questioning: general 703

There is quite an amount of variation in (internal) practices. Practices by the same name might be done in very different ways. But this is just an example of individualization and diversity. Of more relevance for this post is the variety of what is called Taoist. (1) There are so many factions. There are Taoist traditions, like the more esoteric traditions, for which the fundamental teachings of the Tao Te Ching are not a central focus. Their orientation is elsewhere. They might relate to individual concepts of the Tao Te Ching, but in essential parts many of those Taoist traditions represent conglomerations of worldviews (in theory and in practice), views sometimes in direct opposition to the worldview of the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of the Taoist tradition.

Personally, I primarily focus on practices grounded in the value system and the worldview of the Tao Te Ching as one for which sustainable integration, caring, and the well-being of the whole are essential nutrients. One of the core principles in the Tao Te Ching is therefore its anti-authoritarian attitude. But when non-authoritarian thought systems and practices are discussed and passed on in authoritarian social systems, they easily get distorted and corrupted by their authoritarian environments. This is happening in the present as it happened in the past.

One example for present times is autocratic Communist China and the ways the Communist party restricted and restricts the intellectual and practical engagement with old Chinese bodymind traditions through the Communist’s invention and creation of Qigong (2). But also in pre-Communist times in China, because of patriarchal social structures based on Confucianism, the student teacher relationship (師父徒弟關係), for instance, was dominated by authoritarian pedagogy and teachers. (3)

How much sense does it make for us to adopt and accept an authoritarian framework to limit and guide the exploration of a non-authoritarian organic conceptual framework and architectural plan focused on integration, collaboration, and caring?

Authoritarian and autocratic structures and patterns can, of course, be found all over the world and in all kinds of contexts. The ideas of the domination of nature, of domination in general, of any fundamentalism are clearly authoritarian. They do not allow for the open spaces (無 / 無之以為用) needed for healthy developments: For them, communication is primarily one-directional and rigid.

In working with a bodymind method you can detect and clearly feel the disruptive and distorting forces of domination patterns in all of your being. Disruption of the bodymind can, however, come from a multitude of factors. All kinds of insecurities manifest themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Exploring and experiencing your own physical structure in a Taoist bodymind practice you can simultaneously explore the mental and emotional building blocks behind your physical structure. You can quickly learn that it is not meaningful to dictate the functioning of the body. If this dictatorial approach is not meaningful for a minimal sub-system of larger contexts as is the body, it is easy to imagine how much less this approach works for the larger contexts human life is embedded within.

Patterns and structures that do not organically fit into a larger whole because of manipulation cause trouble and disruption of the sub-system plus its environments. You can definitely, very clearly, and personally feel the negative impact of authoritarian patterns in a bodymind practice. You can experience different layers and levels of environment and context and realize the necessity to also, more profoundly, absorb non-human input. The need for communication exceeds the scope of human language and human intellect by far – a viewpoint visible in the Tao Te Ching as well as in the Chuang-tzu. There is a clear need for extended pattern recognition, learning, and communication (自然, 無為, 自化), experiencing a connected presence. (4) You feel existence through open boundaries and community. 

Bodymind practices deeply rooted in a conceptual framework like the Tao Te Ching’s present such a different form of physical education than the ones we find in our ordinary educational systems.

Notes:

Notes:

(1) “Daoismus? 道家思想與道教:” https://tao-moves.com/2019/10/15/daoismus-%e9%81%93%e5%ae%b6%e6%80%9d%e6%83%b3%e8%88%87%e9%81%93%e6%95%99/
(2) “Nei-kung versus Qigong:” https://tao-moves.com/2022/06/29/nei-kung-versus-qigong/
(3) As opposed to just elders in a non-authoritarian relationship: https://tao-moves.com/2023/08/17/fluidity-diversity/ / https://tao-moves.com/2024/09/19/the-complexity-of-simplicity/
(4) Regarding patterns and communication, water is one of the important inspirations presented in the Tao Te Ching, and for the Taoists in general: 水、溪、川、江、海