Reading Response 3: Taoism & Creativity

My first impression of the article "The Wonder of Tao: Entering the Primordial Source of Creativity" is that it is a western attempt at describing an eastern philosophy. The problem I ran into is there is not enough flexibility to understanding the fundamentals of Taoism under western ideals. That said, I appreciate the link to poetry and the Tao, but the explanations about the philosophy seem forced as if the author is trying to explain it under American ideals and categorize its parts in American boxes, rather than realizing the fluidity and ever-presence of the Tao in all aspects of life. The Tao can't be explained in a part-by-part basis the way the author tries to explain it; the Tao is all, one and everything, it is all encompassing and universal, and it can not be described as "these people believe this." The Tao is “the way” of life. It is not just a means to creativity or happiness—it is a way of life. It is creativity, at its best, when all forces are acting in unison, when the artist is so enthralled the task at hand no longer becomes tedious but is a ritual, is so ingrained in the artist he or she can create without thinking, without having to blink. But this does not mean the mind is not thinking, it means the mind has mastered the craft at hand and the artist becomes a part of the process and being in balance with the "doing" and "not-doing" parts of the process, or the "flow" and the "craft" at the same time. The Tao is the way. When you reach the way you are in union with the opposites that make up the universe, within and around you, you are equally doing as you are not-doing, you are as attached as you are detached, in your mind, your craft, and your flow, all of the components are in balance and you have come in contact with the Tao. It can't be explained in steps or by western philosophy, it has to be seen in its own light, in the light of its own philosophy, or it cannot be truly understood.

To explain directly what I got out of the article, I appreciate the author starting with a passage that says, "Oftentimes without intentions I see the wonder of Tao/ Oftentimes with intention I see its manifestations." This quote directly relates to what I referred to above as "non-doing" and "doing," non-doing being = to "without intentions," and doing being = to "with intention." The idea of non-doing and doing can be compared to what we consider "flow" (non-doing/subconscious thought) and "craft" (doing/conscious thinking). There are many parallels to understanding the Tao, but it cannot be described by anything but its own terms or the explanation just doesn't seem authentic. When Pynn refers to the "naming" of objects concealing the true meaning of things, it seems he is doing that in his article by trying to name and isolate all the components of Taoism without accentuating enough that all of these parts must be in effect at the same time in order to begin to understand what the Tao is. Self-realization is also an important facet to the Tao as it calls to pondering the world outside of oneself as much as the world within. As humans we tend to name the things around us and they lose their ultimate meaning. The poem composed by Su Tung-p'o describes this phenomena: "Peer at things up close and you may learn their true form,/ But guessed at from afar, they seem like something else./ Vastness such as this is beyond comprehension--/ All I can do is sigh in endless wonder" (8). As for how all of this relates to writing, Chang Chung-yuan writes: "Sometimes [the ego-less self] manifests itself as primordial innocence, sometimes as transcendental spirituality. Both are fundamental to poetic expression...[The] spiritual rhythm of an object is the outcome of an interfusion between the subjectivity of the poet and the objective reality of things" (10). I think by getting to know what the Tao is and how one can access it, we can learn about the processes of creativity and how to attain it more accurately and freely in our daily lives and writing practices.

In my eyes the best way to understanding the Tao is to start by thinking of it the way it is taught in Asian Philosophy: The Tao is everything, everything is the Tao. As well as keeping in mind that the Tao literally means, "the way." It is a way of life, and although it can be compared to the creative process, because part of the beauty of reaching the heightened creative state is that you are becoming a part of something that is higher than you, which is the Tao, but that is only one way of looking at it. When Pynn states that the "mutual entailing of opposites" is key to understanding the Tao, I agree with him completely. One of the basic principles to understanding the Tao is that it is a unity of opposites. It is doing and not-doing. Once you attain the Tao you reach a heightened state of being, which can be compared to the creative state or creativity as a whole, which again, is the unity of non-action (flow) and action (craft).

One of my personal favorite aspects of the Tao is that it is about opening up to your inner self and having a sense of inner calmness. The Tao is always there; one just has to cultivate it within one’s own life. Chang Chun-yuan states that the aim of the Chinese philosophy is "to open out what is hidden within" (2). Part of understanding the Tao is being in touch with the silence within. The poet on page 5 describes, "My thoughts remain, quite silent after all." Yoga helps reach this calmness of mind and helps unify right body with right mind and right soul. One of the things westerners usually find most difficult in understanding the Tao is that one must focus on emptiness as much as one focuses on fulfillment in order to reach the balance that comes with coming in close contact with the Tao. Attaining openness, stillness, and quiet is a part of it, but the other part is doing that while being full of life. Being full of life while being still and calm is a difficult concept to grasp for most westerners because it seems contradictory. But to a Taoist, it is the balance and meaning of life—it is the union of opposites. Once one has experienced something like this, one has a better sense of self, desires to know more about the self.

In my eyes this quote explains best the goal of Taoist self-realization: "To be free from the confusion of external conditions, to be rid of the perplexities of life, to be fully charged with primordial creativity, is to attain the Tao." Self-realization is another key to understanding the Tao. One must not rely on the components of the Tao “as ends in themselves, but as aids to self-realization" (6). While Taoists use yoga and other forms of physical and meditative activities as ways to cultivate self-realization and come closer to the Tao, westerners typically do yoga for physical activity without acknowledging the spiritual and mental capacities it has to open your mind, body and soul and attain being in a higher place, even if for only a moment. "[Engaging] in breathing and yogic exercises solely in the egocentric desire for extending one's physical life, constitutes an obstacle to the realization of Tao and, thereby, a relational self" (7).

The comparison between the Tao and poetry is also accurate in my eyes. I enjoyed reading the quote by Chang Chung-yuan about the poet and the Tao: "The creative process of the universe is also the creative process of the poet, who has transformed his ego into self and thus has become part of the universe" (2). This quote exemplifies becoming a part of "the way" which = the Tao. "Thus, poetry is the outside of an inside. Poetry, like philosophy, helps to bring out what is hidden within...If poetry is to reveal what is hidden, then the activity of poetic composition must be a spontaneous and natural response to things as they are" (7).