Museum-quality posters with vivid prints made on thick and durable matte paper.

Lao Tzu - Chinese Sage, Philosopher
and Teacher, Master of Confucius

Authors Note - Raul: I grew up really
on Chinese Philosophy and Lao Tzu
teachings. Even thou in Puerto Rico
the official religion is Catholicism, and
I attended a Catholic school for 10 years.

It all started like a spell: I was walking
across the UPR (University of PR)
since i attended their High School (UHS).
Then one day, next to their main
bookstore - something - almost a force
- made me to go inside the bookstore,
then inside my hand was directed to
a particular book:

'A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy'
by Wing-Tsit Chan, from Princeton University.

It was affordable and I purchased it
immediately. It was an extremely
clear book! It covered very many
Chinese masters... encyclopedic.
Extremely deep teachings!

It changed my life forever. It is still
available - the 1st reference below.

Eventually many years later in CA I
did meet a Master like Lao Tzu.
The Venerable Taungpulu Sayadaw
from Burma (Theravada Buddhism).
Taungpulu actually grew up in a farm
near China, and this - the most ancient
form of Buddhism, over 2,500 years old
is composed of 'forest monks'. So their
practices are very similar to Taoism
since they take Natures simplicity
as a basis for practice... The point is
that all of this was the culmination
of a deep study of Taoism. And as
we see there was an evolution:

Taoism --> Confucianism --> Buddhism

One example of how practical Taoism
is: when working in the competitive
Silicon Valley in CA, i applied daily
the principle:

'The wise one does not compete, so
no one can compete with him."

It's a deep statement of non-violence
or 'you need two to argue' etc.
The points is that as i was in an aggressive
environment were many suffered trying
to gain positions and status, I was
happy doing what i was supposed
to do, and serving and helping
as I could. It really helped!

---

The story I know is that Lao Tzu, who
was the emperors librarian, was sick
of the world and left for the desert.
At the realms gate a guard asked him
for asummary of his teachings. And
there came the aphorisms. Then
eventually the Tao te Ching became
the most read and studied book
ever, since China is the most
populous country. Later on Confucius,
an ardent admirer of Lao Tzu, created
his version, more directed to morality
and practical advice or rules,
still very good too.

And more important, Confucius became
the great Teacher, the one that did follow
the path of Love of Learning and Love
for all people - Kings and Peasants.

So If Confucius was so incredibly
advanced, how must his master been?
He said that Lao Tzu was like a
dragon - flies in the wind!

It reminds me of Ramakrishna and
his disciple Vivekananda, or Christ
and Peter etc.

One point many miss is that over the
years, several people have had
'illuminations' and then sat down
and wrote their insights. When they
presented them they were told it
was not new, it was the Tao Te Chin!
Just rephrased a bit. So if 'he' is still
around helping people I can't tell, but
do not be surprised, they call
that a Bodhisattva...

Another point is that thru the years
and changes in China there were
attempts to destroy
past history (not the 1st time there...).
But we have seen a surge of devotion
world wide to both Confucius and his
master - Lao Tzu. There are now
many temples, rites and ceremonies
in their names!

Just search on the web for 'temples
- CONFUCIUS' and you will see some
all over the world.

---

Extract on Taoism - from the 'Ancient
History Encyclopedia':

by Emily Mark
2016 Lao-Tzu (by Thanato)
https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/

Taoism (also known as Daoism) is a
Chinese philosophy attributed to
Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE) which contributed
to the folk religion of the people
primarily in the rural areas of China
and became the official religion of
the country under the Tang Dynasty.

Taoism is therefore both a philosophy
and a religion.

It emphasizes doing what is natural
and "going with the flow" in accordance
with the Tao (or Dao), a cosmic force
which flows through all things
(ie: prana, chi etc) and binds and
releases them. The philosophy grew
from an observance of the natural world,
and the religion developed out of a
belief in cosmic balance maintained
and regulated by the Tao. The original
belief may or may not have included
practices such as ancestor and spirit
worship but both of these principles
are observed by many Taoists today
and have been for centuries.

Taoism exerted a great influence during
the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) and
the emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712-756 CE)
decreed it a state religion, mandating
that people keep Taoist writings in
their home. It fell out of favor as the
Tang Dynasty declined and was
replaced by Confucianism and Buddhism
but the religion is still practiced
throughout China and other
countries today.

Origins

The historian Sima Qian (145-86 BCE)
tells the story of Lao-Tzu,
a curator at the Royal Library in the
state of Chu, who was a natural
philosopher. Lao-Tzu believed in the
harmony of all things and that people
could live easily together if they only
considered each other's feelings once
in a while and recognized that their
self-interest was not always in the
interest of others.

Lao-Tzu grew impatient with people
and with the corruption he saw in
government, which caused the people
so much pain and misery. He was so
frustrated by his inability to change
people's behavior that he decided
to go into exile.

As he was leaving China through the
western pass, the gatekeeper Yin
Hsi stopped him because he recognized
him as a philosopher. Yin Hsi asked
Lao-Tzu to write a
book for him before he left civilization
forever and Lao-Tzu agreed.

He sat down on a rock beside the
gatekeeper and wrote the Tao-Te-Ching
(The Book of the Way, also called
Book of Existence etc.). He stopped
writing when he felt he was finished,
handed the book to Yin Hsi,
and walked through the western pass
to vanish into the mist beyond.

Sima Qian does not continue the story
after this but, presumably (if the story is true)
Yin Hsi would have then had the
Tao-Te-Ching copied and distributed.

Authors note Raul - i stop the quote
here since the author above does
not really understand the book...scholars
often have this problem - too many
opinions. In life we must be based
on actual, real and our own experience.
To understand the Tao Te Chin you will
need a very advanced level of spiritual
development... not a lot of education
- which is the knowledge from 'others'
and just words! Actually - you will never
stop understanding this book -
it goes deeper and deeper.

Just to be clear, it has a lot of talk,
which is common silliness like:
'everyone could live together peacefully'.
But the facts is that life is
transient, All type of beings die
(humans, dogs, cats etc), every moment
goes for the next (it dies) etc.

We can not and should not try to create
a paradise on a world full of aging,
illness and death as the final goal of all.
Absolutely for all - just visit
a cemetery or a hospital... Comfort is
not paradise. Happiness is.

What the Tao talks about
(or Buddhism etc) it that FROM a really
deep insight and realization of
impermanence and truth, then arises
love and compassion and then we
act humanely and spontaneous. This
was a great conflict between Lao
Tzu and Confucius. Lao Tzu wanted
spontaneous action, Confucius followed
principles. But the principles do spring
from a clear and pure mind ...

BUT in this realization, in fact, there
are 'no people'.

This is a crude construct ('people')
and derivation from false sensory
experience, and because its common
and ordinary does not make it true.
Beware of believing what everyone
believe! That why this is called
'ordinary mind'... vs the realized mind
- free of concepts. It like the difference
between muddy water and clear water,
it's still water, but what a difference!
---

References:
A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Wing-Tsit Chan, 888 pages, about $40, In amazon used from $3
SBN9781400820030
https://press.princeton.edu/titles/272.html

Here it may be FREE - www.academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/10087772/A_source_book_in_chinese_philosophy_-_wing-tsit_chan

or via:https://www.academia.edu/people/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=lao+tzu

There is a huge amount of material on books, the web, videos etc
So I will only quote a few:

https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2622245.Lao_Tzu

via search Chinese Philosophy:
https //www.academia.edu/people/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=A+Source+Book+in+Chinese+Philosophy
There are over 750 pages of books and papers!