Taoism & Buddhism

Taoism (pronounced Dow-ism)

Chinese philosophy, founded by Lao Tsu
(604 BCE)
Text: Tao Te Ching (Book of The Way and its
Virtue)
Form of nature-mysticism, similarities w/
Buddhism
Goal of Taoism: to live in harmony with
nature by learning to balance the
complementary forces of Yin and Yang
which pervade the universe

Tao Te Ching: One

The tao that can be told is not the eternal
Tao.
The name that can be named is not the
eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and
earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand
things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the
manifestations.

Tao Te Ching: Fourteen

Look, it cannot be seen--it is beyond form.
Listen, it cannot be heard--it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be held--it is intangible.
These three are indefinable;
Therefore they are joined in one.
From above it is not bright;
From below it is not dark:
An unbroken thread beyond description.
It returns to nothingness.
The form of the formless,
The image of the imageless,
It is called indefinable and beyond imagination.
Stand before it and there is no beginning.
FOllow it and there is no end.
Stay with the ancient Tao,
Move with the present.

The Meaning of Tao (Dow)

Two Approximate Meanings:
1. The Way--as in the way to go
2. Nature--as in ones true nature, and/or
the nature of things, and/or the way of
nature or the universe
I prefer not to translate the word Tao at all
because to us Tao is a sort of nonsense
syllable, indicating the mystery that we
can never understand Tao is thus a
reality that we apprehend deeply without
really being able to define it (Alan Watts,

Yin/Yang
Yin and Yang describes how opposite or contrary
forces are actually complementary,
interconnected,
and interdependent in the natural world, they
give
rise to each other as they interrelate to one another
Yang
Yin
positive/active/male principle
negative/passive/female principle
sun/day
moon/night
hot
cold
hard
soft

The relationship between yin and

yang is described in terms of
sunlight playing over a mountain and
a valley. Yin ('shady place' or 'north
slope') is the dark area occluded by
the mountain's bulk, while yang
('sunny place' or 'south slope') is the
brightly lit half. As the sun moves
across the sky, yin and yang gradually trade places
with each other, revealing what was obscured and
obscuring what was revealed.

When people see some things as beautiful,

other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
--:Lao Tsu

Fundamental Ideas
The natural world in which we live,
indeed human nature itself, must be
trusted.
Tzu-Jan = of-itself (or by itself)
Wu Wei = not forcing (or not
pushing)
Te = skill at living (the virtue of living
skillfully, of not getting in ones own
way)
Judo = the gentle way (or the strength
of weakness)

Tao Te Ching: Thirteen

Accept disgrace willingly.
Accept misfortune as the human condition.
What do you mean by Accept disgrace willingly?
Accept being unimportant.
Do no be concerned with loss or gain.
This is called accepting disgrace willingly.
What do you mean by Accept misfortune as the human
condition?
Misfortune comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be misfortune?
Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to
care for all things.