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The Western Tao - Part One -
An Introduction
by James
Robinson
For years, I have sought to understand life and find
a way that I personally could embrace. Like many of
my generation, I was raised in and rejected organized
religion. I actively explored alternate philosophies
and religions. The Chinese philosophy of Taoism comes
the closest to striking a cord in my heart and soul.
However, much of it was beyond my intellectual and cultural
grasp. Being of the West, I found it hard to assimilate
Eastern thought and practice. But I did not wish to
discard the basic tenants of Tao as I felt they held
a core of Truth. Thus I sought a way to interpret and
infuse and amalgamated Eastern Taoism into a Western
Way or Tao. What follows is a result of this endeavor.
TAOISM
Taoism is one of the greatest philosophical and religious
traditions in the world that has grown out of Chinese
Philosophy and culture. It has no one God or even a
founding prophet. It believes instead in the TAO. In
Chinese, TAO means "the way", and the way
is understood to mean the way of nature. Taoists see
the cycles of nature and the constant change in the
natural world as earthly signs of a great and universal
force. They call this unseen force TAO. One of Taoism's
central beliefs is that each person must follow his
or her own path to Tao or "Way of Life". Taoism
has no one founder but has number of masters who taught
or wrote on the TAO. Taoists look to these words of
the masters to help them find "the way". Finding
the way is not easy as TAO can be learned but not taught.
The masters can point the way but each person must find
their own way.
WESTERN TAOISM
Because Western culture is vastly different from the
Chinese, many of the philosophical and religious beliefs,
practices and principles in Taoism are not necessarily
applicable or suitable to western ways. Never the less,
the underlying principles and beliefs and some of the
practices are universally applicable no matter what
the culture. Thus, this essay has been prepared to provide
a possible guide for those of us here in the so-called
west who might find it useful in finding our own way
to the TAO!
THE TAOIST CANNON
The following texts are considered to be some of the
basic texts for Taoism. As such, the Western Taoist
should study them.
TAO TE CHING
This basic text of Taoism is a collection of 81 short
poems, which are called chapters. It is thought by many
that it is not the work of one person but a collection
of works of many people gathered over a period of time
long ago. It is however traditionally attributed to
LAO TZI and is considered the foundation of Taoist scripture.
THE ZHUANGI
Two centuries after LAO TZI is said to have lived,
there appeared another Taoist master, ZHUANGI (Chang
Tzu). The "ZHANGI", a collection of his works
is the first Chinese work to present a philosophy of
life that the ordinary Chinese people could understand
and follow for themselves. It is a collection of essays,
stories, and parables written to illustrate and explain
LAO TZI's teachings to others. They are still relevant
today.
THE HUAINANZI (MASTERS OF HUAINAN)
A group of Taoists Masters or wise men taught at the
Court of LUI AN (around 1100 BCE). Their lectures and
lessons are recorded in twenty-one essays published
in the HUAINANZI.
THE I CHING AND THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN
FLOWER
These two books are also relevant to the Taoist tradition
and should be studied.
In part two of The Western Tao, we will look
at some basic beliefs.
This three-part article was previously published
on Themestream.com
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