools to eradicate that which is wrong within me lie within the very thing that is wrong. That is, if I am wrong, and I hope to make myself right, where inside of this wrong thing that I am, am I going to find that which is right? If I have the right thing already, then why and how, exactly, is it possible that I am being wrong?
If by "the world" Lao-Tzu is speaking of other people, he is then saying that I, should I improve myself, will be of benefit to other people. This is vain as well. "I'm just not good enough right now to be of benefit to the whole world, but give me a little time, and surely I shall become of benefit to the whole world." In other words, "I" am still at the center, and "I" am going to somehow, magically, become this shining star for other people. Vanity, all of it.
The only way to improve oneself is to seek the help of the One who does not need improvement: God. The only way to be of use in the world is to realize how useless one is on one's own, without the aid of God, who is perfect.
2006-09-27 14:31:01 · answer #2 · answered by Gestalt 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I like Lao, but he spoke in circles.
How can you argue with a circle?
Hence the Yin-Yang symbol.
Circles can be logical...here is one from Lao:
"If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long remain sharp."
It's nice to read occasionally, but most of the time...I want substance...not mental mast*rb*tion.
What he said is simply common sense
2006-09-27 14:17:31 · answer #3 · answered by I I 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I disagree only in the fact that Lao Tzu says "world" instead of God. If you improve yourself solely to serve this world, you are in trouble. If you improve yourself to serve this world for the sake of God, you will store up many blessings in heaven.
2006-09-27 14:19:27 · answer #4 · answered by Robert L 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
This is self-righteousness, which is a hallmark of Chinese philosophy. It is a restatement of the belief that you can save yourself and that you can save the world through saving yourself. It is a Godless concept. How can a sinner save a sinner? How can a sinner, who is impure, save himself? It takes a pure nature to save the impure. Only Jesus Christ fulfills this requirement. Eastern religions rely on the self for salvation, which is to say that there is no salvation in any of them. To say that a person initiates a self-help program in order to improve the world is belief in the naive. People help themselves for selfish reasons.
2006-09-27 14:22:03 · answer #5 · answered by Preacher 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
the people who help others to gain something , be it blessings , admiration, pride... they cannot see the whole truth, because the act of helping is not pure... a motive is attached to it..... the last part i am not too sure of....
2006-09-27 14:27:27 · answer #6 · answered by Siddhartha 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
See people who do things for other people but they have alternative motives aren't recieving blessings their reward is people seeing them doing it. Now when you have a real relationship with God you do things out of God's love and your doing it because God has commanded us to do these things!! Jesus said that people will know that you are my disciples because we feed the hungry , take care of the widows and clothe the naked and vist the people who are in jail. See when you have a relationship with God these things happen out of love and obedience to God. Without relationship your works are selfish and vain.
2006-09-27 14:24:23 · answer #7 · answered by livingforhim2006 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Don't let your good be Evil spoken of. Don't let ur right hand know what ur left hand is doing. What is done in secret will be rewarded openly in Heaven.
=0p
2006-09-27 14:22:44 · answer #8 · answered by Pashur 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many of master Lao Tzu sayings are 'pearls of great price'.
2006-09-27 14:21:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well it depends on who a person is living for. Your quote assumes everyone is selfish. I regect that notion. I think people are perfectly capable of believing in and living for things that are greater than themselves.
Everyone lives for something: be it money, sex, fast cars, or just themselves. So if you have to live for something why not live for Christ?
2006-09-27 14:25:13 · answer #10 · answered by Josh 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
This is just an aphorism, and neither true nor untrue-- it's just one guy's way of viewing the world and human actions.
Whether or not I "believe" it-- meh. Try it and see, I guess! :)
2006-09-27 14:18:19 · answer #11 · answered by Scarlett_156 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋