The Absence of Natural Harmony

老子

一

~What does Lao Tau mean by disharmony? Why does he consider it the main philosophical problem?

~Why does he identify the root cause of this problem with the absence of the Way in the world? What does he mean by such absence?

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Kohn and LaFargue, 1998

Social disharmony (and political disorder) are therefore but symptoms of the same disease which disrupts the “virtue” of Tao.

Everything can can be traced back to the Tao. Everything revolves around the Tao. Everything is all about the Tao, that it’s decline would gradually result in hypocrisy, and familial and state disharmony (Tao Te Ching, 18). Extensively, its fall would then lead to the rise of virtues that would then fall, too, and its fall would lead then to the rise of humanity and so on and so forth, until it ends at the beginning of disorder (Tao Te Ching, 24). The Tao, according to Chan (1963), “is at once the beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their course. Those who live with the Tao and live their lives still aiming for the Tao are those who are extra careful with their ways because Tao is something that is to be perfected and therefore requires practice. Disharmony, in all its forms and justifications, is but the beginning of the declination of the Tao and at the same time, it is the result of its decline. 

The Tao is lost when people begin to place strong attachment in material things and superficial affluence. Taking either or both of this two roads are what pulls them away from where the Tao is. Such can be seen in Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth. The story entered around Wang Lung and the generation of the family that he created. His difficult and laborious life pushed him to work hard until he was able to buy enough land and emerge from poverty but this supposedly good turn of event led him to a life of regret. The education and the lavish life that he was able to give to his sons and his family had not been enough to pay for everything that he had went through. His money got into his head that it made him forget how life should really be. Money and property became the root of the discord that pushed his sons toward different directions and away from him, away from the life that he wished they would live. Kaltenmark (1969) provided that all men must design themselves on natural harmony because through this, he will be able to achieve peace that is the result of men’s lack of material desires. By doing so, he does not only achieve piece but he also goes back to nature and back to the Tao. 

Humbleness is also set on the Tao. Even if already virtuous, a truly virtuous man is one who does not go around and boast it to everyone. Additionally, a simple life could not kill anyone. In fact, it expresses nature and life itself as something that is pure and keeps everyone away from disharmony. Take for example the story Xixo in The Gods Must Be Crazy. The appearance of an empty Coca-Cola bottle in the life of his tribe brought forth chaos and disharmony. The story, of course, can be viewed in different perspectives but the stress on the attachment to such worldly things is a lens that echoes the teachings of the Tao Te Ching. When the Tao prevails in the world, everything is rich and green. When it does not, there is war and war is one of the many things that Lao Tau frowns upon (Tao Te Ching, 46). The Tao wants us to remember that if a man rises above in the material world, there will be bad consequences at the expense of others.

Tao Te Ching, 75

It is only those who do not seek after life that excel in making life valuable.  

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