Taoism or Daoism is based upon the concept of the Tao (or Dao) and its literal meaning of the path, or way. The Tao is the main principle of Taoism, where the Tao is seen as the natural order of the universe. This understanding of the universe and all-encompassing things within whether alive or inanimate, cannot be defined in mere words, but rather become known through actual living experience in everyday beings (Smith, 2009). The Taoist individual becomes more reliant upon their own intuition in order to understand the potential for their own individual wisdom. The universe came into being with us together; with us, all things are one. The Tao is simply inconceivable, and therefore it is useless to say another word about it. Intuitively, we know there is a dimension of ourselves and of nature that eludes us because it is too close, too general, and too all-embracing to be singled out as a particular object. This dimension is the ground of all the astonishing forms and experiences of which we are aware. Because we are aware, it cannot be unconscious, although we are not conscious of it as an external thing. We can give it a name but cannot make any definitive statement about it. The only way of apprehending it is by watching the process and patterns of nature and by the meditative discipline of allowing our minds to become quiet, to have a vivid awareness of “what is” without verbal comment.

Chinese culture and its views on religion have evolved over many centuries with Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism being considered the “three pillars” of ancient Chinese society (National Geographic Society, 2022). Consequently, most Chinese people have practiced Confucianism in their ethics and public life, Taoism in their private life and hygiene, and Buddhism at the time of death, along with shamanistic folk religion also added in along the way. “Every Chinese wears a Confucian hat, Taoist robes, and Buddhist sandals” (Smith, 2009).

There are 3 main types of Taoism. The first type is referred to as philosophical Taoism, where it is essentially a frame of mind, where the goal is to conserve one’s te or power, by expending it efficiently. This type of Taoism holds the main concept of wu wei, meaning “inaction” but in Taoism means pure effectiveness. Wu wei is an action in which the individual strives to minimize conflict in relationships and be in harmony with nature (Smith, 2009). This concept more simply stated would be to learn to “go with the flow”. Attempting to exist in opposition to the Tao, one will eventually be consumed by it. Striving to live in harmony with the Tao or more specifically wu wei, will benefit from this relationship. Living more in harmony with the Tao can be often seen as being more out in the world and nature to experience its gifts while living a life interacting with nature as well as with others.

A second type of Taoism is “vitalizing” where practitioners strive to maximize their life force, also called qi or chi. These adepts worked with their minds, matter, and physical movement, to increase their life force (Smith, 2009).  Some may find this branch of Taoism as more unusual or unfamiliar as Huston Smith called it a “vitality cult” (Smith, 2009). Most belief systems and/or religions are based upon the unknown, mysteries, and unconfirmed facts. To the uninformed, what is considered one person’s religion may very well be another person’s cult.

A third type of Taoism was influenced by Buddhism, being that of Religious Taoism. Here the actions of psychics, free-lance soothsayers, shamans, and faith healers who may have come by their powers naturally, religious Taoism institutionalized these activities (Smith, 2009). Religious Taoism appears as a crude superstition to the uneducated. At the time of Smith’s observation, science knew little of what energy is, how it proceeds, or the means by which it can be utilized (Smith, 2009). However, currently, we do know about faith healing engaging energies, including faith in oneself. Placebos are now known and proven to have various healing effects mentally, physically, and/or spiritually.

I have had much firsthand experience with all 3 of these types of Taoism along with Buddhism and Confucianism, as a philosophical lifestyle, as my martial arts and qigong lineages are deeply rooted within these belief systems. I did not priorly nor formally study any of these philosophies but rather lived with them in my life. I see the concepts and principles found within these philosophies as being highly relevant to my everyday routine. I was raised within the Christian Church and more specifically the Lutheran and Disciples of Christ branches. Taoism does not oppose nor contradict these Christian faiths but rather supports morals and ethics found in many other religions.

The Taoist concept of yin and yang, where harmony and balance coexist, contrast and relativity are seen in all things in life and nature. Yin and yang ultimately affect all aspects of life in health, relationships, business, and even other religions in various other aspects. Yin and yang are much more than simply the contrast between dark and light. The symbol for this concept depicts cause and effect, ebb and flow, and other manifestations of harmony, and is known as the Tajitu. The symbol actually has more components beyond just the 2 fish-shaped halves. The complete circle itself consists of the two halves, plus the small dots of contrast found in each half, and lastly, the line that divides the two halves. These dots remind us that nothing is truly black or white, or absolute. The fine line resting between the two opposing halves may be viewed as the gray area that we sometimes find ourselves navigating when striving to balance our decisions. Decisions between what we perceive as true, right, or correct for whatever situation and circumstances relate to any particular time and place. What is seen as correct yesterday may not be so today; appropriate for one, may not be for another. These components collectively represent the ever-changing relationship of all of these various pieces and parts that make up the whole.

Taoism does explain the creation of the Universe and what exists within it. The Tao transformed from the nothingness or Wuji, to yin and yang, then further into the 5 Elements or Wuxing, then to the 8 trigrams or Bagua, and eventually into the Ten Thousand Things. Some people may see these concepts as religious, while others may interpret as philosophy and maybe even others will see these ideas as a science of the universe.

The I Ching, a Taoist philosophical text written by Fu Xi around 1300 BCE, addresses 64 phases in that we go through in the process of becoming a human being (Hon, 2019). Through these phases, one can evolve from basically being unconscious to hopefully conscious, from an inferior to a superior human being. It actually takes considerable effort and time to become what we consider human. We are born basically like any other animal and more specifically a mammal, but with the potential abilities to learn to communicate and reason.

There is a fundamental belief within Taoism, that we are not born with the wisdom of being “correct” but rather we are born and begin to be “true” in our perceptions, words, and actions. For example, a child cries because they are hungry, expressing their true feelings of hunger pangs in their stomach. Later in life, that same child will learn that the correct way to express oneself may be to ask for food verbally. We are usually not born as balanced or enlightened human beings. Humans are not intrinsically born as what we often label as “good”. Our nature is seemingly good as an innocent little human being but basically, we are born as an animal with no inherent skill to survive physically or socially. Unguided children will not feed, clothe or potty-train themselves. If you look at any young child not nurtured, guided, or refined by a parent or mentor of that child, that child will instinctively do whatever they please until met with resistance. The child is not inherently “bad” but rather has instinctive behavior, similar to that of a little animal not knowing of boundaries or refinement. If the parent doesn’t accept this duty of actual parenting, the child may eventually grow into an adult who spends their whole life behaving like an animal. If the parent does not take the time to give their child life direction by teaching with words and actions rooted in principle and love, that child will become a human being in physical form, while remaining an animal in their consciousness and relative actions.

Some belief systems or philosophic schools of thought believe that we have to earn our human potential beyond that of being an animal. We are born into a particular set of circumstances or actions of cause and effect, known as karma, in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Even before we arrive in the physical form of a zygote, embryo, or fetus, there is a belief structure that we already made an agreement based upon our karma, of what kind of resources one will come into this world with and relative life from these resources. These may include time and place of birth, physical or mental traits, ethnicity, status, and other cultural variables. Hopefully, the individual earned good karma in their past life because that affects where and to who they are born into.

The first phase of life is childhood from birth to age 8, which is considered as Spring and is highly relative to one’s past karma. The individual child has very little control over their own current karma at this age, relying almost entirely upon where they were born and who their parents are. The order of the next phases of life would be Summer (ages 8-33), Late Summer (ages 33-58), Fall (ages 58-83), and Winter (ages 83-108). These phases of the year correspond accordingly with the 5 Element Theory or Wuxing (Wuxing, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d.), and the mental and physical changes we experience throughout our whole cycle of one lifetime.

After the initial spring phase of childhood and into young adulthood or summer, the individual begins to work on choosing whether or not they are going to go through life in a state of unconscious suffering or go through life evolving as a conscious human being. Life is a challenge or struggle, and we all experience this struggle differently. The struggle never ends as we strive to become more human until we can no longer. Similar to standing upright on two feet, we always have a struggle to work and exert effort to stay standing. As soon as we stop working on standing, we fall. Consequently, there is this constant struggle to become more human or to use other labels such as self-realization or self-mastery. Realization in this context may be defined as having an advanced understanding of the interrelationship of their mind, body, and consciousness. Self-cultivation is another appropriate term, as we ourselves are actually the garden that needs constant tending. Some among us may have started on this path decades long ago, trying to navigate within this lifestyle and path of self-cultivation. Some are considered spiritual teachers or leaders. They are not done yet, as we are never truly done as far as this physical life is concerned. If life is a constant struggle, the concept we have to accept is that no one is entitled to anything. If we truly want to change our reality, we need to realize that no one is going to change it for us. Not our friends, family, boss, government, or anyone other than ourselves. The universe and nature offer no entitlements that are going to change our individual reality. It starts with us taking ownership and responsibility to change our own set of circumstances and actions (karma) whether good or bad. If we look at our situations or circumstances as being someone else’s fault or responsibility, we have lost control over our own life and our own potential outcomes. Ultimately, we may realize that we allow others the power to manage our lives until we choose to change this reality, as we alone choose to make ourselves good or make ourselves bad.

We have no true freedom if we are subject to the will of others. Self-cultivation is about taking total ownership of our own life and its direction.  We have this choice every minute of every day, until death. Ancient and time-proven safe and effective methods of mind and body practices rooted in Buddhism and Taoism, such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, and other methods, offer ways to build character, strength, and self-discipline. Within some belief systems, these practices can affect one’s karma. By regular and consistent execution in maintaining a particular posture or stance, despite the physical discomfort in doing so, the individual develops the fundamentals of self-discipline. These practices offer a very deliberate equation or recipe, to achieve self-cultivation. Self-cultivation cannot be achieved by luck or chance. Similar to traveling to a specific destination, one cannot easily reach their target by chance, without a map or sense of direction. Religions of Hinduism offer the Yamas and Niyamas whereas Christianity holds the 10 Commandments as guidance or maps of direction. Buddhism has the philosophy of the Eightfold Path and Islam has their 5 Pillars. The philosophy of Taoism has a similar guide in its own Eight-step Path.

This Eight-step Path of Taoism is where I will focus some attention. This path of processes is a map or recipe of insights that may lead to experiences in varying levels of evolution of our own consciousness. This recipe is rooted in the understanding that our life is basically a continuous yearly journey around the sun where we all go through the yearly cycles of the climatic seasons. The climate appears very random to us as children, where we see sun and rain for a while and then a time later of wind and snow. Until we are taught that there is a deliberate repeating cycle, this change in our surroundings, environment and relative weather patterns seems to be so random. When the child knowingly experiences a second or third year of the season changes, the climate becomes less confusing and actually more predictable. Similarly, the steps or cycles of the Eight-step Path may appear at first to be somewhat random but are quite deliberate.

The first step may be the most difficult, which is to truly see oneself in the highest expression of their humanness. The Sanskrit word of namaste, meaning of “may the divine in me see the divine in you”. The challenge here is that in most cases, the individual cannot see the divine in others because they cannot see it first in themselves. This highly important component is in the reflection of actually looking inside of yourself. Often this step is most uncomfortable, where the individual is venturing outside of their comfort zone in order to go through the humility of seeing themselves in a less-than-perfect perspective. This is where methods of sitting, standing, and moving practices within yoga, qigong, tai chi, and others can offer these self-awareness reflections, in addition to their mere basic physical benefits of Westernized glorified stretching and breathing exercises. Beyond just exercising the body, these somewhat gentle methods can require the practitioner to become aware of their various aspects of weaknesses in their postural alignments, coordination, balance, and other facets of their self-awareness like breath and heart rate. Observing and becoming aware of our physical body is the gateway into becoming more aware of our complex thoughts and emotions. We are not our thoughts, but rather the observer and master of them. Within the Tao Te Ching we find the wisdom text relating to reflection in (Novak, 1994):

“Knowing others is intelligence,

knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength,

mastering yourself is true power.

If you realize that you have enough,

you are truly rich…”

We can seek to find the root causes of the turbidity and chaos in our society today, where most people do not aspire to see their true selves and the chaos coming from within. This can be evident in our lack of taking ownership and accountability for any of our own behaviors. Self-reflection is a very important component of any belief system or spiritual cultivation. It is called reflection because in ancient times, mirrors did not exist. One would actually have to look at water in order to see their own image or a reflection thereof. If the water was moving or turbid it would not be possible to see one’s reflection. Similarly, if one’s thoughts and relative lifestyle are turbid, it is very difficult for one to self-reflect. Your mind is that water and so you never really get a chance to see your true nature because it’s not very tranquil enough and never clear enough to reveal even just a fleeting glimpse of our true nature. This is an important component of spirituality, self-improvement, self-awareness, or whatever one chooses to call this concept. This nature of our higher nature isn’t just your nature. It is my nature. It is his and her nature. It is all of our nature. It is all the same nature being that we are all basically connected. The divine in me sees the divine in all. We all have one little particle of that highest nature and when it is momentarily separated, we suffer the illusion of individuality for only a moment.

I do not see Taoism, Confucianism, or Buddhism as religions, but rather as life philosophies in that they hold principles that can easily be seen and/or incorporated into other spiritual belief systems. What I find most appealing about Taoism is that I don’t find it to be a religion by definition, but rather a philosophy of how to navigate the human condition. I have found that Taoism at its core seeks to focus on holistic, universal, and peaceful principles of living in harmony with nature and the natural order of all within it, whether alive or inanimate.

References:

Chinese Religions and Philosophies | National Geographic Society. (2022, May 20). National Geographic. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/chinese-religions-and-philosophies/

Hon, Tze-Ki, “Chinese Philosophy of Change (Yijing)”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/chinese-change

Novak, P. (1994). The World’s Wisdom. Retrieved from https://platform.virdocs.com/r/s/0/doc/122387/sp/178876424/mi/570541808?cfi=%2F4%5Btext%5D%2F2%5Bchapter06%5D%2F6%2F250%2F2%2C%2F1%3A0%2C%2F1%3A0

Smith, H. (2009). The World’s Religions. Retrieved from https://platform.virdocs.com/r/s/0/doc/119147/sp/178692013/mi/570158024?cfi=%2F4%2F2%5Bch8%5D%2F4%2F182%2C%2F1%3A0%2C%2F1%3A0

Wuxing (Wu-hsing) | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n.d.). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://iep.utm.edu/wuxing/

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