'Tao' is the Chinese word for 'way' and is used to refer to the way the universe works. Around 8,000 BCE in what is now China, neolithic people observed nature and came to understand its underlying structure and its nature of change. They took the unfathomable complexity of the universe and broke it down to its component parts (discovering binary) and, in doing so, gained knowledge of the processes of creation. A system of thought was built around what they learnt and from that evolved Taoism, which is, more than anything else, a natural science. What is extraordinary is that what these ancient people worked out is very much what modern physicists are only just discovering: first there was nothing — a pregnant void of potential — and from that came all things, which today are interconnected in spacetime. As a philosophy, it provides all the practical tools you'll need for dealing with life on a day-to-day basis. The Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu around 2,500 BCE, is perhaps the most famous treatise of Taoist thought, and has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible. Though often made ambiguous by Western translators, a good translation is clear and concise and it makes sense. The I Ching, the Classic of Change, is a monument to the understanding of the mechanisms of the universe and how to put ourselves at the heart of change and, so doing, harness it. The Chuang Tzu is another Taoist classic, filled to the brim, as it is, with entertaining and informative stories. I was recently given the honour of editing my own section at Taoism.net, which is one of the most popular Taoist resources on the Web. The idea is to clear up some of the mystery and ambiguity unnecessarily attached to Taoism by means of essays written by myself and knowledgeable and experienced Taoists. Click on the links below to read them. Taoism formed the philosophical base for my novel, Members Only. |