Lao Tsu
My continued pursuit of Anna May Wong has led me to Lao Tsu. Lao Tsu was a legendary Chinese philosopher. His writings, collected in Tao Te Ching, form the basis of the Taoist religion followed by Anna May Wong. The more I learn of Ms. Wong the more I respect her and reading the work of Lao Tsu adds to my feeling for her. It will take at least my lifetime to understand Taoism but I want to make a start. I plan from time to time to cite a passage and openly grapple for understanding.
The first phrase I've selected is "Knowing others is wisdom, knowing the self is enlightenment." As I usually do, in trying to understand this phrase I started with the dictionary. According to it, the word "wisdom" refers to the power to discern what is true and right. Enlightenment, on the other hand, refers to shedding light on, imparting knowledge. After finding these definitions, I remained confused. Is enlightenment different from or better than wisdom? Is having knowledge different from imparting it?
Next I searched an encyclopedia. The first articles I found dealt with the European enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. In this context, enlightenment means the use of reason to understand the world. In another article I learned that Buddhism includes a concept of enlightenment consistent with my dictionary definition. After reading these articles, I think I have the beginning of understanding of Lao Tsu's words and how they might relate to Ms. Wong's life.
I think Lao Tsu prefers enlightenment to wisdom because wisdom suggests attempts to control the others we gain knowledge about while enlightenment is more personal, involves looking inward rather than to others. What little I have learned so far about taoism suggests that the management of our own minds is far more important than public application of our knowledge. That is, as Ms. Wong once stated, we need to ignore the bad, to think only good things and in that way others will become good, we will be surrounded by good. Seeking the good requires that we be fully good rather than that we seek overtly to change others.
It's difficult to believe that we can know what is good without trying to gain acceptance of others. But Ms. Wong lived her life in the belief that if she was good, she would eventually be surrounded by good. Therefore, she could move peacefully through the sea of bad behavior that surrounded her without losing heart. She was like a lighthouse that guides ships to shore. It is up to the ships to find the shore or not. The lighthouse doesn't force behavior on others.
I'll continue to work on these and other parts of taoism and Ms. Wong. If I have this wrong, I'll report it when I find out. In the meantime, I like the idea that the good is not only its own reward but it will eventually grow all around us. It's not exactly what I often urge, be a good example, but it's close enough that I can't quarrel with it.
5-3-04
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