Mapping the Way
An introductory exploration of the Way (Dao, Tao, 道), understanding what it is, and how to think about it
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The Classic of the Way and Virtue says:
The Way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way.
Interpretation:
There are many different ways to describe the Way. However, it’s important to understand that every possible description of the Way will be incomplete.
Human language, because it was created humans, with all our limitations, is limited. There are no amount of words that can fully and accurately describe any given thing or phenomenon. However, just because we cannot fully describe something does not make the effort to do so futile. Since it is impossible to do anything perfectly without any flaw, then that would mean nothing is worth doing!
It’s important to remember that Daoist teachings are meant to be practiced and experienced. Neither philosophical Daoism nor religious Daoism are meant to only be learned in isolation. Both are meant to be lived, tested, and experienced.
Here are three practical mental models to understand the Way:
The Way is the natural physical laws
In its largest sense, the Way is the natural laws of the physical world. The earliest intuitions of the Way thought of it as the laws created by spirits living in bodies of water, trees, animals, etc.
These days we understand much more about our physical world. We can view the Way as the laws that govern physics, chemistry, and biology. It is also, then, the complex systems that arise from these physical laws as well, including consciousness.
Derek Lin, in Tao Te Ching: Annotated and Explained, sums it up beautifully:
The original conception of [The Way] was simply the observation that reality has a certain way about it. This “way” encompasses all of existence: life, the universe, and everything. A Christian may call it God’s will; an atheist may call it the laws of nature. These are labels pointing to the same thing, and [The Way] is simply the most generalized label imaginable, applicable to both perspectives.
The Way is the path of each individual through time and space
Each person, animal, plant, or thing has their own Way. Just as the Way defines the natural laws we all live in, it also defines our path through those laws. The Way, however, is not destiny.
Destiny implies an end goal that can be known. It is beyond human ability to know the future. We may intuit or feel our Way, but that is very different from explicit knowledge of the future.
That being said, the Way, I believe, is deterministic. Determinism is the theory that all events, choices, and phenomena are entirely the result of previously existing causes. Since the Way is natural laws and natural laws are deterministic, then the Way also determines causes and effects.
Determinism is a difficult idea to understand, much less accept. It is beyond the scope of this post to explore it fully. I will be writing more about this in the future.
The Way is a subjective, felt experience
More importantly than any of the above, though, the Way is a felt experience.
Thought is almost universally taken for granted. However, we were not born thinking. How can you think without words?
Before thought there was feeling. Before feeling there was sensation. Learning the Way is about lowering the volume of thought so that you can better listen to your emotions and your body. A daily practice that includes meditation and exercise helps tremendously in this regard.
With thinking comes a sense that we are separate, that there is something inside our head, watching the outside world. Thinking, however, is just yet another automatic process that we have as little control over as we do our heartbeat.
If in reading this or any Daoist material, you feel something deep inside you responding, that is the Way. To paraphrase a common expression, you’ll know it when you feel it.
Have you found your path? If yes, what is it? If no, what are you doing to find it? Let us know in the comments.
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John
Your link to further reading above is broken - it looks like your old website is offline... Could you post the reading list you refer to? I came here via https://immortalitystudy.substack.com/ Thank you.
How can you think without words? Very interesting question indeed. How does Daoism deal with animal or even plant consciousness? Are they too thinking if we consider they have a vocabulary (words)? Its even thought now that trees communicate (therefore think?) I wonder do they need then need to quiet their thoughts to find the Way.
Great column John keep it up mate!