Tao De Ching personal example

To reduce someone's influence, first expand it;

To reduce someone's force, first increase it;

To overthrow someone, first exalt them;

To take from someone, first give to them.

This is the subtlety by which the weak overcome the strong:

Fish should not leave their depths,

And swords should not leave their scabbards.

We learned about the Tao De Ching today. I quickly learned what the Ying Yang symbol is and what it means. That too has more meaning than I thought it would. Tao De Ching has both sides of anything and everything. For example, Good and Bad. I also learned that the ying yang symbolizes for both. The white could be good, and the black would be bad. If you have ever noticed there are two small dots on the symbol. A white dot on the black side and a black dot on the white side. That shows that there is good in bad, and bad in good. Most if not all of the Tao De Ching poems are based on this. 

To overthrow someone, first exalt them. So basically one must first learn someone before they can take charge. That is important, keep your enemies closer than your friends right? To take from someone, first give to them. This is a classic example of the symbol. There is opposites in everything. This entire poem is filled with them. 

“To reduce someone’s force, first increase it.” One must not simply take something from someone. They must first learn, give, become familiar with what they will be doing.

The poem takes a sharp turn by saying that “Fish should not leave their depths.” Saying that people shouldn’t leave who they are, or where they are because that is the way. That is possibly how it is supposed to be. “Swords should not leaver their scabbards.” This is saying basically the same thing.

That is just some of the things that can be analyzed from this poem. I bet there is even more that I don’t see. How exciting!