Taoism
Finding the Tao Te Ching
I can’t say I discovered Taoism. I fell into it. It found me. I was just wandering through the philosophy section of a bookstore, yes, a physical bookstore (this was ten years ago), and I was just taking my time reading the backs of various books. Found the regular stuff that I typically gravitate towards, Nietzsche, Plato, Kierkegaard, the big ones. There was a tiny section labelled “eastern philosophy.” There were books on Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, works by Confucius, and then I saw like half a dozen copies of the Tao Te Ching (pronounced ‘dao de jing’.) I had never heard of it before but I remember the jacket mentioning it was one of the most translated pieces of literature in history. I was intrigued. It wasn’t expensive, so I picked it up.
Religion or recipe for daily life? Studying Taoism
As I started reading through the book, I realized it is just a series of short stories, practically poems. It just comprises of 81 little tidbits of wisdom, spread across around 5000 Chinese characters. As I first read through, just reading it as any old book, I got nothing. Felt I was just reading words, nothing sank in. It took some time, but kept coming back to it trying to get something out of it. I then read a passage of Chapter 11 that just suddenly clicked. Now, there are many different translations, but the edition that stuck with me is William Scott Wilson’s. In it, the line that stuck with me read:
It is the chiseling out of windows and a door that make a room, yet it is the nonexistence in the door and windows that is the room’s utility.
A perspective shift that definitely gave me a shock to the system. The idea that perspective could be flipped to the point that a room, the simple idea of a room, always thought of as “four walls,” can be turned completely on its head, was incredible to me. At that point, I finally understand how to read the book, and I wanted more. That’s when I really dove in.
I always feel a little irked when I come across the Tao Te Ching being referred to as a “religious text.” Growing up eastern Catholic,and spending a lot of time reading up on and studying the religions of the world, I feel I have a solid grasp of religion. A grasp of what religion tries to define, aid humanity with, and in some cases, control. Taoism isn’t that. I can’t describe the writings of the Tao Te Ching as more than a recipe for life. It’s a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world day to day, a way of life. It doesn’t try to push traditions, rituals, any sense of subservience, or the notion of an almighty being. Approaching Taoism should be done with this in mind, treat it as a guide of how to manage day to day life, decisions, and human interactions.
What does it teach?
First off, I recommend anyone interested in Taoism to read the Tao Te Ching for themselves. Also, read the writings of Chuang Zhu. I won’t be going through trying to explain the extreme depth of knowledge that exists within the pages of Lao Tzu and Chuang Zhu’s writing, there are far more qualified people doing that much better than I ever could. What I will say is how their writing speaks to me and what I gather from it all.
The core of the teachings is based around balance in all things. To live life in a way that is harmonious for the mind and the body.
To want, but not be greedy.
To be heard, but not too loud.
Not to judge, but to allow to be
Acceptance, not expectation
These ideas, and of course many many more, are taught and represented through scenarios. These are scenarios that can sometimes be a little specific to the time of ancient China, but can be extrapolated to every day life today. Lao Tzu and Chuang Zhu show that the things they were thinking about, we are still trying to tackle today. Our issues with mental health, an unhealthy imbalance of wants and needs, of unrealistic expectations, of things human nature struggles with, are all issues that existed thousands of years ago as well.
Yin & Yang
Balance. It’s what everything comes down to. But, there is an interesting perspective of balance that really floored me personally. Yes, both yin and yang exist. They balance each other perfectly. But beyond that, they actually define each other. It is with the definition of one that the inherent existence of the other is defined. Let me give an example. As you say something is ugly, you are defining what is not the thing you’re describing as beautiful. As you say someone is old, you are then defining what it takes to be young. With the inception of bad, there is the inception of good, and vice versa. Positive reinforcement is something that’s pushed all the time in western culture. However, there can be too much of it, due to this one simple idea. Sure, it feels good to be rewarded and to say “good job.” But you must be careful, because as soon as you say the job you’ve done is good, you have now set the stage for what is bad. What about the next time when you don’t get the same result as you did when you said “good job”? Well, you did a bad job. Now we have negative reinforcement. It’s a slippery slope, and eastern philosophers recognized this in ancient times. This, this is what really hit home for me. This has lead me, over years of practice, to be less judgmental of not only others, but of myself. To allow myself to feel joy when things go well, but not to dwell on it to the point I clearly define it, causing the manifestation for how things can go poorly. I have become more balanced, more patient, and I truly believe more kind, just from this one idea.
Do a little reading
I can probably continue to ramble on the subject of Taoism for hours, so I think I’ll cut it for here. Think of this as an introduction. Hopefully it’s enough to get you to interested in checking out the Tao Te Ching or any of the writings of Chuang Zhu. I highly encourage it. Maybe I’ll come back and write some more about it, we’ll see.