TAOISM LIVIN IN HARMONY WITH THE WAY OF NATURE YIN AND YANG TAOISM • HARMONY WITH THE UNIVERSE • LIVING IN HARMONY WITH TAO, THE WAY OF NATURE • MADE UP OF TWO DISTINCT STRANDS – PHILOSOPHICAL – BASED ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THE CLASSIC TEXTS, TAO TE CHING & CHAUNG TZU – POPULAR/RELIGIOUS STRAND: LONGEVITY MEDITATION; BREATHING EXERCISES; EATING CERTAIN HERBS AND MINERALS MYSTICAL TEXTS & SAGES • ORIGINS DATING BACK TO TIME OF CONFUCIUS (551 TO 479 BC) • FOUNDERS – LAO TZU – CHUANG TZU LAO TZU LAO TZU – THE OLD MASTER • BORN IN 604BC • CONCEIVED BY A SHOOTING STAR • WAS “82 YEARS OLD” WHEN BORN, WITH WHITE FLOWING HAIR • WORKED A S A GOVERNMENT ACTIVIST • CONFUCIUS SAID TO COME TO HIM FOR ADVICE • CHIDED CONFUCIUS FOR HIS AMBITION AND ARROGANCE LAO TZU – THE OLD MASTER • BEAME DISENCHANTED WITH CORRUPTION OF GOVERNMENT • LEFT CAREER AND HOME – STOPPED AT HAN–KU PASS – KEEPER CONVINCED HIM TO WRITE DOWN HIS WISDOM BEFORE LEAVING – THREE DAYS LATER RETURNED WITH THE TAO TE CHING…AND PROCEEDED ON HIS WAY TAO TE CHING – FOUNDATIONAL TEXT • • • • • TAO TE CHING = LAO TZU EIGHTY-ONE SHORT CHAPTERS 3RD CENTURY BC BRIEF/PROFOUND…READ IN AN AFTERNOON IDEAS PONDERED FOR A LIFETIME TAO TE CHING • Those who know do not speak Those who speak do not know (Chapter 56) Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom And it will be a hundred times better for everyone. (Chapter 19) PARADOXES – ASSERTION THAT SEEMS ILLOGICAL AND CONTRADICTORY ON THE SURFACE, YET CONTAIN DEEPER TRUTHS …KNOWN MORE THRU INTUITION THAN FROM LOGIC TAOISM - MOST THOUROUGHLY MYSTICAL OF ALL RELIGIONS CHUANG TZU CHUANG TZU – TAOISM’S SECOND FOUNDER AND HIS TEXT • LIVED FROM 369 T0 286 BC • CHUANG TZU NOT AS FAMOUS AS THE TAO TE CHING • MORE HUMOROUS YET PROFOUND LESSONS AND STORIES • CENTRAL THEME RELATIVITY OF THINGS…WHO IS TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT IS GOOD?...ETC CHUANG TZU • Once Chuang Chou dreamt that he was a butterfly. He did not know that he had ever been anything but a butterfly and was content to hover from flower to flower. Suddenly he awoke and found to his astonishment that he was Chuang Chou. But it was hard to be sure whether he was really Chou and had only dreamt that he was a butterfly, or was really a butterfly, and was only dreaming he was Chou. (Chapter 2) THE PHILOSOPHY OF TAO • TAO TE CHING = “BOOK OF THE WAY” • TE = ACCOMPANYING CONCEPT…ACQUIRED THRU LIVING IN HARMONY WITH TAO • RELATIVITY BASED ON BALANCE OF YIN AND YANG…LIKE OPPOSITE POLES OF A MAGNET TAO: THE WAY OF NATURE • IMPOSSIBLE OF PRODUCING A FULL EXPLANATION OF TAO • “UNIFIED SOMETHING” FROM WHICH ALL THINGS ARISE • UNSEEN FORCE • ORIGIN AND ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE • EXISTS BEFORE AND BEYOND …TRANCENDENT OF HUMANITY AND THE REST OF CREATION • “MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE” – PERVADES THE NATURAL WORLD THE UNIVERSE IN BALANCE: YIN & YANG • YIN – NEGATIVE; PASSIVE; FEMININE; EARTHLY COMPONENT; CHARACTERIZED BY DARKNESS AND WEAKNESS • YANG – POSITIVE; ACTIVE; MASCULINE; HEAVENLY COMPONENT; CHARACTERIZED BY LIGHT AND STRENGTH YIN & YANG • COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER • NEITHER IS SUPERIOR • TAOISTS BELIEVE BECAUSE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION…MAKES US OVERINDULGE IN YANG ASPECTS OF LIFE • EACH HAS ELEMENTS OF THE OTHER • NEED TO EMBRACE THE YIN YIN & YANG Know the strength of man But keep a woman’s care Be the stream of the universe! Being the stream of the universe Ever true and unswerving Become as a little child once more (Chapter 24) YIN & YANG • ALL MADE UP OF BOTH • MANY WORK THEMSELVES INTO A STATE OF IMBALANCE • TAO ADVOCATES VIRTUES ORIENTED TOWARD YIN…HUMILITY, NON-COMPETITION, AND PACIFICISM • SAGE = PERFECTLY BALANCED INDIVIDUAL RELATIVITY OF VALUES • TAOISM AVOIDS ABSOLUTE MORAL JUDGEMENTS • GOODNESS IS MEANINGFUL ONLY BECAUSE OF ITS OPPOSITE, EVIL • EACH TINGED BY THE OTHER • NO VALUE COULD EXIST, IF NOT FOR ITS OPPOSITE YIN & YANG When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, There arises the recognition of ugliness When they all know good as good, There arises the recognition of evil. (Chapter 2) CHUANG TZU - RELATIVITY In Sung there was a keeper of monkeys. Bad times came and he was obliged to tell them that he must reduce their ration of nuts. “It will be three in the morning and four in the evening.” he said. The monkeys were furious. “Very well then”, he said, “ you shall have four in the morning and three in the evening.” The monkeys accepted with delight. (Chapter 2) HARMONY OF LIFE AND DEATH • TAOISM HAS LITTLE TO SAY • LIFE/DEATH PART OF THE HARMONEOUS WHOLE • ONE OF NATURE’S MANY TRANSFORMATIONS THE WAY OF THE SAGE • SAGE…MASTERS SIMPLICITY AND NATURAL UNITY • COMMON KNOWLEDGE…SEES LIFE AS A MULTIPLICITY OF THINGS WHILE MISSING NATURE’S BASIC UNITY. • CAT = FULLY ATTENTIVE…RESPONDS WITH SUFFICIENT , BUT NOT EXCESSIVE EFFORT…DOES WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE • TAOISM IS BASICALLY THE SIMPLE THING TO DO…BUT HUMANS THINK THEMSELVES INTO DISTRACTION THE WAY OF THE SAGE My doctrines are very easy to understand and very easy to practice. But none in the world can understand and practice them (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 70) WU-WEI: DOING WITHOUT ACTING • PRIMARY VIRTUE • “ACTIONLESS ACTIVITY” PURE EFECTIVENESS YIELDING TO WIN CREATIVE QUIETUDE “NONACTION” … ACCOMPLISHING TASK AT HAND “No action is undertaken, and yet nothing is left undone.” – PERSON AVOIDS YANG TENDENCY TO ACT, EMBRACES THE YIN, AND THEREBY MORE EFFECTIVE – – – – – HUMILITY AND NONCOMPETITION • SAGE = OUTWARD IS UNATTRACTIVE AND LACKS ABILITY – HUMILITY CHIEF VIRTUE – SIGN OF STRENGTH – “THEREFOLD, THE SAGE WEARS ROUGH CLOTHING AND HOLDS THE JEWEL IN HIS HEART” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 70) HUMILITY AND NONCOMPETITION • SAGE CHOOSES NOT TO COMPETE…BUT NOT THE SAME AS GIVING UP THE FIGHT • THROUGH NONCOMPETITION, THE SAGE EMERGES VICTORIOUS – “It is precisely because he does not compete that the world cannot compete with him.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 22) HUMILITY AND NONCOMPETITION “ To yield is to be preserved whole. To be bent is to become straight. To be empty is to be full. To be worn out is to be renewed. To have little is to possess. To have plenty is to be perplexed” “Tao Te Ching: Chapter 22) HUMILITY AND NONCOMPETITION • WISDOM FOR LIVING – MUSICIAN – ATHLETE – MARTIAL ARTS • JUDO=ROU-TAO=YIELDING WAY – SOCIAL SITUATION – BEING THEMSELVES BEST NATURALNESS & NATURALISM • SAGE REJECTS SHOWINESS &POMPOSITY: He who stands on tiptoe is not steady He who strides cannot maintain the pace He who makes a show is not enlightened He who is self righteous is not respected He who boasts achieves nothing He who brags will not endure (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 24) NATURALNESS & NATURALISM • TAOIST SAGE PRACTICES NATURALISM – RESISTS TEMPTATION TO MEDDLE WITH NATURE – ENVIRONMENTALISTS THAT DOES NOT WANT TO “FIX” NATURE THROUGH HUMAN IDEAS AND EFFORTS – LEAVE NATURE WELL ENOUGH ALONE, AND NATURE WILL THRIVE NONAGGRESSION AND PASSIVE RULE • NON-AGGRESSION ULTIMATELY ALLOWS THE SAGE TO PREVAIL • ADMITS WARFARE IS SOMETIMES NECESSARY, BUT SHOULD BE MINIMIZED “A good soldier is not violent. A good fighter is not angry. A good winner is not vengeful. A good employer is humble.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 68) NATURALNESS & NATURALISM • RULERS & WU-WEI…BEST NOT TO INTERFERE WITH THE NATURAL WAY OF PEOPLE “The best (rulers) are those whose existance is (merely) known by the people. The next best are those who are loved and praised. The next are those who are feared. And the next are those who are despised. It is only when one does not have enough faith in others that others will have no faith in him” )Tao Te Ching: Chapter 17) TAOISM IN EAST ASIA & THE WORLD • FOR 2000 YEARS, TAOISM CENTRAL TO RELIGEOUS LIFE IN CHINA, SPREADING TO EAST ASIA • TAOISM + BUDDHISM = ZEN BUDDHISM • FUNCTIONS ALONG WITH CONFUCIANISM • TAOIST = YIN • CONFUCIANISM = YANG
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