This paper was presented in October 2001 for the ICSID (International Council of the Society of Industrial Design) held in Seoul, South Korea. The paper discusses Oullim, (meaning Harmony) the Tao and Design. I believe many of the observations described in this paper became the source for Lao Tzu’s own work. He put into verse a hidden series of forces he believed existed beyond form. Lao Tzu and others viewed these forces as representing an ultimate mystery, i.e. the Tao (Dao), the "Way" or the "Path" of Life. Lao Tzu realized that Life expressed its power in the form of a journey of events and experiences. He believed we could live in harmony with Life's impressions by observing and responding to these natural forces in a manner that brought balance to every situation. Through simple observation and symbolic interpretation Lao Tzu recognized that humanity was intimately connected and solely dependent upon sustaining a degree of balance with Nature to survive.
Lao Tzu was a designer. He viewed and interpreted his world symbolically. He learned from what he sensed, felt, and recognized though observation and experience. Lao Tzu was sensitive to the subtle nuances that found unique expression in Nature ... in addition to the many correspondences they created. It was upon these same impressions that Lao Tzu created a symbolic system of his own called the I Ching.
Lao Tsu was sensitive to the mysterious forces that appeared before his awareness. He realized that only through paradox, rhyme, symmetry, symbolism and metaphor would he be able to share with others what he personally felt and observed. Lao Tzu was aware of the Tao and became more and more sensitive to its’ forces by means of a design that linked his awareness to both the known and the unknown symbolically.
What is unique about the Tao is that it is not necessarily a rational philosophy, belief system, nor is it entirely ideological in nature, but rather the Tao symbolically presents a map suggesting how one might live gracefully and in harmony with Nature. The Tao is more about the art of living than creating a set of rules by which to live. The Tao doesn’t tell us how to live but rather encourages us to live in the present while remaining cognizant of the symbolic nature of a more expansive concept of the universe. The Tao asks us to become conscious of the many patterns expressed in Nature while simultaneously adjusting to its nurturing forces.
The Tao discloses how to live in harmony with Nature's creations. It implies that we each must find our own path as it relates to the unknown. We each contribute to the realization of Nature in our own special way. We give form to our consciousness through a creative process that corresponds to forces that appear to emerge from within our imagination. We share in the imaginings, observations and impressions that give relevance to what we perceive as consciousness ... only the contexts of time and space change. By design everything changes yet remains the same.
Edited: 12.06.2013
Oullim and the Tao of Design
Abstract: Thirty-five years of design practice, teaching and personal investigation into the phenomenon we’ve come to understand as design has led me to the Tao. Oullim: the “Great Harmony”, is an expression of the Tao and in my opinion instrumental in generating a greater understanding of the design function. In my opinion, design describes the act of creating and perceiving our world symbolically, which appears consistent and essential in both understanding and experiencing consciousness itself.
Design appears to be an expression of a unified awareness, a unified field if you will, that describes the expansiveness of the Tao. Design is consequential in humanity's perception of reality. Through design the qualities of yin and yang find expression in the concepts of meaning and purpose. Design gives meaning and purpose to a “conscious awareness” we experience every day. Together meaning and purpose create every situation necessary to experience, discover and perpetuate the ancient concept of Oullim.
My objective is to present design as an instrument of consciousness. It is my hope that this paper will encourage a revision in the interpretation, definition and understanding of design and its function.
1. Design Beginnings?
There are those who have argued that the origins of design began approximately two and a half million years ago when humanity first began creating tools. Yet the fact of the matter is design had already existed … only humanity had recently become aware of it. Besides finding expression in the many species of plants and animals that inhabited the planet, design also made itself “self-evident” in the geological formations of the earth and in the cyclical movements of the planets.
In retrospect humanity’s tool making ventures were in response to the patterns and forces that made a symbolic impression upon the consciousness of the perceiver. Though many of the elements that gave structure to the design paradigm have changed the fashion by which we respond to them fundamentally remains the same.
Humanity didn’t fully understand the universe in which they lived yet over time we gradually became aware that we too were active participants in a mysterious flow of Life. We/they responded to this realization by inquiring into Life’s patterns in the only fashion they could ... by means of their imagination. They strove to interpret and explain the world by attempting to comprehend the relationships between natural events in a fashion that made sense to them. They realized they could actively affect their world and in part their survival, by giving form to those imaginings sensitive to the forces of nature. They came to understand that their efforts met fruition when working in harmony with nature and not against it.
Images and ideas appeared before them in ways they couldn’t understand yet they continued to sensitize themselves to the signs, i.e. designs of nature that when successful, allowed them to survive and prosper. There was only one certainty ... change was apparently a major player and integral part of the greater mystery. In a sense they felt that they were being guided towards a greater intelligence/awareness by means of their imagination and its innate ability to bring the concept of design to Life.
A circumstance that could only be described as an intelligent affirmation of their own being made in conjunction and association with the world around them, led humanity to actively expand their horizons. This was an association that was initiated by the quickening of a new awareness brought about through symbolic means. Association triggers expansion, awareness and growth. Design perpetuates this atmosphere by expressing and displaying its associative qualities in a symbolic fashion. Design is the vehicle by which Life expresses itself. It does this symbolically. The imagination is the receiver and incubator in which design, i.e. symbols, are digested, created and transformed into action. Design is a vehicle and a facilitator that allows humanity to create the most intimate associations within the realms of both the seen and the unseen.
Design facilitates the situation necessary for creative ventures brought forth by the imagination. Design’s ability to affectively simulate our imagination nourishes a natural growth in awareness, i.e. consciousness, which in turn generates a greater knowing and understanding of oneself and the world. Design appears substantiated by means of the interplay between the unseen forces of the mind and the emotions. In this manner the universe symbolically guides us in our evolutionary journey.
2. Taoism – An Ageless Wisdom
The origin of Taoism is said to have extended back to 3000 BC. The first written material concerning the Tao was attributed to Lao Tzu and Chaung Tzu and first appeared near 500 BC. The Tao has been described as a philosophy and for some it has become a religion. The word Tao translates as the Way or Path, which includes the way we perceive the world, how we interact with Life, and how we perceive ourselves in relation to the world. The Tao’s central principle is that all Life is part of a unified whole or unity that originates from an unexplainable source which is the Tao. Taoism also states that all Life tends to move towards a balance or harmony, i.e. Oullim, because it is in its nature to do so while operating according to a set of unchanging and natural laws. According to the Tao, the universe is considered a vast Oneness, i.e. unity, change is the only constant, and harmony is the only basic principle of existence. The Tao moves through the universe by flowing effortlessly according to its own principles as expressed in nature. The great sage Lao Tzu once said, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. ”
The Tao Te Ching is based upon the study of the natural order of things and how to work and interact with nature and not against it. Lao Tzu’s writings were focused upon a spiritual level of living and discouraged the need of trying to look for results. Lao Tzu encourages us to seek the clarity and the stillness of the mind and to be receptive and act upon the unseen influences surrounding us. Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu provide us with a direction on how to achieve a state of harmony and balance with the Tao. They describe each of us having the choice to either align ourselves with the Way or remain in ignorance and resist the natural order. The Tao has been described as a guide towards self-exploration, growth and transformation, which allows us to communicate deeply within ourselves and with the world around us.
The Tao does not describe a particular philosophy as such but rather comments upon the art of living. The Tao has often been nameless, formless and unpredictable and is so expansive that it cannot be understood merely by rational means alone. Taoist also believe that humanity is an integral part of this divine order and that all things have an active role in its expression.
Design facilitates the situation necessary for creative ventures brought forth by the imagination. Design’s ability to affectively simulate our imagination nourishes a natural growth in awareness, i.e. consciousness, which in turn generates a greater knowing and understanding of oneself and the world. Design appears substantiated by means of the interplay between the unseen forces of the mind and the emotions. In this manner the universe symbolically guides us in our evolutionary journey.
2. Taoism – An Ageless Wisdom
The origin of Taoism is said to have extended back to 3000 BC. The first written material concerning the Tao was attributed to Lao Tzu and Chaung Tzu and first appeared near 500 BC. The Tao has been described as a philosophy and for some it has become a religion. The word Tao translates as the Way or Path, which includes the way we perceive the world, how we interact with Life, and how we perceive ourselves in relation to the world. The Tao’s central principle is that all Life is part of a unified whole or unity that originates from an unexplainable source which is the Tao. Taoism also states that all Life tends to move towards a balance or harmony, i.e. Oullim, because it is in its nature to do so while operating according to a set of unchanging and natural laws. According to the Tao, the universe is considered a vast Oneness, i.e. unity, change is the only constant, and harmony is the only basic principle of existence. The Tao moves through the universe by flowing effortlessly according to its own principles as expressed in nature. The great sage Lao Tzu once said, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. ”
The Tao Te Ching is based upon the study of the natural order of things and how to work and interact with nature and not against it. Lao Tzu’s writings were focused upon a spiritual level of living and discouraged the need of trying to look for results. Lao Tzu encourages us to seek the clarity and the stillness of the mind and to be receptive and act upon the unseen influences surrounding us. Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu provide us with a direction on how to achieve a state of harmony and balance with the Tao. They describe each of us having the choice to either align ourselves with the Way or remain in ignorance and resist the natural order. The Tao has been described as a guide towards self-exploration, growth and transformation, which allows us to communicate deeply within ourselves and with the world around us.
The Tao does not describe a particular philosophy as such but rather comments upon the art of living. The Tao has often been nameless, formless and unpredictable and is so expansive that it cannot be understood merely by rational means alone. Taoist also believe that humanity is an integral part of this divine order and that all things have an active role in its expression.
It has already been demonstrated over the centuries that no one system devised by humanity can fully define or explain the intricacies surrounding Life. And rather than observing Life as a detached observer, as mandated by the scientific paradigm, the Tao encourages us to realize that Life is a path that must be entered and fully experienced to make any real sense out of it. Ironically however, Life cannot be fully understood by any one of us, because we are all an integral part and active participant in its creation and existence. Subsequently, Life makes it impossible for any one point of view, belief system or perception to become the sole proprietor of the truth.
3. Taoist Principles
The first principle of Taoism is that the universe and everything partaking in it, is part of an inseparable whole, a great Unity, a vast Oneness, with everything being interconnected. The Taoist philosophy is based upon observing nature, but unlike science, which observes nature as being separate from the observer, Taoism observes nature subjectively and includes both the observed and the observer as part of the whole.
Quantum physics has demonstrated that the observer is fundamental to the existence of the universe and that the universe is a dynamic web of interconnected and inseparable energy patterns. Known as the "Observer Effect", this discovery implies that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must first be observed. Observation cannot occur without the preexistence of some kind of consciousness doing the observing. The "Observer Effect" clearly implies that the physical universe is a direct result of what we would consider consciousness.
A second principle of Taoism is that there are always two basic distinctions in nature symbolized by the yin and the yang, or what could be more correctly considered as a dynamic balance between opposing elements. These twin concepts of yin and yang are peculiar to Chinese cosmology and are often symbolized as the two opposing elemental forces active in the universe. Yin exists in yang and yang also exists in yin. It is said that the principle of polarity can be found everywhere in the universe: above and below, heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible. It is this circumstance that allows for movement and therefore continual change with everything being relative and flexible.
3. Taoist Principles
The first principle of Taoism is that the universe and everything partaking in it, is part of an inseparable whole, a great Unity, a vast Oneness, with everything being interconnected. The Taoist philosophy is based upon observing nature, but unlike science, which observes nature as being separate from the observer, Taoism observes nature subjectively and includes both the observed and the observer as part of the whole.
Quantum physics has demonstrated that the observer is fundamental to the existence of the universe and that the universe is a dynamic web of interconnected and inseparable energy patterns. Known as the "Observer Effect", this discovery implies that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must first be observed. Observation cannot occur without the preexistence of some kind of consciousness doing the observing. The "Observer Effect" clearly implies that the physical universe is a direct result of what we would consider consciousness.
A second principle of Taoism is that there are always two basic distinctions in nature symbolized by the yin and the yang, or what could be more correctly considered as a dynamic balance between opposing elements. These twin concepts of yin and yang are peculiar to Chinese cosmology and are often symbolized as the two opposing elemental forces active in the universe. Yin exists in yang and yang also exists in yin. It is said that the principle of polarity can be found everywhere in the universe: above and below, heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible. It is this circumstance that allows for movement and therefore continual change with everything being relative and flexible.
Generally Yin is considered a feminine principle associated with earth, and a force that materializes things, completing, solidifying, organizing, the material aspect, conservative, passivity, dark, winter, absorbing, soft, cold, negative. Yang is considered a masculine principle associated with heaven, and a force that is active, initiating, moving, loosening, expanding, and changing what is already in existence, light, sun, summer, fiery, powerful.
There is no good or bad associated with the Tao when considering the laws of yin-yang, there is only the representation of opposite positions. The symbol for yin-yang shows a balance between opposites and portrays the fact that there is no masculine nature or feminine nature. Each is naturally contained in the other. Both powers are represented in one cycle and are held together in a rhythmic flow as two mutually interdependent parts of the whole.
Within the context of the second principle of the Tao there are five points to consider when reviewing the law governing Yin and Yang. One is that everything has two opposing aspects that struggle with and control each other. Secondly, that Yin and Yang also define each other and therefore cannot exist entirely without the other. Thirdly, each affords access to the other to nurture and nourish the other. Fourthly, each can transform and, in a sense become the other. And fifthly, there is a little of each in the other, which accounts for the ability of everything to be subdivided ad infinitum.
There is no good or bad associated with the Tao when considering the laws of yin-yang, there is only the representation of opposite positions. The symbol for yin-yang shows a balance between opposites and portrays the fact that there is no masculine nature or feminine nature. Each is naturally contained in the other. Both powers are represented in one cycle and are held together in a rhythmic flow as two mutually interdependent parts of the whole.
Within the context of the second principle of the Tao there are five points to consider when reviewing the law governing Yin and Yang. One is that everything has two opposing aspects that struggle with and control each other. Secondly, that Yin and Yang also define each other and therefore cannot exist entirely without the other. Thirdly, each affords access to the other to nurture and nourish the other. Fourthly, each can transform and, in a sense become the other. And fifthly, there is a little of each in the other, which accounts for the ability of everything to be subdivided ad infinitum.
4. Design Revisited
First we need to re-examine the definition of design where we discover that the origin of the word stems from the Latin meaning "to mark, mark out", or more specifically to "sign". Design’s primary definition has to do with the art of signing and in essence, the act of creating symbols. Further definitions describe the act of design as being expressions of purposeful planning, conceiving, drawing, mentally projecting, devising, modeling, etc. These are expressions of design, i.e. communicable events, which are themselves symbolic in character. Design encompasses and gives precedence to the process of symbolic interpretation by which we objectively and subjectively perceive and experience Life as it is presented to us. Design attempts to reveal the underlying meaning and purpose in support of the forms that accompany us in our personal Life journey.
4.1 Yang’s Purpose and Yin’s Meaning
When we begin to apply the Taoist classifications of yang to design it should be interpreted as being purposeful, primarily non-material in essence, infinite, active, that which brings about change, illuminating, and mental in character. Yin should be regarded as a force which appears more meaningful, concrete, solid, finite, conforming, stable, material in essence, that which exists after illumination, and is emotional in character. Together they allow for movement or change. In design, change is one of perspective and symbolic interpretation brought on by the mental and emotional qualities, i.e. characteristics, we attached to form.
First we need to re-examine the definition of design where we discover that the origin of the word stems from the Latin meaning "to mark, mark out", or more specifically to "sign". Design’s primary definition has to do with the art of signing and in essence, the act of creating symbols. Further definitions describe the act of design as being expressions of purposeful planning, conceiving, drawing, mentally projecting, devising, modeling, etc. These are expressions of design, i.e. communicable events, which are themselves symbolic in character. Design encompasses and gives precedence to the process of symbolic interpretation by which we objectively and subjectively perceive and experience Life as it is presented to us. Design attempts to reveal the underlying meaning and purpose in support of the forms that accompany us in our personal Life journey.
4.1 Yang’s Purpose and Yin’s Meaning
When we begin to apply the Taoist classifications of yang to design it should be interpreted as being purposeful, primarily non-material in essence, infinite, active, that which brings about change, illuminating, and mental in character. Yin should be regarded as a force which appears more meaningful, concrete, solid, finite, conforming, stable, material in essence, that which exists after illumination, and is emotional in character. Together they allow for movement or change. In design, change is one of perspective and symbolic interpretation brought on by the mental and emotional qualities, i.e. characteristics, we attached to form.
Opinions, beliefs, facts and reality change as the situations change in reference to earlier interpretations. It is here where we experience the forces of the seen and the unseen naturally brought into play as we participate in the flow of Life. Design’s symbolic nature and tendency to create relationships and associations, supports the Taoist view as we become aware and subject to the ebb and flow of the universe.
Everything is designed. Everything has a meaning. Everything has a purpose. Design is the vehicle by which consciousness can expand and bring meaning to its own awareness. Design is the means, i.e. process, by which consciousness can bring enlightenment to itself. Design is the servant and vehicle of the Tao.
Humanity is primarily mental in character and brings a purpose to Life. Humanity is also emotional in composition, which brings meaning to Life. These unseen energies have a tremendous impact on how we perceive reality. The Hindu term "Kama Manas" best describes the relationship between our thoughts and our emotions. Quite clearly, all thought has an emotional complement as does every emotion a thought supporting it. This duality is inherent, inescapable and fundamental to understanding design’s influence upon human consciousness and how we fit into a cosmic order in the universe, i.e. the Tao.
Everything is designed. Everything has a meaning. Everything has a purpose. Design is the vehicle by which consciousness can expand and bring meaning to its own awareness. Design is the means, i.e. process, by which consciousness can bring enlightenment to itself. Design is the servant and vehicle of the Tao.
Humanity is primarily mental in character and brings a purpose to Life. Humanity is also emotional in composition, which brings meaning to Life. These unseen energies have a tremendous impact on how we perceive reality. The Hindu term "Kama Manas" best describes the relationship between our thoughts and our emotions. Quite clearly, all thought has an emotional complement as does every emotion a thought supporting it. This duality is inherent, inescapable and fundamental to understanding design’s influence upon human consciousness and how we fit into a cosmic order in the universe, i.e. the Tao.
Meaning and purpose struggle with and sometimes control each other. Similarly, our mind struggles with our emotions in knowing the right thing to do can be in conflict with what we feel in our hearts. Likewise, meaning and purpose cannot exist without each other. Our mind cannot function without an emotional counterpart qualifying every thought. In addition, meaning and purpose give of each other to nourish each other. The mind feeds our emotions while our emotions willingly offer food for thought.
Over time we may begin to recognize this kinship as mind follows the flow of thought making its transition between the realities of meaning and purpose. Suddenly what was once meaningful has purpose and what had purpose is now meaningful. Through design meaning and purpose often become the other.
Over time we may begin to recognize this kinship as mind follows the flow of thought making its transition between the realities of meaning and purpose. Suddenly what was once meaningful has purpose and what had purpose is now meaningful. Through design meaning and purpose often become the other.
There is always a bit of meaning in purpose and purpose in meaning, which is a relationship demonstrated in each form. Meaning and purpose can be subdivided ad infinitum into every form that constitutes the universe. Meaning and purpose are powerful tools that can be used in the analysis and understanding of Design’s close relationship with the Tao.
5. Oullim: The Emerging Paradigm?
Oullim describes the cooperative energy that emerges from the source, i.e. the Tao. Taoism states that all Life’s forces tend to move towards Oullim, i.e. harmony, and that it is based upon the dynamic relationship created between yin and yang. Oullim is always adjusting to the shifting flow of the universe and describes the natural and spontaneous process of balancing, which is always changing.
Everything is always balancing within itself. Balancing is a process that attempts to restore harmony in every instant. Each change creates imbalance to bring about an awareness of yet a greater harmony. In design harmony brings about the balance between meaning and purpose thus creating all that can be humanly experienced consciously and subconsciously. Simultaneously, meaning and purpose nourish and support each other towards the realization of Oullim. This is the natural and harmonious action between our thoughts, our emotions and the Tao.
5. Oullim: The Emerging Paradigm?
Oullim describes the cooperative energy that emerges from the source, i.e. the Tao. Taoism states that all Life’s forces tend to move towards Oullim, i.e. harmony, and that it is based upon the dynamic relationship created between yin and yang. Oullim is always adjusting to the shifting flow of the universe and describes the natural and spontaneous process of balancing, which is always changing.
Everything is always balancing within itself. Balancing is a process that attempts to restore harmony in every instant. Each change creates imbalance to bring about an awareness of yet a greater harmony. In design harmony brings about the balance between meaning and purpose thus creating all that can be humanly experienced consciously and subconsciously. Simultaneously, meaning and purpose nourish and support each other towards the realization of Oullim. This is the natural and harmonious action between our thoughts, our emotions and the Tao.
Meaning and purpose are the active participants in an ever-present reciprocity towards greater and greater harmony. The relationship deepens awareness without confining understanding. The result is the development of an intuitive sense for being in the moment and making choices that allow us to integrate our own journey within the constraints of the Tao.
We are mental beings, and design is the symbol making process that represents thought. What each symbol means resonates to the frequency that that symbol will vibrate to in others. Forms, images, thoughts and emotions are not replications of experience, but symbolic representations – designs that bring meaning and purpose to the Tao and our relationship to it. The connective leaps between meaning and purpose illustrate the dynamics of design but are not design itself. Likewise, meaning and purpose are not the balance. Nor is the balance the Oneness of the Tao. Ironically, Oullum, cannot be found through our attempts to attain, explain or discover it. We only become entangled in the metaphoric tendency and limitations of language attempting to describe it.
Everything is contained within the nature of itself. When we respond to the moment, rather than contemplating upon a future response, movement becomes contained. Balance can then be experienced as a "centering stillness". In this manner a natural freedom can be discovered within the constraints of meaning and purpose. The result is a deeper sensitivity to the design in which we participate.
This is the same stillness of mind that Lao Tzu beckons us to experience. He urges us to seek clarity of mind, to be receptive, and to act upon the unseen influences that surround us - influences that appear before our consciousness symbolically by design. Oullum is brought into awareness when we bring fruition to the realization of its freedom, a freedom of imaginative expression experienced through the process of designing.
A paradigm is a set of rules that we choose for the purpose of experiencing "reality". Oullim will become the paradigm of the future when design becomes duly recognized as the primordial facilitator of a conscious universe.
References:
Capra, F., "The Tao of Physics", Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1976.
Cassirer, Ernst, "The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms", Yale University Press, New Haven, CN, 1957.
Chang, Amos Ih Tiao, "The Tao of Architecture", Princeton ,University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1956.
Cozzolino, William, "The Path", Raissa Research & Publishing, Washington State, raissa@tenforward.com
Davies, P., "God and the New Physics", Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, 1984.
Friedman, Ken. 1997. "Design Science and Design Education." In the Challenge of Complexity. Peter McGrorg, ed.
Helsinki:University of Art and Design Helsinki UIHA, 54-72.
Garant, C., "Design Must Take a Quantum Leap", IDSA Educators National Conference Proceedings, Los Angeles,
CA, 1990.
Garant, C., "The Design Archetype", EDRA Conference, Cincinnati, OH, 1993.
Garant, C., "Truth, Beauty, Harmony and Balance – The Condition of a Designed World", Paper, CSPA
Symposium on Architectural Practice and Fifth International and Interdisciplinary Forum of Built Form & Culture
Research, Cincinnati. OH, 1993.
Garant, C., "The Tao of Design", Humanics Publishing Group, Atlanta, GA., 1998.
Grigg, Ray, "The Tao of Being", Humanics Publishing Group. Atlanta, GA., 1989.
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CA, 1968.
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Kardish, Ted, "Taoism-Ageless Wisdom for a Modern World", http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/march98/
tao1.html
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1969.
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Ltd., 1993.
Mason, Bill, "Taoist Principles", http://www.taoism.net/articles/mason/principl.html
Ming-Dao, Deng, "Scholar Warrior, An Introduction to the Tao in Everyday Life", Harper San Francisco, CA, 1992.
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Progoff, Ira, "The Symbolic and the Real", McGraw-Hill Paperbacks, New York, NY, 1973.
The Lau Clinic, "Yin & Yang The Law of the Unity of Opposites", http://www.chinesemedicinesampler.com/
Oriental_Medicine_Intro/yinyang.html
Watson, Burton, "Complete Works of Chuang-Tzu", Columbia University Press, NY, 1968.
Watts, Alan, "Tao: The Watercourse Way", in collaboration with Al Chung-Liang, Huang, Pantheon Books, NY,
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Edited: 09.19.2016, 12.09.2016, 01.11.2017, 03.16.2018, 10.21.2019, 12.06.2019, 01.29.2020, 04.28.2025
We are mental beings, and design is the symbol making process that represents thought. What each symbol means resonates to the frequency that that symbol will vibrate to in others. Forms, images, thoughts and emotions are not replications of experience, but symbolic representations – designs that bring meaning and purpose to the Tao and our relationship to it. The connective leaps between meaning and purpose illustrate the dynamics of design but are not design itself. Likewise, meaning and purpose are not the balance. Nor is the balance the Oneness of the Tao. Ironically, Oullum, cannot be found through our attempts to attain, explain or discover it. We only become entangled in the metaphoric tendency and limitations of language attempting to describe it.
Everything is contained within the nature of itself. When we respond to the moment, rather than contemplating upon a future response, movement becomes contained. Balance can then be experienced as a "centering stillness". In this manner a natural freedom can be discovered within the constraints of meaning and purpose. The result is a deeper sensitivity to the design in which we participate.
This is the same stillness of mind that Lao Tzu beckons us to experience. He urges us to seek clarity of mind, to be receptive, and to act upon the unseen influences that surround us - influences that appear before our consciousness symbolically by design. Oullum is brought into awareness when we bring fruition to the realization of its freedom, a freedom of imaginative expression experienced through the process of designing.
A paradigm is a set of rules that we choose for the purpose of experiencing "reality". Oullim will become the paradigm of the future when design becomes duly recognized as the primordial facilitator of a conscious universe.
References:
Capra, F., "The Tao of Physics", Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1976.
Cassirer, Ernst, "The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms", Yale University Press, New Haven, CN, 1957.
Chang, Amos Ih Tiao, "The Tao of Architecture", Princeton ,University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1956.
Cozzolino, William, "The Path", Raissa Research & Publishing, Washington State, raissa@tenforward.com
Davies, P., "God and the New Physics", Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, 1984.
Friedman, Ken. 1997. "Design Science and Design Education." In the Challenge of Complexity. Peter McGrorg, ed.
Helsinki:University of Art and Design Helsinki UIHA, 54-72.
Garant, C., "Design Must Take a Quantum Leap", IDSA Educators National Conference Proceedings, Los Angeles,
CA, 1990.
Garant, C., "The Design Archetype", EDRA Conference, Cincinnati, OH, 1993.
Garant, C., "Truth, Beauty, Harmony and Balance – The Condition of a Designed World", Paper, CSPA
Symposium on Architectural Practice and Fifth International and Interdisciplinary Forum of Built Form & Culture
Research, Cincinnati. OH, 1993.
Garant, C., "The Tao of Design", Humanics Publishing Group, Atlanta, GA., 1998.
Grigg, Ray, "The Tao of Being", Humanics Publishing Group. Atlanta, GA., 1989.
Grigg, Ray. "The Tao of Zen", Charles Tuttle Co., 1994.
Hall, M.P., "Basic Values in Philosophy", Lecture #112, The Philosophical Research Society, Inc., Los Angeles,
CA, 1968.
Herbert, Nick, "Quantum Reality, Beyond the new Physics", Doubleday Dell Publishing, New York, NY, 1985.
Kardish, Ted, "Taoism-Ageless Wisdom for a Modern World", http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/march98/
tao1.html
Kaltermark, Max, "Lao Tzu and Taoism", trans. From the French by Roger Greaves, Stanford University Press, CA,
1969.
Kwok, Man-Ho, Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsey, "The Illustrated Tao Te Ching", Shaftesbury Dorset: Element Book
Ltd., 1993.
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