three kinds of tao in the tao te ching

By Gary Shugar

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?

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 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.

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.

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

Lonny Jarrett has transformed a lifetime of experience and study into an original and groundbreaking discussion of Chinese medicine.

– Ted Kaptchuk Author of The Web That Has No Weaver

Lonny Jarrett has revived the spirit of Chinese medicine that is so often lacking in contemporary studies of this cultivational art. Integrating philosophy, cosmology, and mythology back into the evolution of Chinese medicine, Lonny has offered an initiation to practitioners, students, and clients alike to expand their own unfolding to this intricate art of healing. Nourishing Destiny offers the profundity of Chinese medical concepts, elemental archetypes, acupuncture points, and more importantly— the healing process. Lastly, the text inspires us to reawaken our own inner selves to reconnect with the roots of Chinese medicine—which in itself is an act of healing!

– Jeffrey C. Yuen Director Acupuncture Program and School of Oriental Studies Swedish Institute

Cover Design by Ruth Kolbert

ISBN: 0-9669916-0-5 Spirit Path Press P. O. Box 1093 Stockbridge, MA 01262-1093 Http://www.spiritpathpress.com

Three treasures

to nourish, inspire, and deepen your perspective on Chinese medicine by Lonny Jarrett

OURISHING DEST I NY

Lonn y S. J arrett

Spirit Path Press

Lonny Jarrett is a master in the traditional art of Chinese OURISHING 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 DESTINY 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.

– Andrew Cohen Author of Living Enlightenment and founder, What Is Enlightenment? magazine THE INNER Lonny Jarrett has written another book in his unmistakable style. This work must be read as the autobiography of a master TRADITION practitioner who shows us his roots, his growth process, and the amalgamation of Chinese medicine with everything he is, thinks, OF CHINESE MEDICINE and knows—all in the spirit of inspiring us to do the same. – Heiner Fruehauf Chair, Department of Classical Chinese Medicine, National College of Naturopathic Medicine

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.

– Livia Kohn Professor of Religion, Boston University

Lonny S. JarrettCover Design by Ruth Kolbert ISBN: 0-9669916-1-3 Spirit Path Press P. O. Box 1093 Stockbridge, MA 01262-1093 www.spiritpathpress.com HINESE MEDICINE

THE CLINICAL PRA CTICE O F

Lonn y S. J arrett

Spirit Path Press

Lonny Jarrett’s Deepening Perspectives on Chinese medicine is an extremely important book and marks something of a historic first. It takes the incredible contributions of Chinese medicine and presents them in an up-to-date and modern perspective, making them available to today’s healthcare professionals. It does this while also presenting the essential ideas in light of integral theory, a highly respected approach to an integrated or holistic framework. I highly recommend this THE book for any serious healthcare provider in today’s world.

–Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision CLINICAL

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 PRACTICE 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 OF 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 HINESE Kigo: Exploring the Spiritual Essence of Acupuncture Points Through the Changing Seasons 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 MEDICINE 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

Lonny S. Jarrett

Cover Design by Ruth Kolbert

ISBN: 978-0-9669916-2-8 Spirit Path Press P. O. Box 1093 Stockbridge, MA 01262-1093 www.spiritpathpress.com

C

HINESE MEDICI NE

DEEPE NING PERSPECTIVES

ON

Lonny S. Jarrett

Spirit Path Press

DEEPENING PERSPECTIVES

ON C HINESE MEDICINE

Lonny S. Jarrett

DPCM_FullCover.indd 1 4/21/21 9:15 AM

Nourishing Destiny • The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine Deepening Perspectives on Chinese Medicine (new title) Available at www.spiritpathpress.com Teaching schedule and information at www.lonnyjarrett.com

imaginative explanations. Despite these we just do not know. If we did understand it, it would not be the Tao! The hard part is accepting this.

Some view the Mystery Tao as simply an extension of a concept. We have the “way of humans.” Higher than this is the “way of nature.” Extending further, we have the “ultimate way,” supreme and unknowable. As man is a product of nature, so nature is presumed to be the product of the Mystery Tao. In this way the Mystery Tao is a mystical concept that simply means, I do not know.

Some think the Mystery Tao may be the mysterious answers to the “great metaphysical questions.” What is the ultimate meaning of life? Why does the universe exist? Since there are no answers to these questions, they are a mystery like the Mystery Tao, but the Mystery Tao is more than that.

There are some who view the Mystery Tao as a mystical or spiritual experience. The experience is one of mystery, mysticism, and awe. Just as you cannot adequately describe or explain awe to another person, so the Mystery Tao cannot be explained or described. They are experiencing nothingness, emptiness, or non-existence, similar to the experience of meditation when the mind is finally cleared of all thoughts and is empty. Like the Mystery Tao, the feeling is not describable. Perhaps it is close to contentment, but even that does not describe it. Feelings such as awe or contentment may be experienced when contemplating the Mystery Tao, but they are not the Mystery Tao.

The Mystery Tao represents the limits of our knowledge. It reminds us that there are things that cannot be known. It is nothingness and yet there is the feeling that it is something more than that. What that is, is a mystery. Those that speak about it do not know. Paradoxes and confusing statements that hint about its nature only add more confusion to the mystery. Yet there is something about a mystery and the unknown that is fascinating and satisfying at the same time.

Even the existence of the Mystery Tao is a mystery. What if the Mystery Tao does not exist? What if it is only a product of fertile human imagination? If this is true, the Tao Te Ching would still be valuable as a guide for how to live your life.

Translations used: Most of this article is based on the translation by Jonathan Star. Translations by James Legge and Raymond Blakney were also consulted.