Teachings on Tao by Chuang-tzu

Teachings on Tao is a collection of quotes from the book Chaung-tzu written by the well-known Taoist master. It is about his experience with the Tao explained in short stories, parables and philosophical dissertations. It is a further development of Lao-tzu's ideas included in Tao-te ching.

Taoism is a way of life inspired by the cosmic rhythms. Chuang-tzu is the most authorized author to sustain this definition as he himself dedicated his entire life to experience the Tao and its virtue (Te).

This book is for people willing to know more on the Taoist approach of everyday life events. It is written in an accessible language and commented to better seize its wisdom and expertise.

There's also a large introductory paper explaining what is Tao and what is mostly related to it. The introductory essay is by Jhian Yang and addresses beginners as much as people who already stepped the Taoist path.

Generally speaking the Chuang-tzu has never been translated for the use of common readers - it remained a book mainly reserved for scholars' approach and study. This collection - Teachings on Tao - succeeded in transgressing this rule as it is intended for people without any prior knowledge of Taoist Way.

Below are several abstracts from the ebook. The original text is printed in bold characters. Should you wish to purchase this work please check the bottom of this page for information related to the ordering procedure.

Everybody talks and raises couples of opposites;
I would like to hear a speech that doesn't raise such opposites.
If there is a beginning of he world,
Proves the existence of time before this beginning
And of another time before this.

Entity presumes both nonentity
And time before nothingness.
There is nothing more stupendous under the sky
Than the top of an autumnal ear,
And the highest mountain
Is nothing compared to the starry sky.
Nothing lasts longer than a child
dead prematurely.*

People engage themselves in discussions based on preset assumptions. They perceive things in a formal manner without getting any trouble with what is here and now. Nevertheless, there is nothing more stupendous than the top of an autumnal ear, and the child dead prematurely is the oldest.*

* A version of this observation is found in Thomas' Gospel. It is said there about the wisdom of the old who consults the newborn in regard of Life. Thus, he gets the spontaneous knowledge that represents the seal of veritable spirituality. (Or, sometimes a little child knows more about life than a much older sage).

An analysis of this verse from Thomas' Gospel, which considers the LIFE (that is the eternal/spiritual living), reveals another meaning: Life/spiritual experience in Christianity is not a matter of age and accumulation of worldly experience. Therefore, in this view, an old man is not more advanced than a child, on the contrary.

Tao that shows itself is not Tao.*
The eloquent words miss their target.
The constant goodwill misses its aim.
The selflessness praising with its purity is not authentic.
The most willful courage is not the effective courage.
These five items seem complete, but tend to become irrefutable.**
This is why the knowledge that stops when it knows no more is the true knowledge.

* Tao can not be seen as it is not an object of sensorial perception. At human level, if we want to prove a personal ability (Tao = quality, ability, skill) we fail.

The incompleteness of something is due to the fact that it becomes itself irrefutable. In an ever changing universe things and their meaning does not last unchanged. True knowledge is not going blindly on what you do, affirm or claim.

How could I know if the love of life is not an illusion, and the fear of death is not as in the case of a young man that thinks himself lost, when he walks in fact on the right track? Li Ki was the daughter of the Ai's border Guardian. When the sovereign of the land wived with her, she cried to wet her dress. Yet, when she entered the king's palace, sat on the luxurious royal bed and ate the best food, she regretted her cry. How could I know if a dead man is not also in a position to regret the time when he hung on to life?

This abstract proves how wrong is to let yourself led by preconceptions, prejudices and anything that is not relating to the actual, immediate event. At first sight, marriage seemed a catastrophe to Li Ki. And for such thinking, she suffered due to a preset idea. Yet, the marriage proved to be an accomplishment rather than a catastrophe. Same for the death: it seems to be a catastrophe, but where have we learnt from that to live is a wonderful thing? We, obviously, deal here with a criticism of formal thinking.

Teachings on Tao

Ebook

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Pages: 45

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