The Path to Enlightenment

Simply speaking, Tao is the Universal Truth that governs all things in the universe. It is also the origin of every creation in the world. Within us it is also our Conscience, or the inborn True Self of all sentient beings. Our Conscience is also the path that will direct us back to our homeland (Heaven). Although Tao is intangible, it exists everywhere throughout the entire universe. All sentient beings are potential Buddhas because they have this inborn Self.

The word "Tao" comes from the Chinese character shown at the right, which literally means the "Way" or path that is taken by all things in nature. Tao is also the "Mother of the Universe" because it is the cosmic power that creates and dominates everything in the universe. Tao is invisible and inexhaustible by both time and space.

Tao is present everywhere: when dwelled in Heaven, it is known as the Heavenly Truth. It creates, controls, and harmonizes the universe. When dwelled on Earth, it is known as wisdom, and it controls the growth and evolution of all things. When dwelled in Man, it is known as our Conscience, the Eternal Spirit within us that controls our six senses.

In the Doctrine of the Mean, there is a verse which says, "Nothing can be separated from the Tao. For if anything is separated from Tao, it cannot be sustained for long."

Tao is Truth. It is the only road in which each and every person should tread. Those who follow this path will be like a train traveling on rails; a ship on the water, a plane soaring in the air. If a train does not travel on rails, a ship does not move on water, and a plane does not travel in the air, then there will be disasters. Similarly, man must not have selfish aims but must act according to his Conscience (Tao) by following the natural behaviors such as being filial to our parents, trustworthy with our friends, and respectful to our elders.

Although Tao is the source of man's Conscience and our Original Nature can be characterized by child-like innocence, sincerity and truthfulness, our existence and experiences in this materialistic world are slowly making us lose the connection to our Conscience. With the philosophy that "only the fittest can survive," we become obsessed with materialistic gain and compete relentlessly with one another to achieve greater fame, wealth and power. In the midst of such competitions, undesirable traits such as selfishness, dishonesty, greediness and well as feelings of jealousy, hatred, anger, distrust, etc. begin to emerge. Some may be driven to commit crimes such as theft or even murder due to the inability to resist the lures of materialism. It is indeed very sad to find more people doing things against their Conscience and not being aware that by committing such sinful deeds, they are actually creating their own disasters.

Once the Truth of Tao is learned, man can die peacefully without regret. This demonstrates the tremendous value of Truth.

Confucius said, "if we do not yet know about life, how can we know about death?"

From "An Introduction to the Fundamental Philosophy of the Heavenly Way 1". ISBN: 957-687-072-0
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