Note: this is the first in a series about how to avoid succumbing to various metaphysical illnesses prevalent in the Daoist communities both in the West and in China. It is editorial in nature and definitely just my personal opinion. The articles are mainly directed to people who are either relatively new to Daoism or who feel as though they have studied for many years but have not achieved anything. My goal is to provide a primer explaining the myriad of problematic interpretations of Daoist thought which lead to the current instantiation of “side doors and occult arts.” I am not trying to single out anyone and hopefully these articles help. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Part 1:
it is an unfortunate but true thing that international Daoism tends to attract confused people. perhaps this is because the core concepts of non action, being in harmony with the heavens and so on seem like attractive and mystical principles to people brought up in often unforgiving circumstances such as within repressive churches, or even just within a society that they don’t feel a perfect fit.
In any event, this proclivity toward viewing Daoism as exotic is probably something that all non Chinese people (self included) who are interested in any facet of the tradition must have experienced at some time or other.
This perceived exotic nature of Daoism (remember that the root word Exo means outside, so Daoism seems to be outside of our previous experience) leads us toward the possibility of forming certain affinities before actually comprehending the overall message and purpose of the Daoist system.
Daoism is rather multifaceted in regard to its cultural representations throughout Chinese history, but regardless of the difference it has always maintained a certain consistency of first principles.
This may be just my personal impression,but it seems like rather a lot of people are in love with the mythology and perceived high level of the masters and immortals of the past, but that not many people understand the basic curriculum which would allow them to take preliminary steps toward achieving such a wonderful level of study.
We are thus inundated with both students and teachers who possess certain techniques such as Qigong, Taijiquan, and perhaps some basic meditation and who then wax poetic about the great Daoists such as Zhang Sanfeng and of course Laozi. Over the years this has gone from being a cottage industry to a genuine “spiritual” movement with its own set of beliefs and dogmas, many of which being directly in conflict with Daoism.
Perhaps this is because just like with Yoga, Daoism was introduced first in American cities such as San Francisco, and the people who studied various iterations of Daoism with teachers from Taiwan and Hong Kong (as well as some Taiji and reading of the Yijing thrown in for good measure) quickly adapted these practices into the belief system of California, which is tied in with the youth revolution of the 1960s and the sensibilities of idealistic hippies.
This is not to knock elderly hippies at all, I actually have some in my family and appreciate their insight and brilliance, but things like smoking marijuana, orgies, and dedicating your life to the Dao don’t really fit together.
That first generations of Dharma bums set the direction of American Daoism and were helped along by the frustrated musings of people like Alan Watt’s who upon not achieving the utopia which his generation so desired, turned instead toward the mystical, although on perhaps more of a broad than a deep level.
So what is it that makes this bad?
Nothing at all, if hippie Daoism is your kink, please feel free and believe me some sets of historical Daoists in China have also done some pretty unrestrained stuff over the years.
The issue at hand is that free and easy wandering is the result of setting down the ground work which allows one to wander freely and easily and is not something we can achieve through “just not giving a fuck” or the psychedelic arts.
To become free in the Daoist perspective is to have achieved abstention from the things which enslave us.
That which enslaves us springs from desire and manifests as emotion, thought and action.
This is not an adaptation of Buddhism into medieval Daoism, it is written as clearly as day in the Dao De Jing.
Before we engage in any practice of meditation, ritual, or whatever other Daoist art strikes your fancy, it is of the utmost importance that we learn the real principles of the Daoist tradition and do not mix them with our own wishes.
If in the end you decide that you would only like to keep some parts of Daoism and not give up all of your creature comforts, that is up to you, and it is fine, but it is not fine to equate pleasure seeking with a foreign belief system of which you may still be largely ignorant.
I always find the study of Daoism to be something which must be approached respectfully since I recognize that in a certain sense it is not my property, or perhaps the only Daoist tradition which I have any right to change is my own interpretation of the tradition.
As such, I would be mortified in the extreme if I were to state an opinion about the contents of Daoism as a fact.
Facts are facts and opinions are opinions, but there are really rather many who equate their personal preferences about lifestyle and aesthetics with facts about Daoism.
So how do we avoid becoming losers in Daoism?
Probably the best way is to respectfully learn the tradition before adorning it with Western ideas. Then later, after you have learned the core concepts of the study and some practices, if you have your own ideas it isn’t a bad thing, you should just be honest about which parts come from you and which parts come from the tradition.
I believe that the Western mind is like a light, always exposing that which is hidden. We have a tendency to wish to rend open all doors and look to see what is inside, but just like a lamp, sometimes the light only penetrates a small space before we move on to the next patch. In such a way it is possible to illuminate a little and allow a little to fall into darkness, illuminate a little more and allow that which was just lit to fall back into darkness. In such a way we can not develop a clear vision of what is in front of us, because the light of the mind is always actively chasing after the new area being exposed.
Perhaps a better way would be to stay in one place for a while and build a new fire there before moving on. This metaphorical fire is deep learning leading to understanding. In such a way we may move from section to section of the Daoist worldview without allowing other parts to fall into darkness. We may even come to recognize that the spirit is only mysterious to those who have yet to receive initiation and perform the basic work required to reveal and understand it.
Mystery has a meaning and it is only mysterious because it is written in code.
The best way of learning Daoism is to receive the keys for that code and diligently put it into practice.
Otherwise we will always “seek fish in muddy waters,” a largely unsuccessful and meaningless task.
Another good clarification…most needed!