Show Me 'The Way'

Who says you can't look to the past for answers to the riddles of life? Over 2500 years ago Lao Tzu, an historian in the royal Chinese court, penned his thoughts on government and life; it was his philosophy of how man ought to live with, and rule, one another. His Tao Te-Ching appears isolated and ethereal, much like a nursery rhyme or riddle, as it describes a utopia--the perfect world. On the surface its ideas seem almost too simple: Lao Tzu tells us how to live a life of innocence and peace, without want or fear; he tells how to govern such a world, and how to protect yourself and your people in that environment. And even though, in this era of materialism, the ideas in the Tao Te-Ching seem simplistic, and the notions that Lao Tzu wrote of ages ago appear out of our collective grasps, we need to take the concepts of the Tao Te-Ching and apply them to our own lives--each of us, one at a time, ought to adopt Lao Tzu's philosophy and see that governments follow suit. We need to understand strength and power and war in the ways of the Tao. Once we accomplish this staggering task we will have a world free from violence and fear, hate and injustices, want and desire. When we begin to act as the Tao instructs, treat others as Lao Tzu advises, we will no longer live in such a fearful state. In finding a way to adapt the Tao Te-Ching to our lives I find myself returning to the passge that I believe holds the core ideals ofr a Taoist existence. In discussing 'the way'--the path toward enlightenment--Lao Tzu writes:

There is now crime greater than having too many desires;

there is no disaster greater than not being content;

there is no misfortune greater than being covetous.

Hence in being content, one will always have enough.

A simple enough philosophy, and yet in this individualistic culture--this 'me first' society--it is the ideology that fails us first. We live on a planet fraught with jealousy and envy, teeming with mistrust and fear. We spend valuable time reaching for things that satisfy us temporarily, constantly yearning to take the things others possess because we feel they will bring us greater joy. But a Taoist would not desire what is not necessary to sustain life. A Taoist would only ask for the simple things: food, shelter, clothing and good health. If we could attain--and maintain--these central ideas we would have a world free of envy and desire and pain. A Taosit would not grow into a man like O.J. Simpson--men who seek to control and dominate others., who resort to murder when their attempts fail. A Taoist existence would not have bred the Menendez brothers or Dorothea Puente, so desirous of what others possessed that they deprived those individuals of the one thing each of us truly owns: life. The Taoist lifestyle could no more breed these individuals, than it could accept being ruled by such people. If the Tao Te-Ching were embraced by each of us, then the rulers of the world would be forced to accept and adopt these same beliefs.

A government run beneath a Taoist ideology would lead by example of modesty and humility, acting under the conditions of the norm of reciprocity--that we have a tendency to 'get back what we give out.' If the United States were ruled by a Taoist government there would have been no war in Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, no pretext about our reasons and means for controlling Central America or the Middle East; no lies. A Taoist America would not have accepted the Civil War or Vietnam; that America would not tolerate the history of racial tension, of inequality--for its own citizens and for those of the world--that has endured in this country since its inception. If the United Sates ruled with a Taoist sensibility--and the rest of the world would most assuredly follow suit--there would have been no war or mass graves in Bosnia, no Saddam Hussein; no al-Queda. A Taoist planet would neither find, nor turn a blind eye to, the human rights violations in China. It would dismantle the maquiladoras that line the borders of the US and Mexico, and it would feed the starving in Africa; it would treat those suffering from HIV and AIDS around the world. Countries ruled by the Tao would return to the simpler ideals of isolationism--where countries don't interact with their neighbors, choosing instead to care for their own. These Taoist countries would have no desire to dominate or posses what others may own--it is in not knowing what someone else possesses, that one does not suffer from want. In a world without want, envy, greed, mistrust or hatred, there would be no need for struggle, for petty acts of aggression, for war or warriors.

And yet a Taoist society would know of war--it may even suffer through it--but it would never feel the need to engage in acts of barbarism for the sake of power. In the Tao Te-Ching Lao Tzu acknowledges war, but teaches us how to achieve a safe world without it. He advocates a society that lives by the virtue of non-contention--a world that neither competes nor suffers competition. The Taoist society 'excels a s a warrior [yet] does not appear formidable...it is never roused in anger...[and does not] join issue.' But a Taoist world is not without power, for according to the Tao, strength is a virtue. But strength is about pride, not intimidation; it is integrity of character, not instigation. A Taoist world would not need war horses--which could then be relegated to plowing the fields, nor any use for ships or carts, or occasion for a show of arms. In a Taoist world the tools of war--and the warriors themselves--are used to give back to the culture, not take away from it. And yet in today's world these basic ideals, these fundamental concepts of the Tao Te-Ching seem far off and long forgotten.

What shouldn't be forgotten, however, no matter how far off it may appear, is the idea that we can alter the course of the world. Through the practice of Taoism, in spreading its teaching, we can stem the tide of ignorance and hatred, rid ourselves of want, and live in contentment. We would no longer desire material things to sustain our lives, to enrich our lives. And in being free of the strings that bind us to a material existence, we would no longer fear death, but rather embrace it. When we live without want and envy, we would live free from war. And in being free of war--which only brings reprisals that culminate in more atrocities--we would live without dread. When we accept the ides of the Tao--contentment of self, strength of character--we begin to live the life of simplicity and inner peace. Our differences, whether religious, intellectual, gender or racial, would merely dissolve; they would soon cease to exist and we would find ourselves on 'the way'--the path toward enlightenment. In reading the Tao Te-Ching I am drawn to the passage: "...in being content man will always have enough.' I realize that the chore of returning to a Taoist existence would be a monumental undertaking, but if the world--one person at a time--would put a foot down, it could happen. All it takes is one footstep to travel the oath toward enlightenment; one foot after another all along 'the way.'