The Ideal Sage

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Taoism is a religion originating in China from the 6th century BCE. In Taoism the ideal person is known as the sage and is also the ideal ruler. The ideal sage is supposed to rule by Te (ruler rules without having to assert themselves, but be of good virtue). This idea of ruling points towards the passiveness of Taoism. This notion of passiveness is evident in passages throughout the Tao Te Ching. In ruling by passiveness the sage merely leads by example and, according to Taoism, society will follow. This complete passiveness in and ideal Taoist state I do not agree with. I have been taught all my life to make my own decisions and too not simply be a follower and therefore I would never live in such a state. In leading by example the ideal Taoist sage is in accordance with “The Way”. In Taoism “The Way” is a sort of guideline or natural process for the sage to follow in ruling. It’s rather hard to give a straightforward definition of “The Way” because it means many things and also because Taoism does not like language. This dislike of language stems from the belief that it cuts reality and cannot totally convey the experience of the thing being named. (Salgado) In the natural process of “The Way” the ideal sage ruler is compared to a gourd or water. The gourd is empty inside but this emptiness is full of potential. Water takes no action; it merely flows with gravity and conforms to whatever environment it is in. In doing this water makes no intentional actions therefore is completely natural, yet still can be immensely powerful. The idea of water can nearly be translated to the term Chinese wei-wu-wei. (Salgado) In this naturalness the sage is empty of desires is completely content and simply follows “The Way” because it is the way. This complete idleness and emptiness of the sage is exemplified in the following excerpt. “Hence the sage says, I take no action and
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