Introduction to Taoism: The Story of The Chinese Farmer
Taoism is one of the oldest philosophical and religious schools of thought whose origins date back to the late 4th century B.C. with some elements of Taoism going back even further. Taoism, like most Eastern religions rely more on a system of behavior rather than the praising of deities. Similar to Buddhism, Taoism urges us to be mindful in how we approach the events in our lives, thus improving the quality of our lives.
One of the main ideas in Taoism is to look at the seemingly contradictory nature of the world around us and find the underlying harmony that flows through it. As a result, Taoism emphasizes that we turn to the outside world to better understand the harmony that lies within the contradictions we see and feel.
Whether it is life and death, pain and pleasure, happiness or sadness, all of these contradictory aspects of life exist. Despite this the underlying harmony for Taoists lies in The Dao, which when translated translates to The Way. In order to understand The Dao, one must be mindful and accepting of the circumstances that one finds themselves in, similar to how in Buddhism one seeks to better manage their desires through mindfulness. Perhaps no story better explains this idea of the underlying harmony of the world than that of The Chinese Farmer:
Once there was a Chinese farmer who had beautiful horse. One night that horse runs away. When word got out of this, all the villagers gathered around the farmer’s house explaining how terrible the situation must be to which the farmer merely replied “maybe”
The next day that same horse came back bringing along with it 3 more horses. When news broke that this had happened the villagers again gathered around the farmer’s house, only this time it was to praise and tell him how great everything must be to which the farmer merely replied “maybe”
In order to tame the new horses the farmer’s son attempted break one of the horses who then proceeded to buck him off resulting in a broken leg. When the other villagers heard news of this they again gathered around the farmer’s house explaining how devastating this must be. Again, the farmer replied simply by saying “maybe.”
The day after conscription officers for the Chinese army were looking to seize young men in order to go fight a war. Seeing as the farmer’s son had a broken leg the officers rejected him and left. The villagers yet again gathered around exclaiming how great news this was to which the farmer replied “maybe”
The point of this story is not necessarily to explain The Dao, similar to concepts like justice, love, etc. The Dao cannot be easily explained but is something that is understood and felt. Like the farmer in the story we all have events in our lives that we point to as good or bad. Yet just like in the story the events on our lives flow harmoniously to where we are now. Taoism teaches us to trust the fluidity of our lives rather than to try to narrow it into aspects of good or bad which only leads to stress and dissatisfaction.
In order to better understand this fluidity Taoism highlights the natural world as a sort of metaphor on how we should be. To quote Lao Tzu: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Whatever it is you want to accomplish, whether it is becoming healthier, more understanding, mending relationships, all of these things happen on their own time similar to how different aspects of nature adhere to this natural flowing state of being as well. The changing of the leaves during the seasons, the growing of plants, the changing of a caterpillar to a butterfly, all of these things occur without force but through nature’s fluidity and timing.
Once one understands this the world no longer becomes an anxiety ridden battle of good and bad, but rather a harmonious and mindful reflection of one’s inner understanding of The Dao. This leads us to be more patient, understanding, and calm when things seemingly do not go our way, thus granting us something we all intrinsically desire: Peace of mind.
