Over at Orkut, in this discussion forum on Taoism, someone asks, "Has anyone met a REAL Taoism teacher? How do you know he was a REAL Taoist?" To which others replied, "If Tao could be taught, then it is not Tao." Or quoting the Tao Te Ching, "Those who know don't talk, those who talk, don't know." And "the Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao."

Well, here was my response:

When the Tao Te Ching says, "The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao..." does it mean ANYONE who talks about the Tao is wrong? But then, what about the Tao Te Ching itself? These are words, ergo they must be wrong. This ultimately forms a self-referential paradox, like if I say, "I am a liar and this statement is a lie."

It's like that story about Chuang Tzu and Hui Tzu, who were crossing a river. Chuang said, "See how the fishes leap frolic, they are so happy." Hui then replies, "Hey, you're not a fish, how do you know they're happy?" Chuang says, "Hey, you're not me, how do you know, that I don't know that they're happy?" Hui continues, "If I, since I am not you, cannot know what you know... it follows that you, not being a fish, cannot know what they know." Well, in the end, Chuang answers, "I know the joy of fishes, in the river, through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river."

Back to your question. Teachers. Real teachers. Yeah, I've met a few. Some are famous, others are shrouded in mystery. Some have open schools, others are very secretive. Some have open hearts and true knowledge, others are charlatans and cult leaders. My first Taoism teacher was an amazing martial artist, acupuncturist/healer, and philosopher. He introduced me to several others, each of whom was an honor to meet. I met this one teacher in Hong Kong, and the moment I saw him, I burst into tears of joy and couldn't stop for three hours.

So back to your question: "Does anyone know of any actual Taoist teachers?" My answer is yes. And how do I know that the teachers I've been privileged to meet are true Taoists? I know their teachings were true, through my own joy and bliss in being with them.

How can you meet them? They're not in the Yellow Pages. Start by looking around in Chinatown.

You know that Taoist term... Wu Wei? The quick translation of "No Action" isn't quite right. It actually should be translated as "No Extra or Useless Action." Thus, it doesn't mean relaxing and doesn't advise you to become a slacker. Wu Wei means to do what you're going to do, but to do it with economy, with absolutely the minimum of wasted effort, without the needless expenditure of excessive energy or emotion.

Anyway, I ran into this very cool Western explanation from the oddest source. When I was at Caltech, I took these little physics classes from the legendary Richard Feynman. He had used this concept called the "Principle of Least Action" in his formulation of quantum mechanics. (See http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/cuius/idle/evolution/ref/leastact.html)
Action, in Newtonian physics, being the kinetic energy minus the potential, integrated over time. Using this, he could show why a rope hangs in a catenary curve, plot the path of a comet around the sun, derive Maxwells Equations to define electromagnetism... and then he showed how most of quantum mechanics could be derived from this little principle - that nature doesn't waste energy excessively to get something done.

I then realized that this was Wu Wei, all the way.

I took this cute quiz for fans of the TV show 24. It does a personality profile to figure out which character you identify with most. Here's my results:





Which 24 Character Are You?

Wonder if they have one for the Angel show?

When it comes to Taoist living, everyone talks about wu wei and living simply and being like a hermit. I beg to differ.

I believe that a modern Taoist would live life as expansively as possible. Without getting attached, our modern Taoist would allow himself (or herself) to experience the joy of lovemaking, the thrill of high finance, the unexpurgated pleasure of completely experiencing all that the world has to offer. But once tasted... would let go.

I believe that a modern Taoist would be drawn to film making (and would happily bed a beautiful actress in the process), would write poems that were poignant and beautiful, would be fascinated by technology and the Internet... but after playing in all of this, would let go to move on.

I believe that a modern Taoist would quietly treasure the esoteric inner cultivation - and would be careful to meditate every day, practice ch'i gung religiously, read the Taoist Canon often, and seek the company of spiritual teachers and fellow seekers... but even these great pleasures would eventually be released.

Eventually, the modern Taoist would simply return into the void, unafraid of death, simply curious to experience that transition... consciously and with the wonder of a six year old.

If life were driving, the Modern Taoist could drive in any lane of the freeway - fast lane, slow lane, no difference. And have fun at it too. But in the end, would have the sense to take the exit at the correct turnoff.

Anyway, that's what I think.

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So where did I acquire this philosophy? I once studied under a Taoist teacher (School of Complete Reality). I traveled around in Asia with him for several months, meeting masters and studying martial arts.

One day, we were sitting on the roof of this high rise in Hong Kong, looking down, and this absolute moment of satori - suchness - hit us. This feeling overwhelmed us, that everything in the world was absolutely perfect and where it was supposed to be. (Yep, the Universe is running right on schedule...)

This was the moment that he gave me a short lecture about living life expansively, yet ready to detach at any moment. About seeing the absolute and transcendent beauty of everything. About transforming ourselves to not only see the energy of the world, but to feel it and be fully bathed in it. Sometimes, people describe meditation as "letting the windows of the ego be opened, to let the fresh air of the Universe into you". Well, this was like breaking down the walls.

Living the Tao isn't about running away from the beauty of life, it's about bathing in it. So much that its beauty brings you tears of joy.

Anyway, the lecture ended with recounting of a little legend about one of the eight immortals. After he attained the Golden Pearl (the transcendence of the worldly body through the creation of a dual energy body), he decided to move into a brothel. Not to have sex, but to look at all the lovely girls there. One day, Bodhidharma was trekking by, and saw this ray of energy emanating from this village nearby. So he went to investigate. Then he saw it was a brothel! Quite shocking! So he went in, and met the Master, and asked him what he was doing there.

The Immortal answered, "Ah, this is my last incarnation, so I thought I'd finish my desire by just sitting here, looking at all these lovelies." Bodhidharma then replied, "Dear Immortal, even your karma is not strong enough to withstand this much temptation." To which the Immortal replied, "You know, you're right." And disappeared.

Cute story, huh?