The answer is that there are no answers. All questions are wrong. Struggling with wrong questions will never give right answers. Finding right answers misses the tao.
(Lao Tzu)
Defining the tao
Lao Tzu began Tao Te Ching by saying that 'tao' cannot be defined and
that any definition is incomplete.
Words cannot extend to reality.
This is a very logical statement. After all, you cannot eat the word 'bread'.
Nor could another person share your experience of bread through words alone.
Reality is tangible. It has substance.
As
soon as you try to capture reality verbally you fail. Words are too
limited. Thoughts are incomplete.
Reality is far too
vast. The word is not the thing.
The way
People commonly translate 'tao' to mean the way.
The danger with this translation is that 'way' can mean more than one thing:
path/road/route
nature/how/essence/character
Invariably, people interpret 'way' to mean the first
option, when in reality it might well be closer to the second.
Neither definition can be considered entirely accurate, but at least the second
definition is speaking about a characteristic rather than a route.
Paths
It is tempting to see reality in terms of paths and destinies, but this is
simply not a taoist approach.
Taoism is not about planning or following.
It advocates going wherever the wind blows you, or perhaps not going anywhere
at all.
Lao Tzu said that you can know the whole world without leaving your room.
What was he talking about? Awareness, insight, wisdom.
You do not need to go anywhere else to learn the workings of your own mind or
the subtle relationships of your body.
Truth does not lie on a path, or at the end of a path.
The truth is all around you in every moment of everyday. It is right in front
of you.
Every sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, detail, nuance, facet.
If you walk a thousand miles, do you imagine that this reality, this truth will
somehow have changed for you?
Journey
Taoism does not require you to undertake a religious pilgrimage. You do not
need to believe in anything.
The words 'tao' and 'taoism' are only words and have no especial significance in
themselves.
If you look at tao in terms of a conventional religion, then you will be
immediately confused.
It is not about anything.
It does not worship anything.
It does not ask anything of you.
You are not required to preach or promote anything.
There are no special costumes.
There are no holy scriptures or special books.
See where the confusion can lie?
If somebody offers to show you the way, decline their offer.
Awareness
Taoism sprang from the observation of what is.
From watching reality and understanding its character; the how, the way, the
essence.
Reality is not something that you can record and replay later. It is something
you are immersed in at all times.
This approach is very different to our modern world of labelling, categorising
and symbolising.
The label does not denote understanding. The word 'bread' tells us virtually
nothing about bread.
The heart of taoism lies in the raw
immediacy of the here and now.
Taoism is about seeing.
This sounds so simple but is so very, very hard.
We have been conditioned from birth to perceive the world a certain way.
Our minds are utterly enslaved by our education, our upbringing, history, media,
business, society and our parents.
Can we break free?
What is the point?
Taoism may sound like a lot of work for no obvious gain. This is not true.
A heightened degree of awareness will enable you to attune yourself with the
world around you.
You will find greater harmony in your life and the ability to interact more
honestly and openly with other people.
Many arts have sought to embrace tao.
Often these have been
Japanese disciplines: zen, gardening, tea
ceremony, flower arranging, archery...
China's principle contribution has been tai chi chuan.
Page created 28 May 2006