The Many Ways of the Dao (Essay Sample)

The Many Ways of the Dao Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Code and Name Professor’s Name Due Date The Many Ways of the Dao To refer the Dao inevitably leads to confusion, not only since the concept itself is ineffable and beyond definition by design but also because there is such a range of different practices which all fall under the categorization of “Dao.” The process of categorizing the Dao is a Western effort. Scholars trying to nail down what exactly can be called “Daoist” can find the term maddeningly vague. But while the variety and form that Dao can take is vast, it is a fairly simple matter to cut through the various particular parts of Dao to arrive at the essential. In essence, the “Dao” can be called that which seeks non-interference in action to achieve balance in mind, body, and spirit. Though different practitioners use different methods to achieve this aim, and in some cases offer contradictory advice in the pursuit of this aim, any practice which seeks the proper alignment of the individual within a broader web of relationships can be called “Dao” while all that does not do this should be excluded from the term. A key tenet of Daoist philosophy is the principle of non-interference, sometimes called “wu wei.” Often, Daoist scholars will use metaphorical poems or stories which illustrate the concept of acting without acting. Zhuangzi, perhaps the most famous of the Daoist thinkers and whose works are considered seminal, warns against the foolishness of exertion. The horse knows already how to accord perfectly with nature, as the beauty of its movements through the snow can attest (Zhuangzi, 2013, p. 65). A foolish horse tamer tries to exert his will on a horse, and in so doing he deprives it of the freedom to provide for its own needs, something that it would do effortlessly if left unimpeded. The horse tamer is proud of his own knowledge and thinks he knows best, but the horses die in his care because his actions bring them out of alignment with their own natures. Likewise, the potter believes himself to be a master of clay and so disregards what is front of him in favor of the vision of what the clay will become, which exists in his mind (Zhuangzi, 2013, p. 65). The error that many who are uninitiated in the Dao make is that they try to make the world conform. A sage seeks to bring themself into conformity with the surrounding world, rather than attempting to stand apart from it. Zhuangzi offers the example of Cook Ding who is so skilled that he can flay an ox without a single wasted movement (Zhuangzi, 2013, p. 19). The cook is not inactive. To practice of non-interference does not mean to do nothing. Rather, it is proper to scale down action only to that which is appropriate. Cook Ding wastes not a single movement as he performs his task because he sees that his body, his blade, and the ox itself are all of a piece. Ding does not try to make the ox conform to himself. Rather, his exertion appears effortlessly because it is done without conscious intent. That is, the correct outcome is arrived at through the use of correct action. In the same way, traditional medicine has attempted to find harmony within the body for the sake of cultivating robust health. At first glance these principles seem unrelated. Zhuangzi’s advice for inaction seems hardly appropriate in the field of medical practice where some entity within the body needs to be corrected. At least, this is the view of medicine held by those in the West. But the Dao is indivisible, though it has many parts. The Daoist prescription to “...harmonize [one’s] daily routine and avoid harmful excesses of the body” is in essence no different than the advice to flay an ox by using no wasted movements (Englehardt, 2000, p. 75). In each case, the point is for the practitioner to call attention to the body for the sake of seeing it as part of a larger structure. The body is a system, any part of which might fall out of alignment with the other parts. Gymnastic and breathing exercises do not seek to alter the body or to combat disease but rather to purify the body and restore the harmony the loss of which caused the malady in the first place (Englehardt, 2000, p. 79). True, this is an oversimplification. There is much in Chinese medicine that deals with everything from talismanic magic and confession of sins which fits uncomfortably with the prescription to use inaction to achieve inner balance (Englehardt, 2000, p. 76). Attempting to use a talisman to cancel out the misdeeds of an ancestor seems both intentional and results-oriented in a way that the fables of Zhuangzi seem specifically to warn against. It is this contradiction that leaves Westerners understandably baffled about what constitutes Dao and what does not. Westerners approaching the Dao often see the differences between different practices and conclude that there is a great deal of incongruity between different practices and schools of thought. Some Daoist teachers are concerned with giving practical advice about health and longevity while others are ...