Tao / Dao - The Way

 

Within the Soul of the Earth we find our Essence and the Joy of the Tao.
The Professor - Master of Nothingness

 

Contents:


Universal Path of the Tao

All Spiritual and Religious Paths seek
The natural flow of the universe--
The Tao, which literally means the Way,
Is the way of nature and universe.

The Tao is the path of our natural reality
About the world, our spiritual path & ourselves.
It is the real practice of body, mind & spirit;
Not just a philosophy of the mind.

When you have the true sense of it's meaning,
It's true knowledge and wisdom,
You will be able to make
The correct decisions in your life.

The Tao is not a religion or science
Requiring no initiations or ceremonies;
And its truth goes beyond
Any one single path or view.

The Tao is the outcome of all religions
Leaving them behind as seasons change,
Yet it transcends all religion & science
But still contains their essence.


The Wayless Way, The Pathless path

Conscious living, being in the flow, riding the wave

aligning ourselves with the Tao, brings joy and meaning

 

Tao Te Ching, by Lao-Tzu

 

Lao-Tzu divided the Tao Te Ching into two parts: The Tao or the Way, and Te, 'virtue'. But this does not mean virtue in the Western sense of moral and ethical correctness; it is rather the innate virtue of the world - its essential properties.

The Taoist adept will strive for understanding of these and this will inform his or her whole life and being. True te is uncontrived, unforced naturalness with which the wise man will handle practical affairs, putting his own wishes and desires in line with the natural flow of outside events and phenomena.

More from the Dao De Jing:

Heaven and Earth last forever.
Why do heaven and Earth last forever?
They are unborn, So ever living.
The sage stays behind, thus he is ahead.
He is detached, thus at one with all.
Through selfless action, he attains fulfillment.

Dao De Jing - Chapter 7

Knowing ignorance is strength.
Ignoring knowledge is sickness.
If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick.
The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness.
Therefore he is not sick.

Dao De Jing - Chapter 71

 

The Tranquil Taoist - Chuang-tzu

According to the book of Chuang-tzu, an old man is seen by some followers of Confucious swimming in a raging torrent; suddenly, he disappears. The pupils of Confucious rush to save him, but the man reaches the bank entirely unaided. Asked how he had pulled off this remarkable feat of survival, the man replied that he had simply let himself go with the descending and ascending currents in the water. The true Taoist, in other words, moulds his senses, body and mind until they are at one with the currents of the world without.

From Sacred Symbols, Tao


Origins of Daoism

Founder: Lao Zi [Lao Tzu]
Location: China
Date: ~500 BCE
Primary Scripture: Dao De Jing [Tao Te Ching] (around 5000 Chinese characters)
Main Goal: Follow the Way.

Philosophical History of Lao Zi

Lao Zi was born in 604 B.C.E. in Honan. He was named Li Er [Li Erh], and held a post as keeper of records at Loyang, then the Zhou dynasty capital. Legend says he had a meeting with Confucius. When Zhou dynasty was near its fall at around 500 B.C.E., Lao Zi rode on a water buffalo to retire in the mountains to a State in the western frontiers. An official named Guan Yin Zi who was in charge of the Pass begged the sage for a book of his teachings, and Lao Zi then wrote the Dao De Jing. After which Lao Zi went westward and was never seen again.

Religious History of Lao Zi

Lao Zi was born in 1321 B.C.E. from his mother's left side after a confinement lasting eighty years. He was born with snowy hair and a long white beard. Considered a reincarnation of a supreme celestial being.

The Major Sects of Daoism

Philosophical Daoism
Religious Daoism (In China)

Other


The Dao


Dao (literal: Path or Way) is what Daoism is all about. Following Dao is following the way of Daoism. This way is discussed in the Dao De Jing, which elaborates on Yin and Yang, Wu Wei, Governing, the Three Jewels, and others.

Yin and Yang

In Daoism, Yin and Yang are negative and positive principles of the universe. One cannot exist without the other, and they often represent opposites in relations to each other.

As you have more and more Yang, eventually, Yin will appear and replace this increase.

Similarly in the opposite direction, Yang will appear to replace the increase in Yin. The Yin Yang symbol (circle with black and white sections) depicts this clearly. As you travel around the circle, white or black will increase, until the opposite color is almost gone, but never totally gone. The cycle then repeats for the opposite color.

What seems like Yin is often supported by Yang, and vice-versa. As an example, to truly know good, you must know what evil is, and without good as a comparison, nothing is evil.

Thus, while keeping to one end, do not shun the opposite end, but embrace both as they are. Allowing Yin to flourish, you welcome Yang. By letting go of Yin, you are waiting for its return.

As an example, before you can possess something, you must be willing to let it go.

Yin and Yang often represent the following opposites...

Yin

Yang

 

Wu Wei

Wu Wei (literal: without action) is one of the main concepts from Daoism. It means to do things such that it does not seem like you are taking the effort of doing them. A close analogy would be following the natural flow of nature. By applying Wu Wei, one is closely following the way.

Governing

In Daoism, the government should follow the way in governing the people as well. Specific chapters in the Dao De Jing describes the ideal way of governing people. They can be summarized in these key points...

Three Jewels

There are three jewels (characteristics) that Daoists should cherish as mentioned in Dao De Jing chapter 67.

They are...

http://www.edepot.com/taoism.html extracted from

Fundamentals of Yin and Yang Philosophy

1. Complementary Poles: They are two sides of the same coin.
2. Nonabsolute: Each contains an element of the other
Magnetic: Yin attracts Yang: yang attracts yin
Evocative: Strong yang evokes yin: strong yin evokes yang
3. Dynamic: Yin transforms yang; yang transforms yin.

Yang endows, yin receives: male and female need each other - The Triplex unity

One yin and one yang is called Tao. The passionate union of yin and yang and the copulation of husband and wife is the eternal pattern of the universe. If heaven and earth did not mingle, whence would everything receive life? - Ch'eng Tzu

In repose (he) shares the passivity of the yin, in action the energy of Yang - Chuang Tzu

Rising and Passing
Creationa and Annihilation,
Birth and Death,
Joy and Grief,
They are meshed in one another
- Goethe

All of this is arranged so that Yin and Yang (complement each other) in front and back, inside and outside, as male and female element, and that they serve and respond to each other in order to conform with the Yin and Yang of Heaven -

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine

The ceaseless interplay of heaven and earth gives from to all things. The sexual union of male and female gives lfe to all things. This interaction of Yin and Yang is called the Way and the resulting creative process is called change - I Ching

The Yang having reached its climax retreats in favor of the yin; the yin having reached its climax retreats in favor of yang - Wang Ch'ung

The cyclic flow is like a river. As all flowing rivers find peace in the ocean where that lose their name and form. - Upanishads

The superior man loves his soul, The inferior man loves his his property. Confucius

The Five Fingers of the Tao Dimension How we
relate to:
The Eternal Transcendent Tao Mystical Spirit
Mother Tao, Source of all things Cosmological Nature
The Tao of the Great Mergence Psychological Soul
The Tao of the Ten Thousand Things Scientific Work / Art
The Social Tao, the Way of Humanity Sociological Society

excerpt from The Tao of Abundance - Eight Principles for abundant living


Introduction - Cosmology

All cause and effect is due to the Dao, the Way.
The Way can be explained as the reason or cause of everything which followed.


Before Dao there was: Wu-wu (Not Nothing).
With Dao there was: Wu Ji (No Limit).
From Wu Ji, evolved Hun Tun (Chaos).
In Hun Tun, Tai Ji (Great Pole) became the first fixed point in space and time.
From Tai Ji came the Tai Yi (Great Change)
Tai Yi went through two stages...

Tai Chu (Great First) has Xing (Form)
Tai Shi (Great Beginning) has Qi (Breath)

Xing and Qi combined to create... Tai Su (Great Primordial) has Zhi (Substance)

The first substances has Yin and Yang. All things terrestrial and celestial fall into one of five groups, the Wu Xing (Five Elements).

The five elements are...

Wood
Fire
Earth
Metal
Water

The five elements are usually in a state of flux. They can be arranged in a number of sequences, but the two usually encountered are the productive sequence and the destructive sequence.

Productive sequence

Wood burns, creating...
Fire leaves ashes, creating...
Earth contains ore, creating...
Metal melts, creating...
Water nourishes plant life, creating (back to Wood)...

Destructive sequence

Wood draws strength from, destroying...
Earth pollutes, destroying...
Water puts out, destroying...
Fire melts, destroying...
Metal chops down, destroying (back to Wood)...

The five elements are also used to symbolize different things...

Wood
Direction: East
Season: Spring
Color: Green

Fire
Direction: South
Season: Summer
Color: Red

Earth
Direction: Center
Season: None
Color: Yellow


Metal
Direction: West
Season: Autumn
Color: White


Water
Direction: North
Season: Winter
Color: Black

http://www.edepot.com/taoism.html


 

Daoist Alchemy

Chinese alchemy is basically an offshoot of Daoist alchemy. The main alchemy texts in China came from the Daoist Canon (Daozang). There are two main branches of Daoist alchemy, internal and external.

External alchemy (waidan) is concerned with producing an elixir from physical substances. Internal alchemy (neidan) is concerned with producing an elixir (a mental state or knowledge) within an individual.

External alchemy (waidan) Period:

Tang dynasty and earlier

Internal alchemy (neidan)

In the Daoist cosmos, the primal Unity split into two complementary principles called yin and yang. Yin and Yang recombined to produce the cosmos that we have today. The purpose of alchemy is to work backwards and reveal the makeup of the cosmos.

The cosmos has two main features, space and time. The alchemist works in their limits and tries to transcend them. To transcend space, the alchemist must work in a chamber of elixirs (danwu) where the instruments are specially oriented, and protected by talismans (fu).

To transcend time, cycles of heating must be perfectly calibrated so that the same work taking Nature thousands of years to accomplish is duplicated in a short period of time. This allows the alchemist to access timelessness (immortality).

There are two main representations for yin and yang...

External alchemy only.

Yin: mercury extracted from cinnabar

Yang: sulphur

External and internal alchemy.

Yin: lead
lead=knowledge of Dao in internal alchemy

Yang: mercury

mercury=mind of individual in internal alchemy In the first representation, the mercury is applied to sulphur nine times to yield

Pure Yang (chunyang), a representation of the One before separation into yin and yang.

In the second representation, the lead is applied to mercury to obtain the compound representing Oneness for external alchemy.

For internal alchemy, lead represents knowledge of Dao, while mercury represents the individual mind.

Dao is Pure Yang but is yin in the conditioned state. The main goal of Daoist alchemy is the "Elixir of Return" (huandan) which is sometimes called the Golden Elixir.

For external alchemy, the final product is a representation of the Oneness, which is sometimes ingested. In internal alchemy, lead (a representation of the knowledge of Dao) is the final product.

above article fromhttp://www.edepot.com/taoism.html


Taoist Yoga & Alchemy - Master Mantak Chia

Master Mantak Chia is Chinese, born in Thailand. He is the direct successor to the teachings of Master Yi Eng, the Taoist White Cloud Hermit. Master Mantak Chia has openly brought these teachings to the West, instructing thousands of students a year in the U.S. and Europe. For this work he was named Chi Kung Teacher of the Year at the first International Congress of Chinese Medicine and Chi Kung.

He has many books, audio & videos available on the following and much more


 

Recommended reading

 

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way By Ursula K. Le Guin (UK / US)

 

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Timothy Freke, (UK / US)

Links

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