Tao: The Ethical Essence
Tao the Path
S.Pucelle -
Difficult to evoke because of its elusive nature, the Tao 道 is often represented as a philosophy tinged with poetry.
However, it can also be viewed with a slight element of rationalism. The Tao is associated with the relationship between man, nature, and the universe. It postulates that a universal essence is present in every manifestation of life, a form of conscious presence permeating every substance, probably preceding the Greek philosophers' concept of Hypostasis.
Like all philosophy, Taoism approaches belief, ethics, morality, metaphysics and reality. However, the legacy of Chinese culture lies in its illuminating vision of energetics and the alchemical relationship between Jing, the essence, Qi, the vital force, and Shen, the spirit.
The study of the nature of this trilogy is also known as San BAO 三寶, the three treasures.
Taoism expounds directly the relationships and correlations between the three elements of San Bao, and suggests cultivating the attitude needed to harmonize them.
Other traditions, such as the Sarira Traya, the three-body doctrine found in Hinduism, complement this understanding.
One of the constant values of the Tao, among others in their teachings, is a self-effacing, unassuming attitude on the spiritual level while remaining pragmatic and fundamental.
To define the Tao is to lose it.
To define oneself is to lose all possible options within oneself.
The simplicity that permeates the teaching of the Tao indicates man's moderate stance towards life, valuing the balance between cause and consequence, or essence and substance.
The existential quest that drives this philosophy emerges from the means rather than the consequences, which might suggest that it is more a method of realization than an orientation towards a goal.
This confidential attitude is reflected in the classical scriptures, which refrain from addressing the Tao directly and leave it to the reader to interpret the message or, after consideration, refrain from doing so.
The ideal of Taoism is reunification with the Tao.
In Chinese, Tao means path, way or journey, essentially to reach Dixit, a natural state between heaven and earth.
There are various descriptions of the application and results of the method, but the tradition remains very sober on the causal and creative aspects of the process.
Ziran or spontaneous occurrences
The term Ziran 自然, found in Taoist philosophy, describes the unfolding and suffusion of an original order. In the tradition, this law of causality is not necessarily promulgated by a deity but retains a fundamental significance to this axiom.
The subjective nature of all experiences implicitly evokes a state of being in which the process's reality is self-sufficient. This view is very close to that of the 17th-century European philosophers known as Conatus, which is the force or tendency of all things to persist in their own being, pervading all manifested phenomena.
The inertia of existence becomes more intimate if we compare it to the natural decline of the human body, or a person's mental maturation through the experiences they live under, bearing time as witness.
The Tao's simple message is to remain aligned with the natural order of the universe, keeping our intentions and appetites moderate in the face of life's events.
The Tao is the way, and this way is immanent and all-encompassing, expressing itself in a myriad of characteristics and properties.
Finding the causal link in all of life's experiences allows us to express Ziran.
Wu-Wei or unintentional listening
There is another notion of regulation in Taoism that helps us reposition our way of being in relation to life. This notion is called wu-wei 無爲, the meaning of which is akin to that of non-governance and non-imposition.
The Essence of Tao presents us with an ethical attitude to cultivate toward all the information that passes through our senses (present) and all forms of cogitation, most often guided by memories (past) or imagination (future). These phenomena and data constitute the raw material for identifying and shaping our personality and beliefs.
From a broader perspective, humanity is largely influenced by the environment to the detriment of its nature, losing sight of the essence of things and leaving the field wide open for the substance to condition our reality.
Personality fulfils a certain function in our relationship with the social world. However, it becomes an obstacle to our understanding and perception of the nature of things.
In the relative world, there is always a gradation of experience, and the Tao offers a wide range of practical knowledge to translate its message.
The attitude and intention underlying actions and thoughts cause their consequences. Taoism suggests recognizing its original omnipresent essence to cultivate a form of withdrawal that allows the substance to harmonize with the Tao.
Paradoxically, this quality of abandonment allows us to drape ourselves in a feeling of confidence and constancy with regard to life.
One of the central skills to develop in Taoism is the quality of listening called Tīng dào 聽到.
Wuwei is listening to the passive but attentive application of consciousness.
This competence takes the form of discerning over the ownership of action and reaction, creating an empty space by retreating the mind willing to interfere with the development of what is already taking place.
There's no higher state to reach, no advanced spiritual qualities required; what's involved is the attenuation of the conditioning we impose on ourselves in our relationship with the world, assisted by the art of listening.
Tao Te King - Amael Ferrando - Verse 70
My words, so easy to know, so easy to apply. Under heaven, no one can know them, No one can apply them. A word to an ancestor, Work to a sovereign. Who doesn't know them, Therefore knows me not, Who knows me is rare, So mine are precious. That's why the wise man, Draped in bure, jade at heart.
Tao te Ching. - Stephen Mitchell - Verse 70
My teachings are easy to understand, and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect will never grasp them, and if you try to put them into practice, you will fail. My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasp their meaning? If you want to know me, look inside your heart.
