The Way of Tao
GENERAL
Taoism commends a quiet life, in harmony with the natural world. It is not a religion but a belief that only the absence of desire can bring true contentment.
It is founded on two books, the ‘Tao Te Ching’ which deals with the outer world and our place in it and the ‘I Ching’ which is consulted for personal guidance.
Tao is the indefinable and unifying mystery (no thing) which, perhaps through a big bang, created Ch'i or spirit (some thing). For physical existence Ch'i created the polarities of yin/negative and yang/positive thence electromagnetic energy and atomic structure (every thing).
Yin, the passive principle, is shown by two dashes and yang the active by three joined dashes. In physical terms yin is cool, dark, moist and soft where yang is hot, light, dry and hard. In behavioural terms yin is intuitive, yielding and quiet where yang is intellectual, uncompromising and noisy.
Even numbers are yin and odd are yang. A blending of both gives 2³ or 3², providing 8 and 9 which are regarded as the ‘essence’ of yin and yang.
TAO TE CHING
China was first united under the Chou dynasty some 3000 years ago and the first few hundred years of relative peace gradually deteriorated into a ‘warring states’ period. This led many to practise and advocate the gentle principles of Taoism, they became known as ‘Quietists.’
Among these was a Lao Tzu and legend has it that when stopping at an inn one night he was persuaded by the landlord to record his thoughts. He called for bamboo slips and ink and proceeded to brush the characters of about 200 Taoist principles. These he then arranged into the 81 (9 x 9) chapters of the Tao Te Ching. He headed west the next day and was never seen again.
The first 37 chapters tend to deal with how Tao permeates our existence and the remainder are more concerned with the cultivation of virtue (Te) necessary for a peaceful and harmonious life.
I CHING
The shamanism of prehistoric times saw the relationships of heaven and earth and other natural phenomena and this led to the concepts of yin and yang. Initially used for agriculture, the two were blended into four bigrams to reflect their cyclic nature; they are referred to as old yang, new yin, new yang, and old yin:
These developed further into 8 trigrams, by reversing them and adding a third line:
Each trigram has a particular attribute, formalised by Emperor Fu Hsi about 5000 years ago.
Eventually the 8 trigrams were paired with each other to provide the 64 (8 x 8) hexagrams that comprise the I Ching. Each is a response to a particular situation and together they encompass all of human experience, be it moral, social, or political. They were formalised by King Wen about 3000 years ago and later his son Tan, the Duke of Chou, detailed each line to each hexagram.
To consult the I Ching it is necessary to identify the appropriate hexagram by divination. The preferred method is to cast three coins (heads 3, tails 2) for each of the six lines, starting at the bottom. The totals will be 9, 8, 7 or 6 and correspond to the four bigrams above. Any ‘old’ line has further significance.
The I Ching does not prophesy or instruct but gives advice and options that are in accordance with the Way (of Tao).
THE TAO OF POLITICS
We are currently enduring a global ‘warring states’ period which threatens our very survival. the advice offered by Taoism is therefore particularly relevant and also harmonises well with the practicalities of Survival Politics.
In the following four areas of significance the quotations, from Gia-fu Feng & Jane English, have been re-phrased into current political terms:
THE CHOICE: “When men lack a sense of awe there will be disaster” (Ch 72)
| The philosophies of . . . | Right | Individual | ||
| Centre | Middle Way | |||
| Left | Collective | |||
| Survival | Ecology first |
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: “The Tao of heaven is pointed but does no harm. The Tao of the sage is work without effort” (Ch 81)
| The Taos of . . . | Ecology — change without harm | |
| Society — work without stress | ||
| Economy — enough without more |
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY: “I have three treasures which I hold and keep” (Ch 67)
| 1 | Empathy | (indifference) — Ecology | ||
| 2 | Humility | (dominance) — Society | ||
| 3 | Frugality | (extravagance) — Economy |
PEACE: “When the Tao is absent from the universe, war horse are bred outside the city” (Ch 46)
| Economic growth precludes peace because it requires exploitation, and this requires armaments |