Defining The Dao (for Left-Brained People)

Defining the Dao (for Left-Brained People)

Literally translated, “dao” means something like path or road. But in the philosophical sense, it gets much more complicated. Technically, the Dao is something that shouldn’t be able to be defined, and Laozi is deliberately vague when describing what it is and what it means. This is just my own interpretation of how to explain the concept, based on my reading of the Dao De Jing and my own meandering experience.

For more left-brain oriented people, those that interpret things based on logic and reasoning, I think it’s helpful to think of the Dao as a sort of natural progression of things in the universe. Like leaving an ice cube on a hot sidewalk or the natural decaying of a radioactive element, it has a definite order of procession that continues on and on. The first objection then, would be that the Dao is not nearly as predictable or constant as the melting of frozen water. But what if it was? One of the central tenants to Daoism is to find your place within the Dao, to follow your own path as naturally as a river flows down the path of least resistance.

I suppose a better analogy would be to compare the Dao to the force of gravity. It’s always there, constantly tugging at our soles to remind us that it’s there, and is more or less inescapable. But we still can (and do) fight against its influence, like the first birds looking to take to the skies. Plenty of us manage to go quite far fighting off their natural inclinations, gaining wealth or power or other rewards. But isn’t it so tiring to stay airborne for so long, constantly struggling against the insistent pull towards the ground? The Dao is within your own thoughts, your subconscious pulls towards your natural desires. You can fight against them all you like, but that doesn’t make them go away. In fact, I would say the more we struggle against what is natural to us, the more those thoughts will make themselves known.

The ultimate goal of Daoism is for everyone to follow their own desires, for everyone to live naturally within the world. Hippy-sounding sentiments aside, we humans are social creatures that generally try to avoid conflict with others. Should we all live openly and honestly about our desires and relationships to others, perhaps a world without conflict might begin to emerge. I’m not so naïve as to say we can be fully free of all kinds of conflict, but I’m simply providing an ideal, a picture of “How Things Should Be.” After all, if everyone did the job they wanted to do instead of the job they felt forced into, a happier and more productive society seems only natural.

And idealized utopias aside, on the personal level this should be the happiest and most fulfilling way to live our lives. The old saying goes “If you do what you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life.” People are more productive doing jobs they enjoy, and are more innovative pursuing jobs they’re passionate about. To find your place in the Dao, I think the best place to start is with your career and the path that you want to define you for the majority of your life.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. -Buddha

I don't always quote the Buddha, but when I do, it's for Daoist philosophy.

Remember what I was saying about labels?

If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion. Lin Chi

I won’t deny the fact that I’ve read/listened to poetry and cried tears at the end. Yep I’m male and I said it. I think you have to be a certain kind of individual to not connect spiritually with art that lives on such a tender frequency. It’s odd how the West equate emotion as a feminine trait and violence as a masculine one. Isn’t violence a total submission to emotion too? See as men we are encouraged by the culture to boast about who we beat up or who we slept with but never who we helped or who we loved.

Anthony Anaxagorou: Poet & Writer: I Won't Deny 

Thoughts on Tragedy

People don't like to talk or think about it, but tragedy is also part of the Path. As are the feelings of grief and sorrow. I believe that to disconnect ourselves from these emotions does nothing to help us in our search for peace, and will only harm us over time. Accept the ability and need to mourn loss, to grieve the dead; and then when it is done, accept the necessity to move forward and grow from the experience.