Taoism, Christmas and Ta Chiu

At Christmas time in Western countries it can be difficult for those of other or no faiths. Do you join in with the seasonal celebrations ignoring the Christian message, do you ignore it, or do you link it to celebrating a festival of your own at this time of year?

While as a Taoist its good to experience and enjoy whatever is happening without loading it with value judgements, it can also be nice to feel that you've got a celebration that is in some way "your own." In this light, over at the Reform Taoist Congregation there's been the suggestion that the Hong Kong Taoist festival of Ta Chiu be celebrated in this holiday period.

Taking place on 27th December, Ta Chiu is heavily tied into "religious" Taoism and its practices. I believe the pronunciation is Ta = like Tar but without the "r" sound at the end, Chiu = joo. Here's the description from cultureandrecreation.gov.au....

Ta Chiu is a Taoist festival of peace and renewal that takes place on 27 December in Hong Kong. The participants summon all of their gods and ghosts so that the gods' collective power will renew their lives. At the end of the festival, priests read aloud the names of every person who lives in the area. Then they attach the list of names to a paper horse and set it aflame, letting the names rise to heaven.

 Now the actual practice seems very alien and ritual heavy to a philosophical Taoist, but if you're looking for something Taoist to celebrate around the same time, or if you want to respond to those who wish you a "Happy Xmas" with a Taoist response, this might do the job for you. You don't have to conform to the "religious" parts, just the spirit of "peace & renewal." I that light you can take the basic theme and have any rituals, foods, cards, activities etc that mean "peace & renewal" to you. For me it conjours up images of nature and change. YMMV

Taoism and blogging

I came across a really interesting blog today which I thought I'd recommend. It covers a wide range of subjects mostly from a Taoist/Buddhist perspective. IMHO it's excellent and it can be found at A Quiet Watercourse. I'll be adding it to my site's recommended blogs as well.

Taoism and dedication

I've been feeling for a while that this blog has been lacking in direction. I originally set it up as a place to explore Taoism and 21st century life but I don't feel that so far I've achieved what I set out to do. Now, it's in the nature of Taoism that often the journey is a winding one and such has been the case with this blog, but I think I'm finally reaching a point where I know where I want to take this site.

One of the things I think that is needed with any blog is a sense of continuity and freshness. While posts written just for the sake of writing something are rarely enjoyable for either writer or reader, a reasonable frequency of posting is important to keep the blog alive. As a Taoist this can be further complicated because I believe you should only really write when the 'muse' takes you and the words flow freely (wu wei again!) such as I'm feeling today.

In the light of these views I intend to push the direction of this blog back towards discussing how Taoism relates to 21st century issues and what to can teach us about living in this time. Now all I've got to do is wait until the first subject inspires me!!!!

Hurrah!!!

I just received notification that somebody has suggested this site for inclusion in the Daily Reviewer top 100 Taoism blogs (are there 100 Taoism blogs?????) and that this site has been selected. Thanks very much for whoever submitted the details.

Osho - Tao: The Pathless Path

Following a recommendation on the New Taoist Community forum I bought a copy of Osho's book Tao: The Pathless Path My understanding is that the book has been created by collecting together the transcripts of several talks given by him.

The book takes several of the parables of Lieh-tzu - the third of the trio of great Taoist philosophers alongside Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. Osho then discusses the meaning of the parable and explores its subtleties. At the end of the book is a short section addressing some particular questions - such as the relationship between the Tao, Confucianism and Science.

Generally I've been really impressed with this book so far. Some of the flow is a bit weird, but I believe that's probably because it's a transcript of a talk rather than a collection of reasoned essays. Some of the examples Osho gives, particularly in relation to Christianity, I find of little worth - but possibly they were included as part of tailoring the talks for a particular audience. Opinions on Osho seem to vary but I think this book is well worth a read, particularly if, like me, you've only had very limited exposure to the writings of Lieh-tzu.

Distractions

It's surprisingly easy to go off track when trying to pursue a Taoist life. Recently I've found that I've veered off into one of the most common traps that Taoists face - engaging in Taoism as an intellectual exercise rather than living it. My post "Difficult questions" is a good example of this.

Chapter 56 of the Tao Te Ching reads...

Those who know don't talk.
Those who talk don't know.

Close your mouth,
block off your senses,
blunt your sharpness,
untie your knots,
soften your glare,
settle your dust.
This is the primal identity.

Be like the Tao.
It can't be approached or withdrawn from,
benefited or harmed,
honored or brought into disgrace.
It gives itself up continually.
That is why it endures.

TTC Ch. 56 (12)

...this is not just a warning about those who would preach their idea of the Tao, it is also a guide towards finding the Tao for yourself - and yes I do appreciate the irony of me writing about this!

Personally I've found I've been spending more time engaging in discussion about the implications and meanings of Taoism rather than just living it. It's strange how it creeps up on you - you think you're cruising in the zone only to suddenly realise that you left it a long time ago. Nobody said that it was supposed to be easy but it's surprising how quickly complacency can set in.

One of my favourite writers, William Martin, in his book "A path and a practice: Using Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching as a guide to an awakened spiritual life" sums the approach up really neatly with the question....

Are you living right now,
or are you thinking about living?

Difficult questions - part 2

After a lot of struggling in an attempt to answer the question I posed in "Difficult questions" I have come to a realisation...

I have been struggling to reach an answer to the question because I've asked the question.


I need to re-evaluate my whole approach to Taoism over the last few years.

Difficult questions

Over at the New Taoist Community's forum we have what we term "Joint reflections." Somebody comes up with a verse of the Tao Te Ching, or a question about Taoist living, and we have a go at coming up with some answers, observations or interpretations. The intention is not really to come up with something definitive, but rather the process itself helps to develop our understanding.

As part of this I came up with a thought experiment where I gave a potentially unpleasant choice to see what guidance we might find from Taoism. My question and my first attempt at answering it follow, but I suspect I'll be thinking about this for years ;-) .....

A (hopefully) hypothetical, awkward and deliberately emotive question about Taoism in real life and how your understanding would lead you to a decision on what to do...

You are a Taoist
You have a child who is dying from some medical condition
A doctor informs you that there is a new treatment available that comes from the application of cloning and gene modification techniques
Your child can be 'cured' but will then need to take drugs for the rest of their life
For the drugs to be produced, every month a human embryo has to be created in a laboratory & then destroyed during processing


OK. After a lot of thought here's what I've come up with so far. Hopefully it will make some sense. I'm not completely happy with my answer and I suspect a lot of it has lots of ego and selfishness lurking in the background somewhere


I find that breaking things down helps a lot, so here goes....

Does the death of my child matter?

To the Tao it is irrelevant. All is one. Nothing has changed.
To reality it is irrelevant. Some part has changed state but the whole is unaffected.
To the universe, the galaxy, or to the earth it is probably irrelevant.
To to the human race it is is probably irrelevant. After all according to Unicef over 26000 under-5s die from largely preventable causes every day. What does one more matter?
To the UK it probably doesn't matter - just one of many.
To my town it starts to matter. We are a small community and many people know us.
To my family and I it matters a great deal.
To my child it is everything.
However, in 100, or 1000, or 10000 years time will it still matter?
Then again - in time will whatever choice I make matter?
So in the grand scheme of things it's of no significance either way.

From Taoism I know that life, death and individuality are illusions - yet I want to "save" my child - an act of ego as much for my benefit as for the child's.
I do however believe that my child should have the chance to make its own choice, and through the treatment it will get the chance to become an adult and decide for itself - even if that choice is to stop the treatment. It will also get the opportunity to seek harmony with the Tao in the interim should that be its path. I also don't believe that my child should bear the consequences of my beliefs, but at the same time I'm aware that I can't predict the consequences of my choices. There is the potential in this for a existential nihilistic approach, because in Taoism in the end nothing we do matters - except to us - but that's not really what Taoism is trying to teach us. At the end of the day Taoism is not about what "matters", nor is it about the destination, it is about the journey.

The level of intervention seems to go against the Taoist concept of Wu Wei. A better approach from a Taoist perspective might be to follow the path where I learn to deal with loss rather than wielding all the big guns of science to intervene, but everything in my make-up tells me that the treatment would be the right thing to do - but is that Te or ego I'm listening to? So I would choose the treatment aware that it includes many contradictions and self-delusions. I would do it because I have the choice, or at least the illusion of choice, and I would prefer to continue the journey a bit further with the company of my child.


Like I say, I'm not completely happy with this answer, but it's my first attempt & any observations would be gratefully received.

Becoming a Taoist - part 2

Humans love ritual. If you've any doubt about this just look around. Not just religious rituals, but those of celebration, those of remembrance, and even rituals whose original meaning has faded in the mists of time (anybody here touch wood?).

Following on from my post in February 09 regarding becoming a Taoist I've come to realise that for many people the act of formally "becoming" a Taoist is something that may need to be marked by some form of ritual to feel "real." So if you feel you want to have some kind of ceremony or ritual, what sort of ceremony or ritual should you have?

I'd recommend that you come up with your own, but if you're short of inspiration or you'd like something prepared in the spirit of what it is to be a Taoist, how about the following?....

Take a bottle of water (water is after all a recurring symbol in Taoism, and of course relates to the name of this site!) and something to eat and find a quiet place to sit surrounded by nature - maybe a wood or a park. If you think it's important to take some friends, do it; if you don't think it's necessary, don't bother.

• Say "from this point on I am a Taoist and I seek to achieve harmony with the Tao."
• Sit and listen to the sounds around you.
• See nature all around.
• Smell the scent on the air.
• Feel the wind, sun or rain on your skin.
  
• When you feel thirsty, take a drink.
• When you feel hungry, eat the food.
• When you tire of sitting & experiencing nature - get up and do something else.

Now you've become a Taoist ;-)

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights 2009

17th July is the day of Bloggers Unite for Human Rights 2009.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)...

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.


Taoism is about discovery and growth. It is about achieving a new understanding of the nature of reality, our place within it, and what this teaches us about living better lives. Whether pursued as a Taoist or within the context of a religion such as Buddhism, Christianity or Islam, it is about exploring and finding answers for yourself.

Many states and expressions of religion seek to restrict the options for people, through subtle pressure or through enforcement by religious or political bodies. Informally, many communities act to persecute and discriminate against those that are seen as being different on the basis of belief. In some parts of the world those that seek to explore belief or change religion can face persecution, rape, torture or death.

From a Taoist perspective I'd have to question whether your beliefs are of much worth if you can only retain followers through the threat of discrimination or violence. As a Taoist, while I recognise that such activities hold the seeds for the eventual destruction of the beliefs they try to uphold, I also see that until that comes to pass many people will suffer.

In Taoism there is a long tradition of helping others, particularly the poor and oppressed. Organisations such as Amnesty International have demonstrated that coordinated campaigns can make a difference when confronting abuses of human rights. Participation in campaigns to raise public awareness can serve to shine an unwelcome spotlight on the activities of the abusers and help the sufferers.

The "three jewels" of Taoism are Compassion, Moderation and Humility. IMHO there is no room within these "jewels" to accommodate suppression of freedom of belief. As a Taoist I fully support the aims of the UDHR and in particular Article 18.

Without basic human rights people's opportunity to explore the spiritual side of their nature is severely restricted. I'd urge you to read and support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

There are several organisations that seek to help those suffering torture or execution for their beliefs. For more information see http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights-2009.

If you are a blogger and are interested in supporting this event, the main Human Rights day on December 10, or other events relating to human rights, try visiting http://www.bloggersunite.org for more information.