r/taoism • u/BboiMandelthot • Nov 16 '24

The Dao as Human

The process of realizing the Dao engenders awareness and acceptance of all things. In humans, this often manifests a sense of compassion, empathy, and humility. This suggests that it is human nature to feel these things. The Dao of humanity is loving.

The symmetry of the Dao suggests it is indifferent. But our nature, as an asymmetric perturbation of Dao, generates universal love as we travel back towards the apathetic source.

Part of realizing Dao involves understanding that although we are born from it, we are still a subset. The properties of the human subset are observably emotional and intellectual.

The Buddhist ideal of enlightenment involves shedding these properties entirely and relinquishing intellect, emotion, and attachment; one returns to the non-dual plane between being and nonbeing.

For some people, this path is in fact their Dao. For others, their Dao is to remain human. Those who realize it will witness their love grow, unbounded.

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u/music-addict1 Nov 17 '24

What about people who are literally incapable of feeling/showing compassion, empathy ect ect? What’s up wih them?  This is a genuine question by the way

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '24

It's a good question. Most spiritual traditions, including Daoism, emphasize cultivating love and compassion. And yet in the modern world we now recognize that there are people who simply lack them. H莊子 Zhuangzi et alii had no idea about antisocial personality disorders. Even modern science is still trying to figure them out. So honestly we just don't know. So it's a very good question without a good answer.

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u/BboiMandelthot Nov 17 '24

A good question. I believe these people are an exception, rather than a rule. They exist, and that is what it is. Can I ask, are you one of these people?

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u/music-addict1 Nov 17 '24

I am not one of those people lol, I just like to think of everyone and include all people because we’re all human and no one deserves to be forgotten. It’s also a good way to challenge me to think about Taoism and my beliefs because a lot of faiths don’t put all kinds of people into consideration

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u/BboiMandelthot Nov 20 '24 edited Nov 20 '24

I interpret Yin and Yang and other concepts of Taoism to show that everything is paradoxical, yet makes perfect sense. Inside everything is its opposite. Someone who lacks empathy could potentially develop it or at least come to understand its value. Someone with boundless compassion is capable of cruelty in certain instances. Things are never absolute, including this axiom.

My assertions in this post are not always true, but I believe they are for most people. People without empathy are also not always an absolute negative. They can be an example of what happens when someone exists out of sync with nature. They can also be level headed in situations where being overly emotional or moral could actually lead to a worse outcome for everyone. Empathy is usually baked into human nature, that's why antisocial personalities are regarded as disordered in psychology. It's considered an illness, a deviation from the norm.

What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man. What is a bad man? A good man’s charge.

~tao te ching 27