What is Tao?
Copied from an article by Derek Lin
at: taoism.net
Tao (pronounced "dao") means literally "the path" or "the way."
It is a universal principle that underlies everything
from the creation of galaxies to the interaction of human beings.
The workings of Tao are vast and often beyond human logic.
In order to understand Tao, reasoning alone will not suffice.
One must also apply intuition.
More information about Tao from: About_the_Tao
In ancient China, the keeper of the Imperial Library, Lao Tzu, was famous for his wisdom. Perceiving the growing corruption of the government, he left for the countryside.
On his way, the guard at the city gates asked Lao Tzu to write out the essence of his understanding to benefit future generations.
Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, left, and was never heard of again.
The Tao Te Ching (also called "The Tao", "The Dao" or the "Dao De Jing"), by Lao Tzu, is one of the most influential books in history.
It is the source of famous Chinese sayings such as
"Those who know do not speak, those who speak, do not know"
and "Even a 1,000 mile journey starts with a single step".
Quotes from Lao Tzu:
Those who know, do not speak.
Those who speak, do not know.
Poem 17:
Analytical thinking,
which divides and dissects,
does not satisfy the needs of the spirit,
for the spirit finds peace in unity,
which exists only in emptiness,
where thinking has no influence.
To step into the realm of the spirit is to abandon thinking.
Can you step over the precipice,
not knowing what is below?
Life starts this way.
Chapters from the Tao:
Chapter 1 -What is the Tao?
The "Tao" is too great to be described by the name "Tao".
If it could be named so simply, it would not be the eternal Tao.
Heaven and Earth began from the nameless (Tao),
but the multitudes of things around us were created by names.
We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see,
but these things are only the effects of something subtle.
When we see beyond the desire to use names,
we can sense the nameless cause of these effects.
The cause and the effects are aspects of the same, one thing.
They are both mysterious and profound.
At their most mysterious and profound point lies the "Gate of the Great Truth".
Chapter 2 -Making things ugly
When people see beauty, they think, "that's beautiful".
Thinking of something as beautiful makes you think other things are ugly.
Calling something "good" forces you to call some other things "evil."
The ideas "difficult" and "easy" support each other.
"Long" and "short" define each other.
"High" creates "low" "Tone" creates "noise"
"Before" creates "after" "Have" creates "don't have"
This is why the Sage acts without effort and teaches without words.
New things are created and the Sage just accepts them.
Things fade away and the Sage accepts that too.
A Sage can have things without feeling they "own" them.
The Sage does things without putting an emotional stake into the outcome.
The task is accomplished, but the Sage doesn't seek credit or take pride in the accomplishment.
Because the Sage is not attached to the accomplishment,
the accomplishment lasts forever
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Many articles on this fascinating philosophy can be found at the links below:
taoism.net
thetao-info
theDailyTao
and at many sites leading from these links
and you can see my own 'Tao Diary' here
bravenet.com