Lao-Tse & Daoism HZT4U1 - Mr. Wittmann - Unit 2 - Lecture 3

"The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet."

-The Way of Lao-tzu

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Nature of the DaoLao-Tse(604-531BC)wroteChina’s1stphilosophicalwork.

Beforehim,Daoistideasandbeliefswerenotconsolidatedororganizedintoasingleschoolofthought.

Thus,Lao-Tsestartedthe2ndphase,orofficialorformalizedphaseofDaoism.

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Nature of the Dao(continued)DaoDeJing(akaTaoTeChing)

Describesthenatureofreality(beyondconceptualizaKon)calledthe…

Dao/Tao(path,roadorway)

Theprocessofrealityitself

Wayallthingsform,transform,deform�3

Nature of the Dao(continued)

Allthingsareproducedandexperiencebytheprocessofexistenceandnon-existence

Changeisthemostbasiccharacterofthenatureofreality

Oneshouldconductone’sselfinaccordwiththisnatureofreality.

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Nature of the Dao(continued)

LawofNature:whenanythingdevelopsanyextremequaliKes,change-forcescausequaliKestoreverttotheiroppositesqualiKes.

DaoisthealteraKonoftheseoppositeposiKveandnegaKvecorrelaKvechangeforces(yin&yang)

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Yin & Yang(continued)

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Dao & Human Conduct

Wuwei:actnaturally,effortlessacKon

ButpracKcingwuweiincreasesawarenessandunderstandingofthedao.

Don’toverdoit,noneedfortamperingwiththeflowofreality

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Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

Wuweishowstherealityofthedaoalwaysbenefitsinthelongrun,nomaWerthepercepKon.

Whenwethinkthatlife’soccurrencesseemunfairremember,theuniverseisasitis,justacceptit,andgowithit.

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Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

Toachievesomething,startattheopposite(i.e.putyourselfinthebackground,findyourselfinthefore).

Likeaninfant,moveandactnaturally,withoutplanningorrelyingonexternalstructuringororganizingofreality

Concentrateoninternalenergies(qi).�10

Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

Livenaturally,freefromthedesiretocontrolreality

Learnhowtobecontentwithreality.

Thisisthewaytopreservelifeandavoidharmanddangertoothers,andachieveone’sgoalssafelyandminimizerisk.

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Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

Avoidexcess,extremes,extravagance,andpracKcemoderaKon.

Dowhatisonlynecessarynatural(te)

ConducKngyourselfwiththesimplesteffortpossible

Don’toverdothings.

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Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

Followthenaturalway(te)tominimizetheradicalupsanddownsofyin&yang,toliveharmoniously(he).

Eliminateexcessivedesires,withdrawfromtryingtolivebeWer,gowiththeflowandlifewillbebeWer.

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Dao & Human Conduct (continued)

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THE END

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