Three Kinds of Tao in the Tao Te Ching By Gary Shugar
success and happiness. This is unlike some religions that insist you must behave in a certain manner or you will be punished by a vengeful god.
What is the Tao? This is a question that has been asked for centuries. The word Tao, of course, means “way,” and that word is also ambiguous with many different meanings. The Tao Te Ching is a foundational text of Taoism, so how is the word Tao used in this text?
The Nature Tao is the “way of nature.” It refers to nature and nature’s laws. The Tao that can be named is the mother of all things. This is nature. One can consider this both as nature itself and as the way in which nature operates. The Tao Te Ching obviously venerates nature. In the Tao Te Ching, it is sometimes difficult to separate the way of humans from the way of nature. This is because so much of the way of humans is based on observations of the way of nature. Man should strive to be like nature; be like water, soft and yielding; bend with the wind like the grass; live in accordance with the universe; allow yourself to unfold naturally. To act in accordance with nature is to act in accordance with the Tao.
I think there are three kinds of Tao in the Tao Te Ching, the Human Tao, the Nature Tao, and the Mystery Tao. The Human Tao is the “way that humans should live their life.” The majority of the Tao Te Ching consists of suggestions for how to live one’s life. The Tao Te Ching discusses individual actions such as decreasing desires; being kind, truthful and just; giving without seeking reward; treating the good and the bad with goodness; practicing love, moderation and humility; teaching by example; acting without forcing; and understanding duality, just to name a few examples. It also instructs how to be a good leader and a good warrior. Notice that these are suggestions. The Tao Te Ching suggests to the reader that living in this way will result in more
The Mystery Tao is the “way of mystery.” This is the most difficult to understand. It is one against which our minds rebel. We want mysteries to be solved. We want answers we can understand. As a result, many people have come up with many different and
T hree treasures to nourish, inspire, and deepen your perspective on Chinese medicine by Lonny
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My long association with Lonny Jarrett over the course of many years has afforded me some of the most satisfying discussions concerning Chinese medicine that I have had with anyone. I am grateful for his writing and teaching his thoughts to the world, especially those about “becoming” that he describes as an act rather than solely as a “process.” Lonny Jarrett is fashioning a brilliant paradigm built around an awareness of one’s freedom to choose (for what is higher) instantly through the intention to virtue. Lonny’s overarching dedication to improving the human condition was recognizable from our early conversations and seems from the outside to have been part of a “process” reaching the form as expressed so eloquently in this volume. – leon hammer, mD, Author of Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies In this book, we have the considered thoughts of a senior practitioner whose writing explores the depths of the psyche, soul, spirit, and clinical life. At moments self-reflective and others expository, Lonny Jarrett weaves the bounds of integral thought, deep traditions of Chinese medicine, and the domains of developmental and transpersonal psychology. He has successfully transcended both cultural and temporal bounds to provide a scholarly work that is rooted in the traditions but also creative, informative, and will mark a place in the development of medicine and consciousness. – William morris, PhD, Author of Neoclassical Pulse Diagnosis
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This book presents intriguing and potent methods of acupuncture in a clear and concise way, and it provides an easily accessible resource for the dedicated practitioner. Based on in-depth experience and developed in great subtlety, it is a wonderful guide to the deeper mysteries of Chinese medicine, a veritable treasure trove of modern spiritual healing following the traditional Chinese vision.
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Deepening Perspectives takes the reader on a voyage of discovery through time and space accompanied by one of Chinese medicine’s most brilliant and visionary practitioners. This is not a book to be read at one go but rather lived with over a lifetime. I found myself inspired by the spiritual insights, reveling in the soul wisdom, absorbing the clinical expertise, and arguing enthusiastically with some of the concepts while ever grateful for the decades of work, tireless dedication, and clarity of intention that Jarrett has brought to this project. In recognizing the potential of traditional Chinese medicine to support humanity in moving into a new, more integrated consciousness, Jarrett has truly written a manifesto of healing for our time. – lorie eve Dechar, Author of Five Spirits, The Alchemy of Inner Work, and Kigo: Exploring the Spiritual Essence of Acupuncture Points Through the Changing Seasons
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THE Lonny Jarrett has written another book in his unmistakable INNER style. This work must be read as the autobiography of a master practitioner who shows us his roots, his growth process, and the TChinese R Amedicine D I TwithI O N he is, thinks, amalgamation of everything of inspiring us to do the same. Oand F knows—all C H I inNtheEspirit SE MEDICINE
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Lonny Jarrett has transformed a lifetime of experience and study into an original and groundbreaking discussion of Chinese medicine.
Lonny Jarrett is a master in the traditional art of Chinese medicine, with a deep understanding of both its practice and history. By combining the traditional history and philosophy of Chinese medicine with the developmental model of spiral dynamics, he has created a work that is both an invaluable manual for the practitioner as well as a solid introduction to evolutionary ways of thinking, which I believe are essential for humanity to grasp at this stage in our development and in fact for our very survival.
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