Daoism is one of three religions in China: Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The Chinese word ‘’Dao’’ means ‘’the way’’, as in the way of nature, the way of divine, Daoism is the study of the way. Its origins are found among philosopher hermits of ancient China called ‘’Xian’’. In the Chinese literature the character of ‘’Xian’’ is a pictogram of a person in the mountains, it is also linked to other characters meaning ‘’Dance and Shaman.’’ It is probale that shaman that Xian were Chinese Shamans. Shamanism- the search for truth trough communion with nature and natural forces is the core of Daoism. Daoists’ philosophy is so popular that most people think that Daoism is strictly a philosophy. This is not the case however. Daoism also eventually developed into the religion, complete with the temple, priests, sects and sacred writing. Thus we can define three strands of Daoism, each with its own approximate strating dates:
Xian 300 B.C. ‘’The way of Xian’’
Dao Jia 500 B.C. ‘’Daoists philosophy’’
Dao Jiao 150 A.D ‘’Daoist Religion’’
Although Daoism recognizes the wisdom of many great sages, it does not have one unique founder. The Daoist canon or collection of Daoists philosophical and religious literature is 1,120 texts written by many sages. The most important of these are fourth century classic attributed to Lao Tzu called ‘’ Dao De Jing’’, ‘’classic on the virtue on the Dao’’, a Chinese morality classic.
The Dao De Jing is the philosophical base of both early contemplatives Daoism, ‘’Dao Jia’’ and later schools of spiritual cultivation that involved to daoist religion ‘’Dao Jiao’’. The text of the Dao De Jing is written with paradox and humor. Paradox may be the essence of the humor. We laugh when we see in a nature on a new way, when perspectives suddenly shift on categories that were considered distinct such as spiritual and mundane- suddenly collapse into a good laugh. The paradox is even evident when looking at Lao Tzu’s name ‘’the wise old child’’, perhaps this is the reference to Lao Tzu’s youthful wisdom or the fact that after his mother conceived by the lord of the polestar, the poor women suffered an eighty-one year pregnancy. Daoist lore states that Lao Tzu was said to have been born with the long flowing white beard.
The opening phrase in the Dao De Jing is considered the distillation of the entire text and thus the essence of Daoism: “Dao Ke Dao fei Chang Dao”, meaning “The Dao that cannot be the Dao, cannot be the eternal Dao”. To understand this we need to realize that the word “Dao” can be a noun or a verb. Is the Dao “the Way” or does the term mean “To be the Way” or “To move along the Way”? Dao has a wide range of meanings, including: “A physical pathway”, “A spiritual pathway” and “to speak”. Thus, the word Dao has very big range of meanings. So how are we to translate the first line of “Dao De Jing”? Here are some conclusions:
The dao that can be “Daoed” is not the Dao;
The dao that can be spoken about is not the constant Dao;
The Dao that speaks is not the Enternal Dao;
The word that can be worded is not the enternal word;
The course that can be discoursed is not the course, of course
The Dao that can be spoken of is not the Dao of long life.
Daoist sages believe that the “Dao of Long Life” refers to the Daoist meditations, and longevity cultivation of the physical, mental, spiritual. It is believed that tis cannot be just spoken of it must be practiced, a lived process not a belief system. Lao Tzu wants to suggest through style the content of Daoist teachings. We can see the word Dao three times in the opening line, each time with a different meaning. Thus Dao refers to a “change” thus meaning we cannot grasp the truth in the words because truth is a changing process. Lao Tzu believed that it is best to keep silent and to say the most with the least.
The entire first chapter of the Dao De Jing:
The Dao that can be spoken cannot be the Dao;
The name that can be named is not the name of the Dao;
Emptiness, the state of the naming, is the beginning of the heaven and earth;
Being, the state of naming is the mother of all things;
Therefore, if you are without selfish desires, you can see the wonder of life;…
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