Taosim the Way

1
Taosim the Way

• As said by Huston Smith, Confucianism and Taoism
  can NOT be thought of separatelty.

2
In Harmony with the Way of Nature

• All aspects of the universe are in harmony, each
  part nurturing and balancing the whole.
• Humans totally within fabric of nature, not
  distinct from
• Ying Yang symbol is perfect image here

3
The Way -- Tao

• Pronounced, more or less dou or dow
• Comprised of two strands both complement and
  are complemented by Confucianism, Buddhism and
  (in Japan) Shinto one philosophical, scriptural
• Tao Te Ching
• Chuang Tzu -- two classic texts, two strands

4
Popular or religious Taoism

• The devotional and practical beliefs of
  folkways religions ? i.e., the really old rituals
  that pre-date the Scriptural
• Pursuit of longevity, immortality
• Meditation techniques
• Breathing exercises Yoga, especially
• Dietary elements herbs, minerals
• Does accupuncture, etc. come in here?

5
Lao Tzu Chuang Tzu

• Legendary sages, mystical texts, founders
• Dated to time of Confucius (550 B.C.E.)
• Cant be sure they even existed
• Supposedly Lao Tzu and Confucius once met in a
  mountain pass all a maybe

6
Lao Tzu

• Name literally means old master
• Born, supposedly, 604 B.C.
• Conceived by a shooting star
• 82 years old at the time of his birth him, not
  Mom of course, either would be remarkabble
• Born with flowing white hair
• Buddha only walked seven steps at birth

7
Lao Tzu Govt archivist

• Govt connection, similar to Confucius concern
  for proper govt
• Lao Tzu grew tired of govt corruption, leaves
  home another wanderer
• Passing into Tibet, is convinced to write down
  his thoughts ? Tao Te Ching

8
Tao Te Ching the foundation

• Originally called Lao Tzu after the legendary
  author
• Some still call this text Lao Tzu
• 81 short chapters
• Ca. 3rd C B.C.E.
• Very short, enigmatic book The Tao that can be
  told of is not the eternal Tao The name that can
  be named is not the eternal name.
• A little neti neti here???

9
Tao Te Ching

• Replete with paradoxes seemingly contradictory
  statements, best understood via intuition rather
  than a rational process
• Paradoxes are at the heart of the great mystical
  tradition, the great mystics
• Taoism is as mystical as it gets

10
Chuang Tzu

• 2nd founder ca. 369 386 B.C.E.
• Chuang Tzu text attributed to him eponym
• Central theme relativity of things e.g.,
• Who is to say exactly what is good?
• Who is to say what ought to be done?
• Who is to say who we are even?

11
The Philosophy of Tao

• Tao Te Ching literally the book of the Way and
  its power (or virtue)
• Accompanying virtue Te the virtue acquired by
  living in harmony with Tao
• Cf. The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet both by
  Benjamin Hoff
• Also a possibly good one (I have yet to read it)
  The Tao and Mother Goose by Robt. Carter

12
Tao The Way of Nature

• Tao Te Ching readily admits the impossi- bility
  of providing full explanation of the way, the
  path, of anything important probably
• Tao both the ultimate source and the principle
  order of the universe
• The unified something from which all things
  arise
• NOT a personal creator deity

13
NOT a personal deity

• (A WVK parenthetical ? this creator something
  shows up in so many creation myths. There always
  seems to be a hint of dynamism preceding the
  creative power or act. That is true, I suggest,
  even in Genesis 1 the formless void and the
  spirit that hovered over the deep)

14
Tao The Way of Nature

• unified something -- beyond intellectual reach
• Beyond words Kayna Upanishad beyond where
  the tongue can soil it
• Remember Huston Smith comment

15
Tao and Great

• Unseen
• Incomprehensible
• Ultimate source
• Transcends humanity, creation
• Mother of the universe therefore immanent
• Pervades natural world, ordering, nurutring

16
Universe in Balance Yin-Yang

• Magnetism is useful analogy
• Invisible force that certainly pervades,
  permeates the world
• Seen in terms of two polar opposites
• But must perceive, understand both simul-
  taneously

17
Yin-Yang

• Polar opposites negative-positive
• Yin negative, passive, feminine, earthly
  component, dark, weak
• Yang postiive, active, masculine, heavenly
  component, light, strength
• DONT MISREAD
• REMEMBER RELATIVITY OF TAOISM

18
Yin-Yang

• WVK I choose to hyphenate Yin-Yang (similar to
  Bubers I-Thou) because the conjunction and
  emphasizes distinction.
• Yin-Yang ? inseparable, immanent, transcendent,
  complementary, balanced
• Chinese aphorism Women are the other half of
  the sky.
• You know the symbol

19
Yin-Yang What it is not

• NOT a gender issue everyone is both Yin-Yang
  everything is Yin-Yang

20
Yin-Yang what it is

• Most are out of balance too much Yang
• Balance restored by pursuit of Yin virtues
• Humility, non-competition, pacifism
• This makes one a sage
• Chinas traditionally patriarchal society tends
  to see sages as male. Where else have we seen the
  male preference for salvation or the like?
• To be a sage means to embrace Yin -- female

21
Relativity of Values

• Taosim avoids absolute moral judgments
• Taoism insists that values are relative
• Goodness is meaningful only because of its
  opposite
• There is no such thing as absolute goodness
• I presume there is no such thing as absolute evil
• Check out story of monkeys on p 145
• Why do we insist on absolutes (in the West)?

22
Harmony of Life and Death

• Taoism has little to say about an afterlife
• Life and death are seen as twoharmonious parts of
  a whole
• Tao Te Ching describes death as a return fro
  life back into the original unity of the Tao.
• Chuang Tzu depicts death merelyu as one among
  natures many transformation cf p 144
  rotation of seasons

23
The Way of the Sage

• Sage living in Accord with Tao ? seeing the
  unity and harmony in nature rather than the
  multiplicity
• To be cat-like
• Do not think oneself into state of distraction
• Do not deviate from own nature
• Be fully attentive to situation at hand (Be in
  the moment? Carpe diem?)

24
Thought as distraction

• Our self-awareness can knock us off the path of
  what we are to be ? after all, Tao is the Way
• Is this the same as being child-like as Jesus
  speaks of it in the Gospels?
• Is this Carpe diem, minus the violence of
  seizing? -- Can we do that? Can we seize without
  harming? cf. illustraion/caption 146

25
Wu-Wei Doing w/o Acting

• Wu-Wei the principle virtue (remember literal
  meaning of strength) of Taoism
• Wu-wei actionless activity,
  
• pure effectiveness,
• yielding to win
• creative quietude
• literally nonaction (Ahimsa???)

26
Wu-Wei

• Yin qualities like the flowing stream
• Yin qualities passive, weak, feminine
• NOT Yang impulse, tendency to act
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German theologian of WWII
  wrote of Jesus the Christ winning sal- vation
  through his weakness on the cross
• Dont the Asian martial arts teach using the
  attackers energy to defeat the attacker?
• Gandhi and Ahimsa same thing???

27
Wu-Wei as flowing water

• The time water needs to carve a valley, a Grand
  Canyon is Wu-Wei
• And taking sufficient time practicing patience
  is another aspect of embracing yin. p 146
• There is nothing softer and weaker than water
  And yet there is nothing better for attacking
  hard and strong things. For this reason there is
  no substitute for it. All the world knows that
  the weak over- comes the strong and the soft
  overcomes the hard. Tao Te Ching ch 78
• Do we KNOW that? Is it intuitive? Is it
  counter-intuitive? Is it stupid?

28
Humility and Noncompetition

• The sage It is precisely because he does not
  compete that the world cannot compete with him.
  Tao Te Ching ch 22
• Sound Gandhian
• Can Americans handle this?
• Can the West handle this?
• Can it work on an international scale?

29
Noncompetition

• Tao Te Ching ch 22
• To yield is to be preserved whole.
• To be bent is to become straight.
• To be empty is to be full.
• To be worn out is to be renewed.
• To have little is to possess.
• To have plenty is to be perplexed.
• Sounds Beatitude-inal to me (WVK)
• Unless the seed first dies

30
Martial Arts Question

• Judo is Japanese, derived from Chinese rou-tao ?
  yielding way
• Skilled musician does not compete with the tempo
  of a piece
• Loneliness rarely overcome by competing for
  friendship (buying friends, perhaps?)

31
Naturalness and Naturalism

• Naturalness behaving as nature dictates, not as
  social pressure or personal pride demand ? Be
  yourself??? Know yourself??? From Plato
• Naturalism resist temptation to meddle with
  nature
• Modern environmentalism
• Raises huge questions about much modernity

32
Nonagression and Passive Rule

• Accepts warfare as sometimes necessary,
  unavoidable ? but Taoism encourages pacifism
• Pacifism is not roll over and be pummeled
• Pacifism is the yielding way of judo, rou-tao
• Gandhi again ? non-violently point out evil in
  the attacker and the attacker will reject the
  evil time, time, time discipline, discipline,
  discipline
• Cf. Good soldier ,,, on p 149

33
For the newly initiated

• When the highest type of men hear Tao,
• The diligently practice it.
• When the average type of men hear Tao,
• They half believe in it.
• When the lowest type of men hear Tao,
• They laugh heartily at it.
• If they did not laugh at it, it would not be
• Tao
• Tao Te Ching ch 41