When we first understand Taoism, there’s a tricky thing about it. Unlike other sacred texts, it doesn’t emphasise forgiveness or repentance. There are no elaborate descriptions of rising to heaven or falling into hell, it doesn’t even tell you a real path to follow. It makes observations about the order of the universe as it is expressed and interpretation is then largely up to your own introspection. It doesn’t demand compliance nor does it claim sole authority to universal truth.
In Taoism, the universe is inherently complete. One could sense an undercurrent without ever unravelling its mysteries. And we are too much “in” it that we could never be be “out” of it. We don’t do anything that can destroy the universe’s completeness, simply because we do not exist outside of it.
“If God or the Tao is perfect and everything exists as it should, then there is Wu Wei means that nothing I do is out of harmony”
I think there’s a certain peace in that, but I consider what the Tao would ask of.
Understanding the Tao’s trinity
I was reading my new edition of the Tao Te Ching (from where I have derived these translated chapters). I was deciphering chapter 2 below.
Chapter 2
When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and nonbeing produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Front and back follow each other
Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes away
Lines 1 -7
These are simple to understand, as they speak to the nature of duality. Duality describes that the existence of one thing creates its non-being, because of binaries. There is no further description needed for this; it is a simple mathematical logic. It is the following lines of this chapter, as they speak to the third aspect that becomes more interesting to dissect.
Lines 8 – 16
What does it mean to dwell without control, possession, or presumption? Why is it worthy of mentioning? If it’s following lines of duality, what is it suggesting about the third aspect of the trinity?
Let’s say the following 9 lines do allude to something about the third aspect of existence, the manifestation created from action within the ordering of the universe. By the verbs work conduct, teach, create, act succeed, the third aspect is the moment of decision or motion (as you can see from the active verbs work, conduct, create, act, succeed). More than that, to create an action requires a relative structure and logic that can only be provided from Taiji. It is the synthesis of the two polarities’ live tension or is the tension itself.
Dao De Tian Zun (道德天尊) in relation to the third aspect.
I find it interesting that Wuji and Taiji describe the void (first aspect) and the ordering principle (second aspect), whereas I did not immediately find an identifying character for the third aspect. But here we have Dao De Tian Zun (道德天尊), as a manifestation of Ling Bao Tian Zun (灵宝天尊) who himself was manifested from Yuan Shi Tuan Zun (元始天尊). This makes Dao De Tian Zun (道德天尊) the third manifested form.
Lao Zi is said to be a manifestation of Dao De Tian Zun to spread the word of the Tao, and is said to be able to control what happens in the future.
I actually asked AI if there was a name for this ‘three’ or ‘third’ aspect and I have found responses that made me think.
Qi (氣)
Rightfully, Qi belongs to the category of the three treasures in traditional chinese medicine, representing the vital energy, life force, air, vapor etc. I see it as the animating spirit, force that moves the human body and consciousness. One can describe a person as being high or low in spirits, describing their energetic state.
Ziran (自然)
Ziran in Mandarin is used in common speech to describe something that is apparent and natural, describing the spontaneous unfolding of the Tao. Here, I see it as the resulting flow of energy from the relationship of two objects that arise from the organising principle of two.
Wu Wei (無為)
Wu Wei is the concept of non-action, aligning yourself with the natural flow of the Tao. The character 無 is the same one from Wuji (無極) that is denotes absence or without. To describe Wu Wei here is to say that what is ziran already exists and we can simply align ourselves with the existing flow.
Does Wu Wei mean not trying at all?
Chapter 11
Thirty spokes join in one hub
In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle
Mix clay to create a container
In its emptiness, there is the function of a container
Cut open doors and windows to create a room
In its emptiness, there is the function of a room
Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit
That which is empty is used to create functionality
I find the imagery in chapter 11 to illustrate this premise, describing how two (polarity or material) creates space for apparent life. The vehicle, container, and room offer apparent (ziran) functions whereby energy (qi) will flow.
Wu wei (non-action), to me, recognises the benefit in “that which exists … to create benefit” and “create(s) functionality” at the opportune time. It is that moment of decision which arises naturally when in alignment with the Tao.
Minor note:
I can’t help but appreciate the unity in this, especially since I previously did not comprehend at all the significance of ‘three’. In the third movement or aspect in the three, there is a return to the concept of wu (無), that is the potential, albeit a lesser one.
If some schools were to describe the alchemical process of Taiji returning to Wuji (the emptiness revealed inside action) it is describing the passive (yin) and active (yang) of the Taiji’s natural polarities that produce the tension or potential resulting in the ziran (自然).