Introduction to Taoism (7 lessons)Our mission is to explain Dao in its complete form: philosophy, religion, spiritual, art and skills. Dao is an educational system that guides us to improve our personal comprehension. You will develop your understanding as you progress. Some of you may feel that the concepts we share is too simple. This is because we start with the very basic. Even those who have never heard about Taoism can follow this program easily.
I. LEARNING TAOISM
What does it mean, to learn or to study Taoism? What part of Taoism is it really that we’re learning about, and which part should we learn; in order to understand it? Some people learn Taoism from ritual, rule and tradition side. But actually these are just the creation of ancient Taoist! Some others learn Taoism canons as philosophy. But actually Taoism canons are just the thinking output of ancient Taoist. Another group focus learns the historical side of Taoism. But actually it is just the story of Taoist who lived in the past. It is just knowledge only. So when people learn Taoism, what should they learn and how? The word ‘TAO’ has many meanings as universe or universal law. So learning Taoism can be said learns about the mystery of universe including the law inside. That is why we inherited many Taoist art and skills today. Those are the result of ancient Taoist research about universe and the law inside. The TAO also can be translated as the way, the life and the truth. So learning Taoism can be said learning about the way of universe and the way of human life. Taoism is view of life and way of life which base on naturalness. Harmony and fit in with the way of nature. How is human way of nature? As human being how should we do in living the life? The basic naturalness is natural living as human being who has intelligence and heart of heart. What should we do as cleverest sentient being with soft feeling? In learning Taoism we will not been given any dogma that we should belief. But we will be guided to do personal research about the mystery of life to reveal the truth. Taoist views the livelihood as positive thing. Views that human life are valuable and worthy. It is the chance to temper and learn many things. Learning Taoism is like join in university of life. That is why Taoist does not leave the worldliness but enter and fit in with it. Doing and enjoy the worldly the life in a good way. Follow the flow of life but not float away. Brighten up the livelihood and developing humanity value. As human being we have responsibility to take care our family. Building a happy family, serving our parents and guiding our children to learn how to living the life properly. That is how Taoists fulfills their livelihood. Learning Taoism is not just learning Taoism canons which are just an output of ancient Taoists thought. But we develop our own thought as ancient Taoist ever done. Train our thinking way to make it equal with ancient Taoist thinking level The first chapter of Tao Tek Ching write: Tao Khe Tao, Fei Chang TAO Tao which is explained is not TAO The book of Tao is not TAO The explanation about livelihood is not livelihood it self. The story of sugar is not real sugar. The knowledge that is get by reading the book which explain sugar is very different with the understanding that is get by eating sugar directly. People who have good knowledge of religion and holly script do not mean that they must be a good man. People who have no religion do not mean that they must be a bad guy. People who are polite and gentle do not mean that they must be a good man. Great pretender usually polite and have melodious voice. It is because: Tao Khe Tao Fei Chang TAO. This is the warning from Lao Tse for us that is wrote as the opening of Tao Tek Ching. Actually learning Taoism is simple and begins from very simple things. 1. Try to manage and develop our own life become better and better begins from very basic thing as maintain harmony in family life 2. Try to not harm others 3. Try to not destruct our own self 4. The next step is: try to help others. That is the real meaning of learning Taoism. It is about the real act in living the life and not just philosophical knowledge. We develop our own thinking way as ancient Taoists ever done. It is not about ritual, tradition but it is about way of life and view of life. As the result is, we developing our wisdom and create our own ‘Dao De Jing’ which reflects our level in understanding and practicing Taoism II. MENTAL ILUSION Imagine one day we were served with very delicious food. Then after we ate it we were told that the food was made from rat or dog meat. Maybe we would feel nausea and begin vomiting instantly. But in certain places in this world, there are people that consume rat, dog and even snake. They eat these comfortably without any difficulty or physical reaction. Why can we not eat these but they can? It is because since we were children our minds have been formed to refuse rat and dog meat as food. This is mental illusion or mental blocking that has formed our perception. Another example: In my country if we give anything to someone, we must use our right hand. If we use our left hand, it is viewed as impolite. If we have been taught this rule since we were little children our minds become formed. And if someone gives something to us and uses their left hand, our mind doesn’t feel comfortable. But if we had never been taught this rule, our mind feels nothing unusual if someone uses their left hand to gives us something. We can see in this world that there are many mental illusions obstructing human mind. This influence has formed our way of thinking and also has formed our mind / soul. Mental illusion feels so real that it controls our mind and even our physical body, but actually it is just illusion. If we had been born in a different society and taught by different teaching, maybe we would have different personality and value of life. And maybe we would follow different religion. So, our present self is a “self “ that has been formed by our society, religion, culture, teachers, parents, experience etc. The only thing that cannot be formed is our common sense even it is also influence by our experience in living the life! So, Taoist uses it as a main tool in learning Taoism, balanced with our conscience. We call this 'WU'. In Taoism there is no dogma or faith. Taoist use ‘WU’ as the compass in life. ‘Wu” is a way of thought that consist of common sense and conscience, to make the best decision or wisest solution in accordance with the situation, condition, manner and custom. “Wu” is a way of thinking that considers the effect behind the act more than the act itself! In learning Taoism, the first step is we must be able to stand apart from any concept and not be locked inside the concept. We develop morality, integrity, humanity, wisdom and others. We do not just follow ancient teaching but develop our personal awareness. Ancient teachings are the output of ancient Taoist thought. As Taoist we do not focus on these output but we develop our own way of thought as ancient Taoist done. In learning Taoism, everyone should be able to comprehend it clearly before moving on to the next step. We can see the differences among: 1. The good person who obeys religious teaching and implements it in their life. 2. The fanatic person who emphasizes the doctrine that confines their thinking. 3. Little children two years old and younger with their ‘clear’ mind. They have no concept of goodness and faith. The goal of Taoism is to regain our true self. Try to getting back our mind's clarity as it was when we were little children. And the first step in learning Taoism is escape from mental illusion. III. HUMAN NATURAL IMPULSES Let’s consider what people seek in life. Taoism says that people are seeking happiness. If people cannot achieve happiness, at least the people will try to survive inside the realm of universe. People follow religion and believe in God because they hope to be happy by entering heaven and avoiding hell. People work hard for money because they want to preserve their life and survive. Surviving and looking for happiness are natural human impulses. These are the fundamental reasons behind Taoist spiritual development. On the other side, as intellectual sentient beings, people are always curious regarding the mystery of life. So, it can be said that there are three main triggers behind Taoism development; 1. Natural human impulse to survive and preserve their life. 2. Natural human impulse to be happy. 3. Natural human curiosity to seek the truth by revealing the mystery of life. Base on the three aspects above ancient people sought to improve their skills and knowledge. They researched the physical and metaphysical world to reveal the secrets. The goal is to survive and be happy. Some of them tried hard to avoid death. They tried to preserve their life for as long as possible. They researched herbal ingredients to preserve their life and sought to find a magical tablet to make their body strong and even immortal. This is the root of herbal medicine. They researched the human body metabolism, internal organs and human body energy until found ‘meridian’ channel. From this we inherit acupuncture and other Taoist health treatments. They sought to stop physical body degradation that causes humans to get old and weak. They developed breathing systems and internal alchemy to prolong their life. From this we inherited Chi Kung / Qi Gong (breathing exercises) Much research had been done but as humans, they still could not avoid death. And then some of them researched death and the afterlife. From this we inherit Taoist spiritual exercises. The researched begun for thousand years. That is why there are six branches in Taoism today. Spiritual Taoism was created by the natural human reaction to face and overcome any worldly problem. As we know, today modern science also does the similar things. We can find many supplements to support our life. Even some scientist also tries to research human spirit, afterlife and other dimensions. Modern scientists have the similar perspective when see the life with ancient Taoist. Spiritual Taoism is based on research and investigation and not based on superstition or dogma. Spiritual Taoism is a method to survive and to improve our quality of happiness in this life and the afterlife Spiritual Taoism based on common sense and logical thinking. IV. THE MEANING OF SPIRITUAL. Let’s do some reflection on life. We will find there are four aspects of our life; 1. Physical body This side is very clear. It is our ‘hardware’. 2. Mental body / consciousness This side is like the ‘software’ in computers. We cannot touch it but we can feel its existence. This side consists of two main tools, they are: a. Intelligence, ratio, common sense b. Feeling, emotion, conscience The term ‘Enlightenment’, correlates with this scope. 3. Energy / spirit This side is very abstract. It is ‘Something’ that still exists after our physical death. If there is ‘nothing’ after our physical death, it means we do not need to learn spirituality anymore. What is our condition after physical death? That is a part inside spiritual curriculum. If you ever heard about ‘Immortality’, it correlates with this scope. 4. Worldly life value This is our social life as long as we live in this world. As long as we have lived what have we done? Religion guides us to become good people, collecting merit and avoiding sin. Spirituality is a method to improve number 2 and 3. Spirituality consist of some exercises to develop number 2 and 3 Religion is a system to educate and control people to become good. (No. 4). Religion consists of many rules / dogmas as a reference in living. V. RELIGION & SPIRITUAL In General there are three aspects inside religion: 1. Tuition / Teaching The main aspect of tuition is to teach us “How to become a good person”. This tuition is a concept of life that has been developed by the founder of the religion itself. The founder of the religion thinks “How do we become a good person?” They make a concept of life based on their wisdom and the result is taught to their adherents. 2. Ritual Ritual is the form of religion. Ritual consists of worship and ceremony. The rituals of religion are influenced by the culture and tradition where the religion arose. 3. Spiritual The spiritual is the main core inside religion. The leader of religion is a spiritual practitioner. That is why Prophets are able to make many miracles. VI. DISCIPLE & FOLLOWER In the past the founder of religion usually has two types of participants, there are: 1. Disciples / Students This group continues the teaching, guiding the ritual and practicing spirituality. Disciples practice spiritual methods that correlate with enlightenment, wisdom and other spiritual goals. Every religion has different concept of perfection and also different spiritual methods. It is based on the founder’s wisdom and spiritual level. 2. Adherent / Follower This group believes in teaching and participating in rituals. They do not practice spiritual methods. The goal is just to become a good person, avoid sin and collect merit. Today the disciple is called a ‘Priest / Monk’ and the spiritual side of religion is only taught inside this group. Taoism does not judge other religions as wrong, they just use different methods. Taoist realizes that there are many spiritual methods. Taoist respects all religions and their specific spiritual methods. VII. JOURNEY TO THE PAST Imagine 'someone' went to the past by using a time machine. Then he was trapped inside a prehistoric culture and there were no way back to his century. He lived among a primitive society that has no rules. He had no choice except continuing his life inside that society. The good news is, he is the cleverest and wisest person in this primitive place. (of course.... :-) So, how would he spend his life in this society? There are some choices as: 1. He lived separate from them or he just did his life privately. 2. He tried to adaptation and followed their way of living. 3. He tried to help and educated them in living the life. If he chose number 1 or 2 nothing important to discuss. So, let's assuming he chooses the third choice. Maybe he tried to improve their culture and educate them. He taught them how to use simple clothes as body protection. He taught them about hygiene and health. He taught them to cook raw meat before eating it. He taught them about partnership and marriage. He taught them about manners and customs. He taught them about simple rules in social living. And so on….. He became a teacher from whom they needed an advice. After he died, they wrote his thoughts and ideas in a book. They then use it as reference to make decisions in their everyday life. A thousand years later……. The book becomes a holy script, his thoughts become dogmas and he is glorified as a prophet. And then the people call this way of life as religion. Let’s do a puzzle; After reading the story above which is a match with your situation? A. My common sense and my mind can not accept that story. B. That story makes sense but only for other religions and not for my religion. C. That story makes sense and my mind can accept this possibility. D. This story offences me and I really do not like it. E. Other……(please explain). Take note that time travel is not possible at present, please ignore it. I just use it to compare the civilization distance between our century and thousand years ago. Please choose one that match with your condition and reply to: [email protected] Taoist Philosophy 1This is 1st lesson in Taoism Philosophy.
This material explains human culture development. It looks that the level of stage is close to TaoTe Ching chapter 38. But Lao Tse wrote from the highest stage (TAO) until the lowest stage (tao) And to make it easy, I invert it by explain from the lowest first into the highest stage. Here after my interpretation: 1. Primitive Stage (tao) Logically we can realize that any civilization should be begun from primitive stage. In primitive stage there is no rule and norm. Humans condition is very close to animal that use their nature instinct, This is the simplest form of natural condition. This stage is natural so can be said as the simplest appearance of tao (in simpest condition). If there is no rule so there is no violation because there is no something that should be obeyed. (Maybe you remember my story regarding time travel. If you entrapped inside primitive situation, maybe you will introduce norm to them.) 2. Norm / Propriety Stage (Li) The civilization progress and people begin to create simple rule in their life. Human civilization progress but they begin to losing their nature (tao). In there is a rule so there is violation and disorder. People begin to define about appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad. On the translation in below they translate as: ceremony, ritual, propriety. Maybe it is because in some cultures, this is the beginning of the root of religion. (If you entrapped inside norm situation, you will teach them about law and justice. You will educate them one step forward.) 3. Righteousness / Law / Justice (Yi) Year after years the norm begin to complete and formal then become rule / law. People begin to develop the concept of right and wrong. If there is a rule there will be violation. If there is violation there will be punishment. If there is law and punishment, then people begin to develop the concept of justice. People classify the violation and give the punishment base on justice equitable. If the society has religious thought, the law and justice will become dogma and the religion that emphasizes rule and law begin to develop. If has not this society will become kingdom and the rule will become law of kingdom. The prophet that lived inside norm and chaos situation will emphasize the concept of rule and justice to control the society. It is one step ahead. On the translation below they translate as: morality, justice, righteousness. (If you entrapped inside rule and justice civilization, you will teach tem love and compassion.) 4. Love / Compassion / Humanity (Ren). The civilization progress, if on the stage 2 and 3 peoples only use their intellectual. In this period peoples begin to develop their heart and feeling. They begin to develop the concept of forgiveness. People never think about right and wrong anymore. In this period, right or wrong is not important and just emphasize love. The Prophet that lived inside law and justice stage will revise that concept and introduce the concept of ‘love’. It is on step ahead. If the society has religious thought, the religion that emphasizes love will arise. On the translation below they translate as: humanity, kindness. 5. Integrity / Morality (De / Te) Maybe this is the highest level of human civilization of life. In this period, humans have been understood the concept of justice and love. And human begin to understand some value of humanity as loyalty, dignity, integrity, trustworthy, honor, respect, dutiful and others. Those values are softer than justice that base on logic and love that base on sense. People think that however right is right and wrong is wrong. On the translation below they translate as: virtue, goodness. And today, I think human culture has been attaining this stage. 6. Awareness (TAO) I translate Tao as awareness because in this stage, people have been aware regarding law, justice, love and morality with any value inside. Everything base on individual awareness, In Tai Shang Men there is no dogma and disciple use ‘Wu’ as compass in living in life. Actually that is the system to guide our mind to become aware. So the root of religion begins to develop in the stage no 2, 3 and 4. But if they have no religious thought, the society will become kingdom. After understand human civilization progression, it is easier to understand Tao Te Ching chapter 38. Below I copy some translation of Tao Te Ching from The Tao Bums. Please take note to the text in blue color and fit it with my explanation above. Peace & Joy, Albert Tao Te Ching Chapter 38 John Wu High Virtue is non-virtuous; Therefore it has Virtue. Low Virtue never frees itself from virtuousness; Therefore it has no Virtue. High Virtue makes no fuss and has no private ends to serve: Low Virtue not only fusses but has private ends to serve. High humanity fusses but has no private ends to serve: High morality not only fusses but has private ends to serve. High ceremony fusses but finds no response; Then it tries to enforce itself with rolled-up sleeves. Failing Tao (TAO), man resorts to Virtue. Failing Virtue, man resorts to humanity. Failing humanity, man resorts to morality. Failing morality, man resorts to ceremony. Now, ceremony is the merest husk of faith and loyalty; It is the beginning of all confusion and disorder. As to foreknowledge, it is only the flower of Tao (tao), And the beginning of folly. Therefore, the full-grown man sets his heart upon the substance rather than the husk; Upon the fruit rather than the flower. Truly, he prefers what is within to what is without. English/Feng A truly good man is not aware of his goodness, And is therefore good. A foolish man tries to be good, And is therefore not good. A truly good man does nothing, Yet leaves nothing undone. A foolish man is always doing, Yet much remains to be done. When a truly kind man does something, he leaves nothing undone. When a just man does something, he leaves a great deal to be done. When a disciplinarian does something and no one responds, He rolls up his sleeves in an attempt to enforce order. Therefore when TAO is lost, there is goodness. When goodness is lost, there is kindness. When kindness is lost, there is justice. When justice is lost, there is ritual. Now ritual is the husk of faith and loyalty, the beginning of confusion. Knowledge of the future is only a flowery trapping of Tao (tao). It is the beginning of folly. Therefore the truly great man dwells on what is real and not what is on the surface, On the fruit and not the flower. Therefore accept the one and reject the other. Robert Henricks The highest virtue is not virtuous; therefore it truly has virtue. The lowest virtue never loses sight of its virtue; therefore it has no true virtue. The highest virtue takes no action, yet it has no reason for acting this way; The highest humanity takes action, yet it has no reason for acting this way; The highest righteousness takes action, and it has its reason for acting this way; The highest propriety takes action, and when no one responds to it, then it angrily rolls up its sleeves and forces people to comply. Therefore, when the Way (TAO) is lost, only then do we have virtue; When virtue is lost, only then do we have humanity; When humanity is lost, only then do we have righteousness; And when righteousness is lost, only then do we have propriety. As for propriety, it's but the thin edge of loyalty and sincerity, and the beginning of disorder. And foreknowledge is but the flower of the Way (tao), and the beginning of stupidity. Therefore the Great Man Dwells in the thick and doesn't dwell in the thin; Dwells in the fruit and doesn't dwell in the flower. Therefore, he rejects that and takes this. This is the direct link: http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/18519-ttc-study-chapter-38-of-the-tao-teh-ching/ Taoist Philosophy 2THE SYMBOL OF TAO
TAO is symbolized by a full circle that consists of white and black. The symbol is called Tai Chi. It represents the principles of Yin & Yang that surround our lives. Here are some meanings of the symbol that is called Tai Chi. 1. The form is a circle. It means that the universe is dynamic, active and always moving and changing. 2. The circle is closed. It means that the universe is like a giant bottle, nothing leaves and nothing enters. Everything has been inside since the beginning and always will be. Nothing arises and nothing disappears, everything just changes from one form into another. 3. The circle is divided into a black side and a white side, the meaning is: There are opposite forces in this life such as good vs. bad, bright vs. dark. There are complementary forces in this life such as man and woman, left and right. 4. The symbol appears to be rotating. The meaning is that there are cycles in life such as day and night, birth and death. Life is dynamic and not static. 5. There is a black dot in the white side and there is a white dot in the black side. It means there are no absolutes in life. There is badness inside goodness and there is goodness inside badness. Kind hearted people (good) are easy to deceive (weakness/bad). Deceitful people (bad) are difficult to deceive (strong point/good). 6. We can see the black side because there is a white side. We can see the white side because there is a black side. If the entire circle is black or white, we cannot see the form. It means that sometimes good situations produce bad effects. People who live in an easy situation will become weak. A comfortable situation (good) can make us lazy (bad). Sometimes a bad situation produces a good effect. People who live under harsh conditions will become tough. We know goodness because of badness and vice versa. If everything is sweet, we never know what is sweet. After we taste sour or plain, then we realize that we have tasted the sweet before. When we know something as goodness, it means we have already known badness before. 7. The black and white side is separated by a curve and not a straight line. It means that sometimes good and bad are thinly different; Optimistic (good) and arrogant (bad) Brave (good) and hot temper (bad) Patient (good) and timid (bad) Watchful (good) and suspicious (bad) Smart (good) and tricky (bad) Sometimes good and bad is just a result of perception In the past Indonesia was a Netherland colony. There were some heroes that fought against Holland. Those people are respected as heroes because of the Indonesian government success against Netherland. But if the Indonesian government status under Netherland government was just like in Suriname, those heroes would be viewed as dissidents. Sometimes creation and destruction is the same act. When we burn paper, it can be said that we destroy the paper or we create a carbon. When we cut down a tree, it can be said that we destroy the tree or we create a board. TAI SHANG MEN SYMBOL OF TAI CHI We can see that there are different forms of Tai Chi, sometimes the white side is on the left side and sometimes it is on the right side. Sometimes the rotation is clockwise and sometimes counter clockwise. Here are some additional meanings of Tai Chi that is used in Tai Shang Men. 1. The Rotation is clockwise. It means we must move forward and always progress better. 2. The white side is on the left side and moves up while the black side is moving down. It means that goodness always overcomes badness. 3. The black dot inside the white side is not completely at the top position. It means that goodness has not attained the absolute top position. If the position of black dot was at the very top it would mean that goodness will begin to decline. Refer to the circulation law. |