What is the Tao (Way) - Essay Example

What is the Tao (Way) This paper encompasses a discussion of Tao. More specifically the discussion includes and examination of the question 'what is the Tao way' This is certainly not a question that has one answer. That is because Ta is a philosophy and a way of thought. This paper will examine two aspects of this school of thought known as Tao bases on two journal articles. The Confucian way of Tao and the East and West ways of Tao will be examined in the paper. The definition of Tao is "Tao represents the basic concept of Taoism. In general, this term belongs to the spiritual atmosphere of the ancient China and can be translated "way", "mean", "art", "skill"., 1 To answer the question, what is the Tao way, depends on which tenets of Tao you side with. Tao can be translated differently depending on the perspective of the doctrines of Tao and individuals understand. This means that individuals have different doctrines of Tao and it depends on which of these doctrines an individual understands and how they understand that the question can be answered. Tao can be though of a philosophical school of thought and one of these schools of thought is the one that concerns the thoughts of Confucius. According to Confucius and those that understand Tao with these doctrines Tao "refers , "Tao" refers to the art of ruling the state of the ancient emperors like King Wen and the Duke of Chou," 2 1 Mitchell, Stephen. "Tao Te Ching" (1998) New York. 1st Perenn similar concepts." 3 In this context, the polisemy of this term resembles the polisemy of the concept "prima materia" of the Greek-Egyptian classique alchemy or of the medieval European alchemy. The way of Tao is the way a person perceives these tenets and uses them in their life. They can be used in all aspects of an individual's life from work ethic to the way they understand the world. The Tao way can be thought of as the way a person understands. The way a person understands Tao depends on their beliefs about Tao. Tao is traditionally an Eastern religion and school of thought; however, it is now practiced in the Western cultures. The answer to the question might differ in the East than the West because the doctrines and interpretation have changed slightly in Western cultures. This is due to the fact that Tao is a part of life in the East for many and they been taught the philosophies and doctrines of Tao since birth. Tao in a sense has been adopted in the Western cultures so some of the concepts have deviated in the process. Nagarjuna and the Limits of Thought Jay L. Garfield and Graham Priest Nagarjuna seems willing to embrace contradictions while at the same time making use of classic reductio arguments. He asserts that he rejects all philosophical views including his own-that he asserts nothing-and appears to mean it. It is argued here that he, like many philosophers in the West and, indeed, like many of his Buddhist colleagues, discovers and explores true contradictions arising at the limits of thought. For those who share a dialetheist's comfort with the possibility of true contradictions commanding rational assent, for Nagarjuna to endorse such contradictions would not undermine but instead confirm the impression that he is indeed a highly rational thinker. It is argued that the contradictions he discovers are structurally analogous to many discovered by Western philosophers and mathematicians. 3 Graham explains that "Taoism, the practice of the Tao concepts) started as a combination of psychology and philosophy but evolved into a religious faith in 440 CE when it was adopted as a state religion." 4 At that time, Lao-Tse became popularly venerated as a deity. Earlier in this discussion, the Confucius philosophy was explained to be one school of thought that individuals used to understand Tao. This is because they are closely related and the thoughts of Eastern religions have many of the same doctrines. Taoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, became one of the three great religions of China around the time of 440 CE. "With the end of the Ching Dynasty in 1911, state support for Taoism ended." (Mitchell) As a result much of the Taoist heritage was destroyed during the next period of warlords Tao as a way of life has changed over the history of Tao because of the changes of the doctrines the way individuals have and do understand Tao vary from era and location. To consider the Tao way it is important to understand the foundation of the beliefs of Tao. However it is not rare to have Taoists define the Tao in different ways. They vary because of the changes examined in this paper and therefore one of the most difficult tasks is determining the specific beliefs of Taoists. Because the tradition is so ancient, and is linked so closely with Confucianism, it can be difficult to distinguish the individual beliefs. Often a person is likely to consider themselves a Taoist and a Confucian. 5 3, 5 Graham, A.C. "Chuang-Tzu: The Seven Inner Chapters." (1991)London: George Allen & Unwin. 4 Stalnaker, Aaron. "Aspects of Xunzi's Engagement with Early Daoism" Philosophy East and West - Volume 53, Number 1, January 2003, pp. 87-129. According to Confucius in "The Analects" The philosopher Yu said, "They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend against their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion. "The superior man bends his attention to what is radical. That being established, all practical courses naturally grow up. Filial piety and fraternal submission,-are they not the root of all benevolent actions" 6 Kao takes another vview on these same tenets. "Traditional confidence in the ability of conceptual thinking to control the working of rhetorical figures started to receive serious challenges in the nineteenth century. Nietzsche pointed out that thinking is always and inseparably tied to the rhetorical devices that are part and parcel of language itself. Not only does the philosophical discourse lack epistemological superiority over other kinds of discourse, it is self-deluding for us to think that any kind of discourse could be exempted from rhetorical penetration and contamination. Set forth mainly in the well-known essay that describes "truth" as a used-up, worn-out metaphor, Nietzsche's criticism of the truth-claim of philosophical discourse as illusory has to do with his mistrust of metaphysics. Reality and truth are not accessible without mediation, while interpretations and "anthropomorphisms" have their roots not in some transcendental source but the drive to appropriate and conquer, the "will to power" 7 One of the reasons Tao is understood differently in the East than the West is because it is complex to translate the exact meaning of Tao into English. In the most 6 Confucius translated by James Legge. "The Analects 500 BC" 2003. As viewed on the worldwide web at URL http://www.4literature.net/Confucius/Analects/ 7 Kao, Carl S. "Comparative Literature and the Ideology of Metaphor, East and West" Peking UP, Purdue University Press 1997 general terms it can be translated as the path or the way. The Tao is the path that one must follow in life. From this perspective it is a code of behavior. The Tao is the natural order of all things and is based on the principles of Yin and Yang. Primarily speaking, however, Taoists believe that Tao is the universal life force or the underlying nature of all things that exist in the world. 8 Given the premise of Tao it is easy to change in understanding from individual to individual. Tao can be thought of as a concept and those that practice Tao may use and understand these concepts in different way. The Tao way can easily vary between individuals but there are certain basic tenets of Tao that can be understood in different ways just because people have different perspectives. This does not mean one Taoist and their perception and understanding of Tao is right or wrong. There is technically no correct way to believe in the tenets of Tao. "Taoists believe that the world that we experience is the manifestation of the unmanifest Tao." (Mitchell) This means that the Tao way of life is a manifestation. The pattern of the Tao is one of return. In other words, it is a process of coming into being, maturing, and then decaying and returning to the Tao. Everything in the world is a part of this constant cycle. All things possess their own te or destiny. When this te is not opposed it will naturally manifest itself in the process of life. 9 This is the Tao way and it can be thought of as an individual understanding because 8 Chan, Wing-tsit. 1963. "The Way of Lao Tzu, a Translation and Study of the Tao Te Ching." Indi 9 Lao-tzu. "Tao Te Ching". Written by Lao-tzu. From a translation by S. Mitchell. everyone has different experiences therefore their manifestation of the Tao is likely to vary. The highest virtue of Taoism is to never act but to leave nothing undone. The concept of nonaction or Wu Wei is another of the main concepts of Taoism. It refers to doing things so that it appears that a person is making no effort to accomplish the goal. By adhering to the principle of Wu Wei, a person is thought to be closely following the way. A person who lives by Wu Wei has returned to his or her original nature, before he or she was tampered with by knowledge. This state is likened to that of an uncarved block and is referred to as Pu. 10 Lao Tzu believed that Wu Wei would lead to a peaceful and harmonious society. 11 Taoists believe that man is a microcosm for the universe. They believe that the body corresponds with the plan of the universe. The five organs of the body correspond to the five directions, the five holy mountains, the sections of the sky, the seasons, and the elements. Taoists believe that by understanding man a person can comprehend the ultimate structure of the universe. ( Read More