Explore Taoism

People are well aware of Lao Tzu and his contribution to Taoism but Chuang Tzu is someone who is relatively unknown. Chuang Tzu (also referred to as Zhuangzi) was born in Wei in what is today called the Hu Nan province of China around the 4^th century B.C when China was a mass of warring states. He was a small government office and was once offered a higher position which he refused saying that it would curtail his freedom.          

Chuang was well aware of the literature of his time and the views of popular philosophers but he was a follower of Lao Tzu’s philosophy and most of his writings are reflections of Lao Tzu’s doctrines.  Over the years Chuang Tzu also developed into a critic of Confucius and his disciples and criticized his beliefs with great satire in his writings.

Chuang Tzu was also known to be one of the first to propound the concept of anarchy and he said about the world that “it does not need governing; in fact it should not be governed” and he also believed that good order would result automatically when things were left as they were.

His philosophy is slightly skeptical as he believed that our knowledge of things is unlimited but the things in the world are unlimited and thus to use the limited to pursue the unlimited is foolish. He also was opposed to relativism which caused him to doubt many pragmatic arguments.

His self titled book Zhuangzi has been compiled from many sources and some parts of it were written by him and he does not restrict himself to Taoism in his book unlike most other writers of the time like Confucius  and Mencius.

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The three jewels or the three treasures as they are also called are the basic virtues of Taoism. They first appeared in chapter 67 of the Tai Te Ching and are considered Laozi’s most beautiful teachings.

Every one says my Tao is greatly like folly. Just because it is great, it looks like folly. Great ways do not look like the ordinary anyhow. If it did not look like folly, it could have turned small and petty long ago! Then it would have been small. As for things that do not look foolish to common men, there can be no question about their smallness.

Ihave three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is a deep, deep concern; call it mystic pity, if you like.
The second is never too much, which may mean frugality.
And the third is refusal to be ahead, foremost or first, for I hardly dare to be ahead. – Arthur Waley, Ling Yutang & Wing tsit Chan

The first treasure is ci which means compassion, tenderness, love, mercy, benevolence and is also used in Chinese to mean mother.

The second treasure is called jian which literally means frugality, restraint, moderation, economy. It is believed that this practice is connected and stands for the fact that nature does not waste anything. It means simple desires when applied to life.

The third treasure is bugan wei tianxia xian which means to not be the first or ahead in the world. This is interpreted as being the Taoist way of avoiding premature death. Being ahead of the world means making oneself susceptible to the world’s destructive forces. This fear of death arises out of a love for life and is at the centre of Taoist wisdom.

Thus these three treasures are the central tenets of Taoism and are followed closely by quite a number of people.

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In spite of being absolutely wonderful and full of great lessons on life, the Tao Te Ching is a very unexplored book and a majority of the world have never read it or even heard of it. The book is an enigma and makes you realize how caught up in your own life and material things you have become. People tend to be very restricted by barriers of faith and religion and this holds them back.

Even if you follow any other religion, the Tao Te Ching is a must read because of all the valuable lessons and wisdom that it offers. People tend to be restricted to religious texts of their own religion, while avoiding others. No book is complete is itself and reading more and more books and religious texts give you a greater view on life.

Another thing is that non-spiritual people also don’t read it because they believe it is all about god and thus they feel that it will have no relevance to them. This however is not true. The Tao Te Ching is more of a philosophical book and it is about The Way of Life. It teaches you about the important things in life and provides food for thought. I have been greatly influenced by it and my life has improved considerably.

It is great to absorb the wisdom in the book and give it your own interpretation. The book has some excellent messages and has something for everybody and there is something in the book that will touch each of us. It can teach you a lot about life and what you are missing out. My advice to everybody would be to read the Tao Te Ching and awaken your senses. It is not as a religious tool but as a way of life that the Tao Te Ching should be read.

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The history and evolution of Taoism is glorious. Tao means “the way of life”.  It is considered the highest order of life and following Taoism means being close to nature. Thus nature is the central theme of everything that has flowed from Taoism.

Lao Tzu was the first person to write in document form the philosophy of Taoism.  The book was initially given the writer’s name as its title but later on it became a classic and one of the basic texts of Taoism and the emperor Ging of the Tang dynasty gave it the name ‘Tao Te Ching’.

Later on Chuang Tzu wrote about Taoism using a lot of humour, anecdotes and fables to express his views about Taoism. His book was called Chang  Tzu and is another one of Taoism greatest books.