YOGA TAICHI 91
Harmonious alliance of Yoga, Taichichuan, Qigong and Meditation
Taoism and Tao Te King
An inspiring work that has spanned the ages and centuries, the Tao-tö King presents the principles of Taoism and is faithful to the thought of Lao-tse, the "old master".
According to legend, Lao-tse, an archivist at the imperial court, lived in the year 570-490 BC and rebelled against the many corruptions and basenesses of the government, going into exile from his country.
At the border, he agreed to the request of a guard who asked him to transcribe the foundations of his thought in order to benefit humanity. This is how the master created the Tao-tö King, composed of verses and aphorisms expressing the principles of the Dao and virtue.
The Dao, also called the path or the way, is the essential foundation of Taoism. Universal, timeless, indeterminate and unlimited, "the name we want to give it is not its proper name".
It is the unity and fundamental order of all things, it "is to the universe what the streams and valleys are to the river and the sea".
The Dao is the origin of beings and things and is their very essence, it is the universe in perpetual change, impermanent and always in motion.
Consisting of the intrinsic forces Yin and Yang and the vital breath (Qi), present in every element, it represents the centre and the original purity of all things.
The Dao, like a circle, consists of heaven and earth, with man and nature linking the two.
It represents the supreme harmony, where limits and dualities are excluded.
Thus, all that is part of the Dao is complementary: good and evil are unified, "being and nothingness are generated, voice and sound harmonise, and the before and after follow each other";
they are not opposites but inherent to each other.
Non-being
Non-being (wu hsü) is a fundamental principle of Taoism. It can be analogised to emptiness, a creative source representing infinite possibilities. Thus, "the Dao is like a vessel, which use never fills".
Emptiness is at the origin of all things, which necessarily need emptiness to be created, because "being is derived from non-being". Fullness, on the other hand, is limited and determined; it is acquired and remains superficial, whereas emptiness represents the innate and original aspect of the elements.
Non-being is therefore the indeterminate, a practice that allows us to reach the centre of ourselves again, without the rationalism and knowledge that distort our perceptions, and allows us to get closer to the Dao, the very source of life.
"Everything that emanates from the Dao is monotonous and tasteless", so the sage appreciates the blandness because he then comes into contact with the indeterminate, stripped of artifice.
Thus freed from our limited and constraining aspects, we return to our first aspect, "to the suppleness of a newborn baby", to whom all potentialities are offered and to whom all possibilities are lent.
In order to put the principle of non-being into practice, we must centre ourselves and clear our thoughts, which are programmed and influenced by our consciousness and our environment. We must detach ourselves from all that is material and superfluous, for "the saint is careful not to hoard; by devoting himself to others, he enriches himself".
We must listen to our intuition rather than our rational thinking, which is shaped and determined. The wise man "neglects his self, (which is determined) and his self is preserved".
Thus, he must be detached from his knowledge, fears, and ego-induced desires, which can distort his perceptions and lead him away from the Dao. Knowledge is therefore perceived relatively, "for to know is not to know".
"He who devotes himself to study increases day by day, he who devotes himself to the Dao decreases day by day".
Thus, knowledge fills the emptiness in us and, by the same token, limits us. The Dao, through non-being and non-action and the absence of desires, enables us to reach our full greatness by diminishing the fullness within.
Non-action
Non-action (wu-wei) is also an important element of Lao-tse's thought. Action presupposes a will to act, a goal, and is therefore hindered by a determined thought. Even sight is distorted and prevents the essence of beings and things from being seen, because it remains limited to the superficial; "thus the great man sticks to the bottom and not to the surface".
Non-action consists in the spontaneity of action, which does not need to be anticipated or reflected upon. By freeing oneself from one's intellect, one shows oneself willing to accept what presents itself without anticipation. "The saint knows without travelling, understands without looking, accomplishes without acting";
He "undertakes nothing great and can thus perfect his own greatness", remains disinterested and available to receive.
He tries to unify himself with nature, in order to feel its essence. Based on the example of nature, where action takes place spontaneously, the action must be authentic and in harmony with the inner intuition. The homeostasis between human action and nature must be preserved and by practising "non-action, everything will remain in order".
The purpose of Taoism
The practice of taichi, wu-hsü and wu-wei aims to achieve supreme harmony by acting in accordance with the way, to return to the original unity of the Tao; "merge all the lights (virtues), unify all the dusts (faults), that is the supreme identity".
The perfect harmony and return to the Tao can be symbolised by the resonances of the universe that transcend all that is part of it. At the heart of the Dao, these are harmonious and make everything in the universe vibrate in unison.
The total resonance can be compared to two lutes, where the string of one would vibrate the strings of the other, producing an undifferentiated sound that unifies humanity and nature.
The Eight Immortals
The eight immortals cross the sea
From the stern in a clockwise direction:
He Xiangu, Han Xiangzi, Lan Caihe, Li Tieguai, Lü Dongbin, Zhongli Quan, Cao Guojiu and (on the donkey) Zhang Guolao
Lü Dongbin and Zhongli Quan are often considered as leaders of the group. Another Taoist hermit character, Liu Hai (??) or Liu Haichan (???), sometimes replaces Zhang Guolao in Jiangxi and Lan Caihe in Taiwan
1/ Cao Guojiu uncle of a Song emperor, represented in court clothes and holding in his hand a jade plate, insignia of his nobility, or a pair of castanets; he is the protector of actors
2/Han Xiangzi, nephew of the scholar Han Yu, represented with a flute, patron of musicians
3/He Xiangu, represented holding a lotus flower in her hand.
4/Lan Caihe, an eccentric beggar depicted wearing a blue robe, with only one shoe and carrying a basket of flowers.
5/Lu Dongbin, Taoist alchemist, represented with a sword as a redresser of wrongs.
6/Tieguai Li with the iron cane"), lame man often drunk, represented with a cane and a calabash containing alcohol.
7/Zhang Guolao, Taoist master, often represented on a white donkey, with a yugu (musical instrument with percussion); he is the patron saint of painters and calligraphers
8/Zhongli Quan or Han Zhongli (???), general of the Han dynasty; plump, he has a fan which he uses to revive the dead.