Alan Watts - What is Tao?

In this video Alan Watts contrasts the Abrahamic concept of God with the Ancient Chinese concept of Tao; while also paralleling Tao with Einstein's General Relativity theory.

Most of us know Albert Einstein was a great theoretical physicist, nevertheless not many of us know what he actually achieved. In short Einstein debunked Newton's Mechanical Universe, instead finding our Universe to have an organic nature.

I personally believe sustainable world peace will not be possible until this knowledge is commonplace; for it is no coincidence Einstein had great empathy for all life and was a great humanitarian.

Isaac Newton's equations are extraordinary and extremely useful for describing our everyday world. Yet these equations proved useless for any phenomena outside normal perceptions, such as the extremely fast or the extremely small.
 
This is simply because Newtonian physics is a product of sensory awareness and therefore incapable of describing any other reality beyond our five senses. If Newton's laws conclusively accounted for Nature, the mathematics would work at all levels and speeds, yet it doesn't.
 
It must also be noted that although Newton could accurately measure gravity, he remained unable to explain what it actually was, simply assigning the process to God. The reason gravity could not be explained by Newtonian physics is that it is akin to a flat map of a spherical world. A map maybe extremely useful, but as Korzybski pointed out, "The map is not the territory".
 
Born 150 years after Newton, Albert Einstein instinctively understood there was an intrinsic difference between experiences and fundamental reality. This enabled the great theoretical physicist to perceive time (duration), space (distance) and mass (energy), not as something fixed as in Newtonian physics; but rather a point of view he called "Relativity".
 
Free from the everyday experience of the rigidity of time, space and mass; Einstein was able to determine gravity was actually the warping of space and time by mass. This is very difficult for us to conceive since our sensory awareness is incapable of perceiving space, time and mass as anything but temporal, linear and solid. Nevertheless the warping of the space-time continuum by mass has been conclusively proved by experimentation and must be factored into all satellite navigation devices.
 
Therefore if one is to accept modern science, one has no choice but to unreservedly accept all the findings of Relativistic physics. This done one then has no choice other than to consign Newtonian physics to that of only being a useful tool and not that of reality.
 
Consequently Nature is our personal projection of the energy field (Tao) in which we are encapsulated. However, this does not degrade Nature in any shape or form. It is merely putting the responsibility for Nature onto us, for Nature is who we actually are.

If you would like to learn more about Alan Watts and Taoism, please visit my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/TaoFAQ

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[NIETZSCHEAN14]

How does ecocide fit in with the Tao? This is a serious question.

[yinyangnature]

@NIETZSCHEAN14 Alan Watts was one of the first people to speak out about the destruction of the environment in the 1960s; a time when most people assumed the resources of the earth were infinite. Today, I would assume anyone knowingly or even unknowingly aware of Tao, the environment would be of the very utmost concern.

[NIETZSCHEAN14]

@yinyangnature. Thank you for the response. I believe ecocide is very bad, however, if the Tao is everything, would it not be logical to say ecocide is part of the Tao? I am trying to understand how having the tranquility that the Tao is all, is consistent with being troubled enough about ecocide to do something about it.

[yinyangnature]

@NIETZSCHEAN14 These type of questions often arise. Should we standby and only bear witness to injustice and cruelty; or should we become actively involved. The Taoist sages always advised moderation and non-contention, therefore militant activism is not the answer. Gandhi said it best "Be the change you want to see in the world." I despise the cruelty of intensive farming, so 3 years ago I decided to become a vegetarian. When there's enough of us who care, the abattoirs will become obsolete.

[othermyriah]

@NIETZSCHEAN14 this is the most misunderstood paradox of taoism, wu wei, action through non-action, which is incidentally one of its chief principles. tranquility doesn't equate with idleness, or "doing nothing," and non-action is not "doing nothing." please do not confuse the peace of the tao with apathy. the tao te ching notes that when one person adopts the tao, it affects their family, their community, and so on. change yourself, change everything. but still, excellent question on your part!

[youthank8]

@jeffbriggs1987

the fact that you said you're enlightened means you are not enlightened.

[jeffbriggs1987]

since Ive become enlightened Ive stopped getting heartburn

[sweetredredwine]

@yinyangnature @ObjectiveBob "There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the Mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao. ... Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself." and Our Mother has distinct qualities that define Her, ones that should define us too if we wish to remain here - required rules -