Confucius was impressed. He said, “The dragon is beyond my knowledge; it ascends into the heaven on the cloud and the wind. Today I have seen Lao-tzu, and he is like the dragon!” (Kaltenmark 1969, 8).
Tradition holds that Lao-tzu married and had a son named Tsung, who became a well-known soldier. Many later generations trace themselves back to Lao-tzu. This may or may not be accurate, but it attests to the fact that he was given great symbolic importance in Chinese history.
It is believed that Lao-tzu never opened a formal school, but students still came to him and he had a number of loyal disciples. If these statements about Lao-tzu are true, he led a fairly busy and full life.
Eventually, however, Lao-tzu felt frustrated by the moral decay of the society around him. City life did not allow him to live in harmony with his Taoist beliefs. At the ripe old age of 160 years, he decided to leave the city for the unsettled west to live a solitary life as a hermit. He began his trip westward, leaving through the city gate. The gatekeeper recognized him and begged Lao-tzu to leave some record of his wisdom. In response, Lao-tzu sat down and composed the five-thousand-character book now known as the Tao Te Ching. The gatekeeper was so moved by its content that he decided to accompany Lao-tzu. The two disappeared together, never to be seen again. One legend claims that Lao-tzu reappeared in India to convert the Buddha. Another story alleges that Lao-tzu was the Buddha!
Facts fuse with myth regarding Lao-tzu. Researchers through the ages have debated whether he actually wrote the Tao Te Ching, or if he was even a real person. Perhaps it has been difficult to verify the facts of Lao-tzu’s life because of the ancient Chinese belief that it was dishonorable to write one’s autobiography. Better to wait until death and hope that someone would do the honor! Lao-tzu was given a high position by later generations. Some Taoists considered him a deity, and built a temple on the site of his birthplace. In many areas throughout China there are Taoist temples, much like the many Buddhist temples.
Lao-tzu was deeply mystical. He believed that the Tao is the source, the inner axis of the universe. The inner nature of the world is mysterious, prior to name and form. That which can be given a name is not Tao.
TAO TE CHING
No book other than the Bible has been translated and read more than the Tao Te Ching. What draws so many people to this enigmatic book are the deep meanings that can be culled from its profound words. This book expresses the essence of early Taoist philosophy. Composed as short, poetic chapters, the words, written in ancient Chinese characters, are laden with possible interpretations. Thus, each translator becomes interpreter, with a seemingly endless variety of understandings, yet we can hear resonance in themes that echo throughout. Like a haunting melody transposed into different keys, the Taoist principles can be heard again and again.
The Tao Te Ching (Classic of the Way and Its Virtue) is divided into two parts, one on Tao, the mysterious Oneness that guides everyone and everything, and the other on Te, the power that is achieved by following Tao, totaling eighty-two chapters. The Tao Te Ching points to the Taoist Way and shows how following it will lead to a fulfilling life. Lao-tzu chose to express the Tao through ambiguous, poetic verse that could awaken the intuition of Tao in his readers. He did not presume to communicate its concepts through clearly defined words, for words hide the Tao. Inner essences, to Lao-tzu, are neither communicated nor reflected in words. But then, perhaps that is best; when it is hidden, it is revealed. Communication is more than words.
LAO -TZU ’S CONCEPTS
Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching expresses concepts that interrelate systematically to give meaning and a basis for understanding. Forces create one another through chain reactions initiated by the energies of opposites. Events in the real world are the result of these forces. Even as a pattern comes into being, it vanishes. Being and nonbeing are only aspects of each other, mutually caused.
Tao is bottomless yet empty, the heart of things, of life. Immortality is found in the emptiness. From the emptiness springs usefulness. The empty space within a cup is what makes a cup useful, for without any empty space within, a cup cannot be filled.
Tao is the source, older than nature. Nature is rooted in Tao. Everything that we know in the world comes from Tao, expressed as yin and yang. Thus, anything we do will invariably create its own opposite. To succeed in life according to Lao-tzu, we should step back and permit this balancing to take place. The situations of life seem to be one way, but they quickly assert their dual nature. The sage encourages contentment by letting go of excess desires. Simplicity leads to freedom from desire.
Wisdom lies in not contending. Sensitive to the inner nature of self and other, Lao-tzu’s Way leads through mystery, by returning to the core of life. When you let be, circumstances stop being a problem. They go through their cycle. Allow matters to take their natural course, and the struggle of resistance lessens. Everything is then taken care of by its own patterns of activation and rest. Yin and yang represent the natural polarity that inevitably arises. By encouraging the natural, the sage permits Tao to become manifest. Thus, wisdom is found in silence, in quiet, in letting be.
CHAPTER 3
Chuang-tzu: Tales of Tao
Is not he who preserves the body and gives the fullest development
to the life, who establishes the attributes of the Tao and
clearly displays It, possessed of kingly qualities?
—Chuang-tzu, in Legge 1962, 311
Chuang-tzu (369–286 B.C.) stands with Lao-tzu as one of the most well-known and prolific founders of Taoism. His works, known as The Chuang-tzu, elucidate and illustrate Taoist concepts through colorful stories. Chuang-tzu’s writings deeply inspired Chinese philosophical, medical, and aesthetic theory in general and tai chi chuan and Zen Buddhism in particular. Zen teachers use his concepts and metaphors to convey principles that parallel those of Zen.
Chuang-tzu’s real name was Chuang Chou. Tzu means master and is a title of respect, and thus he is best known as Chuang-tzu, Master Chuang. Little is known about his personal life outside of his writings and a short biography, compiled by the historian Ssu-ma Ch’ien. Chuang-tzu grew up and lived in the state of Meng, part of the kingdom of Wei, where Lao-tzu spent most of his life. He was a contemporary of the famous Confucian scholar, Mencius, who wrote, “The words of Chuang-tzu and Mo-tzu fill the world” (Mencius, in Legge 1985, 9).
Chuang-tzu was well versed in the prominent philosophies of his day, along with the classics, but he made his preference for Taoism very clear. Unlike other Taoist writers, Chuang-tzu’s work takes issue with all other philosophies, especially Confucianism. He wrote numerous stories in which Taoist sages convince philosophers from other schools of Taoism’s wisdom. One of his favorite scenarios is in the form of dialogues between Confucius and Lao-tzu. Confucius, the younger man, questions Lao-tzu as if he were addressing a wise sage. In the end, Confucius is convinced that Taoism is in harmony with a profound truth that can enhance his Confucianist beliefs.
In a typical encounter, Confucius went to Lao-tzu and said, “I have read the Six Classics and consider myself an expert. Yet none of the seventy-two rulers whom I advise have ever put my ideas into practice! What am I doing wrong?”
Lao-tzu answered, “You may have read the Six Classics, but keep in mind that these are only footprints, not the shoes themselves. Look at nature. Each animal reproduces according to its nature. Some are live bearers, others lay eggs, to give you a few examples. Every species has its own nature and that nature cannot be altered! The Tao cannot be stopped. When you have the Tao there isn’t anything that you can’t do, but if you don’t have it, you can’t do anything!”
