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The Metaphysics of Dao

Basics

www.hku.hk/philodep/ch/Metaphysics%20of%20Dao%20doc.htm

Laozi

Chad Hansen's (Hong Kong University, Philosophy) lengthy essay addresses Chinese vs. Western conceptions of "metaphysics."

Zhuangzi

Metaphysics

"We needn't assume that meta-passages about the nature of dao must be about ultimate reality (or an ultimate source or creator of reality)... Rather than asking 'What is, such that we may know it?' the Daoist asks, 'What is, such that humans can act on it?'  His answer does not use the familiar concepts of Western sentential philosophy--no propositions, truths (including moral truths), beliefs, practical reasoning, or most of their close and distant conceptual relatives.  It does not start with mystical experience, consciousness, evidence, or either a successful or failed attempt to picture some ultimate being."

Early

Later

Yijing

Fengshui

Alchemy

Practical

Therapeutic

Political

Non-Energetic Causation and Cosmic Purpose

Art

www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1948&C=1811

Poetry

Chapter 5 from John F. Haught's (Georgetown University, Theology) 1984 book, The Cosmic Adventure: Science, Religion and the Quest for Purpose, discusses Polanyi's "tacit dimension," Sheldrake's "morphogenetic field," and "The Tao of Biology."  From William F. Fore's Religion Online site.

Literature

Music

Sermons

Tao of...

"Scientific method is not equipped to deal with wu wei (nonaction).  For this reason the hypothesis of formative causation seems mystical.  I suspect that it seems mystical because it is mystical."

Resources

The Quantum Tai Chi (Guage Theory: The Dance of Mind Over Matter)

www.empyreanquest.com/science/qtc/qtaichi.htm

P. Stephen Peterson (PhD, Physics) proposes that the "Guage Theory" is analogous to the "Tai Chi Philosophy of Consciousness."  Both purport to be a "theory of Everything."  Empyrean Quest Publishers seems to have put most of the book online.

"It is phenomenal that the ancient Chinese also had a symbol for imaginary angles which represent our perspective on nature... Studying the brain and the mind, we may better understand the guage choice involved in decision making.  The purpose is to provide a mathematical basis for the psychology of consciousness.  With the Math in hand we can then make models of consciousness at human and metaphysical levels."

Mass Energy, Qi, and Qimass

www.isss.org/primer/asem19rs.html

By philosopher Ralph Siu (d. 1998)  Chapter three of his book Unifying Theory of the Human Organism and Behavior.  An electronic seminar from the Primer Project of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), a large data base of impressive articles on systems theory.  More excerpts from the book here, with remarks from futurist Heiner Benking.

"Just as the medieval scholastics had proclaimed that their biblical account of the universe was complete, the scientific counterparts of today are proclaiming that their physicalistic account is complete... We are not surprised to observe therefore that the natural scientist of exclusive mass-energy is most fluent on those aspects of a living human that are shared with a cadaver and less with those shared with a living butterfly."

Knowledge Beyond Intuition

www.deepspirit.com/sys-tmpl/shaftsofwisdom/

Radical philosopher and award-winning author Christian de Quincey (John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA, Philosophy), on "Nature's Intelligence and the Mind-Body Problem."  Two-part essay draws on Daoist and Neo-Confucian principles to take us "beyond both the realms of rational and intuitive knowledge" to Siu's no-knowledge.

"To a confirmed rationalist, this may sound like muddled nonsense.  But to dismiss it as such is to betray the uninitiated view that cannot distinguish between 'having no knowledge' and having 'no-knowledge.'  The former is simply a state of ignorance, the latter is to be enlightened."

The Tao and the Te: Fundamentals of Taoism and Mind in General

www.ozemail.com.au/~ddiamond/intao.html

Chris Lofting seeks a mathematical basis for the psychology of consciousness and proposes a "universal template for metaphor" to explain the workings of the Yijing, DNA, dao and de.

"...analysis of the associations given to the terms 'Tao' and 'Te' point to the source of these terms, and their associations, being directly linked to characteristics of the human brain."

Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue [Chapter Four]

www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=459&C=374

The "Mysticism" chapter of Maurice S. Friedman's 1955 book mentions the influence of Daoism on Buber, which "persisted into Buber's mature philosophy."

"The true action, the appearance of which is non-action, is a working of the whole being.  To interfere with the life of things is to harm both them and oneself.  But to rest is to effect, to purify one's own soul is to purify the world, to surrender oneself to Tao is to renew creation."

Being-in-the-Way: A Review of Heidegger and Asian Thought

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/parkes.htm

In this review of a book that grew out of a 1969 symposium on "Heidegger and Eastern Thought," Taylor Carman (Barnard College) and Bryan Van Norden (Vassar College) present a rich analysis of Heidegger's fascination with Daoism and Zen Buddhism.

"It is undoubtedly Taoism that promises the most significant points of contact with Heidegger's anti-mentalist, anti-subjectivist conception of human existence and practice."

Commentary on J. Glenn Gray's "Splendor of the simple"

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew004905.htm

Chung-yuan Chang's (University of Hawaii, Philosophy) journal article relates "the essential ideas of Heidegger with Taoist and Ch'an Buddhist philosophies," especially the concept of Nothing.  From the Digital Buddhist Library and Museum database (National Taiwan University Library).

"But what Heidegger calls strict or essential thinking is thinking free from calculation or observation, and is 'determined by what is "other" than what-is,' that is, Nothing.  In Taoism it is called the knowledge of no-knowledge, or Nonbeing."

Taoism and Wittgenstein

www.thomehfang.com/suncrates4/9Aimin3.htm

This lengthy excerpt from Aimin Shen's (McHenry County College, IL) PhD dissertation furrowed my brow for the better part of an hour - and it was worth it!  From the Comprehensive Harmony International Journal site.

"Wittgenstein's deep understanding of the mystical dimension makes him a Taoist indeed... No other Western philosopher is better than Wittgenstein for the representation of the Taoistic synthesis with the sophisticated logical analysis."

Hegel on Daoism (Taoism)

www.autodidactproject.org/quote/hegel-tao1.html

Excerpt from an 1827 lecture, on Ralph Dumain's (Librarian-Archivist, Washington, DC) Autodidact Project site.  A curious conceptualization of Dao as "reason," based "solely on abstract thinking."

"It is quite noteworthy that the determination 'three' immediately comes into play to the extent that Dao is something rational and concrete.  Reason has produced one, one has produced two, two produced three, and three the universe--the same doctrine that we see in Pythagorus."

A Geneaology of Human Enlightenment and the Triumph of Daoism

www.oocities.org/therapeuter/daodejin.html

Some "hard core philosophy" from Lawrence Chang-Lung Chin's online book, The Path Toward Scientific Enlightenment, in which he presents his theory of everything, including Dao, in terms of the first two laws of thermodynamics, as opposed to "the conventional metaphysical (very Heideggerian) reading of Dao."  Other sections discuss Capra's The Tao of Physics and the Yijing.

"...we follow our thermodynamic interpretation (in terms of the human experience of the thermodynamic structure of the Universe), step by step contra Heidegger, not only for its opening of important avenue of insight into human experience, but also for the possibility it offers of unification of philosophy with sciences, especially physics, leading to scientific enlightenment..."

Metaphysics and Practical Life

www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-15/chapter_xi.htm

Book chapter by Yu Xuanmeng (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Philosophy), from the online book Civil Society in a Chinese Context, explores varieties of metaphysics (Western, Chinese, Heideggerian), with issues for discussion following.  From the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy site (Washington DC).

"Heidegger does not deny that Being has the characteristic of mystery: while it reveals, it also conceals.  Though in a Western language, all of this reminds us of the Tao of Chinese philosophy.  Indeed, Heidegger himself says in one of his books that the way in whick Being reveals itself is the Tao of Lao Tsu..."

Is the New Physics Really Mystical?

www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/mysticism.htm

In a conference presentation, Nicholas F. Gier (University of Idaho, Philosophy) discusses the misuse of the word "mystical."

"Heraclitus, Laozi, and the Buddha were the great 'process' philosophers of the ancient world and they have now been vindicated by the new 'process' physics."

Pseudo-FAQ: Collected in-Frequent Comments and Criticisms about 'The TAO of Physics'...

www.oocities.org/Athens/Acropolis/1756/taofaq3.txt

Excerpts from 1995-96 sci.physics archives, compiled in the form of a "Frequently Asked Questions" file.  A good read and interesting refs.

"...Capra's descriptions of 'Eastern mysticism' fall into the trap that many new-agers do, namely lumping all sorts of very different styles of thought together.  E.g., the title invokes Taoism, while the cover picture appears to show some Buddhist scriptures (or perhaps Hindu; my Sanscrit ain't so hot and actually I forget if it's Sanscrit, but it sure isn't Chinese)."

Parallels and Paradoxes in Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism

www.compilerpress.atfreeweb.com/Anno%20Restivo%20Physics%20&%20Mysticism.htm

1978 journal article by Sal P. Restivo (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).  A "prolegomenon" (preliminary observations) on "the parallelism arguments" of Capra et al., outlining "several pitfalls" in them.  From Harry Hillman Chartrand's (cultural economist, University of Saskatchewan) site.

"The pitfalls I have identified indicate that the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism may be spurious for reasons ranging from semantics to ideology.  Evidence and logic do not support the idea that mystics have anticipated modern physicists."

Dynamic Tao and Its Manifestation

www.dynamictao.com/dynamictao_main.html

Wayne L. Wang (independent researcher) shares excerpts from his book linking the Daodejing with quantum field theory.

"Our understanding of the laws of nature (physics) has now paved a way for us to describe the full dynamics of Tao in a similar framework.  It is a surprise, but our inner nature indeed reflects the outer universe in a consistent way."

The Tao Te Ching, Virtue Ethics, and the Foundations of Moral Inquiry

www.sewanee.edu/philosophy/Capstone/2002/Dull.html

Senior essay by Carl Dull (Sewanee, The University of the South, TN) supports Michael LaFargue's thesis that the Daodejing does not make "foundational metaphysical claims," and argues that the text can instead be understood "in terms of virtue ethics."

"The issue then is whether or not it is possible to understand the Tao Te Ching as a virtue ethic while holding the position that the Tao Te Ching's system of moral inquiry does not rely on metaphysical beliefs about human nature.  Fortunately, the debate of the proper relation of metaphysics to ethics already occurs in the contemporary scholarship on Aristotle's works.  As such, it may be useful to turn to this already established debate..."

Coming Out and Going Back In: Taoist Themes of Evolution and Involution

http:home.earthlink.net/~delia5/pagan/epw/tp99w-bardoth1.htm

Thought-provoking essay by Delia Morgan (Wicca priestess) on the spiritual return, from a Daoist perspective.  Extensive quotes from Burton Watson's Zhuangzi.

"Given this equation of immanence and transcendence, we must be wary even of the language we have used here: evolution as out-going, involution as coming-back-in.  These are spatial metaphors, risky to use when speaking of metaphysical realities beyond space and time.  But all language is problematic when seeking to describe the Tao and its processes, so metaphors must abound.  Evolution and involution contain the root idea of volution, a thing turning back upon itself in repeating patterns, a cyclicity and reversal that is an inherent aspect of the Tao as it manifests, as the phenomenal world spins around a silent, unseen and empty center."

The Chinese View of Time: A Passage to Eternity

www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-11/chapter_xx.htm

Chapter by Manuel B. Dy, Jr (Atenedo de Manila University, Philosophy) from the online book The Humanization of Technology and Chinese Culture looks at Confucian and Daoist time.  From the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy site (Washington, D.C.).

"At first glance, Confucianism and Taoism may have convergent attitudes towards time: Confucius sees time as travelling forward into an indefinite progressive future, while Lao Tze and Chuang Tze view time as a cycle of change, stretching indefinitely into the future and the past with the infinite Tao as the source and return.  The former lives time to master oneself and return to propriety; the latter to transcend it and be one with the Tao."

Early Taoist Contemplation and Its Resonance in the American Academy...

www.holosforum.org/halroth.html

"...An Interview with Harold Roth" {Brown University, Religious Studies) conducted in 2005 by Thomas McFarlane (scholar, writer) focuses on Roth's interest in the mystical aspects of Daoism.

"The notion of the Tao, or the Way, plays the role that God does in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but it is a very different concept in that it is not just transcendent, completely out of this world, but also completely immanent within this world.  It is both transcendent and immanent.  It is a power or force which infuses all of our being from moment to moment.  Therefore, it can be tapped into by any of us through direct meditative practice..."

Apophatic Mysticism: The Capture of Happiness

www.apophaticmysticism.com/TableofContents.html

Multiple good pages from Raymond Sigrist (El Cerrito, CA), if you're drawn to the mystical form of Daoism.  See also the Jan Brouwer/Sigrist essay "Chuang Tzu's rejection of a spiritual foundation" here.

"Some think the apophatic message of Zhuangzi is disbelief in metaphysics, disbelief in any world view.  The fact is Zhuangzi advocates neither beliefs nor disbeliefs.  The message is to be fully open and responsive to the contents of each immediate moment."

The 'Wei Wu Wei' Archives

www.weiwuwei.8k.com/

A mindboggling site of extensive excerpts from the works of the mysterious Buddhist/Daoist philosopher and essayist Wei Wu Wei.  This is more Zen than Dao perhaps, but as Wei Wu Wei says: "To use the title Zen Buddhism and never Zen Taoism is surely an historical anomaly."  Brief biography here.

"'You look like a man riding a tethered horse' - Chuang Tzu... Each of us spends his time 'riding a tethered horse.'  The horse cannot be set free.  But each of us can forbear to ride."

Taoism and Zennism

www.kellscraft.com/bookoftea/bookofteach3.html

This is Chapter 3 of Kakuzo Okakura's 1906 classic The Book of Tea.  A delightful account of the Japanese tea ceremony and the influence of Daoism and Zen on traditional Japanese culture.  From the Kellscraft Studio site.

"Whatever sectarian pride may assert to the contrary one cannot help being impressed by the similarity of Southern Zen to the teachings of Laotse and the Taoist Conversationalists... Some of the best commentaries on the Book of Laotse have been written by Zen scholars"

Chuang-Tzu and the Chinese Ancestry of Ch'an Buddhism

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR=JOCP/livia.htm

1986 journal article by Livia Knaul [Kohn] (Boston University, Religion).  She sees Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism as:

"...the legitimate heir to the Lao-Chuang tradition... In summary, Ch'an and Lao-Chuang are two different manifestations of the same latent tendency, of the search for 'a truly free way of life for mankind' and, in particular, for themselves."

Ch'an and Taoism

www.truetao.org/articles/chantao.htm

Essay by Lawrence Day (chess master and all around ace).

"But Taoism had always been extremely sparing of words.  The Lao Tzu has only 5000 characters in all.  And in general in Chinese thought the shorter the word the more potent its content.  For example one-syllable words like Tao, Te, Wu, Yi, Li, Kung, Ho, etc. permeate Taoist philosophy.  Irrespective of the content, the very locution of mahaparaprajnamita would hardly fit into Chinese thinking."

The Poetics of Ch'an: Upaayic Poetry and Its Taoist Enrichment

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/sandra2.htm

Well-written journal article by Sandra A. Wawrytko (San Diego State University).  Section II (pp. 347-358) traces the "Poetic Precursors in the Taoist Tradition" in the Zen Buddhist use of poetry, including Laozi, Ruan Ji, and Tao Qian.

"The name Mother of the Ten Thousand Things applies to Tao as Being (yu), that is, the 'manifest forms' that are subject to linguistic analysis and fixation.  These correspond to the limits of cognition and intellect.  But it also has another name, 'Nothingness' (wu) as 'origin of Heaven and Earth.'  In the latter sense we are into the realm of the wondrous (miao)... How are we to communicate such things?  The Taoist invites us to soar on the wings of poetry..."

The World and the Individual in Chinese Metaphysics

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew27112.htm

Long and brilliant 1964 journal article by Thome H. Fang (philosopher/scholar/educator, 1899-1977), tracing metaphysical threads through Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.

"...the Confucian thinks in the capacity of a time-man, the Taoist is a typical space-man, and the Buddhist is a space-time man with an alternative sense of forgetting... Confucianism, as understood by Wang Pi, reveals only the origin of all things in the world of Being, while Taoism helps it to see into the ultimate destiny, in which all of Being, in every mode of change is brought back to a final consummation of perfection which is Nothing, that is, nothing in particular but everything in full."

The Challenge of Buddho-Taoist Metaphysics of Experience

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOCP/inada3.htm

Densly-written 1994 journal article in which Kenneth Inada, noted Buddhist scholar (SUNY Buffalo), sets out to re-frame Oriental philosophy in terms of Theme H. Fang's "comprehensive harmony."

"...Buddhist and Taoist... systems have molded a large segment of the Asiatic mind by their incomparable metaphysical basis of experiential reality and since both focus on and function from similar experiential grounds, I have grouped them together in delineating a Buddho-Taoist metaphysics, although admittedly any scholar would be wary, and rightly so..."

A Review of Metaphysics: East & West

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/inada.htm

1991 journal article by Kenneth Inada, arguing for an "organic metaphysics" that blends Western thought and culture with Daoist and Buddhist understandings.

"True, the Tao and yin-yang phenomenon are very close to present scientific conception of the movements of atoms and sub-atomic elements.  What is important here however is that the Chinese have beautifully expressed the Tao and yin-yang phenomenon in their ways of life long before any scientific analysis and confirmation had appeared."

Zen and Taoism, Common and Uncommon Grounds of Discourse

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JU-JOCP/inada4.htm

Kenneth Inada, in a 1988 journal article, explores Zen and Daoist views of reality (with a bit of a bias toward Zen).

"In contrast to the Zen abrupt method of enlightenment, there is the Taoist quietistic method.  But these two methods are not really contradictory since Zen, for example, incorporates the quietistic nature in its meditative process.  There is actually no difference in the Taoist 'forgetting himself' and the Zennist concept of losing his self."

Take Two: Travelling the Path of Enlightenment in Zen Buddhism and Taoism

www.dante.com/users/jasonb/philosophy/page_path.shtml

Essay with lots of great quotes and notes. Jason Bassford (Ontario system engineer) looks at Zen and Daoist notions of the "Path" and how to know if one is on it.

"In Zen there is no such thing as a distinction between the subject and the object, everything is the same as everything else, there is no such thing as one thing and something else which is its opposite. Whereas in Taoism there might very much seem to be a distinction between opposites, such that you cannot have one thing without also having its opposite... what has to be understood is that while the idea of opposites is so basic to Taoism, it is not the case, as the Western mind would have it, that this implies separateness. Good and evil, for instance, are not two different things, one which cannot exist without the other, but are the very same thing, it is for this reason that you cannot have one without the other..."

Zen With No Buddha: An Analysis and Critique of Ray Grigg's The Tao of Zen

http://bighominid.blogspot.com/2004/03/zen-with-no-buddha-analysis-and.html

In his BigHominid's Hairy Chasms blog, Kevin Kim discusses Grigg's contention that "Zen is basically Taoism with a superfluous Buddhist cortex."  Note: scan down through the left column first, or you may find yourself repeatedly distracted.

"Grigg may be right to claim that a crucial element of Taoism is its spontaneity, but he misses the Zen paradox that, if Zen can truly be found anywhere, it can just as easily be found in ritual practice as in any other activity or phenomenon.  Taoism's natural Brownian motion guarantees a bumpy ride for whatever thought system cohabits with it, and there is nothing insurmountably antithetical to Taoism in Buddhist praxis."

The Taoist Influence on Hua-yen Buddhism: A Case of the Sinicization of Buddhism in China

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93608.htm

2000 journal article by Kang-nam Oh (University of Regina, Religious Studies) traces "four major Hua-yen concepts derived from the Taoist tradition."

"...it may be safe to say that the Taoist philosophy was one, and possibly the most significant, stimulus which helped Hua-yen during the Sui-T'ang period, to develop into a Buddhist school which was characteristically Chinese."

The Conception of Language and the Use of Paradox in Buddhism and Taoism

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOCP/edward.htm

Long journal article by Edward T. Ch'ine examines the mystical/skeptical modes of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and early Chinese Buddhist scholars.

"... Lao Tzu's Tao moves in 'reversal,' whereas Chuang Tzu's Tao is the setting up of unitary opposites involving the mutual transformation of things.  For both Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, therefore, the use of paradox is entailed by the structure of the Tao as dialectical change and has in this sense a direct ontic reference.  By contrast, Chih-i's paradox makes no direct ontic reference and is engendered by the speaking of the unspeakable in a borrowed language.  For Chih-i, the ultimate reality is not intrinsically paradoxical and is neither paradoxical nor non-paradoxical."

Ch'an, Taoism, and Wittgenstein

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/jc26655.htm

1983 journal article by Thomas T. Tominaga (University of Nevada, Philosophy) addresses the compatibilities and incompatibilities of these conceptual systems.

"... we find that such advocates of Ch'an as Hui-neng and such exponents of Taoist philosophy as Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu are in agreement with the early Wittgenstein that there are realities that cannot be expressed or described in terms of written or spoken words or by language in general... For Ch'an such a reality is revealed through the enlightenment experience of wu.  For Taoism such a reality is manifested through the creative and dynamic agency of Tao when the Way of non-action (wu-wei) is followed.  And for the early Wittgenstein, such a reality is referred to as 'the mystical.'"

On Chinese Ch'an in Relation to Taoism

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOCP/ew26599.htm

1985 journal article by Wu Yi discusses "the relationship between the Ch'an School and the thought of Taoism and Confucianism."  In Wu's opinion, the "pure" Daoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi disappeared into Chinese Chan.  [Note: Kung-ans = koans]

"During the Period of Wei-Chin, and North and South Dynasty, Taoist thought turned to 'learning of the mystery' and 'pure talk.'  Although Taoism was flourishing at that time, it was just a game of ideas without real vigor.  At that time Indian Buddhism was transmitted to China, and Taoism was the first to welcome it... Actually, we can say that Taoists in the T'ang Dynasty were simply Ch'an Masters."

Zen When?  Tao Now!

www.blather.net/archives3/issue3no4.html

Clever review of Raymond M. Smullyan's book The Tao is Silent, by Barry Kavanagh, someone who seems to know a thing or two about Zen and Dao, and points out the difference.  From the Blather webzine.

"...as Smullyan makes clear in his preface, he came to Taoist writings through Zen-Buddhism and there is much of Zen in The Tao is Silent.  Also, he writes that the book is a collection of 'ideas inspired by Chinese philosophy.'  So on top of the Taoism and Zen there is a great big dollop of Smullyan himself.  Don't frown!  It is actually quite fun."

Is God a Taoist?

www.newbanner.com/SecHumSCM/IsGodTaoist.html

Here's a lengthy sample from Smullyan's book, a dialogue between "God" and a "Mortal." From the Secular Humanists of the South Carolina Midlands website.

"God:... The ancient Taoists were quite close when they said of me (whom they called 'Tao') that I do not do things, yet through me all things get done.  In more modern terms, I am not the cause of Cosmic Process, I am Cosmic Process itself.  I think the most accurate and fruitful definition of me which man can frame - at least in his present state of evolution - is that I am the very process of enlightenment.  Those who wish to think of the devil (although I wish they wouldn't!) might analogously define him as the unfortunate length of time the process takes."

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