words are not the thing
“If you hear the wordless sutra once, the heavens will become sutras filled with golden words, clear and obvious before you.” - Bassui Tokushō
Ironically, Lao Tzu begins the Tao Te Ching by telling us that the Tao cannot be described in words. Words are used to identify something, and we use words to communicate ideas with others, but a word is not the thing it represents. It's like music. I can try to explain to you what a song sounds like, but you will never really understand what a song is until you actually hear it. In the same way, we can talk all day about the Tao, but no amount of talk will help you understand the Tao like actually experiencing the Tao will. So one of the first concepts of Taoism is to seek first hand experience rather than learning through words. You might say, then why even read this website or the Tao Te Ching? I see words as training wheels. True, you're not really riding a bike if you have training wheels, but you might never be prepared to ride a bike if you don't start out with training wheels. Words can guide us toward understanding, but they can never take the place of actual experience. This is also why meditation is an important part of Taoism. When we meditate, we set aside the words and try to feel and listen to the Tao around us. In this way, we come to truly learn and in a much more personal and permanent way.
The other thing about words is that we can think we are living and experiencing things, but we may simply be processing words. I've spent quite a bit of time learning about Taoism and thinking about how I'm incorporating Taoism into my life. Because of these things, I've started to consider myself Taoist. However, in some instances I observe how I react to stress or disappointment, and I see that in those moments I am not acting like a Taoist at all. In these moments I realize that one is not Taoist because they understand and think about Taoism. One is a Taoist when one's actions and thoughts naturally reflect Taoist principles. Acquiring this state can take quite a long time. And it happens not through studying words but by living through experiences and gently changing our thoughts and actions.
quotes
"The Tao that can be called is not the eternal Tao." - Lao Tzu
“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” - Aesop
“The foolish understand the words, the wise understand the sense.”- Lao Tzu
“However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you
if you do not act on upon them?” - Buddha
"Knowledge is not wisdom." - Euripedes
“Where can I find someone who has penetrated beyond words? That's who I'd like to have a word with.”
- Chuang Tzu (from Stephen Mitchell)
“Those who know value deeds, not words." - Heshang Gong
“I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words, as words by the
experience I had of things.” - Plutarch
“The Way is not something which can be studied. Study leads to retention of concepts and so the Way is entirely misunderstood…
The first step is to refrain from knowledge-based concepts.” - Huangbo Xiyun
“Possessing much knowledge is like having a thousand foot fishing line with a hook,
but the fish is always an inch beyond the hook.” -Mumon Ekai
“If you hear the wordless sutra once, the heavens will become sutras filled with golden words,
clear and obvious before you.” - Bassui Tokushō
“The majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities,
and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.” - Machiavelli
“Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.” - Montaigne
“Only if you can forget the words and embody the meaning will you (have) [truly learned]". -Yuanwu Keqin
questions
How might assigning a word or name to something influence how we understand that thing?
What words do you use to understand yourself and your life? How do these restrict your understanding of yourself?
Think about how words came to be. How would this process have oversimplified the actual meaning
of the thing being described?
Think about an intense experience you've had in life. How much different was your actual experience from what you had heard about such an experience through words only?
To what extent does the modern world value the understanding of words over true understanding?
Can you think of examples of this?
affirmations
My experiences in life are more valuable than my ability to talk about those experiences.
I won't let words take the place of the thing they represent.
The opportunity to experience life and the Tao is available to me at all times in all places.
I value becoming over knowing. The more I embody a virtue, the better I will understand it.