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Intro
“Those who know do not speak. Those who
speak do not know.”
“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with
a single step”
These wise phrases, which you've no doubt
heard before are over 2000 years old. They
come from Laozi's Daodejing. What many consider
to be the founding document of Daoism. This
organised religious tradition is known for
it's care for nature, peace, and going with
the flow.
But what exactly is Daoism? What do Yin, Yang,
and Qi mean, and what does it have to do with
Obi-Wan Kenobi? Well Let’s Find Out.
Daoism or Taoism?
First of all....is it Daoism or Taoism?
Well, Chinese is a complicated language to
translate to English. So the reason there
is 2 Daoisms is because of two different systems
attempting to write Chinese in the Latin alphabet.
The Wade–Giles system, which spells Dao
with a T, was popular during the 19th and
20th centuries.
But the Chinese never liked the system and
so developed Hanyu Pinyin, the system that
gave us the D, in the 1950s. This is why Tao
is now Dao. But many American publications
still use the old Wade-Giles system so you'll
still see Tao and Taoism around.
Either way, with a T or with a D it’s pronounced
Dao.
Overview
Daoism is an indiginous Chinese religion.
But it isn't the religion of China. China
has 3 major religious traditions, Daoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism. Most Chinese people
practice all three. Apart from priests, Chinese
people rarely identify with only one religion.
History
Daoism first appears during an incredible
time in Chinese history. The Warring States
Period. A Period were states eh….warred
from the 5th to the 3rd century BCE.
During this period multiple philosophers,
such as Confucius, put forward ideas on how
to control people, armies, and states.
But one philosopher stood on the sidelines
and laughed at the idea that humans could
even begin to know the correct way to do things,
when our minds and perspectives were so small.
This was Wise old grey bearded Laozi or the
Old Master.
His book the Daodejing along with Zhuangzi's
book…. the Zhuangzi…. spoke of a universal
force known as the Dao.
What is a Dao? Well.
Dao
"Something unformed and complete
Before heaven and Earth were born,
Solitary and silent,
Stands alone and unchanging.
Pervading all things without limit.
It is like the mother of all things under
heaven,
But I don't know its name - Better call it
Dao. Better call it great." - Daodejing Chapter
25
Ok, I guess you've assumed that Daoism has
to do with the Dao. It does, but Dao isn’t
a God and Daoists don’t worship the Dao.
Dao simply means “the Way”. The word for
“avenue” in Chinese is dà dào (“wide
way”) for example.
But in Daoism the word is a tad more mystical.
The first line of the Daodejing makes it clear
that the Dao cannot be fully understood.
“The Dao that can be told of is not the
eternal Dao; The name that can be named is
not the eternal name.”
For Laozi it’s impossible to explain the
Dao in words and only a complete and utter
idiot would think they could explain it.
So let me explain. The Dao is the flow of
the universe. It is the source of reality.
It’s infinite yet empty yet complete and
it creates and directs the endlessly diverse
universe.
Or in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
“It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds
the galaxy together”
But the Dao was never created. It exists by
itself and of itself.
The universe was born from the Dao. But the
Dao has no interest in it. It doesn’t create
for a reason, it simply creates and constantly
transforms.
Any idea that the universe cares about humans
comes only from our own human-centeredness.
But even though the Dao is unknowable, it
has an order which can be recognized in nature.
This kind of order is called li, a word which
meant the markings in jade or the grain in
wood.
Li kind of means organic order. The random
yet perfect patterns of flowing water, the
shapes of trees and clouds and snowflakes.
It is by observing li, that we can see the
workings of the Dao.
Laozi and Zhaungzi point out that because
the Dao lies at the root of all existence,
the universe takes care of itself perfectly
well, of its own accord.
Sun goes up, sun goes down, Tide goes in,
tide goes out. Never a miscommunication.
The rhythm of life which rises from the earth,
grows, matures, decays and eventually returns
to the Earth. It all happens without force
or orders or effort. Change is the only constant,
but this change is regular, recognisable and
fundamentally good. That is Dao, or at least
how I understand it.
Laozi and Zhaungzi make it very clear that
the Dao cannot be expressed in words. And
this is an important part of Daoism. Language
is limited and based on our human perspectives,
which are narrow. Language puts ideas into
boxes. But you can’t put the Dao in a box
in the same way you can’t put a river in
a bucket.
The aim of Daoism then is to help people feel
the Dao, to see it in nature, and to be able
to move in harmony with it. And one way to
do that is through Wu-Wei.
Wu Wei
In its most basic sense, wu-wei means “not
doing,” or “not acting,”.
Laozi confusingly talks about wei wu-wei,
about doing the non-doing, which means that
doing nothing requires the doer to do something.
One interpretation is that to “wei” is
to act based on social or personal expectations.
To do things because you think that’s what
you're supposed to do. To act within a rigid
mindset. Since the universe is always changing
if you try to navigate it with an unchanging
mindset you're going to have a bad time. Wu-wei
is acting but acting without intent.
So rather than “not doing” it kind of
means “not forcing”. Not swimming against
the stream of the Dao.
So wu-wei isn’t doing nothing. Think of
Japanese judo where an opponent is defeated
not by brute strength, but by using the movement
of their own force against them.
One of the recurring metaphors for the Dao
in the Daodejing is p’u, or “uncarved
wood.”
This uncarved wood captures what is so difficult
to describe about the Dao. Its simplicity
and naturalness, its lack of specific features,
and its creative potential. Uncarved wood
can be anything but it can only be anything
because it hasn't been carved up.
Daoists say that humans have been carved up
by language, forced morality, and selfishness.
They’ve been processed from a humble raw
material with infinite potential into a product
sculpted by their environment.
The only way to move with the Dao is to get
yourself out of rigid, inflexible perspectives.
To stop thinking of yourself as separate from
nature and its process, from thinking that
you stand outside the stream and can dictate
which way it will flow. You're in the stream,
you can either row against it or sail along
it.
Texts
The Daodejing and Zhuangzi are considered
by many non-Daoists to be the two most important
books in Daoism.
The Daodejing is a series of short poetic
statements about the Way (dao) and its Power
(de). It's very short. You can read this book
in an afternoon. But it’ll be a fairly confusing
afternoon.
Some of its sayings, such as ‘The journey
of a thousand miles starts with a single step’
are fairly easy to understand. Others like
"Good knots have no rope But cannot be untied."
and “Govern big countries Like you cook
a little fish.” are a bit tricker. The Daodejing,
like many texts at the time, was written to
teach a ruler. But Laozi's advice was pretty
radical, he said that the best way to rule
was to not rule, like wu-wei. To let the world
live according to its natural pattern and
that would bring about harmony and peace.
The Daodejing can be interpreted many different
ways. Which is why it's been translated into
English more than any other book except the
Bible.
And it’s fully made its way into pop culture.
You can now learn the Dao of meow, dating,
network security monitoring, horses, banjo,
and even Bill Murray!
Next to Laozi, no other Daoist commands more
attention than Zhuangzi.
Whereas the Daodejing was written to teach
rulers, the Zhuangzi is aimed more at ordinary
people.
In the Zhuangzi the wise person is someone
completely untroubled with regular concerns
like politics and money. They skip over life's
obstacles without worries.
Zhaungzi constantly lets us know that our
perceptions are unreliable. How we see life
and death, good and bad, beautiful and ugly
depend on our life experiences and what we
or our culture value. But these are artificial
constructs that hurt spontaneity and happiness.
Zhuangzi compares life to when a drunken man
falls from a carriage. He has no idea what's
going on, doesn't know he's falling, and so
unworried and relaxed, he bounces off the
ground and gets up from his fall unharmed.
Where a sober person who stiffens up upon
falling would have broken several bones.
Because the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi are
easily the best known Daoist texts outside
of China, people imagine that they are also
the most important Daoist texts. But they
are not! There are thousands of Daoists text,
they’re just mostly unknown.
When was the last time you heard of the
The Code of Nu-qing for Controlling Demons
Which lists 36,000 demons who can be warded
off by knowing their names.
Or Poems Made While Beating the Ground (1012-1077)
Which includes a series of 135 poems each
one of which begins and ends with the line:
‘Yao Fu does not write poems merely for
fun.’
Or my favourite Daoist text, because it’s
apparently named after the Youtube comment
section…. The Forest of Opinions by Ma Yung
(c.787)
Daoists don't only read the Daodejing and
Zhuangzi. They function as ingredients, not
“gospel” in the complicated stew of Daoism.
All the recognized Daoist scriptures are assembled
in a massive collection called the Daoist
Canon (Dao-tsang). Which contains about 1,500
texts.
There is so much information in these texts
that Tou yuyu discovered a cure for malaria
in the Daoist Medical Text called Emergency
Prescriptions Kept Up One's Sleeve, and she
won a nobel prize for it.
Yin and Yang
The Daoists see an order in the world. Things
grow from the Earth, mature, age, die, and
return to the Earth in a recognizable pattern.
The name for this pattern is yin and yang.
To understand the meaning of Yin and Yang
in Daoism let’s look at its original meaning.
Which was the shady and sunny sides of a hill.
The shady and the sunny sides of the hill
are always changing: the side that is in the
sun in the morning will be in the shade in
the afternoon and vice versa, and this goes
to show how nothing in the world ever stays
the same and the cycle goes on forever. The
shady side isn't better than the sunny side,
neither is preferable and neither can exist
without the other.
Something can be yin until it reaches peak
yin. Then transitions into yang and vice versa.
So there can be no growth without decline,
no joy without sadness, and no life without
death.
Qi
Much like yin and yang the word qi has worked
its way into pop culture.
What is qi? In modern Chinese, the word means
“air”. The Chinese term for balloon is
a “qi-ball,” for example.
But just like the Dao, in Daoist thought qi
is more complicated than its original meaning.
Qi refers to the stuff or the energy that
makes up and connects the universe.
Solids, liquids, gases are all composed of
qi, but so are less material things like energy,
thoughts, or willpower.
Qi flows through your body. When the qi is
flowing you stay alive. When the qi stops
moving you die.
Everyone gets a certain amount of qi at birth
and uses it throughout life. By cultivating
good qi, through breathing exercises, diet,
and meditation, you can live longer and better
connect with the Dao.
Daoists see the heavens, the earth, and the
body as reflections of each other. So a stimulus
in one area will ripple into all other areas.
We’re all interrelated parts of one organic
network and qi connects this network, it’s
like the internet but for all of reality!
Daoist belief has just as much to do with
ritual and faith as it does with physical
exercise, forms of meditation, and diet.
This is why breathing and physical exercises
have become the face of Daoism.
Taiji is probably the main thing non-Chinese
people associate with Daoism. So let’s have
a look at it.
It’s full name is T’ai-chi Ch’üan.
It means The Boxing of the Great Ultimate.
It’s an “inner boxing”, one that focuses
on the internal circulation of qi rather than
brute strength. The philosophy of taiji is
not to resist an incoming force, but to meet
it with softness until the incoming force
exhausts itself or can be safely redirected.
Non-combat taiji, the one you see elderly
people doing in parks is a slowed down version.
It stimulates blood circulation, relaxation,
and helps qi flow more freely through the
body. Taiji is considered a great exercise
for those with low mobility.
Gods and Goddesses
While Laozi is usually credited as the founder
of Daoism. The person who most deserves the
title is Zhang-Daoling. In 142CE he received
a revelation from The Most Elevated Lord Lao,
the god version of Laozi. Lord Lao revealed
to Zhang that the heaven’s were organised
in a Celestial Bureaucracy. Like it says in
the Daodejing, the Earth is a reflection of
the heavens, so if there is bureaucracy on
Earth it’s because there was already one
in heaven.
Zhang and his followers were given special
access to a network of celestial bureaucrats
who controlled the fates of people in this
world and the next.
So for example, if you had a family member
that you were afraid might not get into heaven
you could contact your local Daoist priest,
they would do a ritual, and kind of state
your case to the relevant celestial bureaucrat.
The group Zhang founded was called the Way
Of The Celestial Masters, and Zhang served
as the first Celestial Master. While Laozi
and Zhaungzi wrote centuries before this group
appeared this was the first time a group of
organised people had got together and consciously
did Daoism.
Many of the features you associate with organised
religion like gods, priests, sacred texts,
and rituals show up first in Daoism with the
Way Of The Celestial Masters. The Way of The
Celestial Masters didn’t last but their
ideas influenced all future Daoist groups.
Many people believe Daoism is a religion without
Gods. That isn’t true. While the Daodejing
does not mention Gods, Daoism is filled with
them.
Chinese religion in general has always included
many gods, local deities, spirits, ghosts,
and other beings.
Local deities fulfill particular purposes
like helping with rain and agriculture and
they would occupy specific places in the world.
Rural villages would often have their own
gods, and families might honour the kitchen
gods in their homes.
Most deities were once people, who earned
God status. So ordinary humans can ascend
to godhood or immortality. Like Laozi who
is now Lord Lao and is seen as almost an incarnation
of the Dao itself.
So, which of these deities are the most important
in Daoist lives?
Well the top Gods are probably, the Three
Pure Ones (one of which is the deified Lao
Tzu), the Jade Emperor, and the Eight Immortals.
You may be imagining that they get the most
attention, but actually no.
Think of it like this: Whenever you need something
from the government like getting a driver’s
licence you don’t call the Prime Minister.
Instead, you call the relevant government
department for your particular problem. The
Celestial Government works the same way. If
you're having a problem with demons you'll
do an offering to this guy, if you're having
marriage problems then you'll be looking for
this fella to help out, and if you want help
in an exam this nerd would be your best bet.
So those are the basics of Daoism. You might
still be confused, and you should be. This
is a very complicated religion and is inherently
difficult to understand. Remember "The Dao
that can be told of is not the eternal Dao
".
This video isn't even close to covering everything.
It would take much longer than 20 minutes
to explain a religion. Which is why we put
an exclusive commentary on what we left out
over on Patreon and Nebula.
Podcast Soundbite: Ok and now for the final
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