Download Heraclitus - The Spiritual Naturalist Society

Spiritual Naturalists 002
TAOISM & HERACLITUS
Who was Heraclitus?
Heraclitus of Ephesus was a philosopher that lived in ancient Greece from about
535 BCE to 475 BCE. One main reason we are focusing on him is that his ideas
about Nature inspired later Stoic philosophy (which we will look at in more detail
in the future). Another reason is that Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic philosopher.
As such, some of his ideas and style differ from what many people think of when
they think of an ancient Greek philosopher. Heraclitus was called "The Obscure"
because many of his sayings were somewhat abstract and riddle-like, having
various interpretations. This is similar to many Eastern ways of expressing ideas
- especially the Koan (a story, question, or statement whose meaning cannot be
accessed by rational thinking, like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?").
The comparison with the East is not merely in means of expression, but also in
the content of Heraclitus' observations, which is similar to the observations of
Taoism.
What is Taoism?
Taoism (also sometimes written in English as "Daoism") is a name for numerous
philosophic and religious traditions, ideas, and practices. The Tao (or Dao)
literally translates as the "way" or "path" but the Tao has a more abstract
meaning in philosophy. The three jewels of the Tao are: compassion,
moderation, and humility. Taoism deals with Nature and living in harmony with it.
In so doing, it makes a number of observations about the world which parallel
Heraclitus' thoughts significantly. While Heraclitus inspired much of the
cosmology of Stoicism later, Taoism has included and inspired many ideas
throughout the East, and has had an effect on branches of Buddhism - the other
major philosophy we shall look at later alongside Stoicism. However, for now, the
comparable notions of Nature in East and West are easy to see in Heraclitus and
Taoism.
Now let's look at some of these overlapping concepts...
The Laws of Physics
It's easy today to take for granted the notion that the universe acts according to a
set of consistent laws, but this was something that at one time was significant to
recognize. In a world where events could seem chaotic and unpredictable,
human beings could often think things happened in a manner similar to the
behavior of entities (the sky was angry, etc). Recognizing that formal laws
dictated the unfolding of natural events was (and is) an important concept.
Heraclitus used the word Logos (literally, the word or reason) to mean an
account which governed everything. The concept of the Logos has an even
deeper and more profound connotation. It is this Logos which makes possible all
of the dynamic events of life and death, which brings all things about, and which
takes all things away. The Taoist philosopher Chuang-Tzu said, "The Great
(universe) gives me this form, this toil in manhood, this repose in old age, this
rest in death. And surely that which is such a kind arbiter of my life is the best
arbiter of my death." The Tao Te Jing says, "Humanity follows the Earth, the
Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows what is
natural." Thus, the essence of the concept is that all things are within the natural
order and operate through it. Heraclitus recognized the distinction between
'man's law' and 'God's law', which was more akin to recognizing this kind of
physics than the Christian association of that distinction today. In fact, modern
science would not be possible without a foundational assumption that the
universe was approachable rationally.
Polarity
One principle that seems to arise in the maelstrom of matter and energy, space
and time, is a sense of polarity running throughout the cosmos. Heraclitus
believed things were characterized by pairs of contrary properties, or opposites.
He believed all things came into being through the conflict of opposites, and the
sum of these opposites create the activity in the universe. The Taoists meanwhile
speak of the Yin and Yang to embody this concept. P'u is passivity and
perception without preconception or bias, as with an uncarved block. Opposite
this is the active moving principle.
Up and Down, Above and Below
Heraclitus believed the path "up and down" the scale of existence was one in the
same - this applies to the world at large (macrocosm) and also to the soul of
humans (microcosm). Astonishingly, the Taoists believe that man is a microcosm
for the universe. The body ties directly into the Chinese five elements. The five
organs correlate with the five elements, the five directions and the seasons. Akin
to the Hermetic maxim of "as above, so below", Taoism posits that man may gain
knowledge of the universe by understanding himself.
Flow & Change
Of course, it was Heraclitus who famously said that no man can step twice into
the same river, for it is not the same river, nor the same man. The later
neoplatonist philosopher Simplicius said that the philosophy of Heraclitus could
be summed up as "Panta rhei" (everything flows). Plato himself would summarize
Heraclitus on Nature as "everything changes and nothing remains still". The Tao
has also been described as the flow of the universe, or "the force behind the
natural order". This implies the notion of impermanence which becomes such an
important part of Buddhism. Later in 1212 CE, the Japanese writer Kamo no
Chōmei would write the short story, The Ten Foot Square Hut, which opens with
a line famous in Japanese literature and oddly similar to Heraclitus:
"Ceaselessly the river flows, and yet the water is never the same, while in the still
pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment..."
A Point of Divergence: On Justice and Action
As mentioned, Heraclitus described that all things come about through the
conflict or tension of opposites, or strife (more broadly conceived than the
connotation of 'strife' to us). Like the tension between the lyre and the string, this
is what allows for harmony to come about. This informed Heraclitus' approach to
the concept of Justice, which he saw as a harmony of tensions. Similarly, the
Taoists conceive of the Tao as the force that keeps the universe balanced
between Yin and Yang. However, while recognition of these aspects of reality are
nearly identical, there seems to be a divergence when it comes to how East and
West dealt with that reality (or, what two PREscriptives followed from the same
DEscriptive). In the case of the West, the recognition of tension and strife
between opposites seemed to elicit the prescription of condoning conflict. This
might have had an effect on Western notions of marketplace competition or
perhaps even warfare techniques. Meanwhile, the East seemed to take the
opposite lesson, instead opting for the Taoist notion of Wu Wei or 'effortless
action' or 'doing without doing'. By this approach we are to act, not in overt
clashing - like a line of marching soldiers in a row or a person standing hard
against the waves - but, rather, like a surfer who moves with the waves, or in the
case of the martial art of Judo - the martial artist uses the force of the attacker
against himself in smooth seemingly effortless motion. These are difficult things
to measure, but it is interesting to wonder what role these two different responses
to the reality of conflict in Nature played in the major cultural differences between
East and West.
Compare to Last Month's Topic of Complexity
Last month we spoke about the different aspects of the natural world, as
described in complex systems theory. For each of the topics described above, let
us consider how they relate to those things addressed by modern Complexity
science.