An essay that I wrote for Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Religious Studies class in October 2014.
Daoism
By C. Randall Nicholson
This section covers Daoism, a Chinese religious philosophy that was allegedly formed or revealed by the wise sage Laozi. Many historians doubt whether Laozi was a historically real person, but many stories about him purport to share his experiences and wisdom. It is claimed that he was a contemporary of Confucius and admonished the latter with his superior teachings. It is also believed by some that he traveled to India and became the Buddha, providing a lesser path for the non-Chinese “savages” who could not handle the full path.
Laozi became immortal and disappeared, leaving only a sacred text called the Daodejing (Treatise on the Way and Power) which is about five thousand characters long. It has been the subject of several commentaries. Daoism eschews most religious ritual but teaches practices of meditation to help adherents retain the vital energy that is coming into their bodies and discard the acquired human knowledge that only complicates life and distracts from true wisdom. They are seeking the Dao, or “natural way”, a nothingness that precedes and pervades everything. Its description transcends human language but by coming to know it, people find peace and happiness.
Zhuangzi was a later disciple of Daoism who is more reliably considered to be a historical figure. His teachings are at least as influential as Laozi’s. He taught that language is meaningless and cannot convey real truth, that the boundary between waking and dreaming life is thin or nonexistent, and that a sage who achieves harmony with the Dao becomes godlike and immune to forces that cause injury or discomfort. He becomes detached, without desire or resistance.
Zhuangzi believed in distancing oneself from society as much as possible, refusing its prestige and positions. On one occasion he compared worldly power to a half-rotten dead rat. On another, he drew the analogy of a dead tortoise in a palace and a live one dragging its tail in the mud, and said he would prefer to be the latter. He taught that one should become as useless as possible so as to be left alone by society and free to seek the Dao.
Much of the Daodejing is incomprehensible to me, but that which I do understand resonates with me. The beginning passage, for example, says that the things which can be described or spoken are not the eternal ones. I think this is a principle that applies to virtually any religious tradition, even one that accepts scripture as being revealed from God Himself. Most would accept that any human language is imperfect, and that grand spiritual truths cannot be fully encompassed by them. Our understanding of perfect deities or doctrines or philosophies must always be constrained by the imperfect words with which they are communicated.
The second passage discusses the fundamental necessity of contrasts in the world. This is also a prominent theme in Mormonism, which teaches "there must be an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:27); that people must suffer in order to experience joy and that Satan’s evil is a necessary counterbalance to God’s goodness in order for the divine plan to work properly. Laozi does not seem to be talking about that sort of thing per se but I think the same principle is at work. In saying that the recognition of beauty or good births ugliness or evil, respectively, I think he is describing the need for humility. Humility is an important part of a Daoist’s quiet, passive influence on the world.
In the forty-first passage, Zhuanzi describes the varying reactions of different people to the Dao. It is true that people often mock the beliefs or philosophies of others rather than attempt to understand them. Professor Daniel C. Peterson has written, “If a substantial number of sane and intelligent people believe something that seems to you utterly without sense, the problem probably lies with you, for not grasping what it is about that belief that a lucid and reasonable person might find plausible and satisfying.”1 Even though I have disagreed with portions of every religion discussed in the class so far, including this one, I find them all beautiful and worthy of serious study, as well as full of truths that I can extract and live out in my own faith.
Read more of my essays here.
Laozi became immortal and disappeared, leaving only a sacred text called the Daodejing (Treatise on the Way and Power) which is about five thousand characters long. It has been the subject of several commentaries. Daoism eschews most religious ritual but teaches practices of meditation to help adherents retain the vital energy that is coming into their bodies and discard the acquired human knowledge that only complicates life and distracts from true wisdom. They are seeking the Dao, or “natural way”, a nothingness that precedes and pervades everything. Its description transcends human language but by coming to know it, people find peace and happiness.
Zhuangzi was a later disciple of Daoism who is more reliably considered to be a historical figure. His teachings are at least as influential as Laozi’s. He taught that language is meaningless and cannot convey real truth, that the boundary between waking and dreaming life is thin or nonexistent, and that a sage who achieves harmony with the Dao becomes godlike and immune to forces that cause injury or discomfort. He becomes detached, without desire or resistance.
Zhuangzi believed in distancing oneself from society as much as possible, refusing its prestige and positions. On one occasion he compared worldly power to a half-rotten dead rat. On another, he drew the analogy of a dead tortoise in a palace and a live one dragging its tail in the mud, and said he would prefer to be the latter. He taught that one should become as useless as possible so as to be left alone by society and free to seek the Dao.
Much of the Daodejing is incomprehensible to me, but that which I do understand resonates with me. The beginning passage, for example, says that the things which can be described or spoken are not the eternal ones. I think this is a principle that applies to virtually any religious tradition, even one that accepts scripture as being revealed from God Himself. Most would accept that any human language is imperfect, and that grand spiritual truths cannot be fully encompassed by them. Our understanding of perfect deities or doctrines or philosophies must always be constrained by the imperfect words with which they are communicated.
The second passage discusses the fundamental necessity of contrasts in the world. This is also a prominent theme in Mormonism, which teaches "there must be an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:27); that people must suffer in order to experience joy and that Satan’s evil is a necessary counterbalance to God’s goodness in order for the divine plan to work properly. Laozi does not seem to be talking about that sort of thing per se but I think the same principle is at work. In saying that the recognition of beauty or good births ugliness or evil, respectively, I think he is describing the need for humility. Humility is an important part of a Daoist’s quiet, passive influence on the world.
In the forty-first passage, Zhuanzi describes the varying reactions of different people to the Dao. It is true that people often mock the beliefs or philosophies of others rather than attempt to understand them. Professor Daniel C. Peterson has written, “If a substantial number of sane and intelligent people believe something that seems to you utterly without sense, the problem probably lies with you, for not grasping what it is about that belief that a lucid and reasonable person might find plausible and satisfying.”1 Even though I have disagreed with portions of every religion discussed in the class so far, including this one, I find them all beautiful and worthy of serious study, as well as full of truths that I can extract and live out in my own faith.
- Dan Peterson, “Peterson’s First Rule for the Study of Other Religions”, 27 May 2012, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2012/05/petersons-first-rule-for-the-study-of-other-religions.html#ixzz3H1fJo7j6
Read more of my essays here.
