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.