The Highest Good Is Like Water

answered by Laozi, "Dao De Jing", Ch. 8

기원전 6~4세기

🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

A River Runs Through It (1992)

dir. Robert Redford · USA

Between two brothers raised by the same parents but walking different paths, one can neither correct nor fully understand the other, who is unraveling. All he can do is remain beside him and flow together.

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

How can I love someone living a life different from my family's expectations, without contending with them?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

上善若水，水善利萬物而不爭。

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things and does not contend.

💡 TL;DR

Laozi likened the highest good to water.

📝The Classic Answers

Laozi likened the highest good to water. Water benefits all things yet never contends. The urge to correct a family member walking a different path usually turns into contention. But a love that flows like water accompanies the other without trying to change them. Even without understanding someone on a different path, one can still flow alongside them without contending. Whenever I feel the urge to correct someone I love, I first ask whether it truly benefits them, or is merely my own contention.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

If there is a family member you want to correct today, hold your words and simply stay beside them like water.

📖 Classic Source: Laozi, "Dao De Jing", Ch. 8. Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.