My Tao - Ethics

My Tao is a practical philosophy. It deals primarily with physical and social forces, and how to use these to our advantage. It's about careful observation and decisive action. It's about deception and other ways to circumnavigate opponents. On the face of it, my Tao has no moral compass. However, on closer scrutiny the philosophy turns out to be deeply moral, admittedly for purely practical reasons.

The problem with immoral behavior is that it generates a lot of resistance and ill will, which is the very opposite of what we want to achieve. It's therefore taken as a given that the successful application of my Tao has to be anchored in a firm ethical base. We have to deal with our inner daemons. We have to resist the urge to be clever on other people's expense, because such behavior will land us in trouble. Sooner or later, Karma comes back with a vengeance.

Nor is my Tao a philosophy of opportunism. Positioning and opportunism is not the same thing. Positioning is about putting ourselves in a favorable position in the anticipation of a trend. Opportunism is about jumping onto any trend that might yield some short term benefit, with no care about any long term consequences. Everything is dealt with in the moment. There's no plan or vision in the opportunist mindset. My Tao, on the other hand is all about visions and long term planning.

To achieve lasting success, we must have a moral compass, and that compass is the golden rule. We do onto other what we want others to do onto us. We treat others as our equals. We're honest, and we do not patronize or demonize people. It is only when we are faced with enemies that we act defensively, and then always as a retaliatory measure.

We are honest, but not necessarily completely open about everything. I have no desire to know every little secret about others, and will therefore not burden others with such information myself. Nor do I have any desire for excessive generosity from others, so I don't go around giving away stuff. I certainly don't want anyone sacrificing themselves for me, and will not do this for others.

Good morals is based on a sense of equality. The moral thing to do when we come across people intent on subjugating us is to resit. The moral thing to do when encountering the wretched and unfortunate is to let them know that we see ourselves as no better or worse than them. We do not judge people by their lot, but we do of course shy away from those who appear dangerous or unreliable. This is because we hold ourselves, our nearest and our possessions dear. We don't take needless risks merely to avoid offending other people's feelings.

A moral life is based on love, which is an enthusiasm for all things and all people. Love is strength towards adversaries and support for those in need. It's an appreciation of value. It's love that motivates us to make the best of our situation and get the most of what we have. My Tao is merely a recipe for this. It tells of ways to make love flourish trough intelligent use of the abundances available in society and the universe as a whole.

By Severin Roesen - xAHuC38Haq_oRA at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, Link