What is the Tao?
The ancient saying is this: "The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao."
In other words, the ancient philosophers believed that the Tao is not describable. They believed you needed to experience the truth through meditation, intuition and enlightenment.
The ancients also wrote, "He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know."
This puts you in a real bind if you consider yourself Taoist and someone asks you what it means. If you answer, are you proving yourself ignorant? Those of us with a sense of humor ironically note how Lao Tzu claimed that the wise do not speak, then went on to write a book on the Tao.
These old sayings are not to be taken literally. At least, not in the 21st Century.
We believe we’re bright enough to talk about what the Tao means in a way Americans can understand. Human beings have learned a lot in the past few thousand years, and we no longer have to be shackled by the mysterious slogans of people who were so limited in their knowledge of philosophy and the world.
Picture, if you will, the universe at its beginning. For whatever reason, there was a big bang that put everything into motion. There is energy in the universe that has created everything, and everything is the result of that energy.
Right now, as you are reading this, worlds are being created, worlds are being destroyed, galaxies are being sucked into black holes, suns are shining on worlds we will never discover. Across the vast expanse of outer space, there are mind-numbing dances, explosions and crashes of light, energy and power the size and scope of which we cannot comprehend. Scientists have recently discovered a star that is being hurled out of the Milky Way because it came so close to a black hole, it speeded up and was circling the black hole at 20 million miles an hour, enough force to fling it out from the Milky Way as if by a sling shot. This "outcast" star is merely following the laws of Nature. Meanwhile, here on our world and in our own solar system, life goes on according to the laws of Nature, which began back in the beginning of time.
You can think of the Tao as the vast, unseen forces of Nature that created the universe and continually keep it moving and changing. You can’t see it or touch it. But we all know it is there. We are the result of the forces that created us. The forces are in constant interplay. The action never ceases. Change never ceases. But what we see is the result of Nature – the result of the Tao, not the Tao or Nature itself, because those are the unseen forces that are behind all the physical activity and objects.
Tao means "the Way." You cannot oppose the Way of the universe, or Nature. If you do, Nature will always win. After all, it is the Way. The wise person lives in harmony with the Tao.
Through meditation, reflection, silence and observation, you can realize your connection to it all. And this is the purpose of American Tao.
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Coming Soon: More American Tao philosophy in plain English on topics such as Finding Balance; Yin&Yang; Ethics; Work; Money; Love; Trust, and other topics. This is a new site. These topics will be added during the month of June.
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