Tao Te Ching: PART I: KNOWING THE TAO - David Tuffley (2 of 7) [Audiobook]
Channel: David Tuffley
Date: 18/08/2019

The SECOND in a 7 part audiobook of the Tao te Ching in plain English, written by David Tuffley (PhD) based on the timeless work of Lao Tzu. 

Kindle & print: https://www.amazon.com/Dao-Te-Ching-Timeless-Classic-ebook/dp/B00573Y65K 
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PART I:  KNOWING THE Dao
PART II:  USING THE Dao TO BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS
PART III: USING THE Dao TO CULTIVATE ONESELF
PART IV:  USING THE Dao TO INFLUENCE GROUP DYNAMICS 
PART V:  USING THE Dao TO REFRAIN FROM ACTION 
PART VI:  COMMUNING WITH NATURE

Here we have a group of 14 thematically linked passages that explore ways to come to a personal understanding of the Dao. 

THE INEFFABLE DAO (1)
THE NATURE OF THE DAO (4)
ALIGNMENT WITH THE SUBTLE (6)
USING WHAT IS NOT THERE (11)
THE ESSENCE (14)
THE ETERNAL DAO (16)
YOU DO NOT HAVE LIFE, YOU ARE LIFE (21)
THE ORIGIN OF ALL (25)
AN EVOLUTIONARY FORCE (34)
POLARITY (42)
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN (40)
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS (41)
THE ORIGINS OF CREATION (51)
THE PATTERNS OF NATURE (73)

It is no easy thing to perceive the imperceptible, when the everyday world demands proof of existence by means of objective evidence. And yet, there is evidence of the Dao all around us, that we do not recognize as such.  This blindness points to the limits of rationality. As Shakespeare’s Hamlet most eloquently observed on this point, “There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

We must conclude that there is much more to the world than meets the eye, and which can be rationally understood. We must remember that the rational mind is just one half of our total self. The other half, the imaginative, intuitive side is no less useful. The two sides work best when they work together, as nature intended. Neither one nor the other dominating. Balanced and integrated. This is the way of the Dao. 

The 14 passages of this Part makes a strong appeal to the rational mind to bring about a shift in perception so that we see the world through the eyes of intuition, thus bringing the left and right sides of the brain into balance.