My purpose here is to show the value and beauty of early ‘Taoism’. I invite you to explore with the above ‘menu’.
The ‘Origins‘ section introduces the historical context and the two main sages of early Taoism… Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu.
‘What is the Tao?‘ This section covers the main teachings of early Taoism, and the central philosophical concepts.
The Tao Te Ching. This section presents translations, commentary, and personal reflections for its 81 short chapters.
The I Ching page introduces the classic Chinese writing used for divination. It is a most interesting way to further understand and benefit from the insights of Taoism.
The ‘Resources‘ section lists books and videos on the Tao, beginning with those I have found the most helpful.
The Tao is essentially about what is natural, and about being natural. The Tao is a welcome perspective for those of us who have been taught to mistrust nature and to dominate over nature, and thus to falsely think that we are somewhat independent from it. The notion that we (and a ‘god’) are over nature has been a major factor in the desecration of our planet and our becoming an existential threat to ourselves.
“The core of Lao-Tzu’s written philosophy deals with the art of getting out of one’s own way, learning how to act without forcing conclusions, and living in skillful harmony with the processes of nature instead of trying to push them around.” (Alan Watts)
To put it simply, because it is…
- The Tao is the reality and ‘energy’ of the universe.
- The Tao is directly observed and experienced.
- The Tao exists by and through itself. It is not dependent on anything or anyone else.
- We are a part of the Tao, the whole universe. Everything is connected and related. So, we are not individuals but an integrated organic whole with the Tao.
- Everything includes two opposite aspects: Yin and Yang.
- Only the present exists now.
Andrew Beaulac, Sitting with Lao-Tzu: Discovering the power of the timeless, the silent, and the invisible in a clamorous modern world (Apocryphile Press, 2016)…
“People longing for naturalness and reconnection tend to find in the Dao De Jing one of the wisest treatises ever written. Surprisingly, it presents no rules or lists of things one must do. It presents no plan for a utopian dream or even personal goals. Rather, it presents a view of life – of the Universe and the world and humanity’s place in it – as one unified field in which striving and struggling make no sense and are even counterproductive. Here is a wisdom that comes from observing both the natural world and our constructed societies and suggests that the human propensity for controlling things leads ultimately to an unsustainable or unhealthy result. It relieves us of the burdensome illusion that only perpetual increase is good, and it allows us to be at peace with the ebb as well as the flow of life. It shows how the uses of force, dominion and control lead to an ever-anxious view of the world and reflect our ignorance of Nature’s processes.”
“A person of the Way (Dao) recognizes a Universe in which we are integral aspects of the whole. As such, one cultivates a life of integration, balance, and flow, and assumes a peculiar kind of ease to living.”