Discussion Facilitator: Tod Fiste. January, 11, 2020.
Adapted from The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff and Ernest H. Shepard.
We see a Chinese scroll painted in the classic manner, "The Vinegar Tasters," three men standing around a vat of vinegar. Each has dipped his finger into the vinegar and has tasted it. The expression on each man’s face shows his individual reaction. Since the painting is allegorical, we are to understand that these are no ordinary vinegar tasters, but are instead representatives of the “Three Teachings” of China, and that the vinegar they are sampling represents the Essence of Life. The three masters are Confucius, Buddha, and Lao-tse, author of the oldest existing book of Taoism. The first has a sour look on his face, the second wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling.
To Confucius life seemed rather sour. He believed that the present was out of step with the past, and that the government of man on earth was out of harmony with the Way of Heaven, the government of the universe. Therefore, he emphasized reverence for the Ancestors, as well as ancient rituals and ceremonies.
To Buddha, life on earth was bitter, filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering. In order to find peace, the Buddhist considered it necessary to transcend “the world of dust” and reach Nirvana, literally a state of “no wind.”
To Lao-tse, the harmony that naturally existed between heaven and earth from the very beginning could be found by anyone at any time, but not by following the rules of the Confucianists. According to Lao-tse, the more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance.[1]
[1] Hoff, Benjamin, and Ernest H. Shepard. The Tao of Pooh. Egmont, 2003.