I came to the realization that I am a Taoist by default, or maybe by a process of elimination. You might say I am an Accidental Taoist. The “accident” occurred over the course of years spent traveling and living about Southeast Asia. After having spent a good fifty some years confined within the boundaries of North America I liberated myself and embarked upon an adventure. I had every intention of living as an American expatriate, living and traveling offshore in other countries but keeping my American ideals intact. That is, not allowing foreign cultural elements like language or customs to change me in any appreciable way. The very last thing on my mind was looking to embrace a different ideology or philosophy. But I couldn’t have predicted what a profound affect an entire region of the world, very different from what I had been accustomed, would have on me, either.
Throughout my travels, having experienced Thailand, Cambodia, Loas, Burma, and Vietnam first hand one memorable observation stands out. The people of all of these countries were, predominately and decidedly Buddhists. Their religious practices weren’t just confined to weekly rituals and the occasional religious holiday, like I was accustomed to back home in the U. S. Throughout the entire region, these folks lived their faith inextricably interwoven in the very fabric of their daily personal and professional lives.
Every neighborhood had its patron Buddhist temple and every major street corner sported a religious shrine of one sort or another. Whether on foot, in a car or riding a bus people would reverently acknowledge the religious object as they passed by. Each person would raise their clasped hands to their nose and forehead in a show of humility, reverence, and respect. What’s more, people would publicly and formally greet one another in the same manner whether they were at a bank, the police station, or in a grocery store. Children would especially show respect to their elders in the same way.
Furthermore, each morning in the pre-dawn mist you could hear the distant harmonic tones of chanting monks making their rounds. They would stop at the porch of each residence or place of business that had placed out offerings of food and drink for them. After solemnly taking the offerings, the monks, usually numbering in groups of two to five, would offer up their chants in return. For the people receiving such blessings, this morning ritual was thought to bring luck and good fortune to their homes or offices.
It was while in Phnom Penh, Cambodia that I came across this old dilapidated makeshift library for expats. I rummaged through the discarded books and came across one about ‘religions of the east.’ I halfheartedly thumbed through the pages, having had made peace with my religious Christian upbringing many years ago. It was sometime during my undergraduate years I grew tired of trying to reconcile my faith with the science that I was learning as a biochemistry major. In short, science won out and I relegated my “faith” to the occasional rituals of church and polite greetings with close friends and relatives during holiday gatherings.
I made it a point to stay clear of and avoid serious discussions about religion. But now, leafing through this book, I was becoming more interested in the chapters on Taoism. What I learned in that short encounter was that here was a set of principles which made complete sense. Most importantly, I found nothing at odds with it and my understanding of science and my relationship with the world at large.
After my travels abroad I returned to the States and felt compelled to re-read a book from my own collection. It is an anthology of gathered writings of Physics and Astronomy presenting a wonderful overview that spands the history of, and highlights the major discoveries and developments within, these respective fields. My oldest son had given it to me for my 47th birthday. Although he could not have known then, I have grown to regard it as one of the most cherished among my possessions.
Upon re-aquainting myself with its contents the book left me more awe-struct than ever before. In all of the readings, from front cover to back, I re-affirmed what I had suspected earlier, finding nothing that would contradict the Taoists teachings I had unwittingly stumbled upon. In fact, everything seemed to fit frightrfully well, each reinforcing and validating the other!