Why Tao Religious Is Hard for Westerner to Understand

Why Watts thinks the Tao is hard for Westerner to Understand?

Watts described three basic philosophical ideas of Nature.

First, the western mechanical view of nature which God made a man out of clay and breathed the breath of life into him. Everything in nature was "made", as man was made of clay. So, in the West generally have a view toward nature, that all things in nature are make of something other than itself and that each has a reason for being.

The second philosophical viewpoint toward nature is because of the Hindu tradition. If you had full control over everything it would be lots of fun for a while but you soon became tired, lonely, and bored. I agree that if you would know absolutely everything that was going to happen, there would be no surprise or no fun.

The third viewpoint of nature is from the Chinese, who use the word Li to describe nature as organic pattern. When you look at the cloud, it is not a cube, or not a circular. It has no specific order to it that we can describe and yet it is perfect. I think everything have an order to it that we simply cannot measure or describe.

I think Tao is not something different from nature, bird, bees, trees, or ourselves. The Tao is the way all that behaves. Basic Chinese idea of the universe is that it is an organism. Everything is a system of interrelated components, all interdependent on the other. For example; like bees and flowers, you will not fine bees where there are no flowers. Therefore though they look very different, they are in fact inseparable. They arise mutually. There is no cause and effect as study in the west. Light and dark, tall and short, high and low, all are only experienced in the terms of their polar opposites.