The Way as Lonely Road

The Way as a Lonely Road

In Daodejing, Laozi implies that walking in the Way is a lonely road: “Weak and weary, I seem to have nowhere to go.  The multitude all have more than enough.  I alone seem to be at a loss. … I alone differ from others, and value being nourished by mother” (Ch. 20).  While there is a proclivity in people to value what society places value on and much pressure while living in the world to conform to societal pressures, Laozi asserts that we need to walk a path that most of the world shuns to walk by.  Why must we walk a path which is a lonely road, in order to walk in the Way?  In history and in modern times, society has valued secular and worldly virtues, such as prestige, wealth, and beauty; people build their knowledge and wealth in order to manifest to others their superiority in education, class, and power.  Those in society who have more and flaunt their riches are respected and followed by other human beings.  Laozi asserts that we must value not what society values but those human values such as simplicity and humility to live a life which may not be what society exhorts us to live but a life which embraces the Way even if that path may be a lonely road.

        In a rare passage which describes Laozi’s inner turmoil and how he personally feels in society, Laozi asserts, “I alone differ from others, and value being nourished by mother” (Ch. 20).  He infers that he is different from others in that he values being nourished by mother, which implies that he respects what his mother gives him as opposed to what the world can give him.  In valuing “being nourished by mother,” he values simplicity and the humble roots that he comes from; being able to value what his parent, especially what his mother, can give him, implies not only a degree of filial piety but also the importance he places on what a weak member in society, a mother, can give him.  Laozi also implies that while he values being nourished by his mother, he is different from others, asserting that what other people value is not merely what their mother can provide them but all the virtues, qualities, and characteristics that they can gain from the world.  Laozi is simple and humble and does not value what the world values, and this makes him different.

         “The multitude are bright and merry; As if enjoying a grand festival; I alone am still and inactive, revealing no sign” (Ch. 20).  Laozi continues to compare himself to “the multitude,” representing society at large, those who seek after knowledge and are incredibly active and enjoy their lives “as if enjoying a grand festival”; he seems to compare himself to this active crowd by contrasting their activeness with his non-action.  “I alone am still and inactive, revealing no sign.”  Perhaps he defends this notion of non-activity because he is pointing out that society is active because they want to create abundance, because they are seeking after those things, such as wealth and power, which make them “bright and merry.”  In today’s world, it is impossible to be happy and enjoy your life “as if enjoying a grand festival” without an abundance in wealth and without social power which allows people to have social connection and the pleasures associated with being interconnected with others.  That the means to own material things, such as property, is also valued by society is implied in the text, as the multitude are merry “as if ascending a terrace in springtime.”  This ascension of a terrace implies the ability of people to either own property or have a place to live in which they can be jovial and merry. Because society is busy and active precisely because they are seeking after these means of abundance in the world, Laozi, being a sage, lives differently from this multitude, being “still and inactive, revealing no sign.”  There is almost a mystical mystery in this non-action, but the non-action comes not from pursuing worldly happiness and worldly desires but instead focusing on gaining spiritual wisdom which can be found in walking in the Way.