Taoism

Lao Tzu's View of Tao and Te. The two most important teachings concerning reality
in Lao Tzu are Tao and Te, which literally means "way" or “mad,” is the first principle of the beginning of all things. It is the source of things coming into existence and of things ceasing to exist. However, we need to be careful in using terms like
“principle” and “source" to refer to tao. Tao is not some sort of static, unchanging entity. Its literal meaning of “way" illustrates its dynamic quality. As the ultimate ground of reality and the source of all being and non-being, its nature is essentially ongoing and active. And this means, therefore, that all of reality plays itself out as a pulsating organism. This notion of organism is crucial for two reasons. First, it conveys the sense of a dynamic order and pattern to reality. Tao is not the principle of chaos. Second, it concerns a mechanical view of the universe and of all reality as simply the sum of individual parts. Tao indicates a reality which is vibrant, spontaneous, orderly, and more than the sum of its individual components.

Tao is the most frequently used term in Taoism. It is also in most enigmatic. One of the most prominent characteristics of Tao is its ineffable quality. We find this expressed in the opening lines of the Tao Te Ching, the classic text for Taoism:

Tao that can be spoken of,
Is nor the Everlasting Tao.
Name that can be namaed,
Is not the Everlasting name.
Nameless, the origin of heaven and earth;
Named, the mother of ten thousand things.
Alternate,
Non-being, to name the origin of heaven and earth;
Being, to name the mother of ten thousand things?

These lines tell us that the essence of Tao is unknowable. At the same time, the real meaning of Tao remains inaccessible to human language. Language is determinate, whereas Tao is indeterminate. As finite humans, we are incapable of grasping in its entirety the true essence and quality of the organismic reality we all participate in. Additional passages from the Tao Te Ching are included at the end of this chapter.

This view of reality as an organic pattern is especially rendered through the manifestation of Tao in ' chinp. This manifestation of Tao is called te Te is the principle of spontaneity and the natural expression of Tao in specific things, events, peoples, and places. Te is the particularization of Tao. Te therefore cannot be separated from Tao since it is the nature of Tao to manifest itself in changing, dynamic ways. Because Tao is embodied in all things, all things naturally express this power.

Chuang Tzu also broadened the meaning of Tao to include the dimension of transformation.

The life of man passes by like a galloping horse, changing at every turn, at every how.

This image of time and nature acting together in harmony is an essential theme running throughout Chuang Tzu's thought. All things change: Light becomes dark, young becomes old; old is reborn as young spring norns into summer, autumn, winter, and back to spring in ceaseless transformacion. This is the lesson taught to us by nature. Amidst this incessant change, Tao is the principle
of unity, and it therefore acts as a welcome complement to the reality of change. Everything changes, yet everything is one. An illustration of this is in Chuang Tzu's famous dream of the butterfly:

Once Chuang Chou [Chuang Tzu] dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting
and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't
know he was Chuang Chou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and
unmistakable Chuang Chou. But he didn't know if he was Chuang Chou who
had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Chou.

Chuang Tzu has an especially interesting perspective on reality. He tells us that all things are in essence equal to each other. According to him, all things may appear to be different, and we conventionally make distinctions. However, in actuality, all things are equal. For instance, this being so, how can we establish a standard for beauty?

Men claim that Mao-ch'iang and Lady Li were beautiful, but if fish saw them they would dive to the bosom of the stream, if birds saw them they would fly away, and if deer saw them they would break into a run. Of these four, which knows how to fix the standard of beauty for the world?