Daoism As Religion

Daoism as Religion

I am not a religious person. I do not consider myself spiritual. To be honest, I’m not sure I consider myself to be particularly faithful (in the religious/spiritual sense, I’m not a cheater!). Is this against Daoism?

I don’t believe so. True Daoism isn’t really a religion, in any sense of the word. There are no deities, no rituals, not even really a code of conduct. It isn’t the same as Zen or Shinto or any of the other East Asian spiritual traditions that it is so commonly associated with in the modern world. Daoism is, quite simply, a guide on how to live one’s life without the stress and worry that came with the alternatives of Laozi’s age, namely Confucianism and Buddhism. Like many famous old texts, there is even debate on whether the old man wrote it himself, or if he existed at all (but that’s a story for another time, I think). So how did Daoism get to be associated with religion at all?

Well, here’s where things get complicated, and the issue of labeling what is and what isn’t Daoism can be problematic. Somewhere deep in China’s long and storied history, the religions of the land needed to be categorized, and Daoism, being an odd sort of duck, was lumped together with many of the shamanistic folk practices of the common people. From here we see the rise of institutionalized Daoism, with churches and rituals and all the trappings of what we would call a spiritual tradition.

But if you look at the core of the book, of the themes it encourages, this is against the very nature of the Path. It is unnecessary for the people of the world to organize groups or schools around the concepts of individual exploration, and perhaps even detrimental to the act of discovering the Path for oneself. The story goes that Laozi was hesitant to even write the book, as it creates a structure in and of itself. The conundrum is understandable, especially looking back at what’s happened over the last couple thousand years.

I believe that true Daosim, in order to focus on the core idea of letting all discover and walk their own way along the Path, should avoid this sort of idolatry. This includes venerating the old man and the book, to avoid being a Lao-ist, as it were. It’s great to have the teachings there, don’t get me wrong, but as I mentioned earlier, the authorship is under a healthy discussion as it should be, and we should look at the teachings as less a strict code, and more like guidelines, really. If there’s any sort of faith to Daoism, it would be the faith that the Path is leading us all somewhere better than where we currently are, or that everyone will eventually find their way to it and then things will be good. But that faith isn’t necessary to living your own life in accordance with your own personal Dao.

Just as a disclaimer, in no way am I saying that religion shouldn’t exist, or that the religious schools of Daoism are bad or harmful. Things turned out the way they did for a reason, this is part of the Path. Obviously, religion does a great deal of both help and harm to peoples’ lives, and this is the way I believe it is supposed to be. What I’m saying is that Daoism exists separate from wherever people choose to place their faith, and can complement or contrast with any personal spiritual belief you may have.

This goes nicely with the last post. It's nice when themes show up in my feed.

(via Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness)

A scientific argument for Daoism? It's worth watching, and like most TED talks, only 20 minutes long. There are a couple things I'd like to talk about, and it's best if you watch the video first.

Essentially, the research and the data show that happiness is not only created in our own minds, but it is the same whether it is generated internally or externally. This confirms the words of both the Dalai Lama and Shakespeare, that a state of happiness is truly dependent on your individual self.

So this begs the question, what causes unhappiness? Why don't people just choose to be happy all the time? Dan Gilbert hints at this a bit, but I'll just state it outright: people are generally unhappy because the world around them has told them to be unhappy, and they believe it. When we desire things that we don't really need, when we attach ourselves to things that are fleeting, when we look out for satisfaction on the horizon instead of on our very own doorstep; these are all ways that people outside of ourselves have taken us away from the Path, and it's really up to us to get back on it. The first step, of course, is to turn away from the illusions that our lives have been saturated with.

No, growing older will not be so terrible.

No, you are not as ugly as you think.

No, you do not need to become wealthy and powerful.

These are lies that have been sold to us since the day we were born, essentially to keep society in a state of perpetual unhappiness, so that they may continue to go out and buy and put money in other peoples' pockets.

But we can see past these illusions, and we can accept reality for what it is. As the science shows, by accepting what cannot be changed, we can actually choose to be happy with what we have.

Now, this can lead to some troubling implications, I must admit. Loki, the supervillain conqueror from The Avengers, describes this quite clearly, that "Freedom is life's great lie." So if the data show that people are indeed happier without the freedom of choice, does this mean that Loki is right? That humans crave subjugation and authority?

This is the real puzzle of the Dao. Trying to strike the balance between actively following your Path and yet still yielding to its flow. In the extreme sense, one could argue that the research indicates yes, humans are sheep that must be corralled and controlled, and that we will find our greatest happiness in this state. But I see a different indication. As the video shows, we will always choose to be able to choose, as it were, even if that choice (whether we know it or not) will lead us to unhappiness. It is in our nature to accept and even create happiness in the face of uncontrollable circumstances, but it is also our nature to choose our own destiny. This is what I mean when I say we must actually walk down the mountain instead of just lying down on the side of the road. We are meant to find our own way through this world, even if that means not walking along it all the time. It's a bit tricky to explain, but I would say that people that are not walking along their true Path are doing so for a reason, that perhaps they are not on their Path so that they can find and choose it for themselves further on. You could even argue that in the grand scheme of the Universe, those who fight against their Path are actually still in line with the larger Path of the cosmos. But perhaps this is getting a bit too distant to see clearly. I would say that even if people choose Unhappiness over Happiness, it is their choice to make, and that they either will or will not choose to follow a Path to Happiness in the future (we are assuming, of course, that Daoism is meant for people to find Happiness). The most we can or should do is to choose Happiness for ourselves and see if others take note. Of those that take note, see if some ask how. Of those that ask how, see if some understand. And of those that understand, I believe that all will change their choice.

What are you studying in college?

I completed my undergraduate studies in Environmental Policy, with a focus on the International side of things. I had originally started as an Environmental Sciences major because I wanted to study dinosaurs, but I didn't apply under Evolutionary Biology (the naming of majors was a bit confusing, so I figured I'd just change it later). In my first couple years of college, however, I failed my math and science courses pretty badly, and I started questioning whether doing hard sciences was right for me. I met with my adviser a number of times, switching my focus from Environmental Sciences - Biology to Environmental Sciences - Sociology, and then finally to Environmental Policy, which avoided the math and chemistry classes I had struggled with.

On one hand, I suppose I could have kept pushing ahead on my desire to be a paleontologist and studied harder, stayed up later, and basically just fight my way into the industry. But my adviser said something at one of our many meetings that really stuck with me over the years. She explained that as we talked, I was so much more excited and animated talking about people and their relationship with each other and the environment, much more than when I was talking about wanting to be a biologist. She told me that to her, it seemed silly that I would try and push myself to study something I didn't seem that interested in, when it was obvious I would rather be studying people.

Strangely enough, even after I had this moment of clarity, I still had a bit farther to go to fully realize where I belonged or what I wanted to do. At the time I was working with the college newspaper, and drawing editorial cartoons, laying out pages, and doing other production related things. I was drawing my own comics on the side, and felt like I would much rather be an artist than be in school, drawing cartoons and comics for people to enjoy the world over. I had always struggled with this part of myself, because I had this sense of duty to the world, especially after deciding to study Policy. I felt like I would be wasting my potential to just sit around and draw, that I would be selfish by taking myself away from a field where I could really help people.

This all changed after I saw Pixar's Wall-E. To this day, that film holds a special place in my heart because it showed me that I could find a third option, that I could make art and draw cartoons and make the world a better place all at the same time. It dawned on me that other cartoons had been doing it all along and I just never noticed (Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke come to mind), but they had played their part ever so subtly in getting me to this point. I had done a couple internships with environmental non-profits and wasn't feeling especially jazzed about working with groups like that for the rest of my life. I would have switched my major at this point, but to be perfectly candid the art department at my college wasn't that great, and from what I had heard it was better at helping you conceptualize your art than it was at improving your skills.

So fast forward a few years, and here I am, currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Storyboarding at art school. It fits everything that I've ever wanted to do in my career, from drawing cartoons to telling stories to changing the world. It's been a bit of a winding road getting here, but I think that every step along the way has been necessary in putting me where I needed to be for the next step. This, of course, is part of walking the Path.

Debate Bait, Entry 001

"The man who stands on the hilltop with his mouth open will wait a long time before a roast duck drops in." -Confucius

While I've always questioned the authenticity of this quote so often attributed to China's famous philosopher (and often in broken English for some reason), I've always wanted to question the man himself about it.

Why are you waiting for a roast duck? Why not just enjoy the hilltop?

The only thing I would want to add is that even as we know anger as a negative and generally harmful emotion, you still must recognize and accept that you are experiencing it. Trying to deny that reality, whether to others or to yourself, can be very harmful as well. As with my thoughts on sorrow and loss, once you accept the emotions you are feeling, you can then observe what triggered them and let them pass by. What has made you angry? Is it something external, or did that simply set off something pent up within? See the truth of your feelings and your ability to control and check your ego will improve drastically.

Controlling Anger

Controlling anger is no different than control of any other harmful emotion.  First and foremost, our anger subsides naturally as we progress spiritually. It becomes very difficult to react with anger when we live our lives with compassion and kindness. 

Second, what is anger and where does it come from? Anger is a natural defensive response when we feel threatened or frustrated and our ego senses danger. When we become angry several physical things happen to us. We release adrenalin.  Our breathing and heart rate increases so our muscles are prepared for conflict.  We sometimes get the urge to void our bowels or bladder to better prepare for internal injury. 

You see, anger is a very primitive emotion it’s purpose is not to help you win an argument with your Mom but to fight a predator.  So, for this reason, anger is often a very poor response in a non lethal setting.  Anger shuts down the reasoning part of our minds and sends us into an action mode.  I guess the body figures that the time for talk and reason has passed.

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