The primary tenet of Taoism in the Dao De Jing is inaction or "going with the flow." Water is considered highly important and is the element Taoists most often encourage people to emulate: it moves and re-forms itself based on what is around it. Water doesn't try to move rocks, for example, but flows around them. It doesn't try to go faster or slower but allows its speed to be directed by the force of the winds or the slope of the earth. It is always itself, but it always adapts its form to its circumstances.
As water harmonizes with nature, so should humans. The most successful lives are not those that try to conquer and subdue their environment, but those that adapt fluidly to their context, just as water does. Domination, the Taoists say, is futile, because we can never know in advance if a step we take or an event that befalls us is good or bad. It can seem, for example, to be the height of good fortune to accept the gift a team of beautiful horses, but if your son rides one and breaks his back falling off, the horses are not good fortune after all. Therefore, we should simply—again—go with the flow and not look for advantages.
The Dao De Jing is also deeply invested and is a manual of divination. We can better align ourselves with the forces of nature and the universe if we can throw sticks or use other tools of augury like tea leaves to find out what is going to happen to us in general terms so that we can properly take actions that allow us to "flow" in the right direction.
The Dao De Jing, also known as the Tao-te-ching, is the primary text of Taoism. Taoism is one of the main religions of China, along with Buddhism and Confucianism. Taoism, like the other two great Chinese "religions," may be considered more of a philosophy than a religion. These systems of thought stress the importance of proper living on earth rather than eternal life after death.
The Tao-te-ching's central idea is that one should live in harmony with nature. Nature is all-powerful and opposing it is futile. "Better to stop short than fill to the brim," is one of my favorite lines in the Tao-te-ching. This reflects the doctrine of Wu Wei (non-doing). However, Wu Wei is not a kind of indolence. Water seems to do little, but it overcomes everything in time. "Racing and hunting madden the mind" is another great quote from this text. Trying to do too much (e.g. multitasking) is counterproductive.
The Tao-te-ching may have been written by Lao Tzu, who is thought to be the founder of Taoism. Although the provenance of the Tao-te-ching is in doubt, its profound influence on Chinese thought is undeniable.
One of the themes of the Dao De Jing is wu wei, or non-action. Daoism emphasizes the importance of not acting, or more specifically, not rushing to act. The reason for this is that Dao, or The Way, already runs the world perfectly well and so has no need of human initiative. Of course, some kind of action is unavoidable. But when we do act, we should do so with great caution. If we try to improve things too often, we run the serious risk of making them worse.
Another important theme is jian, which can be translated into English as moderation, or restraint. The society ruled by The Way is a finely-tuned organism which can so easily be put out of balance by individuals' excessive behavior. Any kind of excess—be it anger, impulsive action, or aggression—has the capacity to put society completely out of kilter, creating considerable discord.
Instead of constantly trying to impose ourselves on The Way as we so often do, we should attune ourselves to its message, harmonizing with Dao in a spirit of humility and stillness. Only then will we achieve true harmony and be at peace with ourselves, each other, and the world around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment