Contents
Today we will consider the main ideas of Taoism, a doctrine that has not lost its relevance in our time, especially in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Thousands of believers visit Taoist temples and monasteries, where monks often demonstrate their martial arts skills.
Legend
There is an interesting legend about Lao Tzu, a Chinese scholar who wrote the treatise «Dao ze jin» and is the founder of this religion.
It says that he was born thanks to the rays of the sun and moon that touched his mother at the same time. Which bore him for 8 decades, which is why Lao Tzu was born old, but wise, gray-haired and with big ears. His name is therefore translated as «Old child» or «Eternal teacher.»
He worked as an archivist, that is, a keeper of books, from which he gained even more wisdom. Once he sat on a red-black bull and rode off in search of a place where there is no disappointment, pain and sadness.
Only when he was trying to leave China did he meet a man who asked him to dictate the basic principles and postulates of Taoism. Lao Tzu agreed and dictated to him more than 5 thousand words, from which the book «On Tao and Te» was soon created.
What it is?
Tao is the way, that which is difficult to comprehend and which is eternal. It brings together the feminine and the masculine. By the way, the picture depicting Yin and Yang is just a symbol of this unity.
The masculine principle is indicated in white, as a symbol of activity and strength. The feminine is dark, as a manifestation of calmness, balance. Both of these beginnings complement each other and cannot achieve harmony separately.
Therefore, a person striving for knowledge of the Tao must recognize that both parts are in it. And if any of them manifest itself more actively, he will not be able to achieve his goal.
Lao Tzu believed that the Tao is empty, but this is precisely what is most valuable. It cannot be seen, heard, caught, or felt.
To prove his theory, he gave the example of a room whose walls are not key. A person uses and appreciates directly the emptiness that they help to create. With a vessel, the space in which allows it to be used, for example, to store milk, water.
Therefore, the most valuable thing in the Universe is directly emptiness, thanks to which it exists.
An interesting fact is that the concepts and in general Taoism itself arose as an opposition to the teachings of Confucius. Lao Tzu met with him more than once and after the conversations he was disappointed. This is what forced him to go on a journey in search of truth.
Key ideas of the Tao
- A person usually pays a lot of attention to thinking about himself, attaches value to material things, forgetting that life is in this moment and should be noticed. Otherwise, you may not notice how it passes.
- He lacks unity with the outside world. He fights with him for the sake of survival, but does not seek to become one. Therefore, he is under the illusion that he understands something about him.
- Until a person becomes an ordinary observer, but continues to strive to act, influence events, etc., everything that surrounds him will be an ordinary illusion. To know the truth is possible only by becoming it. And for this you just need to be. Even the ruler should not do something for his people. Its main task is to create universal harmony. And people will deal with their own problems. Just the way they see fit.
- Tao is the Absolute. The one who could know it will become immortal. But for this you need to follow a strict diet. This refers to the complete rejection of food. The organism can obtain nutrients only from its own saliva and from the ether that a person inhales from the dew in the morning. It is also obligatory to do only good deeds. The length of his days on earth depends on their number. This calculation is carried out by heavenly spirits, so it will not work in any way to dissemble and hide something.
- People are equal to each other, they are free and owe nothing to anyone.
Forms of manifestation
- Philosophical. Aristocrats used Tao as a way of self-expression. They tried to understand the meaning of being, as well as their existence.
- Mystical. Uneducated people sought to get to the monks so that they would answer their questions, help with advice, give a recipe for recovery, and so on.
- Scientific. The monks studied the laws of nature and sought to use them in various sciences. It was thanks to the Taoists that humanity received glass, porcelain, gunpowder and so on.
Parable
I will try to briefly and clearly state the parable, which reflects the whole essence and philosophy of this teaching.
One king asked his minister to make him happy. If not, he promised to execute him as a sign of disobedience. The minister, answering that for this he needed the shirt of a man who knew happiness, went in search of her.
But everywhere he met saddened or unhappy people who, by no means, could admit that in fact they were lucky, kissed by fate. Everyone lacked something to feel the fullness of life, some health, some money or food.
Already almost resigned to the idea that he would have to lose his head, the minister learned from good people that a man plays the flute every evening on the river bank. His music is cheerful and cheerful, so the employee has a hope for salvation.
Immediately he went to the river and really met a man with a flute. Joy knew no bounds when, by asking the question: “Are you happy?” The Minister received an affirmative answer. But the lucky man could not fulfill the request to give the shirt. Because he was completely naked and devoid of any personal belongings. The flute was his only possession.
The minister was discouraged, he could not understand why the man considers himself happy, being in fact a beggar. The musician explained it this way: “Once I lost absolutely everything, not only my shirt, but also the understanding of who I am and what I represent. This is what made me happy. I play the flute and I am one with the music and the world.”
How to get enlightenment?
Taoists argued that in order to gain enlightenment, it is necessary to lead an ascetic lifestyle. Only in this way can one become a spirit over time. To do this, the followers of this philosophy and religion are obliged to go to the mountains, to abandon all their close people, relatives. Also stop worrying and thinking about everyday things, about everything that used to be of value and just contemplate what surrounds them. Something similar to downshifting.
It is clear that not every modern person is capable of such an act. Therefore, there are small concessions. To know reality, you need to dissolve in it. For example, when you are cleaning your apartment, going somewhere, or even eating, try not to think about anything in the process.
And if thoughts do arise, take the position of an observer, allowing all ideas to arise and disappear without your participation. Only being in the present, in inaction, can you feel the saturation of your being.
Completion
No matter how difficult Taoism may seem to comprehend, its concepts of good and evil are actually similar to many other teachings and religions.
He teaches to respond to hatred with kindness and to do as many good deeds as possible if one cannot do nothing and indulge in doing nothing for enlightenment.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina