"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Or so says William Shakespeare in As You Like It. And let's face it, he'd know. This is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a metaphor.
The word 'metaphor' comes from the Greek meaning 'transfer'. A metaphor transfers meaning from one subject to another. In the above metaphor, the meaning of 'stage' is transferred to that of 'world'.
If a thing cannot be explained directly, its essence may be invoked. No one can adequately describe love; but many have breathed its spirit into the hearts of their readers.
Again from Shakespeare, this time Romeo and Juliet:
'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid are far more fair than she.'
The sun, here, is a metaphor for Juliet. The metaphor continues, with the light of the sun washing out the moon, representing Rosaline -- the woman Romeo had loved until that moment. Whose heart does not bloom with what Romeo is feeling in this passage and, therefore, not know what the poet is trying to convey?
Taoism is replete with metaphor. In fact, it might even be said that without metaphor, no exposition on Taoism would even be possible. As with love, and leaning on the use of metaphor myself, Tao withers on the vine under the harsh midday sun of description.
(Okay, so I'll have a T-shirt printed that says 'I'm No Shakespeare' and wear it, but you get my point, I am sure.)
The named is the mother of myriad things. -- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1
The 'Mother' metaphor is a central theme of Taoism, especially in Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching. Tao gives rise to the myriad things. Referring to it as the Mother, a concept we are all familiar with, opens up a whole new area of understanding for us. Thus an important quality of Tao is eased into our everyday experience.
The world has a beginning
We regard it as the mother of the world
Having its mother
We can know her children.
-- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 52
We know intimately well that mothers give birth to children. We know too that they nourish and nurture those children. And since children come from their mother, to know the former is to know the latter.
'Water' is another common metaphor found in Taoism.
The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao.
-- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8
Oceans place themselves below the land, yet shape continents. Rivers wind their way along the lowliest routes, happy to allow the mountains to soar above them, content that they will always find the easiest way, nourishing the land as it goes.
It is very easy, thinking about Tao in those terms, to understand an essential part of its nature. So easy, in fact, we can clearly see how we might apply the very same principles to our own life.
And just as all the world is a stage, so Tao is . . . what?
The Ta Chuan (Great Treatise; 'Heart of the I Ching') says of Tao:
'The Kind man discovers it and calls it kind; the wise man discovers it and calls it wise.'
In his translation of the text, Richard Wilhem wrote of the above line:
"Tao reveals itself differently to each individual, according to his own nature. The man of deeds, for whom kindness and the love of his fellow man are supreme, discovers the Tao of cosmic events and calls it supreme kindness . . . The contemplative man, for whom calm wisdom is supreme, discovers the Tao of the universe and calls it supreme wisdom . . . The Tao of the universe is indeed kindness and wisdom; but essentially Tao is beyond kindness and wisdom."
In other words, Tao is, ultimately, beyond the definitions we make for it. We do, however, transfer to Tao, in the way of metaphors, that which resides in our hearts. So although Tao is no one thing, it is, at the same time, all things to all people. In such a way, Tao serves as a metaphor for itself and humanity.
Taoists see in it its generative, nurturing qualities and so we call it the Ancient Mother and us her children to whom she gave rise and sustains. It is those qualities which Taoists, while recognising and accepting that Tao also overcomes and destroys, value and attempt to cultivate.
A pataphor is a type of extended metaphor. Whereas a metaphor uses the qualities of one subject that it shares with another to create a new layer of understanding, a pataphor takes that artificial resonance and treats it as a new reality in which to explore ideas.
Taoism does a similar thing. By taking a series of self-created metaphors it creates its own reality upon which is based the Taoist's exploration of his or herself and the way of the universe.
Cultivating the self, and stripping oneself of the influence of our culture, education and life experience, thus returning to the state of the 'uncarved block', we may be able to change the metaphors which we bring to Tao, and in so doing, create a new pataphor. That is, construct a new reality to explore, further away from the one we inhabit now and closer, perhaps, to Tao.
'Tis a consummation, as someone once wrote, devoutly to be wished.
