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The Asian sages

The Asian sages. LAO-TZU, CONFUCIUS AND BUDDHA. THE HARMONY OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

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The Asian sages

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  1. TheAsiansages LAO-TZU, CONFUCIUS AND BUDDHA

  2. THE HARMONY OF HEAVEN AND EARTH In ancientAsiancosmologies, alleventsweresaidto be interconnected. In ancientChinesecosmology, everythingwasinfluencedbytheharmoniousworkingtogether of Heaven and EarthfollowingtheTao of allexistence. Tao, “way” or “path”, cannot be definedornamed. Itistranslated as thesource of allexistence, theprinciple of allthings, Tao influencesall of naturebutremainshiddentooursenses.

  3. In thiscosmology, Heaven and Earthconstitute a single reality, a sort of heaven-earth, ratherthantwoopposed and separaterealities. Natureconsists of thecontinualinteraction of twoopposing, butnot separable forcesknown as Yin (Earthpassiveelement) and Yang (Heaven, active element). Yinisweak, negative, dark, and destructive; Yangisstrong, positive, light and constructive. Heaven (yang) and Earth (yin) exist in a balance accordingto Tao. Yin and Yang go so far back in Chinesehistorythatwecannot be sureabouttheir original meanings.

  4. Bythefifthcentury, yin and yangwerethoughtto be linkedtogether. Eachwasview as theexpression of theother, operatingtogether in a never-endingcycleof comingtogether and fallingapart, birth and death, wet and dry, day and night, good and evil, male and female, full and empty. Thisceaselessinterplay of opposingforcesisthe natural order of things. Partand Wholecannot be understood,muchlessexist, withouteachother. Howcouldthey? Theveryessence of being a partrequires a wholeto be a part of, and there can be no wholewithoutparts.

  5. SAGEHOOD Thesages` focusonachievingharmony and virtuehere and nowis a response tothe social conditions in whichtheylive, in thischapterwewillstudythreesages, each of whomspeaksfromintimateknowledge of suffering and disappointment. Offeringanyonewhowill listen thefruits of theirhard-earned “research”, sagesperform a complex social function: partphysician of thesoul, partprophet, partpreacher, partphilosopher, partfellowseeker.

  6. THE DO NOTHING SAGE: LAO-TZU LegendsaysthatLao-tzuwas a bureaucrat in ancient China, he wasknownbyseveralnicknames: Old Man, Old Boy, or Old Philosopher. Accordingtothelegend, when he was 160 yearsold Lao Tzugrew so disgustedwiththehypocrisy and decay of his time that he decidedtoresignfromhis position as a bureaucrattopursuevirtue in a more natural environment.

  7. Ratherthanpresenting a philosophicalsystem, Lao Tzustruggle to express a sense, rule, principleor cause of “Thewayallthings are”. PREFER YIN TO YANG As wehaveseen, accordingtoancientChinesecosmology, thewhole of natureconsists of thecontinualinteraction of twoopposingforcesknown as yin and yang, they are linkedtoeachother, eachanexpression of theother, theyoperatetogether in anneverendingcycle.

  8. Chains of Oppositions

  9. SectionReview • Howwaseverythinginfluenced in AncientChineseCosmology? • HowwouldyouexplainTao? • Explainyin and yang. • Namethedifferentsocial functions of sages. • WhydidLao Tzuresignedfromhis position to pursuevirtue? • Writesomeexamples of theChain of Opposition.

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