Tao te ching_ annotated & explained - Derek Lin [5]
People may assume that the question of Lao Tzu’s historical existence must be as important to Taoists as Jesus’ historical existence is to Christians, but it is not. Students of the Tao follow principles rather than particular individuals. The message is the central thing; the messenger is merely the conduit. Thus, the issue of historicity does not in the least diminish the importance of the Tao Te Ching or the power of its teachings.
Lao Tzu had created something so accessible that subsequent philosophers built on it and developed what we now know as Philosophical Taoism, characterized by its secular observation of the natural laws governing existence. At the same time, spiritual seekers built on it in a different way to create Religious Taoism, marked by doctrines, rituals, and a pantheon of deities. Lao Tzu can be properly credited as the one who started these two parallel threads that became mainstays of Chinese culture. At the same time, the original form of Taoism that inspired him should also be recognized as the true source.
The incredibly ancient history of the Tao means that we can use the Tao Te Ching as a gateway to the distant past. When we study and practice it, we are not only bringing these words to life in our present circumstances, we are also leveraging Lao Tzu’s words from 2,500 years ago to vault further back in time. Through Lao Tzu, we are extending our reach all the way to antiquity and connecting with the essence of the Chinese spirit since time immemorial.
Interfaith Approach
One reason Taoism has such durability is, paradoxically, because of its flexible and inclusive nature. Upon hearing it for the first time, many people assume the word Tao to be a specialized term specific to Taoism. In Chinese culture, however, it has always been a generic term applicable to every aspect of life, including every conceivable religion, because every belief system has its own particular way. The ancient Chinese sages who originated the term were perhaps the first practitioners of the interfaith approach to spirituality. Following their lead, Chinese people throughout history have applied the term to every school of thought and every discipline, including martial arts.
The original conception of Tao was simply the observation that reality has a certain way about it. This “way” encompasses all of existence: life, the universe, and everything. A Christian may call it God’s will; an atheist may call it the laws of nature. These are labels pointing to the same thing, and Tao is simply the most generalized label imaginable, applicable to both perspectives.
Because of the Tao’s inclusive nature, when Buddhism entered China 1,800 years ago, it found easy acceptance despite its differences from Taoism. A sense of optimism and humor runs throughout the ancient Tao, aptly expressed as “carefree wandering.” Buddhism, on the other hand, saw life as ku hai, the bitter ocean, and focused on suffering. Despite this, Chinese people regarded Buddhist teachings as simply another way to express the Tao, thus setting the stage for Religious Taoism and Buddhism to interact and influence one another. By the time the Indian monk Bodhidharma visited China several hundred years later, it was only natural that a fusion of Indian and Chinese thought would give rise to Zen Buddhism.
This inclusive and unifying aspect of the Tao is something that is still not well understood in the West, and can lead to confusion about the similarities and differences between Taoism and Buddhism. It can also lead to an idea expressed by some Western authors that Taoism is opposed to another prominent Chinese tradition, Confucianism, which—contrasted to Taoism—is a philosophical framework on the interrelated functions of the individual and society, almost entirely devoid of spiritual commentary. While this confrontational model may be easy to grasp from a perspective that sees life in terms of battling forces, it is definitely not how the ancient