ATS1041 WORLD RELIGIONS Assignment Essay Student: Trung Thanh Truong (Bruce) ID: 21837023 Tutor: Mr David Slucki

ki Tutorial: Wednesday 12pm

Topic: Discuss the Taoist quote: Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way

2 The Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way. Taoism, which is also referred to as Daoism in the modern world, is both a religious and philosophical aspect in the Chinese tradition. Taoism emphasizes on living harmoniously in the community with Tao or Dao as recognized in the modern world. In the Chinese community, the word Tao is used to refer to a principle, a path or a way. When used in Taoism, the word Tao is used to denote something, which is viewed as a source or a driving force that is behind everything that is in existence. The Chinese culture is known for coming up with many quotes derived from their traditions and beliefs. One of the most famous quotes is The Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way. To the Chinese community, the way can be used to mean a process or a procedure of blossoming of the ultimate reality, which is the transformation of everything. The issue of transformation is central to the Chinese community. This is because the culture values transformation in numerous aspects of life such as in the I Ching. This is also known as the book of changes, and in the aspect of kaizen where the Chinese refer to continuous improvement or changing for a better course. The Chinese society is a complex society with many myths and beliefs mostly concerning their well-kept traditions. Tao is incomprehensible from the perspective of words but can be revealed through understanding the interaction between ying and yang, which can be equated to the negative and positive fields of the magnet. Ying and yang usually correlate but result in contradictions. This is because the issue behind the yin and yang is a paradox (Kristofer, 2000). Here, they view the strong as the soft, the crooked as the straight as well as the empty as the full. Individuals who can flow naturally to the yin and yang are referred to as the sage. The paradox comes in as individuals view that, without the crookedness of the surface, there cannot be the straight.

3 The Chinese explain this paradox from the perspective of the flowing water, which they view as one of the powerful forces on earth. Although water is soft, it flows on and around large stone objects, which then wear away. To them, the sage overcomes the rigid. This is the same concept of change, which is emphasized in this society and has great value. On the other hand, since the Tao can be mysterious, a better way of gaining insight on the aspect is by analyzing the Return concept. This concept is controlled by a three-stage procedure, which is referred to as Keeping the One. Through this procedure, the Taoists are able to establish the awareness between themselves and the cosmos. This will eventually help them in bridging the gap between them and the cosmos. This is the reason the Chinese talk about not the constant way. This also implies the culture of change in that the normal way is not always the best way. Additionally, the society should keep on looking for new ways of doing things (Sing, 2005). Through the Return, Taoists follow a normal natural order of the world. On the other hand, they try to deepen their own understanding concerning the world and themselves. This brings up the issue of transformation to the context. After following the rules of the Return, Taoists realize that the totality of being and the self are the same thing. Therefore, by crystallizing and establishing the relationship existing between the self and the Tao, an individual can indeed acquire a perspective through which to comprehend the meaning of Tao that is complex. Since the world has a beginning, which can be referred as the mother of the world, Taoists view Tao as the mother of the planet. The way can also be explained from the perspective of wu-wei. Wu-wei is a central and a closely related theme to the Chinese culture. It suggests self-emptying, stillness, as well as quietness where an individual allows The Way to be trough them. Simply put, wu-wei is acting without actions or through remaining silence and still.

4 The Tzu is another thematic concept central to the Chinese culture. This concept is closely linked to sympathy and love, as well as the mystery of organization. This concept represents the existing prominent preoccupation by Taoists on the relationship between parts and wholes (Hansen, 2007). This encompasses relatedness, sympathy synthesis so as to presuppose other factors such as possibility, contingency, as well as freedom. Keeping the one, chaos, and The Return have significant meanings to the Taoists. Taking Keeping the One into consideration, the Taoists eliminate any existing imbalances within the self so as to form an organic whole that can interact with its environment freely. The first step of Keeping the One incorporates rituals, meditation, as well as other patterned behavior. Through martial arts, the Taoists desynchronize their minds from the bodies where the bodies are, in turn, out of sync with the breath. This disharmony ensures that the Taoist is separated from the one. The imbalances are overcome through the performance of specific sequential movements where they integrate their bodily motion with the breath. During this process, the mind must cooperate fully because failure to cooperation the techniques might not be attained. With respect to the quote, the Chinese eliminate the imbalances to advance themselves, which is transformation. This is because Taoists are able to overcome tensions within the self, which makes it possible for them to interact with the organic whole. The culture also considers the concept of chaos where Taoists move beyond rituals, as well as an intricately structured form into chaos. In this culture, when musicians start playing any instrument, they play it continuously until the note is recognizable. By this point, the musicians have mastered the preliminary stage (Stines, 1985). Within the desired chaos, the Taoists interact freely with the totality of being. When the physical body exists no more as all individual entity, it exists permanently as the body of the Tao. Oneness with the Tao (path), the union with the

5 underlying being of the universe, leads to a freedom of all, to the ability to participate in the movements of existence to be or not to be, just as life itself may be latent or active, hidden or apparent (Sawyer, n.d). Despite the fact that the stage of chaos may be seen as the end, to the Taoists, a third stage that exists is known as the Return. In this stage, the Taoists do not move as per the external where they do not react to any situation that may arise (Verellen, 1995). Instead, Taoists become one with the arising situation. Here, the message behind not the constant way is explained. This is because The Way as the normal way indicates no ordinary lasting way. In this case, Taoists can be seen as an individual who is driving. If the individual takes a familiar route, they might not note the drive until they reach home due to experience. Here, the obstacles along the familiar route cease to be obstacles and become part of the driving experience. At this point, the distractions that may exist between the act of driving and the route usually disappear. In the same way, during this stage, dichotomy existing between the Tao and the individuals experience disappears (Peerenboom, 1990). The important part of the third stage is that the culture of Taoists goes beyond themselves because they cannot become the same with the Tao unless they become open to the totality of being. The Chinese dictionary explains the term spoken of from the verbal perspective where it could mean lead, guide or speak. Additionally, the Chinese dictionary explanation substitutes the way with Tao. Therefore, substituting that guides for spoken of in the quote and using the Chinese verbal perspective, the quote would be The Tao that guides is not the constant Tao.( Ross, 2012). This implies that the Tao guides but is not the only way, which brings up the issue of transformation. However, it is not appropriate to take the term way with its most lateral meaning and referring to the most obscure and hidden meaning of way. Therefore, the quote

6 The Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way, can be interpreted in several ways, which seem to imply the same thing. The common way of doing things is not the only way. As the Chinese culture value transformation, the quote could also mean that looking for other ways to accomplish something would ensure that an individual advances or transforms the society for the better.

7 References Hansen, C. (2007). Taoism. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/taoism/ Kristofer, S. (2000). Taoism: The story of the way. Humanities, 21(6), 35. Peerenboom, R. P. (1990). Cosmogony, the Taoist way. Journal of Chinese psychology, 17(1), 157-174. Ross, K. L. (2012). Comments on the Tao Te Ching: Using the D.C Lau Translation (Penguin Books, 1963). Retrieved from http://www.friesian.com/taote.htm Sawyer, S. W. (n.d). The Tao as a Path. Retrieved from http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/hhr4-3.html Sing, Z. (2005). Taoism 101. Retrieved from http://www.the-professor-mon.com/general-taoism/Taoism101.html Stines, J. W. (1985). I am the way: Michael Polanyis Taoism. Zygon, 20(1), 59-77. Verellen, F. (1995). Taoism, Journal of Asian studies. 54(2), 322-330.