World Religions

Taoism is one of the traditional religions of China. The word Tao (pronounced “dow”) means “way” or “path.” The “way” of Taoism is the way of the universe. Taoism advocates living simply and not interfering with the course of natural events.

In what ways do people often interfere with the course of natural events? List as many ways as you can. What is the effect of this interference?

The legendary founder of Taoism was a philosopher named Lao Tzu who lived in China around 600 B.C.E. (His name is also sometimes spelled Laotse.) Once story about Lao Tzu says that Confucius, another Chinese philosopher, once visited him. Asked about the visit, Confucius said:

Of birds I know they have wings to fly with,
of fish they have fins to swim with,
of wild beasts that they have feet to run with.
For feet there are traps, for fins nets, for wings arrows.
But who knows how dragons surmount wind and clouds into heaven?
This day I have seen Lao Tzu and he is a dragon.

What do you think Confucius meant by this?

When he was 160, Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, left China so that he could pursue a natural life somewhere else. He mounted a water buffalo and rode toward the boundaries of China.

A warden at the boundary had dreamed that a sage would come. When Lao Tzu arrived, he recognized him as the sage from his dream. The warden begged him to write down the principles of his philosophy.

Lao Tzu sat down and composed the Tao Te Ching (pronounced “dow dir jing”). He then remounted his water buffalo and rode off. No one ever heard of him again. Translated as “The Way and its Power,” the Tao Te Ching is the central scripture of Taoism.

No one knows whether or not this story of the Tao Te Ching is true. If it happened at all, it was about 2,500 years ago. Do you think it matters whether or not the story of writing the Tao Te Ching is true?

The philosopher Lao Tzu is considered the founder of Taoism. Nobody is sure, though, whether or not he actually existed. We don’t even know what his real name was; Lao Tzu means “The Old Man” or “The Grand Old Master.”

Lao Tzu didn’t try to organize a religion. He didn’t preach. He only wrote his ideas down because a border patrolman asked him to. Having written the Tao Te Ching, the central scripture of Taoism, Lao Tzu rode off and was never heard of again.

Does this description fit with your idea of the type of person who would found a religion? Why or why not?

According to the philosopher Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, most people do not live an authentic life. They live in a way that society suggests they live. People tend not to do things for themselves or to find out what they truly want. Instead they often do the things others want them to do.

What does it mean to be authentic? What would it mean to live an authentic life?

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, is credited with saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

What does this mean? Rewrite this saying in your own words.

In Taoism, the Tao, or Way, can be understood in many ways.

First, the Tao is the way of ultimate reality. It is the ground of all existence, but it goes beyond the senses and words. The first lines of the Tao Te Ching, the scripture of Taoism, state this:

The Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

Explain these lines.

In Taoism, the Tao, or Way, can be understood in many ways. One meaning of the Tao is that it is the way of the universe.

The universe lasts forever.
Why does the universe last forever?
It is unborn,
So ever living.

Many aspects of the universe – such as our water cycle – are cyclical, always beginning, always ending. Choose some aspect of the universe. Explain it in terms of an unending cycle.

In Taoism, the Tao, or Way, can be understood in many ways. One meaning of the Tao is that it is the way people should life their daily lives. Instead of struggling with nature, we should adapt ourselves to nature.

List as many ways as you can in which people try to adapt nature to our use, instead of adapting ourselves to nature.

Many religions use stories as a way of teaching people how to live. Here is a Taoist story.

An old man was walking with friends by a swift-flowing river when he stumbled and fell into the water. He was swept downstream through a set of fierce rapids, dashing among the rocks. Then he plunged over the edge of a steep waterfall. His friends, fearing for his life, rant to the pool below the waterfall. To their amazement the old man came to the edge of the pool, unharmed.

“Old man,” they cried, “how could you have survived both the rapids and the waterfall?”

“I cannot tell you,” he answered. “I only know that I did not try to fight the water, but allowed myself to be shaped by it. I accommodated myself to the stream, and the stream carried me without harm.”

What do you think is the message of this story?

Wu wei (pronounced “woo-way”) is an important principle in Taoism. Wu wei is the process by which we can come closer to the Tao, or Way.

It has been described as “action through inaction” or “creative quietude.” It does not mean that we do nothing and wait for things to fall into our laps. Rather, it means studying life so that we can accomplish things through minimal action.

We can see this in action in martial arts such as judo, where defence consists of using an attacker’s own force against him or her, rather than fighting against it.

Water is often described as having the virtues of wu wei. Think about water in different forms: as a stead drip, as a river, as a waterfall. How does it show the virtues of “action through inaction”?

Wu wei, or “action through inaction,” can be used in many ways. For example, if someone treats us with anger or with hatred, we should not respond in the same way. This will just make things worse. A Taoist story shows this principle at work.

There was once a great warrior who, though old, had never been beaten. One day a young warrior challenged him. The young man was not only strong, but also skilled at spotting any weakness in an opponent. He would let the opponent make the first move, thus revealing his weakness. Then the young warrior would strike and defeat his opponent.

The old warrior accepted the challenge and the two stood facing each other, prepared for battle. For a long time, neither man moved. Then to provoke the old man, the young man began hurling insults at him. He threw dirt at him and spat in his face. But the old warrior merely stood there. Unable to provoke the old warrior into showing any weakness, the young warrior finally acknowledged that he was beaten.

How did the old man use wu wei in this fight?

A person who lives according to the Taoist principle of wu wei, or “action through inaction,” is able to achieve things without strain.

Wu wei is like floating in saltwater: if we give ourselves up to the water, we can achieve our goal – floating – without effort. But if we fight against the natural action of the water – for example, by trying to dive deep – we have to struggle to achieve our goal.

Describe a time when you acted in accord with wu wei, achieving your goal without strain.

Chuang Tzu, who lived from about 369 to 268 B.C.E., was a leading Taoist thinker. (His name is also sometimes spelled Chuangtse.) his parables and anecdotes were collected in a book that bears his name, Chuang-tzu.

Chuang Tzu said that the only way to be happy and truly free was by understanding the Tao, or Way. If we understand the Way, then we need not fear death, as it is merely an inevitable part of the Way. Death makes new life possible.

How would you describe death?

Chuang Tzu, a leading Taoist teacher, wrote about the pleasure and importance of skill. It is possible to slip into a kind of meditative state where one can perform effortlessly at painting, singing, dancing, and so forth.

We’ve all had experiences like this, where something suddenly seems effortless. When have you had an experience like this? What were you doing? How did the experience affect your sense of time?

Chuang Tzu was a leading Taoist thinker. His teachings are collected in a book, Chuang-tzu. This story appears in Chuang-tzu.

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Tzu. Soon I awoke, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

Explain what you think this story means.

The Taoist teacher Chuang Tzu was walking with a friend over a bridge. Chuang Tzu saw some fish darting about and said, “That is happiness for a fish.”

His friend said, “You’re not a fish! How do you know what makes a fish happy?”

Chuang Tzu responded, “You’re not me! How do you know I don’t know what makes a fish happy?”

What was Chuang Tzu saying to his friend?

Chuang Tzu, the Taoist thinker, was offered a job at the emperor’s court. He responded:

Sir, have you seen a sacrificial ox? It is decked in fine garments and fed on fresh grass and beans. However, when it is led into the Great Temple, even though it might earnestly wish to be a simple calf again, it’s now impossible.

What do you think Chuang Tzu meant by this?

The Taoist thinker Chuang Tzu lived about 2,500 years ago, at a time when people knew very little about the world around them. Still he tried to understand the phenomena of nature. He wrote:

Do the heavens revolve? Does the earth stand still? Do the sun and the moon contend for their positions? Who has the time to keep them all moving? Is there some mechanical device that keeps them going automatically? Or do they merely continue to revolve, inevitably, of their own inertia?

Do the clouds make rain? Or is it the rain that makes the clouds? What makes it descend so copiously? Who is it that has the leisure to devote himself, with such abandoned glee, to making these things happen?

Given what you know about Taoism, why do you think Chuang Tzu might have been interested in the workings of nature?

The Taoist teacher Chuang Tzu often used stories to present important ideas. Here is one of these stories.

A praying mantis was standing in the road when a chariot came along. The insect thought he could stop the chariot by waving it away. But the charioteer did not even see the mantis, and it was crushed.

The Taoist lesson is that it is important to know when you can affect events and when you can’t.

Write about a time when you stepped in front of a “charging chariot.” When did you think you could affect something when you were actually powerless?

The concept of balance is important in Taoism. Everything in the universe is a balance of opposite forces. Night is balanced by day; summer is balanced by winter.

Often the opposite is necessary for completion. For example, a cup holds liquid because it has solid sides, but it also needs a hollow centre to function. If the entire cup were solid, we couldn’t put liquid into it. The cup must be both substance and space.

Taoism refers to these opposing, balancing elements of the universe as yin and yang. Yin is associated with darkness, yang with light. These are not aspects of good and bad, though; they are merely two sides of the same thing.

You can use your own breathing to experiment with yin and yang. We need air in our lungs in order to live. But to take air in, we need to push air out. We need empty lungs before we can fill them.

Take a deep breath; fill your lungs completely. Hold the breath for a moment. Now try to breathe in without first emptying your lungs. What happened? Describe the experience.

The yin-yang symbol shows the opposite, balanced forces of the universe important in Taoism. Yin and yang are in tension, but they are not in opposition to each other. When both yin and yang are equally present, all is calm. When one is outweighed by the other, there is confusion.

Even in this symbol, the dark, yin side has a spot of white. The light, yang side has a spot of black. According to Taoism, nothing is absolutely dark or bright, good or bad. Everything contains both yang and yin.

Do you think this symbol conveys the idea of opposite, but balanced, forces?

There are many ways of looking at the Taoist idea of yin and yang. Instead of thinking about characteristics like light and dark as opposites, it is better to think of them as pairs. Light and dark are a pair that belongs together. They help to define each other.

Think about the opposite sensations of head and cold. Write about heat depending on cold for its identity.

According to Taoism, things such as water, food, and sleep are necessary for life. Life itself, though, is a breathlike force call qi (pronounced “chee”). Qi is the energy that flows through the universe and all living things.

Do you think there is an energy in all living things?

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that disease is caused by an imbalance of qi, or living energy.

Like a steady river, qi needs to flow and circulate evenly in the body. Qi does not flow when there are blockages or drains. To heal a patient, doctors of traditional Chinese medicine correct the flow by touching points on the body where qi is generated.

Does this explanation of heath make sense to you?

The Tao Te Ching, the first book of Taoism, says that humankind follows the earth, the earth follows nature, and nature follows the Tao.

In what ways does humankind follow the earth? Do we also fail to follow it?