Essential Taoism contains another key concept – that of Te (or virtue).
Te is not virtue in the sense of being contrived or cultivated virtue as happens when we follow a moral code. It is not moral rectitude. It is the power that enables the plants to grow; which keeps the blood circulating in our bodies. It is the power which keeps the heart beating. It is in our entire being and is not limited to our conscious attention or ego or personality that we identity with
And even as applied to our conscious attention Te (or virtue) is not contrived or forced or artificial. Lao Tzu says :
“Superior virtue (Te) is not (intentionally) virtuous,
Inferior virtue does not let go of being virtuous
And thus is not virtue.
Superior virtue uses no force
but nothing is left undone
Inferior virtue uses force
but achieves nothing.”
In other words Te is the spontaneous expression or manifestation of yourself. It is the sage using an economy of means to live his life, his uncontrived skill in dealing with practical or social affairs. The capability of growing to Te is what any outline of essential Taoism would teach us.
In any outline of essential Taoism we must stress on this doctrine that less is more when we are trying to handle ourselves or our family or business. Taoism believes that any organism that is in touch with its environment has its own intuitive intelligence. The organism will spontaneously adjust in a way so that it is in harmony with the environment and other organisms. All we need to do is to allow our impulses to play themselves out.
Chuang Tzu said
“Mark what I Say! In the case of the body, it is best to let it go along with things. In the case of the emotions it is best to let them follow where they will. By going along with things you avoid being separated from them. By letting the emotions follow as they will you avoid fatigue.”
I do not mean that you should slap your boss if you are annoyed with him. In fact I feel strongly that we all need to play out our social roles (whether at work or home or while socializing) and be intelligently circumspect.
So expression of our feelings in not the answer and neither is repression. The middle path in between both these two extremes is that of mindfulness.
Thich Nhat Hanh has made mindfulness popular through his retreats, books and audios. His acclaimed masterpiece – The Miracle of Mindfulness – teaches many methods to bring meditation into our day to day lives.
In giving you this advice (to practice mindfulness) I may already have departed from the spirit of Lao Tzu and of essential Taoism. But I feel strongly about this subject as I have experienced in my own life the pain and hardship that comes through not following social norms. So I urge not do not take the above advice of Chuang Tzu as permission to express your feelings whenever you feel like it.
So what then was Lao Tzu’s or Taoism’s method to grow to Te (virtue) It is to have understood completely that you cannot deviate from the Tao. The Tao is not something you can deviate from and all thoughts and feelings on the inside, our body, and the outside world are all manifestation of the Tao (or God)
It you have truly understood this and apply it in your day to day life them you will see all forms – tangible or intangible, inside or outside – as manifestations of God. Hence you will have the attitude of respect, even reverence.
In Hinduism one of the paths to enlightenment is Jnana Yoga. Swami Vivekananda mentions in his book (on Jnana Yoga) that if you see yourself and the outside world as manifestations of God, then that alone is enough to take you to the Ultimate. Of course you can read and examine metaphysical arguments and convince yourself intellectually that all is a manifestation of God.
But the recognition and implementation of the understanding that all is a manifestation of the Tao, that alone is enough to take you to the other shore.
This outline of essential Taoism contains very paradoxical advice which seems to go against common sense. But life is full of contradictions and there is more than one way to go to Rome.
Any outline of essential Taoism would not emphasize meditation too much. In this it differs from Buddhism, Hinduism and all the various schools of Yoga. This also is advice unique to Taoism and to some extent Zen Buddhism.
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful to you.
Stay tuned for more in this continuing series.
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