Tao or Dao is the concept signifying ‘way’, ‘path’, ‘route’, or sometimes more loosely, ‘doctrine’ or ‘principle’ originating from ancient China.
The Tao is the intuitive knowing of “life” that of which cannot be grasped full heartedly as just a concept but known nonetheless as the present living experience of one’s everyday being. The teachings began from Laozi referred to in English with the single term Taoism.
The Tao signifies the primordial essence or fundamental nature of the universe. It is the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is challenging to grasp due to it being non conceptual yet evident in ones being of aliveness. The Tao is “eternally nameless” and to be distinguished from the countless ‘named’ things which are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.
In Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism, the object of spiritual practice is to ‘become one with the tao’ (Tao Te Ching) or to harmonise one’s will with Nature in order to achieve ‘effortless action’ (Wu Wei).
The Tao can be known or experienced, and its principles (which can be discerned by observing Nature) can be followed or practiced.
Tao is intrinsically related to the concepts yin and yang, where every action creates counter-actions as unavoidable movements within manifestations of the Tao, and proper practice variously involves accepting, conforming to, or working with these natural developments, and the dynamics of nature itself.
f7h TCM INSIGHTS RETREAT:
May 23-25th http://fusion7healing.com/?page_id=357