People nowadays often complain that life is too complicated and stressful. There are too many electronic systems to be used and they are constantly being changed; and there are too many requirements for doing everyday tasks, and those requirements are constantly being modified. No wonder that many admire the Taoist serenity and want to follow…

To affirm or imply that “more is less” has distinct Orwellian connotations. I wonder if anyone can seriously argue that more is less, or that less is more, in any area of life. Even pre-school children can figure out that more ice cream is preferable to less ice cream, and more cookies preferable to fewer…

Today’s mainstream philosophy constitutes the opposite of the Taoist idea of happiness. Why? Because today’s dominant beliefs are hardly reconcilable with the Tao, as depicted in the Tao Te Ching. What do I mean when I say “today’s dominant beliefs”? On the one hand, the idea that everything is relative, that there are no universal…

In contrast to other philosophies or religions, Taoists do not regard happiness as a goal. Why? Because they view happiness as a side effect of leading a virtuous life, not as a goal in itself. Neither Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu employed the term “the pursuit of happiness” in their writings. They would have found such…

The desire to get something for nothing is a constant in all cultures and historical periods. To a large extent, mythology is derived from this desire. People make themselves believe that, if they perform a magical ritual, some divinity will assist them in getting something for nothing. When approaching Taoism for the first time, beginners…

It was not long ago that universal history used to be part of the curriculum in secondary schools. A solid understanding of the key historical periods, their ideas and leading figures was a precondition for graduation. Students were required to grasp the historical sequence that began with Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome,…

Happy people do not waste their time telling the world how happy they are, and Taoists are not an exception. Neither Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu or Chuang-Tzu made any effort to gain adepts to their philosophy. They simply wrote down or dictated their insights, making them available. If you want to adopt their ideas, or some of…

If a philosopher tells me that he knows the key to happiness, my first reaction is to examine his life. Has he achieved a solid financial situation or is he impoverished? Does he have worthy friends or does he associate with people of questionable ethics? I regard the art of living as a simplified, hands-on…

Readers may be surprised to learn that Lao-Tzu did not care about happiness. Neither did Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu. Their philosophy aims at doing what needs to be done in every case, on the assumption that good actions will breed a good outcome and that happiness will ensure as a side effect. For this reason, I…

We do not have the exact birth and death dates for Lao-Tzu, but according to the tradition, he lived a couple of generations earlier than Socrates (469-399 BC). The philosophical ideas of Socrates partially overlap with those of Lao-Tzu. I find it particularly interesting to compare their views on the spiritual aspects of philosophy. Taoism…