Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.The Lord instructs the righteous to destroy the wicked.
~ King James version ~
Tao never demands nor condones destruction.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~
Tao is not in the business of giving orders. While it is true that everything with a form eventually dies, life and death are nothing more than the two sides of the same coin -- ever moving one unto the other.
If the essence of Tao never dissipates, how can we say that anything is ever destroyed?
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
But in five element theory there are the creative and destructive cycles...do you choose to dismiss them from your Taoist perspective?
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ReplyDeleteI was going to raise the same point as Baroness.
ReplyDeleteChinese five element (or phase) theory talks about the way the five phases interact with each other. In general each combination is either creating or feeding the other or is created or fed by the previous phase. Also two phases can control or inhibit each other. These are all Yin/Yang relationships where all phases work together to keep each other in perfect Taoist balance.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a model that helps to explain certain combinations of symptoms that we explore in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Why an energy deficiency in the Spleen system (Earth) is causing someone to cough or have a runny nose (Lung is Metal and opens in the nose according to TCM theory) So Earth is not feeding/causing to grow/creating Lung energy enough causing a deficiency there too.
All this to say that naming the controlling cycle destructive and take this in the literal sense and therefore conclude that there is only breaking down without building up, is oversimplifying it in my view. Five element theroy is all about balance and yin and yang and therefore perfect taoistic.