Not the way Direct translation of the Sanskrit word "hatha" - strength, power, effort, tension, effort, violence, coercion, necessity. "Yoga" - harness, harness, bridle, application, means, technique, trick, magic, magic, connection, interdependence with something, acquisition,

The Way The Way is Life. Life is like a process of accumulation of awareness, a process of developing the ability to be aware - to find or create resonant zones in oneself. The world is a vibrational picture, identification is resonance, awareness is the presence in the energy structure

The Path of Suffering and the Path of Kabbalah Common sense clearly tells us that the basis for committing all bad deeds is selfishness, “the desire to receive pleasure for oneself” (we call it “the desire to receive” for short). Under the term "common sense"

Chapter 6 The Way of Correction and the Way of Suffering 6.1. Definitions in Kabbalah 6.2. Development goal 6.3. Internal work Test 6.1. Definitions in Kabbalah Definitions in Kabbalah differ from those accepted in our everyday life or in other academic sciences. Elite,

Lao Tzu

Unfortunately, very little is known about him, since throughout his life Lao Tzu adhered to the creed "anonymity and obscurity", proving the teaching of Tao, which he himself founded, with his every deed. The sage was born in 604 BC in the suburbs of present-day Beijing, worked in the imperial archives and was known as a very wise, educated person.
There are legends about his birth, one of which tells that the mother bore Lao Tzu for about 30 years and gave birth to him already an old man, so he has such a name, which means “old child”.
According to another version, Lao Tzu and Confucius are the same person, however, this theory is not confirmed, as well as the version that the founder of Taoism is an invented person who did not exist at all in the world. Many Chinese still consider Lao Tzu to be a Hindu who came to China and appeared before people as a sage without a past, with a life resembling a blank sheet of paper.
In his old age, Lao Tzu decided to retire from life, and when he was heading to the mountainous area, the head of the frontier outpost asked the sage to write down his thoughts on paper so that they would be preserved for posterity. Thus was born the book "Tao Te Ching" - the Canon of the Way and its Good Power.

Dao and De

The philosophical picture of the world of Lao Tzu rests on two principles: Tao and Te, which are the causes and form of the existence of the Universe. In Confucianism, Tao is the way of a person, his moral values, but in Taoism this concept is considered much broader. Tao is not only a path, but the whole universe, including nature and living beings, it is also the essence of things and phenomena, their visible and secret meaning. Te is a cosmic force that nourishes Tao, giving it the opportunity to manifest itself and take place, it is a certain principle of being, a way of manifesting Tao in the universe.
From Tao, Yin and Yang are born, from which, in turn, everything that exists in this world is manifested. In other words, Tao is the source of all forms, it is the highest Power that creates and destroys this world. Tao cannot be presented in the form of some form and explained in the language of words. It is at the same time something singular, representing the essence of each individual thing, and general, universal - that which unites all existing objects and phenomena. At the same time, Tao pierces the whole world, manifesting itself in each of its aspects in different ways.
The Chinese say that even the Tao does not know what the Tao is, so why should we try to understand it? Isn't it better to just relax and enjoy life?

The meaning of life in Taoism

The teaching of Lao Tzu says that the purpose and meaning of life is to be in oneself. When we are looking for the meaning of being on earth, we do not understand the essence of Tao, which simply exists, without any meaning or purpose. Perhaps life is given to us just like that, without any subtext, and when we leave alone the search for a goal, starting to live “just like that”, we come closest to understanding the essence of things, that is, to Tao.
Since the Tao cannot be explained and understood with the help of intellect and logic, Lao Tzu advises not to enter into speculative thinking, but simply to allow the Tao to manifest in oneself. To do this, you need to live intuitively, following not the path of the mind, but the path of the heart. Not to trust your intuition means to enter into a struggle with the Tao, that is, with yourself and the world order.
To be at enmity with Tao means to swim against the current, losing strength and enjoying life. Following the path of the Tao means seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, tasting and gaining invaluable life experience without fighting the powerful current. But this does not mean that you need to do stupid things, rushing into the pool with your head. Lao Tzu recommends that you first feel this world, choose your own wave and swim in it, avoiding sudden movements caused by the desire of the mind to take control of the situation.

Way of the Dao

The principle of Wu-wei, non-interference in the natural course of events, non-action, helps to follow the path of Tao and realize it in one's life. Lao Tzu advises not to make excessive efforts to achieve material goals - education, wealth, fame, recognition, it is much easier and more natural to return to the state of raw wood, a blank sheet of paper, the consciousness of a newly born baby. Become a void in which the world rests, or a mirror reflecting all that exists.
Simplicity, naturalness, the ability to perceive the world as it is, the willingness to experience new experiences, absorbing various impressions, calm contemplation - this is Tao.
“When a person comes to doing nothing, there is nothing that has not been done”, “There is no knowledge - that's why I don't know anything” - the basic principles of Taoism.

Ritual practice of modern Taoism

Lao Tzu did not establish any rituals, he gave the world a pure teaching, simple and understandable. But over time, Taoist practice, like most religions, has acquired rituals and rituals, many of which resemble whole theatrical performances. Taoist worship methods have come a long way from shamanistic rituals to beautiful temple and monastic services. Rites in modern Taoism are divided into trebs, prayers, fasts and festive services.
Requirements are requests to the saints for mercy, prosperity, happiness, seeing the dead to the other world. The petition is written on yellow ritual paper, folded into a scroll and placed in a box, which the priest solemnly burns during the temple service, sending the request to the Heavenly Palace, where it will be considered.
Making amulets is also a requirement. Amulets are made by a priest in a special state of mind: on a peach tablet, he writes magical signs depending on the purpose of the amulet, and then charges it with his own power. The person for whom the amulet is intended either burns it by drinking water mixed with ashes, or carries the amulet with him all his life.
Prayer services are similar to trebs, only they are accompanied by a magnificent temple service and some special actions. For example, during a funeral prayer service, the story of his life is read over the coffin of the deceased, then divination is carried out on the blood of a rooster - relatives want to know how their life will turn out after the death of a loved one. This is followed by the rite of burning the house of the spirit. A semblance of a house is made from wood and other materials - sometimes it is a purely symbolic house, and sometimes, if the relatives of the deceased are rich, the imitation of the house can be very realistic: with a TV, refrigerator and other household items. The house is burned, and relatives run around it in circles, increasing the radius, which helps to increase the space of the other world, which will be intended for the deceased.
The number of holidays in modern Taoism is difficult to enumerate, but the most important of them is the holiday of the Three Beginnings - Heaven, Earth and Water. It is believed that the Universe rests on the harmony of these three manifestations of the universe, and every year they are worshiped magnificently. Very popular is the holiday of the Jade Emperor, who is considered the Lord of all the immortals who have gone to the other world. Many memorable dates are associated with patron deities of various spheres of life.

“He who knows does not speak. The one who speaks does not know” - these eternal words of Tao Te Chin are still heard during temple readings. The path of the Tao is the path to
true happiness, harmony and immortality…

DAO."Way" ("approach", "schedule", "function", "method", "regularity", "principle", "class", "doctrine", "theory", "truth", "morality", "absolute "). One of the most important categories of Chinese philosophy. Etymologically, it goes back to the idea of ​​dominance (show) in “movement/behavior” (syn 3). The closest correlative categories are “de 1” (“grace”) and “qi 2” (“tool”). In modern language, the binomial "dao-de" means morality, morality. The term "tao" conveyed the Buddhist concepts "marga" and "patha", expressing the idea of ​​the path, as well as "bodhi" ("enlightenment", "awakening"). Logos and Brahman are often recognized as equivalents of Tao. The hieroglyph "tao" is included in the designation of Taoism (dao jia, dao jiao) and neo-Confucianism (dao xue). AT Mo Tzu"the doctrine of the Tao" (dao jiao), in Chuang Tzu Early Confucianism is also called "the art/technique of the Tao" (dao shu). In various philosophical systems, "tao" was defined differently, so Han Yu (8th-9th centuries) called it, like "de 1", "an empty position" that does not have a precisely fixed meaning.

AT Shu jing the term "tao" has abstract meanings: "behavior", "advance", "the way of the sovereign and Heaven" and is correlated with "de 1", also denoting abstract concepts of social and cosmic harmony (ch. 3, 36, 44). Since the emergence of Chinese philosophy, the question of the relationship between "human" and "heavenly" has become central to it, i.e. common, dao. (In a narrow sense, "celestial tao" meant the passage of time, or the movement of the stars from west to east, as opposed to the movement of the sun from east to west.) Already in shi jing there has been a convergence of the concepts of "dao" and "limit" (ji 2, cm. tai chi).

Confucius (6th–5th centuries BC) focused on the “human” aspects of tao and de 1 , which are interconnected but can also appear independently of each other ( lun yu, V, 12, XII, 19). He concretized Tao in various sets of ethicized concepts: "filial piety" and "brotherly love", "fidelity" (zhong) and "generosity" (shu), i.e. the "golden rule" of morality, "humanity" (ren 2), "knowledge" (zhi 2) and "courage" (yong 1), etc. AT lun yue Tao is a good course of social events and human life, depending both on “predestination” (min 1) and on an individual. Its carrier is the individual, and the state, and all mankind (Celestial). Due to the differences in the carriers, their dao is also different: straight and crooked, large and small, inherent in a “noble man” (jun zi) and an “insignificant person” (xiao ren). Accordingly, de 1 also differ. The Celestial Empire may lose the Tao altogether. Ideally, one Tao should be known. Its assertion in the world exhausts the meaning of human existence; in the absence of Tao in the Celestial Empire, one should “hide”, refuse to serve.

The followers of Confucius and representatives of other schools universalized the concept of the two main types of Tao and Te 1 , also distinguishing between the Tao of order (zhi 8) and turmoil, ancient and modern, correct and false, humane and inhumane, general and individual Tao (for example, Mencius, Han Feizi).

The closest students of Confucius gave the highest hypostasis of Tao (great - yes, all-pervading - yes Tao) a universal ontological meaning, and the founder of orthodox Confucianism Dong Zhongshu (2nd century BC) put forward the thesis: "The great source of Tao comes from Heaven." AT zhong yune the tao of a “noble man” or “perfectly wise” is defined as a general cosmic force emanating from an individual, “strengthening itself in heaven and earth”, “materializing (zhi 4) in navas and spirits”, leading to grace. "Authenticity" ("sincerity" - cheng 1) is "heavenly", and its implementation is "human" Tao. The one who has gained the ultimate "authenticity" is able to form a trinity with Heaven and Earth.

In addition to de 1 and qi 2, the concepts of “predestination”, “[individual] nature” (syn 4), “[bodily] form” (syn 2) are most closely related to Tao. AT Da Dai Li Chi they are interconnected as follows: “Having a share of Tao is called predestination. The possession of form as an individual (unit) is called individual nature” (ch. “Ben Ming”). These concepts are correlated in zhong yune, where dao means following oneself, or one's "[individual] nature", ordained by Heaven. Cultivation in the Tao, from which one cannot depart even for a moment, is training (jiao). “Harmony” (he 1) constitutes the all-pervading Tao of the Celestial Empire, concretized in five types of relationships: between ruler and subject, father and children, husband and wife, older and younger brothers, friends and comrades. This Tao is carried out by means of "knowledge", "humanity" and "courage" - the threefold all-pervading "great grace" (da de) of the Celestial Empire, which is identical to the threefold Tao Lun Yuya(XIV, 28). At the ordinary level, the knowledge and realization of the Tao is accessible even to the stupid and worthless, but in its ultimate expression it contains something unknowable and unrealizable even for the "perfectly wise."

AT mencius(4th century BC) “authenticity” is defined as “heavenly” Tao, and “thinking” (“care”-sy 2) about it is defined as “human Tao”. The Tao of the "perfectly wise" comes down to "filial piety and brotherly love." In general, Tao is a combination of man and "humanity". The celestial Tao is predetermined, but in some ways it also depends on "[individual] nature", although in general attempts to influence the Tao and "predestination" are useless. In contrast to Confucius, who assessed the "middle of Tao" as a lack ( lun yu), Mencius saw in this (or "middle Tao") a harmonious state.

Xun Tzu (Xun Kuan, 4th–3rd centuries BC), on the one hand, exaggerated the omniscience of the Tao, declaring the whole “darkness of things” as one of its “sides”, on the other hand, he called the “perfectly wise” (sheng 1 ) the “limit” (ji 2) of the Tao. Xun Tzu considered the "limit" of the human Tao to be "decency/etiquette" (li 2). Constant in its bodily essence (ti 1) Tao is infinitely changeable, therefore it is indefinable in one of its sides. Through the great Tao, all things are changed (bian 2), transformed (hua) and formed (cheng 2). Following the Tao involves the curbing of passions, the individual accumulation of "grace", its preliminary identification (byao) and knowledge. The latter is carried out by the "heart" (Xin 1), filled with emptiness, concentration and peace. Knowledge of the Tao makes it possible to "weigh" (heng) all the darkness of things. AT Mo Tzu the interpretation of the Tao differs little from the early Confucian one.

Opposing the Confucian theory of Tao was developed in Taoism. Its main feature is the emphasis on the "heavenly" rather than the "human" hypostasis of Tao. If the Confucians proceeded from its verbal-conceptual expressibility and even self-expressibility, actively using such meanings of "dao" as "statement", "saying", "teaching", then the founders of Taoism declared the verbal-conceptual inexpressibility of the highest Tao ( Dao Te Ching).

In early Taoism, the paired categories “tao” and “te 1” came to the fore, to which the main Taoist treatise is devoted. Dao Te Ching. Tao is presented in it in two main forms: 1) lonely, separated from everything, constant, inactive, at rest, inaccessible to perception and verbal-conceptual expression, nameless, generating "absence / non-existence", giving rise to Heaven and Earth, 2) all-encompassing, all-pervading, like water; changing with the world, acting, accessible to “passage”, perception and cognition, expressed in the “name / concept”, sign and symbol, generating “presence / being” (yu, cm. Yu - U), which is the ancestor of the "dark things".

In addition, the fair - "heavenly" and vicious - "human" Tao are opposed to each other, and the possibility of deviations from the Tao and its absence in the Celestial Empire is recognized. As a “beginning”, “mother”, “ancestor”, “root”, “rhizome” (shi 10, mu, zong, gen, di 3), the Tao genetically precedes everything in the world, including the “lord” (di 1 ), is described as an undifferentiated unity, a “mysterious identity” (xuan tong), containing all things and symbols (xiang 1) in the state of “pneuma” (qi 1) and seed (ching 3), i.e. “thing”, manifested in the form of a non-objective (objectless) and formless symbol, which in this aspect is emptiness-all-encompassing and equal to the all-penetrating “absence / non-existence”. At the same time, “absence/non-existence” and, consequently, Tao is interpreted as an active manifestation (“function – yun 2), cm. TI - YUN) "presence / being". The genetic superiority of "absence/non-existence" over "presence/being" is removed in the thesis of their mutual generation. Thus, the dao Tao de jing represents the genetic and organizing function of the unity of "presence/being" and "absence/non-existence", subject and object. The main regularity of Tao is reverse, return (fan, fu, gui), i.e. circular movement (zhou xing), characteristic of the sky, which was traditionally thought of as round. As following only its own nature (Zi Ran), Tao opposes the dangerous artificiality of "tools" and the harmful supernaturalness of spirits, at the same time determining the possibility of both. "Grace" is defined in Tao de jing as the first stage of the degradation of the Tao, on which the thing born of the Tao is formed. The fullness of "grace" means "the fullness of the seed."

AT Chuang Tzu the tendency towards convergence of Tao with “absence / non-existence”, the highest form of which is the “absence [of even traces of] absence” (y y), has been strengthened. The consequence of this was the divergent Dao Te Ching and the then popular thesis that the Tao, not being a thing among things, makes things things. AT Chuang Tzu notions of the unknowability of Tao were strengthened: "The completion, in which it is not known why this is so, is called Tao." At the same time, the omnipresence of Tao is emphasized to the maximum, which not only “passes (sin 3) through the darkness of things”, forms space and time (yu zhou), but is also present in robbery and even in feces and urine. Hierarchically, Tao is placed above the “Great Limit” (tai chi), but already in lu shi chun qiu it is like the "ultimate seed" (zhi jing, cm. JING-SEED) is identified with both the "Great Limit" and the "Great One" (tai yi).

Song [Jian] - Yin [Wen] school ( Guanzi;Yin Wenzi) interpreted Tao as a natural state of “seed”, “subtle”, “essential”, “spirit-like” (jing 3, ling) pneuma (qi 1), which is not differentiated by either “bodily forms” (syn 2) or “names / concepts” (min 2), and therefore “empty-non-existent” (xu wu).

AT Huainanzi"absence/non-existence" is presented as the "corporeal essence" of the Tao and the active manifestation of the darkness of things. Tao, which manifests itself in the form of "Chaos", "Formless", "One", is defined here as "contracting space and time" and non-localized between them.

Representatives of the school of military thought (bing jia) also made the concept of Tao the basis of their teaching. AT Sun Tzu Tao is defined as the first of the five foundations of military art (along with the "conditions of Heaven and Earth", the qualities of a commander and the law-fa 1), consisting in the unity of the willed thoughts (and 3) of the people and the leaders. Since war is seen as "the path (tao) of deceit", the tao is associated with the idea of ​​selfish selfishness and individual cunning, which was developed in late Taoism ( yin fu jing). According to wu tzu, Tao is “that by which there is an appeal to the basis and a return to the beginning”, that which pacifies and becomes the first in a series of four general principles of successful activity (the rest are “due justice”, “planning”, “demanding”) and “ four graces” (the rest are “due justice”, “decency / etiquette”, “humanity”).

Han Fei (3rd century BC), relying on the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism, developed the connection between the concepts of "tao" and "principle" (li 1) that was outlined by Xun Tzu and the most important for subsequent philosophical, especially neo-Confucian, systems: " Tao is that which makes the darkness of things such that it determines the darkness of principles. Principles are signs (wen) that form things. Tao is that by which the darkness of things is formed. Following the Taoists, Han Fei recognized for Tao not only a universal formative (cheng 2), but also a universal generative-revitalizing (sheng 2) function. Unlike Song Jian and Yin Wen, he believed that Tao could be represented in a "symbolic" (xiang 1) "form" (xing 2).

The interpretation of the Tao in the commentary part became the basis for the development of Chinese philosophical thought. Zhou and. It appears here as a binary model - the Tao of Heaven and Earth, creativity (Qian, cm. GUA) and fulfillment (Kun), “noble man” and “insignificant person”, and the ternary model – the dao of Heaven, Earth, Man, “three materials” (san cai), “three limits” (san chi). The heavenly tao is affirmed by the forces of yin and yang, the earthly - by "softness" and "hardness", the human - by "humanity" and "due justice" ( Shuo gua zhuan).

The main expression of the Tao is “change” (and 4), transformations according to the principle “this is yin - this is yang” ( Xi ci zhuan). Therefore, the attribute of Tao is “reversibility and recurrence” (fan fu) ( Xiang zhuan). Tao as "change" means "the generation of generation" (sheng sheng), or "revitalization of life" ( Xi ci zhuan), which corresponds to the Taoist definition and understanding of simply generation or life as "the great grace of Heaven and Earth" ( Xi ci zhuan). As "changes" Tao is hierarchically higher than the "Great Limit" - it "possesses" it ( Xi ci zhuan), which is similar to the provisions Chuang Tzu. AT Xi ci zhuang for the first time, the opposition of “above-form” (sin er shang, cm. XIN 2) dao “formed” (xing er xia) “tools” (qi 2). There are also indicated four spheres of realization of the Tao: in speeches, deeds, the manufacture of tool items, divination (I, 10). Influenced and Zhou and, and Taoism, the Confucian Yang Xiong (1st century BC - 1st century) presented Tao as the hypostasis of the "[Great] secret" - [tai] xuan, understood as the limit of "active manifestation" (yong zhi zhi, cm. TI - YUN), Tao is "penetration" (tun 1) into everything ( fa yang), "empty in form and defining the path (dao) of the darkness of things" ( tai xuan ching).

The founders of the "doctrine of the mysterious (secret)" (xuan xue), He Yan (late 2nd - 3rd century) and Wang Bi (3rd century) identified Tao with "absence / non-existence". Guo Xiang (3rd-4th centuries), recognizing this identification, denied the initial generation of "presence/being" from "absence/non-existence", that is, he rejected the possible creation-deistic interpretation of Tao. Pei Wei (3rd century) explicitly identified Tao with "presence/being". Wu Ge Hong (4th century), being a “form of forms” (xing zhi xing), in the form of “One” (and 2), Tao acquired two modes - “Mysterious one” (xuan yi) and “True one” (zhen and) ( Baopu Tzu).

The opposition Tao-qi 2 has been subjected to various interpretations in Chinese philosophy. Cui Jing (7th-9th centuries) identified it with the opposition yun - ti: "active manifestation" ("function") - "corporal essence" ("substance"), respectively. This opposition has become one of the most important in neo-Confucianism.

Zhang Zai (11th century) correlated it with the pair "te 1 - tao", the first member of which was defined as "spirit" (shen 1), i.e. the ability of things to mutual perception (gan), and the second - as a "transformation" (hua). “Active manifestation” of the “corporeal primordial essence” of “pneuma” (qi 1), interpreted as a formless “Great emptiness” (tai xu), “Great harmony” (tai he), or the unity of “presence/being” and “absence/non-existence” , Zhang Zai equated with the "above-form" Tao. Tao was also described by him as an interaction of opposites (liang duan) penetrating the darkness of things, which is expressed in their mutual perception (spirit), which finds its bodily essence in individual nature. The universality of this interaction determines the possibility of its cognition.

Even earlier, the forerunner of neo-Confucianism, Han Yu (8th-9th centuries), returned to the original Confucian meaning of Tao (opposing it to the Taoist and Buddhist understanding) as following “humanity” and “due justice” ( yuan dao). The main founders of neo-Confucian philosophy emphasized the general ontological meaning of Tao. According to Shao Yun (11th century), the "formless" and "self-returning" Tao is "the root of Heaven, Earth and the darkness of things", generating (vivifying) and shaping them ( Guan wu nei pian). Cheng Hao (11th century), following Zhang Zai, equated Tao with "[individual] nature" ( and shu), and Cheng Yi (11th century) distinguished them as “active manifestation” and “corporeal essence” ( Yu Lu Dalin lun zhong shu), although he also spoke of a single Tao manifested in “predestination” (min 1 , “[individual] nature” (xin 1) and “heart” (xin 1) ( and shu). Cheng Yi expressed the regularity in the action of the Tao with the help of the category “middle and unchanging”, or “balance and constancy” (zhong yong) ( and shu). He defined "fidelity" as a "bodily essence", i.e. “heavenly principle” (tian li), and “reciprocity” as “active manifestation”, i.e. human tao ( and shu).

Developing the ideas of Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi (12th century) identified Tao with the “principle” and the “Great Limit”, and “tools with “pneuma”, a means of generating and animating things and the forces of yin yang ( Zhu Tzu Yu Lei). Although Zhu Xi defended the unity of Tao as a "bodily essence" and "active manifestation", he was criticized by Lu Jiuyuan (12th century), who appealed to the original definition Xi ci zhuang and proving that yin yang is the “above-form” tao, and therefore, there is no functional difference between tao and “tools”, which was established by Zhu Xi ( Yu Zhu Yuanhui).

Wang Yangming (15th-16th centuries), developing the ideas of Lu Jiuyuan, identified Tao with the human "heart" ( Zeng Yangbo) and its basis - "prudence" (liang zhi) ( Chuan si lu; Xi yin sho).

Synthesizing the views of his predecessors, Wang Chuanshan (17th century) defended the thesis of the unity of "tools" and tao as a concrete reality and ordering (zhi 3) principle. The result of this ordering is de 1 . Like Fang Yizhi (17th century), Wang Chuanshan believed that the Tao is not devoid of "form" or "symbol", but only dominates over the "forms" with which everything in the world of "tools" is endowed ( Zhou and wai zhuan).

Dai Zhen (18th century) defining tao with the help of its etymological component - "xing 3" ("movement", "action", "behavior"), forming the term "wu xing 1" ( Mencius zi and shu zheng), even argued: “The human Tao is rooted in [individual] nature, and [individual] nature has its source in the heavenly Tao” (ibid.).

Following Wang Chuanshan, Tan Sytong (19th century) returned to the direct definition of "tools" and tao by the opposition "ti-yun". The Celestial Empire is also a huge "tool". The susceptibility of the world of "tools" to change entails a change in the Tao. This reasoning became Tan Sytong's theoretical justification for socio-political reformism ( siwei yinyun taiduan shu).

In general, in the historical development of the two main concepts of Tao - Confucian and Taoist - opposite trends can be traced. In the first, there is an ever greater connection with “presence/being”, universalization and objectivization, a movement from ontologized ethics to “moral metaphysics” (modern neo-Confucianism, post-Confucianism, especially in the person of Mou Zongsan). In the second, there is an ever greater connection with "absence/non-existence", concretization and subjectivization, up to the connection of Tao with the idea of ​​an individual egoistic breakthrough "to heaven", i.e. "path" as a clever loophole ( yin fu jing), on which the search for personal immortality in later Taoism was often based.

Psychology and Tao

Chapter 8. TAO AS THE WAY OF THE HEART

Chapter 8. TAO AS THE WAY OF THE HEART

The heart has its own truth

which the mind does not know.

Pascal Blaise

The Way of Tao is a way to live in harmony with the eternal Tao. The path of the heart. Feelings and intuition as a guide. Inner Journey to the East.

In ancient China, there was a difference between the metaphysical, spiritual Tao, that is, the great, eternal Tao of the Taoist philosophers, and the Confucian Tao - the ethical ideal of behavior, the balance between the internal development of a person and his behavior. Wisdom inside and greatness outside - such was the goal of mental development. Wisdom was an inner achievement; greatness was in turn the manifestation of this wisdom in the outward life. The concepts of Tao and Tao are not in conflict with each other. They complement and reinforce each other, because the Tao tells how a person who is in contact with the eternal Tao should live.

The Chinese believed that Tao connects all phenomena every moment, so they turned to the "Book of Changes" - I-Ching, for advice, which gave recommendations for actions that were consistent with Tao.

The I-Ching hexagram is obtained by repeatedly dividing a bunch of yarrow stems or throwing coins, and then the text corresponding to the hexagram is read. Synchronicity here, therefore, comes down to a significant coincidence of the situation of the person and the content of the text. The advice of the "Book of Changes" is provided with comments, which for the most part belong to Confucius and his followers. striving for the ideal of complete subordination of outer activity to the principles of inner wisdom.

The essence of the secret of the action of the I-Ching is the Great Tao, and synchronicity is its manifestation. The philosophical basis of this book is an ethical ideal that accepts the existence of the Tao, that is, a way of life that will be in harmony with the Great Tao.

Let's analyze the constituent elements of the Chinese character "dao". Mai-Mai Tse, author of The Tao of Painting, describes the sign of tao - explaining it as a path, path or way - the meaning of which is the combination of two signs: cho and shou. Cho is a composite configuration of the meanings of "left foot that steps" and "stops". Shaw means "head", indicating thought. The whole pictogram thus creates a symbol of a movement that is made step by step, including the possibility of thinking about the next steps. Moreover, the left foot, representing yin, indicates that Tao is the inner path.

Since the Chinese character Tao is a combination of head and foot signs, it simultaneously symbolizes the idea of ​​fullness, the achievement of which requires a corresponding spiritual development. Thus, Tao can be understood as the path of complete harmony, "from head to toe." The symbol of the head was associated with the sky, the sun and the masculine yang energy, while the foot signified the earth and the feminine yin energy. The way or Tao should be the way of integration of these two forces - male and female, heaven and earth, yang and yin. The hieroglyph tao clearly indicates the spiritual path that must be consciously followed.

The Eternal Tao also means the path of life, but rather as a certain awareness of feeling oneself a part of the divine universe. This path begins in the Tao and gives knowledge of the Tao.

That which, in our journey through life, first of all catches the eye, appears to other people, this is the outer path. Direction, lifestyle and company are visible at a glance. The inner path is harder to see. It happens that our roads lead to new horizons to which we aspire, or along a wide well-traveled path, convenient and safe. We can go along with the crowd, we will be pushed and pulled by others, or without isolating ourselves from others, consciously move our own way, listening to the internal rhythm, pausing from time to time to consider the next step.

Which road to take? Who to listen to? What signs to look out for? There are so many possible paths, and so many wrong ones among them, so much confusion and noise drowning out our inner voice, during this journey, no matter which path we choose. It is possible that each outer path leads nowhere, and the only thing that matters is whether we remain in contact with our inner path while traveling along one of the chosen paths.

Carlos Castaneda, in his book The Teachings of Don Juan, asks the question of choosing one's own path. Don Juan gives this advice:

Every thing is one of a million ways [un camino entre cantidades de caminos]. Therefore, it is always necessary to remember that the path is just a path - if you feel that you should not go along it, you should not stay on it in any case. To achieve such clarity of understanding, it is necessary to lead a disciplined life. Only then will you understand that any path is just a path, and that there is nothing bad for you or others that you are moving along it, if your heart so commanded. However, when deciding to stay or leave the path, one must get rid of fear and ambition. Here is my warning: take a close look at each path. Try it as many times as you see fit.

Don Juan stresses the need for a conscious decision in choosing a path and recommends following what the heart feels (and not what the head thinks). One must have the life discipline necessary to achieve the clarity of consciousness that allows one to make conscious choices. All this is strongly reminiscent of the postulates that effort is needed to move along the path of Tao.

Don Juan suggests asking yourself a question, checking the correctness of the choice made: "Does this path have a heart?" and immediately explains: “All roads are similar to each other - they lead nowhere. They lead through the thickets or deep into the thickets.” (It is important to follow paths that have a heart; the purpose of the journey is not material. Don Juan characterizes the inner path in the same way as the Tao; emphasizing the process, not the goal.) He goes on to demonstrate the consequences of the choice:

Does this path have a heart? If there is, then it is true; if not, it is good for nothing. Both lead nowhere, but one has a heart and the other doesn't. One allows you to make a joyful journey; as long as you walk on it, you are one with it. Another will make you curse your life. One will give you strength, the other will weaken you.

To be able to choose the path of the heart means to learn to follow the inner rhythms intuitive feelings. Consciousness can say approximately where the path will lead, but is not able to assess whether it has a heart. Every life choice should be considered rationally, but important life decisions should not be based on it. Decisions about choosing a partner for marriage, a profession that we will have, or values ​​​​that we will strive for in life require the consent of the heart. The mind can be a great help, but it does not understand the feelings and what has spiritual value and what ultimately gives meaning to life.

Don Juan warns that the choice of path must be free from fear and ambition, recommending that one study it carefully. The Tao Te Ching also notes the risk of getting lost in a variety of superficial attributes:

Five colors dull the sight

Five sounds dull the hearing,

The five taste sensations dull the taste.

Fast driving and hunting excite the heart.

Precious things make a person commit crimes.

Therefore, the efforts of a wise person are directed towards making life full, and not towards having beautiful things.

He renounces the latter and confines himself to the former.

Ambition and fear are powerful forces that can greatly influence our life choices. Don Juan's warnings are of great importance, because no decision made under the influence of these forces leads to the path of self-realization. If someone is driven by ambition, leading to power or prestige, such a person is always interested in how his situation looks in comparison with others. This is the way of competition and racing, where we try to win, afraid of being defeated. If the main motive is fear, we choose the path that seems safe to us. We choose a profession that gives financial security and a spouse that meets our expectations. When ambition and fear take the floor, the heart falls silent. Eventually, according to don Juan's warning, we begin to curse our lives.

The I Ching also emphasizes the need to choose according to one's heart and be true to one's principles in every situation:

Loyalty to the truth in difficult situations helps a person to feel the situation from the inside with his heart. And when he internally becomes the master of the situation, then naturally, it happens that his external actions also succeed (hexagram 29 - "Abyss").

Courage while traveling the chosen path means the ability to linger between events or situations in order to consider further actions. If consciousness comes between a stimulus and a reaction, then instead of implementing instinctive or programmed schemes, we can make an independent choice. Each choice means that we stand at a fork in the road and must decide which road is the path of the heart and which one should be avoided.

Rollo May, in The Courage of Creativity, writes that we have the ability to shape ourselves through our decisions and commitment to them.

Courage is necessary for people so that they can to be and become. Self-respect and loyalty are invaluable if the "I" is to have any reality. This is the difference between a person and other colors of the palette. The acorn becomes an oak tree by the natural forces of growth; he has no use for effort. In the same way, a kitten becomes a cat because instinct controls it. For such creatures Nature and Being same. A woman or a man becomes a whole person only through conscious choices and diligent adherence to them. People acquire meaning and meaning as a result of the many decisions they make every day.

From a psychological point of view, choosing the path of the heart, making decisions that lead to the growth of consciousness and striving for the fullness of being, follow from contacts with the archetype of Self Consciousness. In this case, our behavior is the result of harmony with the Tao, and further decisions are based on love and the belief that love is the best guide to the path.

Each of us has certainly experienced, in one way or another, the existence of the True Self (Self) and intuitively felt that love and wisdom exist. Most often this happens in youth when we are still trusting and open, and yet all our lives from time to time we feel the True Self (Self). The problem, however, is not to “find” it one day, but to keep the awareness of the True Self when we have already experienced it once.

Hermann Hesse in his story "Journey to the East" writes about a man who, with a group of people called the Union, made a wonderful and mysterious journey:

[…] our East was after all not only a country or a geographical concept, but also a homeland and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was a unity of all times.

The journey to the East was both a specific journey of the author in space, and a journey of "admirers" and "adepts" through history, people devoted to the eternal spiritual aspiration to the East, to their homeland. The narrator loses his comrades and abandons the journey, leading an empty and meaningless life. He has lost his way and believes that the Union no longer exists, since he himself does not know anything about it - however, it has existed all this time. "Journey to the Sunrise" - a book possibly autobiographical - is a description of the mental life situation of many people who, in their youth, trusted their intuition, believing in the existence of a path with a heart; they had contact with the Tao, after which their own cynicism and relativism led them to admit that "God is dead" when in fact it was the death of their spirit.

To find Union, to return to the “path of the heart”, that is, to find contact with the collective unconscious and the archetype of the True Self (Self), is possible if we highly value this value. There are many ways back, one of them is to remember what we experienced in the spiritual realm and relive everything, recalling the details. This is a form of meditation. Then the experience of Tao, Self, or God, depending on our conceptualization, can return in the form of a new inner experience. Perhaps it will not be as deep and exciting as the first mystical experience, but memories also carry with them feelings and inner warmth, reminiscent of the existence of spiritual values. Meditation or prayer itself has a beneficial psychological effect, allowing you to break through to unusually important levels of spiritual values.

One can try to re-enter into contact with the Tao, returning to places and situations where this contact could be renewed. For some people, a visit to a church or temple will help with this. For others, deep contact with nature will be useful for this purpose - a trip to the mountains, to deserts, a lonely walk along a wild beach or a stay in the wilderness. Still others need solitary artistic creativity - painting, writing, playing the flute. This helps them come to spiritual sources. Also, listening to music penetrating into us deeply "inspires the soul."

All these ways require time, breaking away from the ruthless chain of daily activities that endlessly fill life and usually condemn us to inner emptiness. Moving along the path of the inner Tao requires stops, a careful look inside yourself and spiritual renewal. Such renewal, and at the same time emotional balance, deeper contact with our inner resources, a sense of oneness with nature or the Tao, most often occurs when, in a different way than in the usual way, we experience time. We have only one word to define time; the Greeks had two, and each signified a different type of subjective experience. The first, chronos, referred to time as we usually perceive it: measured, flowing away. It contains our ordered life, in which we need to appear somewhere on time, come to work or be in time for a meeting; this is the time from which we are counting - the time of the Father. The second concept, kairos, is excellent. It does not mean the measurement of time, but rather our participation in it. This is the time that can capture us so that we are not able to notice its flow, timeless time, minutes in which the ticking of the clock stops, the time of renewal, the time that gives life, maternal time. Kairos is free time, when we are relaxed, basking in the sun and it seems to us that it has adjusted to our desires: it has stretched out. We feel the same when we do something that completely captures us. This feeling is always with us in moments that are significant for us emotionally or spiritually, when we feel that we are "united with something" - with the True Self (Self) or Tao, and we are overwhelmed with love and a sense of unity with other people.

The ability for such returns and experiences anew, timeless time arises most often in the form of special "invitations". They are sent out in the form of dreams and synchronic events. As in a story about a shepherd who was looking for a lost sheep, our feelings, intuition and spiritual layer of the psyche, disconnected from awareness, are tirelessly looking for ways to unite. The inner path is calling us; the decision whether to go for it is up to us.

Careful observation of dreams and synchronic events provides a significant opportunity for self-determination and understanding of a particular situation. Dreams and similar events accompany us, regardless of whether we pay attention to them or not. It would be a pity, however, if their meaning eluded us. as the Talmud says: "An unexplained dream is like a letter in a sealed envelope." Every dream and every synchronic event invites us to look into ourselves.

If someone follows the path of denying their own feelings and inner values ​​and changes for the worse during life, the dreams of such a person can become negative and filled with unpleasant hostile characters that he did not fight at one time. "Negative synchronicity" carries similar information - these are increasing coincidences that complicate and block our intentions, causing frustration.

When we walk the path of the heart, our dreams are usually positive; they are interesting, enjoyable and often their content instills in us a feeling of luck and luck. Opportunities pop up simultaneously, and the right people get in our way. The work brings, surprisingly, excellent results. Such happy, seemingly random events give a sense of grace and kindness, acting as a beacon that illuminates the path.

The traveler walking along the path of the heart has his own inner world in which his "I" is filled with spirituality, coming from continuous contact with the True Self (Self). Such people are generous, free from fear, and the world around them is seen as the same. Synchronic events make their journey easier. The feeling of fullness and degree of life is reflected in this case in the way of perceiving time; there seems to be enough of it to do everything you intended. Even empty parking spaces materialize synchronously.

When we are really in the right place internally, we purr with pleasure, it seems to me that this speech turnover is perfect for the state described above. Purring is a vibrating low sound close to the pronunciation of the Sanskrit syllable om contained in the mantra Om mat padme hum - probably the most famous and widespread in the East. (A mantra is a sound or phrase repeated over and over again that can bring us into a state of harmony with the universe.) Thus, when we "purr", we behave as if we are aware of our oneness with all that exists, as if we are participating in a cosmic dance around the center, hearing music from afar, in the rhythm of which we move - in harmony with Tao.

Chapter 3. Neurosis of the heart, depression and neurasthenia So, we have considered three possible conflicts between consciousness and subconsciousness, which lead to the emergence of neurosis. Now I would like to know what a neurosis is, what forms it can take, under what masks