Philosophy

1.
In Chinese concept, the Tao (also known as Dao) believes in the natural workings of the universe. The philosophy considers the original Oneness in things, an eternal underlying foundation of being from which the many parts of the universe continuously spring and into which they continuously return. (Microsoft Encarta, 2006). The first three lines in the passage may signify that the philosophy that the Tao believes in need not necessarily be explained as these are the natural order of things.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. These lines in the passage may signify that true knowledge cannot be deciphered by the human mind but through experience one can say that this is an eternal truth. The following lines of the passage, Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one sees the manifestation supports this claim. The Tao philosophy believes in the harmony of things thus the symbol of the yin and the yang has been fundamental in their practices. The yin-yang strongly signifies that even two different things can come be balanced  the good and the bad, light and dark  simply because even if they differ in name they sprung from the same source.

Lastly, the lines Darkness within darkness the gate to all mysteries signifies that one should always look for the truth behind the truth for there is where true knowledge lies. Though it may seem contradictory to the previous analysis of the lines of the passage, the Tao philosophy believes that when one goes through things repeatedly and when they contemplate on the natural tendency of things they become wise.

2.
This passage can be analyzed as a whole since majority of the lines depicts a culture of corrupted individuals or society and concludes that this way of living is not fitting of a Tao practitioner.

The Taoists, people who believe and practice Taoism, believes that the universe is in harmony in itself but the human beings, also an important part of the universe, have fallen from its ways because of greed, lust and hatred. Since human beings have harbored these kinds of emotions, they have resulted to thievery and wars that oppressed their fellow humans.

The first lines of the passage offer the would-be solution for this problem. If I just even have a little sense I will walk on the main road and my only fear will be straying from it. In other words, it is telling the readers that if one is wise enough he will not stray from the natural way of things. In order to fulfill this, in the Taoists perspective, one should practice the wuwei (not doing) or the individuals conscious refusal to participate in the turbulent, aggressive and assertive way of life. (Microsoft Encarta, 2006).

This philosophy was observed in the way the Taoist leaders live their lives and lead their people. The Taoist leaders allow their people to live their lives freely so that they will be able to fulfill their own destinies. The Taoist leaders desire that the highest form of their social strata would be one that contains small villages and independent of one another thus they would feel no for competition or need of war. The Tao philosophy is simple, remain active and humble so that one would flow in harmony with the universe.