We have been interfering with a complex system of
relationships which we do not understand,
and the more we study its details,
the more it eludes us by revealing still more details to study.
As we try to comprehend and control the world it runs away from us.
(Alan Watts)
What
is natural order?
Natural order is the
way things are when nobody interferes.
This state of being is often called
anarchy or chaos, but these
terms are
widely misunderstood.
Before human society developed, the universe existed.
When humans are long gone, the universe will continue.
There is a harmony to existence, and humans are yet to live in balance with
everything else.
Wu tze
'Wu tze' means to be 'without law and yet orderly'.
It is how the
taoist sages regarded nature.
In his book 'Taoism: Way beyond seeing',
Alan Watts speaks of how Western culture
has adopted a mechanised approach to the perception of nature.
Nature cannot be understood and explained using a particular way, method or
perspective.
It just is.
What
is anarchy?
Anarchy simply means to be leaderless,
to
return to natural order.
In
taoism, a person seeks to return to their natural state.
Animals in nature do not need to be managed and organised.
Similarly, people have an innate resistance to
authority and feel more comfortable being their own boss.
Anarchists are opposed to the idea that power and domination are necessary.
They advocate more co-operative, anti-hierarchical approaches to situations.
In
taoism,
control is seen as the opposite of anarchy.
An unbalanced object will settle without intervention, it does not need to be instructed or assisted.
Page created 18 July 2000