Taoism and Lao Tzu
In referring to and studying the Tao, one of my first responses has been to reference those who over the centuries have looked to the wisdom of Lao Tzu who have embraced Taoist thought and philosophy through their own voice and commentaries.
To be authentic, you need to live first, then learn to express yourself through your virtue, timeless memories and the perspective of the person you are still in the act of becoming.
People should understand that appreciating Taoism isn’t an “either-or” choice, but rather a way to see how it reflects the vastness and variety of everything in nature. The unknowable Tao does not compete, and as I’ve said, nothing can compete with it. It is the cosmos, endlessly renewing itself just like us.
Living in harmony with nature and its connection to the ideas of “wordless teaching” and “succeeding without effort” are meant to guide and inspire us as we move forward on our own personal journey.
I think Huai-Nan-tzu, the grandson of Lui Pang, the first Han emperor and was a devoted Taoist who unfortunately was accused of plotting to succeed to the throne wrote a book of Taoism saying,
“The light of the sun shines across the Four Seas but cannot penetrate a closed door or covered window. While the light of our spirit reaches everywhere and is meant to nourish everything without distinction.”
Lao Tzu teaches that we should first seek clarity and order to keep our inner energies in harmony and balance. If we search for something outside ourselves without first embracing simplicity, equilibrium, harmony, and quietude, we risk looking for the wrong thing.
The real benefit is that it lets our energy flow and work as it should. By giving these cosmic or universal principles a human characteristic or touch, we come to see ourselves as just a natural part of the universal order.
Finally, from the Ma-wang-tui text on Chapter 43, “The softest, most pliable thing in the world runs roughshod over the firmest thing in the world. That which has no substance gets into that which has no spaces or cracks. I therefore know that there is benefit in taking no action. The wordless teaching, the benefit of taking no action – few in the world can realize these!”
Verse 43 – Mirroring the Tao
Go forth this day without form or substance and teach without words that otherwise may cloud the way.
Remaining free to come and go even to places where appearances show no room as you lift the spirit of those around you and help all to find their way.
Appearing to do nothing. Remaining behind the scenes as the ten thousand things are transformed and completed. Imitating the Tao.
Mirroring the Tao my spirit soars with the dragons and prospers becoming speechless, following the Tao you take no action. Just as energy from the sun brings life to all it finds – it cannot penetrate a closed door or a covered window.
The light of our spirit reaches everywhere and nourishes everything once we have opened the doors and windows of spirit to the ultimate that calls us. Allowing the weakest to overtake the strongest and the strongest to find their true place in the universe. Succeeding without effort everything under Heaven becoming one.
43. 反映真道
今日前行，没有形和物。我们施教于无言之中，用语言施教，反而使道不清不楚。你振奋众人的精神，帮助他们寻道。即使没有了空间，你依然能够来往自如。
当万象更新时，你却置身隐处，不动声色。仿效道，反映道，与神龙在一起，我的精神高昂，万事顺利。你变得无言无语，跟随着道，你不需行动。太阳普照大地，生命欣欣向荣。但是，太阳不能够穿越紧闭的大门和遮蔽的窗口。
一旦我们响应道的召唤，打开心灵的大门和窗口，我们的精神之光就无处不有，滋生万物。让柔弱取代刚强，让刚强在宇宙自里寻找自己的归宿。我们不费力气，就大功告成。上天之下，万物合一。
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