Beyond Morality

As Alan Watts stated in the previous post, the problem with trying to be moral, virtuous or sincere is that we tend to focus so much attention on an external standard that we lose sight of what we're actually trying to accomplish. When we encounter a circumstance, rather than going with the flow effortlessly, we have to pull out our rule book to determine precisely how we think we should behave. In essence, we try to exert the will of society and/or ourselves on the situation before us.

Now I will be the first to admit that most folks who've grown up in a society strongly influenced by one of the three Abrahamic religions -- Christianity, Islam & Judaism -- have a hard time wrapping their brains around the idea that people can behave in a positive and cooperative manner without moral precepts. The reason for this is that, under these belief systems, homo sapiens inherently are evil creatures and, if left to our own devices, will run amok around the countryside raping, pillaging and murdering anyone who happens to look at us cross-eyed.

This is the precise reason moral codes were established -- to safeguard society from the singular individuals who makeup said society. These moral codes -- transmitted by the almighty and refined by human beings -- have been put in place to save us from our bloodthirsty selves.

However, as has been explained on this blog many times, Taoists don't view the human race as inherently evil. Every being in the universe beholds the opposites of yin and yang. The aim of life is to maintain balance and harmony which means that neither goodness nor evil should predominate.

I can hear some people say, "That's all well and good, but if we lived in a society based on Taoist principles, wouldn't most people simply do what feels right to them at the expense of others in the community?"

And this is where the concept of wu wei comes in. People are vengeful, aggressive, possessive, lustful or greedy because they allow their egos to rule their roost. These traits are but examples of people trying exert their will on others. If people accepted the value of wu wei -- unforced action -- then the specter of ego would be vanquished and this long list of evils would be passe.

People would do what is natural for the circumstances without consciously thinking of what needs to be done. As Benjamin Hoff put it, we wouldn't spend our lives trying to force round pegs into square holes.