Embarking on the Way: A Guide to Western Taoism - Softcover

Towler, Solala

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964991225 ISBN 13: 9780964991224

Publisher: Abode of the Eternal Tao, 1998

Synopsis

Written in simple and non-scholarly fashion, Embarking On the Way is designed to present the fascinating world of Taoist philosophy and practice to Western readers. It encompasses a wide range of Taoist studies, from the classical teachings of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu to the Tao of sex and relationship.

The appeal of this book for modern Westerners is in its simple yet profound presentation of Taoism. There is nothing to join, no vows to take, no special diet to follow and there is no need to let go of one's own personal religious or spiritual path to benefit from the teachings of Tao. Embarking On the Way offers the full program of Taoist philosophy and practice. The reader is then able to choose which parts of the program he or she wishes to use--for instance Chinese medicine or qigong practice--or they may choose to follow the entire program. There is no pressure or need to become a hard-core Taoist to gain benefit from the teachings covered in this book.

About this title

About the Author

Solala Towler is author of A Gathering of Cranes, Bringing the Tao to the West. He is also editor/publisher of The Empty Vessel: A Journal of Contemporary Taoism. He is a certified instructor of several styles of qigong as well as Taoist meditation and is a member of the board of directors of the National Qigong Association USA.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One: Taoism 101
What Is Tao?

The Tao has reality and evidence, but no action and no form. It may be transmitted but cannot be received. It may be attained but cannot be seen. It exists by and through itself. It existed before Heaven and earth, and indeed for all eternity.
Joseph Needham

Tao is the everlasting rhythm of life, the unity of the polarity of non-being and being.
Ellen M. Chen

Tao is the pointing finger and, at the same time, the direction.
Hua-Ching Ni

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." So begins the Tao Te Ching (Dow De Jing) of Lao Tzu, written some 2,500 years ago. "I do not know its name, so I call it Tao. If you insist on a description, I may call it vast, active, moving in great cycles."

How then, to describe the indescribable? How to fit into words that which is beyond words? The Tao can only be pointed to, or referred to, say the ancient sages. It cannot be held, only experienced. It cannot be touched, only felt. It cannot be seen, only glimpsed with the inner eye. As we see by the quotes at the beginning of the chapter, there are many ways of talking about Tao, but, like trying to describe the taste of chocolate to someone who has never had it, one can only approximate. Imagine then, trying to describe the be all and end all of existence. Lao Tzu began the Tao Te Ching by saying that the Tao itself cannot even be talked about--though he did manage to come up with a little over five thousand characters after that! What he actually meant was that to try to fit the Tao into a neatly packaged definition for once and for all is impossible, for in reality, Tao is something quite beyond all puny definitions and categories.
The word Tao (Dow), has many translations. It is an elusive word, meaning much more than can be explained. It has been called the Law or the Way or simply All That Is. Some Christian writers have even translated it as God, though it certainly does not mean the personal, judgmental deity we in the West usually think of as God.
Tao is at once the universal pageant of the constellations and the budding of each new leaf in the spring. It is the constant round of life and death and all that falls between. It resides in us as we reside in it. It is the source as well as the end of our being. It neither judges nor condemns but continually blesses, in all moments, an unending cycle of change and renewal.
Tao is what has always been and always will be, regardless of whether we humans blow ourselves into the astral. It actually has no need of us yet continually and forever sustains us. Alan Watts once wrote:

The order to Tao is not an obedience to anything else. As Chuang-tzu says, 'It exists by and through itself,' it is sui generes (self generating), tzu-jan (of itself so), and has the property of that forgotten attribute of God called aseity--that which is (by) se (itself).

Tao, then, is the Way, as in direction, as in manner, source, destination, purpose, and process. In discovering and exploring Tao the process and the destination are one and the same. John Blofeld says that in Chinese thought "the notion of a Supreme Being, so essential to Western religions, is replaced by that of a Supreme State of Being, an impersonal perfection from which all beings, including man, are separated only by delusion."

In other words, this Supreme State of Being is not some unattainable something "out there," far removed from the mundane affairs of humankind, but rather something that we too are integrally a part of. After all, it is much harder to identify with a wrathful, personified deity or even a perfect, shining glory of a deity than something so simple, so natural, so all encompassing as Tao. As Alan Watts said, "It may reign but it does not rule. It is the pattern of things but not the enforced." The Tao itself does not judge, it does not condemn, it does not punish. Rather we ourselves, in our refusal to go along with its majestic flow, punish ourselves and cause ourselves all sorts of worries and problems. I like to think of it as a giant celestial merry-go-round. Around and around it goes, in its great and heavenly way. It is up to us to either jump on and ride in the direction it is already turning, or to attempt to jump on the other way. Of course, if we do that, we sooner or later get thrown off and land on our faces in the mud! As Lao Tzu says, whatever goes against the Tao comes to an early end. This is not a punishment or a judgment. It simply is the way things are. Spit into the wind and you receive it back into your face. Simple, natural. But just think of the vast amount of whirling energy that is contained in that effortlessly revolving merry-go-round. And just imagine tapping into that energy, that force, by simply finding our own place on that wheel and going for the ride. When we are going along with the flow or direction of the Tao, or the natural flow, we derive great impetus and direction. It is like having the wind against our backs, filling our sails. We feel we can doing anything and everything our hearts desire. But try to go against it and once again we land on our faces in the mud. It is in finding just the right way to jump aboard, the right timing, the right position, that is the tricky part. And that's just what this book is about.

What, Then, Is Taoism?

...a unique and extremely interesting combination of philosophy and religion, incorporating also 'proto' science and magic.
Joseph Needham

Taoism represents everything which is spontaneous, imaginative, private, unconventional...
A.C. Graham

A Taoist laughs at social conventions, and eludes or adapts himself to them.
Lieh Tzu

Taoism is not an "ism." It is also not an ideology, or a New Age movement. It is a living philosophy. It is a way of thinking, a way of looking at life, a way of being--being with change rather than against it. Life is made up of cycles, say the Taoists, cycle upon cycle. The only constant is change. Change is inescapable. We have no control over it. The only thing we have control over is our own responses to the changes life has to offer. For really, what else can we do? Actually, there's plenty we can do. Rant and rave, complain, whine, procrastinate, fight back, resist. But to what avail? To resist only weakens us. To the Taoist, resistance is a joke. It is utterly futile and without honor. To resist only makes that which we are resisting stronger. Lao Tzu speaks over and over again of the principle of the soft overcoming the hard, the weak overcoming the strong.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abode of the Eternal Tao
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0964991225
• ISBN 13: 9780964991224
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 162