Lao Tzu and Taoism

A long time ago in China, there lived a rather strange old fellow known as Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu spoke of the way things are. He didn’t talk in terms of religion. He didn’t speak about gods or goddesses. He didn’t even speak much about spirituality. He just spoke about the way things are, with a few hints as to how we could live in the world, in reality.

Lao Tzu’s teachings formed the basis of a whole movement of philosophy, for some, religion to others. This is Taoism. For the central theme of Lao Tzu’s teachings, if I can call them that, was the Tau, usually translated as ‘the way’, really the way things are. The interesting thing about Lao Tzu’s teachings is that they do not shrink back from paradox. In fact every statement Lao Tzu made was deeply paradoxical because this does reflect the nature of the way things are.

Our thinking, rational mind using words, symbols, concepts, loves everything to be black or white, true or false, good or bad, right or wrong. This is the way of the rational mind and it is very useful at times to think and work with this rationality. But it has this one drawback: life is not rational. Existence is fundamentally paradoxical. Lao Tzu recognised this most fundamental characteristic of the way things are. Our mind resists such paradox, it fights against it because ultimately the thinking mind cannot embrace paradox. To really dwell in paradox, which is to dwell in truth, we need to go beyond words, beyond the symbols of the rational mind. We need to dwell in our consciousness in a deeper way, in a space that is not built on words. All of this was somehow conveyed by Lao Tzu.

Lao Tzu did not write much. Towards the end of his life it is said that he was talked into writing down his understanding and the short book, the Tao Te Ching came into being. This is one the greatest writings ever to come from a human being. It is deeply paradoxical and many of us struggle with reading it because we want to have a rational understanding. That is the way we have been brought up, educated. It is not possible to comprehend the Tao Te Ching in this way.

So Taoism, which flowed from Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, is a great movement in human consciousness. It is difficult to classify. It is not mere philosophy. It is not strictly a religion. Yet, it conveys some of the deepest truths that human beings have managed to convey to one another. So for me, the great contribution of Taoism is to encourage us to confront reality, the way things are, without fear and to plunge into the paradox, not pretend it does not exist. This acceptance of paradox, this is what Taoism has given us.

For those who seek enlightenment, being content to reside in paradox is essential, it is a prerequisite. If you are still fighting against paradox you cannot become enlightened yet. So Taoism is of great help on our path towards enlightenment.