Taosim Paper

Taoism

The way I best understand Taoism is the image of a stream, with the stream being made up of Chi; this living in the Chi might be likened to how a fish swims in water; it simply does it without worrying about it or thinking about it at all. Because naming the Tao, which means the way or path, means that is not really the Tao at all, I feel that once the tenets of Taoism are learned it becomes a matter of embodiment of the Tao—one simply is living within and through the stream of Chi without thinking overmuch about it. Smith (1991) says there are three ways of understanding the Tao: (1) “Tao is the ultimate reality.” (2) “[…] it is the way of the universe. (3)”The way of human life” (Smith, p.198-199). The three understandings of Taoism could easily explain how one could relate to the Tao, the Tao itself the teacher, the Tao acts as guidelines for living a simple, ethical life, and within the Tao one can be a member of a greater community on several levels; the level of managing oneself, the level of which school of thought one adheres to, and the level of being part of “the all” or Chi.

The history of the founder of Taoism is rather murky and there are still debates about whether or not it originated with Lao Tzu, said to be born about 604 B.C. (Smith, p.196). As with many other originators of the world’s religions, there are many fantastical myths surrounding Lao Tzu. However, tales aside, it is also said that, at the urging of a gatekeeper, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching before leaving the city to live a life of simplicity and solitude, and the Tao Te Ching has been one of the most widely read books(Smith, p.197).

The Tao Te Ching is the basic text of Taoism and is comprised of eighty-one verses. The widespread appeal of the Tao Te Ching is the availability of deeper meanings within the chapters. I find that the verses are fresh, appealing, and applicable to modern day living. The very versatility may explain the enduring quality of Taoism and the Tao Te Ching. While the Tao Te Ching is the basic tenet of Taoism, there are three approaches to power, or schools of Taoism and each incorporate the Tao Te Ching in a slightly different manner.

I believe that the widely interpretive quality of the Tao Te Ching may be one reason that Taoism (more so the Philosophical and the various “vitality” schools), practiced as an embodiment, escapes some of the amber/mystical fanaticism and fundamentalism that plagues various world religions; this is, of course, a bit of a generalization but seems more or less accurate to my understanding.

According to Smith (1991), there are three schools of Taoism and each has its own approach to power. First, the school of Philosophical Taoism and the other ‘”vitalizing Taoisms”’ (actually considered a third school by Smith) “remain relatively unorganized” (p. 199) and practice the use of efficient power. This school of Taoism is considered an attitude toward life and has been more readily exported and accepted because of the lack of rigid organized rules and practices. This is a school which epitomizes Bacon’s saying, ‘Knowledge is power” (qtd. p. 201).

The second school of Taoism is Religious or Popular Taoism. This version of Taoism is more highly ritualized and would present, to the outside world, as rather firmly entrenched in amber/mysticism and may be more likely to fall prey to fundamentalism. Magic is also an accepted component of Religious Taoism; this is a religion of vicarious power. While I am very much in favor of seeing the magical in nearly everything, if superstition and ignorance are also a part of a school of thought or religion, then the religion itself becomes the “raft” rather than a vehicle to help one evolve. In these types of religions, persons become deified and rules and regulations become dogma (Smith pp.204-207). It seems to me that Religious or Popular Taoism could present as such and perhaps even be such a religion; however, I am aware that I am looking at this type of Taoism from my own Western lens and thus may be missing the nuances.

The third use of power is augmented power. Smiths says this type of Taoism is not clearly defined but has some basic tenets in common (p.199). Smith defines it as “Taoist Hygiene and Yoga” (p.200). Most practitioners of this third type of Taoism are actively involved in some kind of training program, often rigorous. The purpose of the rigorous training and purification of the body is to increase the amounts of Chi available to one. It is also necessary to become selfless, calm, and practice personal cleanliness (Smith, pp200—204). In many respects, this conglomerate of practices seem very similar to Buddhist practices, which may explain how Taoism, Confuciusm, and Buddhism have seemed to merge into one undifferentiated whole to the uninformed Western observer. It is not entirely surprising that these three “religions” are so easily interchangeable in the minds of many: generally speaking, each present as more a manner of living an ethical life than a religion per se, although Religious or Popular Taoism seems more organized and full of dogma and potential fundamentalism than the rest.

For me, Taoism seems easily incorporated into Buddhism, which works well for me because I am attempting to simplify my life and live in an ethical way. Merging the two religions makes sense to me because both offer similar guidelines but each bring something fresh to my perspective and widen the lens through which I view the world. I feel that Taoism loosely tied to Buddhism is a multi-faceted vehicle to move to a higher stage of development. I am not at present actively seeking “altered states” but am attempting to live, embody, and practice being my most authentic, ethical self and feel that these two practices are most appropriate to the moment as I intuitively feel that I am on the cusp of something new ~to me at any rate. I suspect that this is what Wilber meant when he referred to “stations:” our evolution is like taking a train. We get on and off and move closer to our destination all the time. The truly wonderful thing is that we get to choose which station is best for us! Of course, the more “stations” one visits, the better world centric view one acquires….but tolerance for those who choose the, for lack of a better metaphor, lower platforms is also part of riding the train to the top of the mountain, which is where the stream originates.