#Quick Start

1. Read the Original Text Repeatedly, Don't Rush for Explanations: The full text is only about five thousand characters(In Chinese) and is worth reading over and over. On your first read, you can skip the commentaries and directly feel the wille inside the original text.

2. Abandon Judgment, Observe Neutrally: Try to read without a bias of "good" or "bad." Many ideas in the Tao Te Ching will challenge our established values, and you might feel "averse" or find them difficult to accept at first. The key is not to rush to judgment, but to try to understand the logic behind them. Here are some examples:

   • "Always keep the people without knowledge and without desire."
   • "Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat the myriad creatures as straw dogs."
   • "Do not exalt the worthy, and the people will not compete."
   • "When the great Tao is abandoned, there arises benevolence and righteousness; when wisdom and knowledge appear, there is great hypocrisy."
   • "Abandon sageliness and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; abandon benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and compassion."
   • "That which is bent will be made whole, that which is crooked will be made straight, that which is empty will be filled, that which is worn out will be made new."
   • "Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know."
   • "The more laws and edicts are proclaimed, the more thieves and bandits there will be."
   • "A small country with few people... let the people return to the use of knotted cords."

3. Use "Love" to Comprehend the Tao and Grasp Its True Meaning: Contemplate the kind of love parents have for their children, and how it transcends concepts of good and evil, right and wrong. How can you better love yourself, and love the people and things you hold dear?

4. Watch Interpretations to Inspire Thought: You can watch videos to see how others interpret the text. This can provide you with diverse perspectives.