Buat yg pernah baca the Art of War-nya tsun zu, ajaran dalam Tao Te Ching ini kayak kebalikan dari semua yg diajarin Tsun Zu dalam Art of War. Tao Te Ching ngajarin konsep kelembutan/softness sebagai sebuah kekuatan sedangkan dalan Art of War, isinya tenang strategi meraih kemenangan dalam perang. dalam Art of War kita diajarkan untuk berupaya sebaik-baiknya, sedangkan di Tao Te Ching, kita diajarkan untuk menyerahkan segala hal kepada 'the master' -- again ga ada yg tau siapa itu 'the master', but I assume that the master is the greatest force that rules the Tao, a.k.a The God.
Berikut adalah beberapa potongan Tao Te Ching yg gw suka banget:
#76
Men are born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
who ever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.
#56
Those who know don't talk
Those who talk don't know
Close your mouth,
block off your senses,
blunt your sharpness,
untie your knots,
soften your glare,
settle your dust.
This is the primal identity.
Be like the Tao.
id cant be approach or withdrawn form,
benefitted or harmed,
honored or brought into disgrace.
It gives it self up continually.
This why it endures.
#43
The gentlest thing in the world
overcomes the hardest thing in the world.
that which has no substance
enters where there is no space
this shows the value of non-action
Teaching without words.
performing without actions;
that is the Master's way
#24
He who stands on tiptoe
doesn't stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn't go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
cant know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can't empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.
If you want to accord with the Tao.
just do your job, then let go.
Demikianlan beberapa teks Tao Te Ching, yg gw suka banget. simple banget ajaran2 di Tao Te Ching dan Art of War ini. tapi dalem banget. please don't get me wrong, meskipun gw suka banget sama ajaran2 filosofi ini, bukan berati gw jadi keidean buat ganti agama. karena semakin gw pelajarin teks teks filosofi barat atau timur ini makin banyak konsep konsep filosofi barat dan timur yg sejalan dengan ajaran islam yg gw tau, tentang konsep usaha dan tawakkal gw selalu inget hadist ini (meskipun gw cuman tau dikit juga, dan masih belajar juga) :
“Ikatlah dulu untamu itu kemudian baru engkau bertawakal !” (HR. At-Tirmidzi no. 2517, hasan)
