Chinese medicine and Chinese philosophy act as a whole. And the name of this whole - Taoism, the way of the Tao.
What I admire in the Taoists to the core of my soul, is the fact that they can find simple and affordable solutions for everyday problems, without losing sight of the whole complexity of life. Next wonderful parable illustrates this approach.
A rich merchant came to the sage and asked him to make a beautiful calligraphic inscription.
- Write to me the secret of happiness - said the merchant, - and I'll put the scroll on the wall of my home.
- Come back in a week, - said the sage.
When the merchant returned, sage showed him the scroll. The inscription read:
"Father will die. Son will die." The merchant was furious:
- Is the secret of happiness?!
Then the sage took a brush dipped in ink and traced; "Son will die. Father will die."
- Maybe this order will satisfy you more?
Taoist formula of happiness - to follow the Nature, not in opposition to the flow of life, but staying in the thick of things, and not only taking this stream, but also enjoying it.
Chuang Tzu, one of the founders of the Tao, didn’t not call to seek possession of public function, considering that they only bring suffering and reduce the man's life. The same thing he spoke about the desire for fame and fortune. He also did not encourage the service to the gods: the path of the Tao is to find the way to yourself, to find the divine within yourselves and thus find true happiness.
"Real man" who strives for happiness, trust the universe and entrusts it with his life. He does not seek to impose its will on the world, immediately fulfill all their desires. And death for him is not a nothingness, because for dying people it is a back to the original void, and he can reunite with the Tao. Moreover, the "real man" is able to return to the void of Tao during his lifetime. Finding this way, he immediately takes effect of Tao already in his daily life.
It is stated in the book "Tao Te Ching". It is necessary to make your heart very impartial, strongly keep the peace, and then all things will change by themselves, and we will only contemplate their return.
Supporting the void in himself and around him, real man lets himself in the earth and the sky, which Emperor Wen wrote:
Sky reduces full and increases empty.
Land subverts full and fills empty.
So evident cyclical interaction of yin and yang, filling and alternately devastating all things.
"Real man" must seek to preserve his original reason given to him from birth, in order it serves to him as a perfect mirror. Everything is reflected in it, like in the clear water of pristine mountain lake, when the is no wind and the sky is free of clouds. All that happens is reflected in it, but nothing is retained. When the birds flying across the sky, the lake reflects them, and when the birds are lowered into the water and swim through it, reflection is no longer discern. Water has no desire to reflect the trees, clouds and birds, but it had no choice. And because it does not tend to keep to themselves, none of the images, it remains in full peace and each time returned to the original purity.
"Real man" relies on the mind of Tao, not on the human mind. But it requires discipline and patient education. To appeal to the mind of Tao, it is necessary to restore the original "mirror" in its perfect purity, that is, to convert the prevailing worldview, and sometimes it is not easy.
The human mind is busy with worldly affairs, it is rational and objective, it analyzes, differentiates, distinguishes opposites. Its habits are based on our desires, needs to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The human mind divides the world on "pleasant" and "unpleasant" and rest assured that this kind of division is of the truth.
Analyzing the life, the human mind concludes that it is short and transient, does not give any security guarantees, it is full of anxieties and worries, and inevitably ends in death. An ordinary person perceives life as a set of accidents - such lottery, devoid of all logic and sense. Thomas Hobbes said: "Life is disgusting, rude and short." From this premise the human mind concludes that since life is short, it is necessary to be hold as strong as possible and you should try to stretch to the limit the short period of time, allotted to us in the world; because life is very fragile, it is necessary to protect themselves from danger, and you need to have money, clothes and a roof over your head; as life inevitably ends in death, it is necessary to leave a legacy behind, be it fame or offspring.
Chuang Tzu in his book "Perfect Happiness", asks the question: is there a supreme happiness in the Celestial world? Is it possible to live a full life? What to do, what to trust? What to avoid, what to strive? What to love and what to hate?
In China people appreciate the wealth, nobility, longevity and good fame, they love peace, delicious food, luxurious clothes, beautiful flowers and mellifluous sounds. They hate the poverty and humiliation, premature death and notoriety, they suffer when there is neither peace, refined dishes, luxurious coats, nor beautiful flowers and mellifluous sounds.
If people are deprived of all of these, they fall into despair and sadness. But there is nothing more foolish than to please only the whims of the flesh!
The rich, exhausting themselves by hard chores, accumulate such treasures that they simply do not have time to use them, and to the joys of the flesh, these riches do not add anything. Notable men day and night care about their virtues, but their virtue, even more, does not add anything to the pleasures of the body.
A man mourns since birth, and having lived a long life, he falls into a stupor. How bitter to suffer for so long without dying! And anything that makes person in his life, is so foreign to him!
It is not known whether in fact happiness is what people now consider as a happiness. Happiness in the world - this is what everyone dreams, which all seek, and without which they cannot live. And we do not know whether it's happiness, but also we do not know whether it's bad luck.
So if there is happiness in the world? For Chuang Tzu real happiness is an inaction, while the crowd thinks, that it's torture. Therefore, it is said: "The highest happiness – no happiness, the highest glory - no glory."
Although in the world it is impossible to determine in the high end where the truth and falsehood in the non-action we can determine both the true and false. The highest happiness - it is life itself, and only Idleness can achieve it.
I'll try to state it with the help of the following parable.
Sky through inaction becomes clear; Earth through inaction becomes calm. When Idleness Heaven is in agreement with the inaction of the Earth, accomplishes the transformation of all things. Indistinguishable, vague - comes from nowhere! Troubles, immense - deprived of the image! All things in their great abundance stems from inaction.
Therefore, it is said: "Heaven and Earth will do nothing, but nothing is left undone." Who among the people is able to translate Idleness?
There are eight pleasures in the world:
The Joy from contemplate the colors of the world, which means to indulge the excesses in the colors
The pleasure to strain your ears, meaning indulge the excesses in the sounds,
The pleasure for mankind, ruining the natural virtue,
The pleasure of the debt, destroying the universal order of the world,
The joy from rites, teaches us to unnatural,
Music enjoyment, meaning succumb to temptation,
The joy from wisdom, which means in practice useless arts,
The joy of knowledge, meaning to attract enemies.
When all living things in the world accepts their nature and destiny, it does not matter whether or not these eight pleasures exist. When it is not possible to accept their nature and destiny, then these eight false virtues entangle the hearts and plunge the world into confusion, so that people begin to honor them and do not want to part with them. How this world deceived! Who can say that the people have overcome these temptations and get rid of them?
Why, if the noble husband has to ascend to the throne, it will the best way to follow inaction. Through inaction, he will find peace in nature and fate. Therefore, it is said: "If you value yourself more than the whole China, you can be trusted with the fate of the world if you love your life more than the peace, the world can be left in your care.".
And if a noble man is able to store his Qi energy, which means, that he will never show his strength and will not boast of it, then, even sitting in meditation, motionless, like a corpse, he will have a look of the dragon, and even keeping a profound silence, he takes on a momentum thundering voice. It will affect the spiritual strength and he will be able to communicate with the Heaven himself. He will be as though inactive, that all things will appear to him as a ferry, ascending to upwards. Why then to think about managing China?
It is believed that a person receives perfect pleasure when reaching success. The ancients did not understand by this acquisition the achieving of wealth or power. They were content with their share and enjoy nature. The ancients called success not the possess of the cap and the chariot of the noble lords, but just the absence of possibility to add anything to your happiness. Today a success is considered as a possession of a cap and chariot of the noble lords. But cap and chariot can please only the body, for the inner essence they are useless.
Worldly benefits we can gain only for a short period of time. So do not believe the goal is in the achieving of worldly goods, and if they cannot be reached, do not become sad. Be happy always and everywhere, and do not let worldly excitements seize you. If you are in lamentation from loss of temporal goods, that means, that you do not know how to cherish the pleasure they bring. Therefore, it is said: "Those who renounce themselves for the sake of things and neglects its nature for the sake of the light, put the world upside down."
Some people become wise men, because they are in peace, and become the kings according to their works.
They are surrounded by honor, they are simple and unsophisticated, but no one in the whole world cannot be compared with their beauty.
Chuang Tzu said:
Oh, my master! My teacher!
You break all things, but You are not cruel,
You bestow with grace ten thousand generations,
but You are not merciful.
You are older than the most ancient times, but You are not old,
You cover the heavens, and you hold the Earth,
carve all forms, but You are not skilled.
This is what is called heavenly joy. That is why it is said:
He who knows the joy of Heaven -
In life goes together with Heaven,
And in death he turns with things.
And in peace he merges with the force of Yin,
In movement he merges with the action of Yang.
So for someone who knew the joy of Heaven -
No curse of heaven.
No reproach from people.
No burden of things.
No spirits of retribution.
It is said ".. In a move he is like Heaven, in calm he is like world. His heart is easy, and the world is subservient to him. His Spirit is adamant; his soul is eternally awoken. His words, based on the voids, reach the Heaven and Earth, and all things listen to them." That's what the joy of Heaven, so that the heart of the wise accommodates all the Celestial Empire.
So, we can see, that in order to achieve happiness your soul should be in union with your minds and all your essence should become in tranquility
The last parable, I want to mention, which clearly describes the value of Tao is called: Hermit rejects power.
Emperor Yao wanted to pass the throne to Xu Yu hermit and asked him:
- When the sun shines and the moon shines, need we stir up the lamp? When the rain comes, need we water the field? If you, teacher, become a rule China, peace will reign in the country. If, however, I will continue to reign, there will be no good, because I have so many shortcomings. I will forgive you, accept the throne from me. "
The hermit replied:
- Sir, with your board the state is flourishing. What will I take from you Throne? Do people tell that I do so only for the sake of power and big names? But the name is just a shadow to the essence of things. Is it well-to become a shadow? Bird, curling a nest in a dense forest, is content with one branch. Field mouse drinking water from the river, is content with the possibility to satisfy the thirst. Come back to your palace. I cannot take what does not belong to me.
In conclusion I would like to say that Taoism is a religion which is based on the doctrine of happiness - the achievement of harmony. Tao - it's just the beginning, and its main rule how to follow your fate ( "Stream of Life") without resistance, and sometimes just going with the flow.
Bibliography
Burton, Watson. “Chuang Tzu: The Basic Writings.” New York: Columbia University Press, (1964): 109-10.
Fung Yu-lan. “A Short History of Chinese Philosophy.” Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Press, (1953): 20.
Girardot, Norman. “The Victorian Translation of China” Berkeley: University of California Press, (2002): 174-193.
Louis Reichelt. “Meditation and Piety in the Far East.” New York: Harper and Brothers, (1954): 102.
Merton, Thomas. “The Way of Chuang Tzu.” New York: New Directions, (1965): 45-47.
Overmyer, Daniel. “Religions of China.” New York: Harper & Row, (1986): 39.
Pullman, Andrew. “Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal.” Washington: State University Press, (1989): 3.
Richard King. “Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion.” London: Routledge, (2004): 87.
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