Tao
is a passive, impersonal force which, by its nature, achieves what it does.
Those
who align themselves with Tao can also achieve great things without trying,
without intention (Don’t make it happen, let it happen in its own, good
time).
Advice
is to be yielding, passive, to let nature’s way carry you as a river
current. Flowing water is a favorite image of Taoist philosophy of living (TTC
#78).
There
is a preference for a simple, natural way of living rather than the
unnatural luxuries of human intention and civilized values (TTC #19,
22).
turns
traditional human values topsy turvy (TTC #41)
Chuang
Tzu tells a story with a surprise ending:
The ruler of the South Sea was called Light;
the ruler of the North Sea, Darkness;
and the ruler of the Middle Kingdom, Primal Chaos.*
From time to time, Light and Darkness met one another in the kingdom
of Primal Chaos, who made them welcome.
Light and Darkness wanted to repay his kindness and said, "All
men have seven openings with which they see, hear, eat, and breathe,
but Primal Chaos has none. Let us try to give him some."
So every day they bored one hole, and on the seventh day, Primal Chaos
died.
*in Chinese: Won Ton (as in won ton soup - a chaotic mix of all
sorts of things)
Light
and Darkness were trying to reward Primal Chaos by giving him what they
valued, but in creating order out of chaos, they ended up destroying their
friend. Chuang Tzu's stories are typically counter intuitive to our ordinary
sense of virtue and values. His heroes are the underdogs of society - the
lame, the deformed, and the humble simpleton. (see CT chap.
5: "Signs of
Full Virtue").
Taoist
virtue looks
to nature’s way for guidance as to the natural (thus better, more
harmonious) way to live (TTC #76).
The
movie Star Wars with it's references to "The Force" reflects the ideas
of Tao and Te
(note especially from 2:30 in on the following
clip):
The
Way Yoda explains the nature of The Force is very much how a Taoist might
explain the Tao. A Jedi knight is like a Taoist Sage, acquiring great and even
seemingly miraculous powers (te) through an understanding and channeling of the
Force (Tao).
Relativity:
Taoism relativizes such values as "good" and "bad" seeing a
higher harmony, relationship and necessity between the two.
A
Taoist story:
Seems there was this farmer who needed a horse.
He got his horse but it ran away.
His friends all said: "What terrible luck."
He said: "Good luck, bad luck, we'll see."
The horse came back with a harem of mares.
His friends all said: "What good luck."
He said: "Good luck, bad luck, we'll see."
His son broke his leg trying to break in one of the new horses.
His friends all said: "What terrible luck."
He said: "Good luck, bad luck, we'll see."
The king drafted all the young men into war,
except the Farmer's son who had the broken leg.
His friends all said: "What good luck."
He said: "Good luck, bad luck, we'll see."
As
the symbolism of the Yin-Yang implies, there is no absolute good and bad.
There is a little bit of good in the bad and a little bit of bad in the good.
What may, at first, seem like "bad luck" will, in time, prove to
have been a "blessing in disguise" and vice versa. The Taoist sage
will hesitate to pass judgment on what life hands him (or her) in favor of a
"wait and see" attitude.
The
way of the Sage: These basic principles of Taoist philosophy can be put to
practical use in any endeavor of life, not just in how to be a good butcher but
also as to how to rule a nation (TTC #57,
66).
To
sum up: The Tao Te Ching makes observations of nature and nature’s ways
and recommends that human beings learn a lesson from this as to how best to live
life: be yielding. One who leads a life by such natural ways is the
"sage" who lives a peaceful, contented and full life. The man of
virtue (te), the sage, achieves easily what most people work hard for and fail
to achieve.