"Tao Te Ching" is the successor of Chinese culture and a leader in China's diverse culture. Laozi's thoughts are close to the origin of the world. He stands at a certain height and sees the world and the world. Rather than walking into the hustle and bustle and looking left and right at everyone. Therefore, what the Tao Te Ching says is closer to nature. The laws of nature are to Tao, the laws of Tao are to heaven, the laws of heaven are to earth, and the laws of earth are to humans. Man follows the way of earth and heaven, which means he follows nature. Naturally. Everything is in order and order, naturally. This is the conclusion reached by Laozi when he judges the world, including everything in the world. Tao begets one, one is two, two begets three, three begets all things? This is a sentence in Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching. Friends who like ancient books are probably familiar with these two sentences. If we discuss them purely from the perspective of philosophical theory, not many people will be interested. Therefore, if we look at it from another angle, it can be just a whim.
Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, and Tao follows nature. From Chapter 25 of Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" Xiang Yuan.
Original text: Things are mixed together, born innately. Silent and desolate, independent without changing, traveling without peril, she can be the mother of the world. I don't know its name, but it's called Dao, and its name is Da. The great day is gone, the passing day is said to be far away, and the distant day is coming back. Therefore, the Dao is great, the sky is great, the earth is great, and the king is also great. There are four great ones in the domain, and the king occupies one of them. Man follows the earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature.
The meaning of this chapter is: There are things that are integrated and exist before heaven and earth. Silent, imageless, unique, constantly circulating, it can be the "mother" of all things in the world. I don't know its name, so I call it "Dao", and I reluctantly call it "Da". It is big and has no outside, but it leaves again. It leaves far away and returns to you. Therefore, the Tao is great, the sky is great, the earth is great, and the king is also great. There are four great things in the universe, and the king is one of them. Man takes the law from the earth, the earth takes the law from heaven, heaven takes the law from the Tao, and the Tao takes the law from nature.
In Laozi’s view, there is Tao above heaven and earth. The operation of heaven and earth is based on Tao, and Tao is the greatest. But he did not say that human beings can learn from Tao, but can only learn from heaven and earth, and approach Tao through learning from heaven and earth. As for Tao, it is great, passing, far away, and contrary. It is so big that it is boundless. Therefore, there is no external object to draw the Dharma from.
Laozi said: The Tao is great, the sky is great, the earth is great, and so are people. There are four major ones in the domain, and humans live in one of them. Man follows the earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature. ?This means that Taoism is still one of the four major elements in the domain (nature). It has not transcended nature and become the master of nature. It is not a supernatural god. If the world is governed by "Tao", then the "ghost" in the traditional concept will have no effect ("its ghosts are not gods"). ?Tao? Having no desire, no intention, and no ambition can be regarded as small, but it is the summary of all things and can be regarded as great. In this way, the heavens, emperors, ghosts and gods in traditional culture have all lost their dominant status here and no longer have any authority. Dao occupies a dominant position, but Dao does not regard himself as the master. The dominant role of "Tao" is just to let all things follow their natural course without doing anything. Therefore, the master of "Tao" is actually just some kind of ubiquitous natural law of inaction. This also shows that Laozi’s philosophy is a philosophy that respects people first and worships gods last, and has an obvious atheistic tendency. This also shows that the humanistic spirit of Chinese philosophy has diluted the religious consciousness of the Chinese people.
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