The Tao that can be spoken of
–Tao Te Ching, Lao Zi
Is not the Everlasting Tao
The name that can be named
Is not the Everlasting name
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth
The Tao belief is about living a simple and balanced life in harmony with nature. The word Tao in Chinese means “the path” or “the way.” The belief is that it resides at the origin of the Universe, and is the basis of all existing things. The benefit of exploring the Tao is that one can gain a sense of everlasting peace and happiness by becoming one with the Dao. The holy text of Taoism is the Tao Te Ching written by Lao Zi. It is focused on optimizing the Chi or the flow of life force energy that surrounds us at all times and affects health, wealth and happiness. In Chinese the word ch’i means “air” or “breath.” Some of the concepts are simplicity, wisdom, balance, humility, non-violence and conservation of action.
Dr. Wayne Dyer was a follower of the Tao and based many of his teachings on it as well as writing the book, Living the Wisdom of the Tao. Regarding the Tao Te Ching, he writes, “His lessons have helped me behave in less ego-directed ways, practice more selfless humility, live softer and with a kind of detached contentment. I learned the value of listening more and speaking less, and I notice nature’s inherent wisdom so much more.”
CS Lewis, author of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe writes in his book, The Abolition of Man, “It is Nature, it is the Way, the Road. It is the Way in which the Universe goes on, the Way in which things everlasting emerge, stilly and tranquilly, into space and time. It is also the Way in which every man should tread in imitation of that cosmic supercosmic progression, conforming all activities to that great exemplar.” Lewis also associated The Tao with Natural Law and writes, “The Tao, which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles of Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value. It is the sole source of all value judgments. If it is rejected, all value is rejected. If any value is retained, it is retained. The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory. There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgment of value in the history of the world. What purport to be new systems or…ideologies…all consist of fragments from the Tao itself, arbitrarily wrenched from their context in the whole and then swollen to madness in their isolation, yet still owing to the Tao and to it alone such validity as they possess.”
Brittanica Encyclopedia gives the definition of natural law as “a system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature rather than from the rules of society, or positive law.” The concept was contemplated in ancient times by philosophers such as Aristotle, St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Acquinas. Natural Law was debated throughout the Enlightenment and Modern eras and then evaporated in the early 19th century with a strong skepticism about evoking nature. It was revived again in the 20th century after the war with Nazi Germany. The need to challenge unjust laws inspired the desire to call on rules of right and justice held to be natural and given by God. And our country? Several of our founding fathers, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Quincy Adams, Samuel Adams and John Hancock wrote about the existance of natural law and natural rights. While they might not have all admitted that those laws stemmed from God, they all believed that natural rights came from those laws. What has changed so much in our society that has taken us so far from our roots? Changed so much that it totally departed from the original principles that it was built upon, based on natural law and natural rights? I’ll let you ponder that for yourself. I will close with one last quote from author CS Lewis, “Only the Tao provides a common human law of action which can overarch rulers and ruled alike.” And that is truly something of value in today’s world.
Here is a beautiful reading of the Tao Te Ching by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It is only a little over an hour long.