In contrast to other philosophies, Taoism represents more a mentality than an array of prescriptions. The Tao Te Ching will not tell us what to do in a specific situation, but gives us a solid framework for finding solutions. It does not tell us which goals to pursue, but helps us discern if we are on the correct path.
Chapter 78 formulates the key Taoist virtues: adaptability, softness or flexibility. As an illustration, it employs water. It commends us to be as soft and flexible as water, and discard inflexibility.
We can live a better life if we learn to circumvent obstacles softly and smoothly. Instead of debating, pushing and fighting, the Taoist prefers to observe, take a sidestep, and let opponents get exhausted.
According to tradition, Lao-Tzu authored the Tao Te Ching in the 6th century BC, that is, when the world was dominated by cruel kings and emperors. In Asia and the Middle East, war was part of the normal course of events, as well as all sorts of pillage and enslavement.
The essence of the Taoist mentality
The Tao Te Ching promotes peacefulness instead of war and conflict, flexibility instead of impositions and constraints, balance instead of aggressiveness, and harmony instead of greed. In the next centuries, Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu would complement the Tao Te Ching by underlining individuality and alertness.
How do Taoists react to strong opposition? They stay calm, listen to the other party, and don’t hasten to reach a conclusion. They know that, if they give the matter sufficient time, chances are that their opponents will cool down and reach some type of compromise.
Western culture is extremely results-oriented, a quality that we can find already in Aristotle (384-322 BC). His “Eudemian Ethics” and “Nicomachean Ethics” regarded virtues as tools for achieving happiness, not as abstract prescriptions.
In contrast, The Tao Te Ching revolves around attitude and mentality. Taoist expect the correct attitude to lead to good results automatically, even if those results cannot be precisely predicted.
For Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu, virtue is the river always flowing to a good destination. We just need to imitate water and keep going on the correct path, aligned with nature, not too fast and not too slowly.
The opposite of the Taoist mentality
While the Tao Te Ching was being written by Lao-Tzu and put into practice by his disciples, the Assyrian empire had been fighting wars for four centuries. The Assyrian kings believed in violence as a way of life. Their whole culture revolved around warfare.
Unsurprisingly, some Assyrian kings were murdered. In the 8th century BC, Shalmaneser V tried to take over Samaria, but was assassinated during the siege. He could not attain his goal of building a world empire.
Forty-six years later, king Sennacherib, who had earned a horrible reputation for his cruelty, was also murdered. Nobody was surprised, since Sennacherib was hated by thousands of people.
The Assyrians would have been puzzled if they had heard of the Tao Te Ching. The central purpose of their life was to fight against neighbouring countries. Assyrians constantly engaged in war against Israel and Egypt in the West, Babylon in the South, and Syria in the Northwest.
The word peacefulness was unknown to Assyrian kings, and when the tide turned in 612 BC, they were exterminated by the Babylonians. Within a few years, the Assyrian population was wiped out and their empire turned to ruins.
Three centuries later, the Babylonians suffered devastation when Alexander the Great (336-323 BC) conquered their land. Violence got repaid with violence, and pride turned into misery without any hope of recovery. That was the environment across the world when the Tao Te Ching had begun to attract adepts.
The Tao Te Ching and mental attitude
The Taoist mentality is shaped by the Tao Te Ching, chapter 76, which praises softness and flexibility. Lao-Tzu called them the markers of life and youth.
Similarly, successful individuals and enterprises tend to be extremely flexible, always attuned to the market, always ready to seize new opportunities. Rigidity, Lao-Tzu said, is the sign of death.
Hardness and rigidity are the opposite of the Taoist attitude. Chuang-Tzu recounted many stories illustrating the drawbacks of rigidity. When there are storms, bamboo plants can bend and deflect the wind, while oaks, due to their stiffness, will face the full power of the wind and end up breaking.
Chuang-Tzu considered harsh, rigid mentalities as incapable of aligning themselves with the Tao. Rigidity is fundamentally incompatible with the Tao Te Ching, biologically, socially and psychologically.
Lao-Tzu predicted dire consequences for people who fail to adopt the Taoist attitude. Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching calls those people and situations as “the beginning of chaos.”
Taoists place the alignment with the Tao above superficial virtues, beliefs and rituals; when those crystallise, they become rigid and dangerous.
Artificial constructs can never replace the Tao because they are not alive. They have not originated organically and they are not part of nature. In Chapter 76 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu predicts that the flexible will prevail over the rigid, and regards the latter as the opposite of life.
Lao-Tzu noted in Chapter 20 of the Tao Te Ching that rigid mentalities tend to display exaggerated gregariousness and that they love to march together. In contrast, Taoists are capable of drifting when the circumstances call for flexibility.
Wise individuals, said Lao-Tzu, know when to stand apart from the crowd. They draw their values directly from the Tao, that is, directly from nature. If Taoists realize that other people are going against the Tao, they know better than joining them.
If you are interested in putting effective insights into daily practice, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living.”