I’ve been reading more about Taoism, especially passages from the Tao Te Ching. Maybe I’m just a cynical, bitter, and awful person in general, but some of the things I’ve read kind of make me want to strangle somebody.
There seems to be a certain naïveté inherent in Taoism. Of course, I understand that it’s an old religion, and I assume that life was a lot simpler two thousand years ago. I doubt the early Taoists had to worry about the same things we do, like terrorists blowing up our airplanes or collections companies making harassing phone calls if we run up too much credit card debt.
Still, some things in Taoism still strike me as just plain off, no matter what millennium we’re living in. In particular, the Taoist emphasis on innocence has been bothering me.
Taoism repeatedly suggests that we should strive to be like small children, because, as author Deng Ming-Dao puts it, “The young are pure, innocent, tender.”
Seriously? Have you ever met a child? I have. With rare exceptions, most children are deceitful, cruel little monsters who use their cute faces (see photo below) to manipulate everyone and everything around them. I mean, really. I didn’t like children when I was a child, and they sure as hell haven’t improved over time. Insisting that children are excellent role models makes Taoists look not just naïve, but a little bit nuts.
Innocence, like that of children (yeah, right), is a major goal of Taoism. But I just don’t see how it’s a good thing, not even—especially not—the way Taoists explain it.
Deng Ming-Dao writes, “Innocence is to be absolutely clean, without the taint of selfishness. Innocence knows no ulterior motives, no lust for immortality, no drive to be extraordinary.”
Just the act of typing those sentences made me cringe. I’m starting to think that Taoism is fundamentally opposed to every core belief I possess, even if I don’t have a religion of my own.
Who wouldn’t want to be immortal—not necessarily literally but at least by doing something great, something that will leave a mark and force people to remember you? Who wouldn’t want to be extraordinary? Isn’t becoming the perfect version of you and doing something worthwhile the whole point of living?
In general, the kind of people who are satisfied with mediocrity are the ones who hold up lines in grocery stores and make traffic run too slowly. They’re the ones who screw up life for those of us who actually have dreams and vision and goals.
And basically, Taoism says that those of us who want to be great people, who want to make the world a better place by doing amazing things, are wrong. I find that insulting and perhaps even immoral.
Taoism isn’t alone in saying that “innocence” is the way to enlightenment, either. Just look at Christianity, for example, with Jesus saying that we should strive to be like children.
Ugh! It’s a repellent idea, if you ask me. Maybe the problem is that, in my mind, innocence is the same thing as stupidity, and I want no part of it.
At this point, I’m just going to try to stay focused for the rest of the month. Taoism is making me crazy angry. I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to have to develop my very own religion after this year is over.
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