Synthesis Paper 2.D

What is Philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Lao Tzu in the way he lays out the steps for the development of the sage?

Philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Lao Tzu in the way he lays out the steps for the development of the sage is that a person must know his self. Knowing the self is done through unlearning the prejudices learned through humanity and giving importance to insight.

According to Lao Tzu, to be able to become a sage, one must unlearn whatever knowledge he gained that was taught by humanity. This is a method that is to empty the self from the biases and expectations of humanity from the person. Emptying the self from all external factors helps him to be able to go back to the self and consult it as to what it really wants and needs. When one has successfully freed the self from the prejudices of man, he will now try to learn his self. Learning the self is going back to insight.

The going back to insight is knowing from within. It is trying to listen to what is in the self, the real self that is not influenced by the things of humanity. It is knowing what the self really is, knowing what it real needs, and what it really wants to be. Going back to insight is going back to the nature of the self, the natural self.

When one has known the nature of the self, one will understand better the necessities of the self. The person will realize the essential things that the natural self needs and he will only do the things that would satisfy those needs. The basic or important needs are those that would only help him survive his daily life. He will not aim for more because he knows that the other needs are non-essential and that they are what we called luxuries in life.  He would only do the things that will let him achieve the needs and wants of the natural self. Aside from that, he aims for nothing else.

Since the person knows what he wants and needs, he knows when and how to stop his self from aiming more. He knows how to control himself from attaching to other things in the material world. He reminds his self to only do the things that would let him acquire the needs. Other than that, he knows that it is beyond the nature of his self and of the Tao.

The Taoist sage does not aim for something bigger than the needs of the self. Aiming for more will lead him violating the natural way of his self which is according to the natural ways of the Tao. The sage does not desire to have luxuries in his life. He knows how to be contented of what he has.

Knowing what the self needs is knowing the things that is to be done. When one has a clear vision of what he ought to do, he will no longer aim for anything else because he knows what his self really wants.

To become a Taoist sage, one must know the self in order to know the things that he needs to do. When the person does not know his self, it will lead him to do anything that pops up in his mind. He will be more attached to the material world and aims everything on it as he is not certain to what his self really needs. He would aim to have everything as he tries to identify his self. When one has already realized his full self, then he would know his capacities and needs. In this way, the person’s corrupt ideas would be lessen and he would be distanced in committing lavish desires.  To become a Taoist sage, one must know the self to know that what it aims for and to be one with the Tao.