Another important aspect to Zen, is the Tao. Tao is the way of nature, it's the principle of growth and development of all things, including humanity.. In the writings of The Tao Te Ching, Tao is described as having existed before heaven and earth. Tao is formless, stands alone without change and reaches everywhere without harm. The Tao however, is a bit of a mystery, because even though the Tao is called Tao, the Tao has no name. The very first verse in the Tao Te Ching; The way you can go, is not the way. The name you can say isn't the real name. The poem goes on to say that 'names's the mother of the ten thousand things'. This seems consistant with the Zen problem of language misrepresenting reality, which i'm sure is why 'the Tao has no name'. Since it's near impossible to say exactly what Tao is, we can at least say what Tao isn't. Tao is not God, Tao isn't beyond the material world. Tao isn't Brahman, there's no mystical experience required to come into harmony with the Tao. Tao is not Nirvana, it is not a state of being. Tao is not physical nature. Te is the Tao of ordinary life. It points to the natural goodness of the simple life, and the spontanious goodness of simple people. A verse from the 46th poem of the Tao Te Ching: The greatest evil: wanting more. The worst luck, discontent. Greed's the curse of life. Unlike a lot of the Tao Te Ching, this verse requires little interpretation. It points to the reality that the simple life is the best life, and one shouldn't be dissatasfied. It can be compared with tanha, the desire for private fulfillment, which is something that needs to be eliminated in Buddhist practice. The last stanza of the poem; To know enough's enough is enough to know. I think that this means that it's important to know when you're leading a life of indulgence, or when to be content that you're living the good and simple life. I...
