Month: May 2026

Building on this platform of natural ethics, a spirituality of unity, and the power of Tao/Te, Laozi comes to some astonishing conclusions. The first and most surprising regards human purpose: the absence of purpose is one’s purpose! That is to say that individual purpose originates in following the inherent ‘purpose’ emanating from Tao. To be clear; human purpose is the facilitation of the natural course of events in the world along the path of least resistance. Laozi leaves no doubt; increased striving and movement outside the guardrails of natural processes is counterproductive to the purpose instantiated in the universe. In this sense Tao informs one of humanity’s great opposites, freedom and fate. We can choose freely whether to follow Tao with its sheen of determinism or not to follow the Tao and hazard the unanticipated consequences.³

Second Laozi is tells us that one gets closest to the Tao when one cultivates natural wisdom and follows the Tao. This is achieved through two modalities: (1) quietism or philosophical inaction based on the humble recognition that one’s ignorance of the intricacy and final direction of cosmic unfolding and (2) wu-wei or prudent action informed by an instinctual priority of yin over yang when intercession is necessary.

At last one may come to the highest excellence. For Laozi, Tao is logically prior to and above the world – in his words ‘subtle’ which appears to be interchangeable with the I Ching’s word, ‘sublime.’ By quietly contemplating and conforming to the Tao, one reaches apotheosis or enlightenment – the ‘subtle’. Laozi calls this human summit, the Sage, that is one who participates fully in ultimate reality as both the saint in his or her selflessness, sympathy, and humility, and the hero as the guarded wise actor in Nature who serves as a paradigm for others. This, I believe, is the second kind of change described in the I Ching – transformation.

Finally, the Sage also achieves immortality, not through striving to exist and prosper, but by endurance (‘persistence’ is the term in the I Ching) in new-found wisdom, tranquility, and concordance with the Way. Laozi therefore addresses the four fundamental pieces of the meaningful life I have proposed on this site– virtue, purpose, contentment, and participation in ultimate reality! Few other thinkers have been so comprehensive.

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³Who can miss the analogy with Hinduism’s karma ? A practical example may be modern overforesting with the consequences of global warming and loss of habitat for valuable species.

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“The thought has been constantly on my mind to find a religion that is acceptable to a scientist.” – Lin Yutang, in his introduction to the Daodejing.¹

We have now summarized the two most important foundational texts for Taoists, the I Ching and the Daodejing. This seems a good place to compare and collate them.

We remember that in the I Ching ultimate reality was a metaphysical mix disclosed in 64 ideograms: (1) cosmic order manifested as a mathematical harmony, (2) the fundamental principle that change is the only constant in the universe and manifested in two modalities – alternation and transformation, (3) the perpetual interplay of yin and yang, (4) the theory of opposites which interact in a manner analogous to magnetic fields, (5) the supreme triangle of Cosmos, Nature, and humankind, and (6) the ‘sublime’ as summum bonum. We also saw that the ethical paradigm in the I Ching entails four cardinal virtues: humility, truthfulness, perseverance, and synchronization with Nature and the Way or Tao.

Laozi appears to pick up with these principles, refining and remolding them into a more accessible and less symbolic system. Tao continues to be a convenient term for the ultimate reality underpinning a monistic metaphysics, which, while displayed in Nature, is wholly unfathomable. Tao generates the universe and its opposites (especially yin and yang) which are reciprocally defining and hence relative while only the Tao is undefinable and Absolute.

Tao, via its power or Te, also regulates the dynamic reversion (interchangeability) of the opposites thereby producing the eternal cycles of the universe, that instantiate the first kind of change in the I Ching – alternation. By this process and as that which turns all things from outward to inward, Te is the unifying force in the cosmos as well. In short Tao/Te informs the mathematical harmony of reality described by the I Ching. However it is worth pointing out that Tao is not God as person in either text.

Laozi never addresses the I Ching’s triad of Cosmos, Nature, and Humankind, but it is implied throughout his writing. A large part, if not the majority, of his text examines human conduct in the world. Laozi’s ethics is grounded in a natural morality, most succinctly described as modeling oneself on the Tao. He expands the virtues of the I Ching adding desirelessness, frugality, selflessness, sympathy, goodness, self-restraint (knowing when to stop), and finally spirituality (inward turning which blends the mind and spirit into a unity). This last virtue is achieved by harnessing the power of Te to actualize one’s natural potential for excellence² spontaneously and effortlessly summed up in the term wu-wei.  However this depends on one being empty – especially of desire and superfluous and erroneous knowledge – to make room for the ‘One in All and the All in One.’

(continued next post)

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¹Yutang, Lin, The Wisdom of Laotse. The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1976. Page 15.

²I am reminded of Aristotle’s belief that human ethics should be directed at human excellence.

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We finish with additional extracts from the Daodejing that encapsulate Laozi’s teaching.

 

To know when you have enough is to be immune from disgrace,

To know when to stop is to be preserved from perils.

Only thus can you endure long.” ¹²

Describing Aristotelean-like prudence, Laozi warns the reader that following the Tao means recognizing what goods are sufficient for happiness and when cessation of action comports with noninterference in the course of nature. In addition, self-control with respect to desire and self-restraint with regard to actions are the two principles that bring about immortality and enlightenment.

 

“There is no 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.”¹³

Laozi takes the near universal philosophical position: fulfilling desires does not lead to contentment; rather contentment originates inside oneself existentially and in turn paradoxically leads to freedom from desire.

 

 “Those who are good I treat as good. Those who are not good I also treat as good. In so doing, I gain in goodness.”¹⁴

Personal virtue arises in the self, not from external things. Goodness is thus immune to external forces and need not be sought in the world.

 

“It has been said that he who is a good preserver of his life

Meets no tigers or wild buffaloes on land,

Is not vulnerable to weapons in the field of battle.

The horns of the wild buffalo are powerless against him;

The paws of the tiger are useless against him;

The weapons of the soldier cannot avail against him;

How is this so?

Because he is beyond death.”¹⁵

One who follows the Way – the path to virtue, goodness, and contentment – knows how to live and thereby becomes invulnerable to threats to one’s life. Immortality is not, at last, deathlessness, but a level of aliveness that transcends biological death.

 

“Sincere words are not sweet,

Sweet words are not sincere.

Good men are not argumentative,

The argumentative are not good.

The wise are not erudite,

The erudite are not wise.

 

The Sage does not take to hoarding.

The more he lives for others, the fuller is his life.

The more he gives, the more he abounds.

 

The Way of Heaven is to benefit, not to harm.

The Way of the Sage is to do his duty, not to strive with anyone.”¹⁶

In his final chapter, with the last words we will ever hear from him, Laozi leaves no doubt: the pinnacle of human existence is the Sage. And the Sage follows the Way seeking not knowledge, but wisdom; not contention, but harmony; not one’s own desires, but the benefit of others. Apotheosis, it turns out,  is found at the intersection of mysticism and humanism… in adherence to the Tao.

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¹²Wu, John C.H., Tao Te Ching. Shambala Publications, Boston & London, 2003, ISBN 1-57062-961-7, page 103 (Chapter 44).

¹³Lau, D.C. (translator), Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1963 (reprint dated 1986), Page 107 (Chapter 46).

¹⁴Ibid., page 111 (Chapter 49).

¹⁵ Yutang, Lin, The Wisdom of Laotse. The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1976. Page 233 (Chapter 50).

¹⁶Wu, John C.H., Tao Te Ching. Shambala Publications, Boston & London, 2003, ISBN 1-57062-961-7, page 181 (Chapter 81).

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We continue with extracts from the Daodejing logically ordered to communicate Laozi’s message.

“Tao gives them birth,

Te fosters them.

Makes them grow, develops them,

Gives them a harbor, a place to dwell in peace,

Feeds them and shelters them.

   It gives them birth and does not own them,

  Acts (helps) and does not appropriate them,

  Is superior, and does not control them.

  -This is the Mystic Virtue.”⁷

Laozi introduces the virtuous power, Te, the operative force of Tao that unifies all of existence. This ‘Mystic Virtue’ is also models principles of human conduct which comport with Tao and foster the enlightenment of the sage.

“High Virtue is non-virtuous;

Therefore it has Virtue.

Low Virtue never frees itself from virtuousness;

Therefore it has no Virtue.

High Virtue makes no fuss and has no private ends to serve;

Low Virtue not only fusses but has private ends to serve.”⁸

Laozi is telling us that true virtue for humans is informed by Te, that is, action complementary with nature rather than through motivation to be virtuous according to the standards of human-defined morality.

“In the pursuit of learning one knows more every day; in the pursuit of the way one does less every day. One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone.”⁹

Here Laozi defines the path of natural virtue and provides the quintessential description of his concept of philosophical inaction. Next he explains what action comports with the Way.

 

“Do that which consists in taking no action; pursue that which is not meddlesome; savor that which has no flavor.

Make the small big and the few many; do good to him who has done you an injury.

Lay plans for accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult; make something big by starting when it is small.

Difficult things in the world must needs have their beginnings in the easy; big things must needs have their beginnings in the small.

Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds in becoming great.”¹⁰

We see that philosophical inaction is not in fact complete inactivity, but action limited to only that which is essential, perfectly timed, and based on wisdom derived from the knowledge of nature and the Tao.

 

“I have Three Treasures;

Guard them and keep them safe:

   The fist is Love.

   The second is, Never too much.

   The third is, Never be the first in the world.

Through Love, one has no fear;

Through not doing too much, one has amplitude (of reserve power);

Through not presuming to be first in the world,

One can develop one’s talent and let it mature.” ¹¹

Laozi reveals his greatest values are compassion, frugality, and unpretentious selflessness. These we understand direct his action and inaction.

(further continued next post)

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⁷ Yutang, Lin, The Wisdom of Laotse. The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1976. Page 242 (Chapter 51).

⁸Wu, John C.H., Tao Te Ching. Shambala Publications, Boston & London, 2003, ISBN 1-57062-961-7, page 85 (Chapter 38).

⁹Lau, D.C. (translator), Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1963 (reprint dated 1986), Page 109 (Chapter 48).

¹⁰Ibid., page 124 (Chapter 68).

¹¹Yutang, Lin, The Wisdom of Laotse. The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1976. Page 291 (Chapter 67).

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“Everything is regulated in all things once for all with as much order and agreement as possible, since supreme wisdom and goodness cannot act without perfect harmony; the present is big with the future, what is to come could be read in the past, what is distant expressed in what is near. The beauty of the Universe could be learnt in each soul, could one unravel all its folds which develop perceptibly only with time.” – Gottfried Wilhelm Liebniz, Principles of Nature and Grace, Philosophical Writings

I thought it might be worthwhile to extract and rearrange portions of the Daodejing to demonstrate the depth of Laozi’s wisdom which challenged even Confucius. Be aware I will choose among the three translations in my possession the version I find most consistent with my particular understanding of Laozi’s message.

We begin at the beginning:

“The Tao that can be told of

   Is not the Absolute Tao;

The Names that can be given

  Are not the Absolute Names.”¹

First we learn that the word Tao does not name a thing as such for Laozi, but only serves as a word referencing that which is responsible for the origin and processes of the universe.

“There was Something undefined and yet complete in itself,

   Born before Heaven-and-Earth.

Silent and boundless,

Standing alone without change,

Yet pervading all without fail,

It may be regarded as the Mother of the world.

I do not know its name;

I style it ‘Tao’

And, in the absence of a better word, call it ‘The Great.’ ”²

Laozi reiterates ultimate reality is incomprehensible, magnificent, and finally beyond any human label. We also hear a bit of his cosmology.

“Thus Something and Nothing produce each other;

   The difficult and the easy complement each other;

The long and the short off-set each other;

   The high and the low incline towards each other;

Note and sound harmonize with each other;

   Before and after follow each other.”³

Mysteriously Tao originates being and non-being as well as the innumerable mutually sustaining opposites which underpin the world. Everything is explained by the Way.

“The way is empty, yet use will not drain it.” ⁴

The Tao is also paradoxically nothingness and infinity, without substance but inexhaustible.

“The way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.

The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two.”⁵

We have an almost Biblical description of the arising of the universe, unified by the yin and the yang.

“Of old, these came to be in possession of the One:

Heaven in virtue of the One is limpid;

Earth in virtue of the One is settled;

Gods in virtue of the One have their potencies;

The valley in virtue of the One is full;

The myriad creatures in virtue of the One are alive;

Lords and princes in virtue of the One become leaders in the empire.

It is the One that makes these what they are.”⁶

Laozi again affirms the unity of the cosmos via the One, the Tao.

(continued next post)

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¹Yutang, Lin, The Wisdom of Laotse. The Modern Library, New York, NY, 1976. Page 41 (Chapter 1).

²Wu, John C.H., Tao Te Ching. Shambala Publications, Boston & London, 2003, ISBN 1-57062-961-7, page 53 (Chapter 25).

³Lau, D.C. (translator), Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching. Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1963 (reprint dated 1986), Page 58 (Chapter 2).

⁴Ibid., page 60 (Chapter 4).

⁵Ibid., page 103 (Chapter 42).

⁶Ibid., page 100 (Chapter 39).

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