Taoism : Religion And Religion

Tao Te Ching is one of the most well-known Chinese philosophical scripture believed to be penned between 6th and 4th Century BC and authored by Lao Tzu. It has been a bedrock for the ancient spiritual and religious tradition of Taoism. Tao Te Ching includes two books of poetic verses explaining principle aspects of Taoism such as the metaphysical concept of ‘Tao’ roughly translated as the Way or the path, the consequences of action and inaction, virtue and the juxtaposed behavior of nature. The first book discusses the manifestation of the Way and how it directs us in harmonizing with our own qualities, morals and virtue which eventually help us in harmonizing with the working of the nature. The second book deals with the difficulties of governing

Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion dating back to the sixth century. The basic foundation of Taoism is a life philosophy and method

I disagree, do not believe that a religious higher power does not have to be a conscious power. In the case of Taoism, you consider them to be a religion even though the Tao is not a conscious higher power. While religions do require some sort of higher power, I do not believe it needs to be a conscious one. On the contrary, the higher power just needs to be able to keep the followers of a religion on the right track in life so that they can live the right way. For instace, Taoists lead a life of inaction in order to life as the Tao. The higher power should also have some involvement in the creation of the world and the afterlife. In the case of Taoism, the Tao does both, it is the creator and it is also the barrier between heaven and earth.

In order to become a virtuous person an individual must become one with the Tao, an example of a good life is found in Chuang Tzu – Basic writings, “If you do good, stay away from fame. If you do evil, stay away from punishments. Follow the middle; go by what is constant, and you can stay in one piece, keep yourself alive, look after your parents, and live out your years.” (Section three, p46). In order to become one with the Tao and individual must understand the Way and example of the Way “…For this reason, whether you point to a little stalk or a great pillar, a leper or the beautiful Hsi-shih, things ribald and shady or things grotesque and strange, the Way makes them all into one.” (Section two, p. 36) The Way is having the ability to consider all things one. Looking at the creatures of the world without bias and treating everything and everyone as equal. In order to follow the Way one must gain enlightenment, to gain enlightenment one must heavy focus on meditation. Taoists believe that time is cyclical, not linear as many in the West believe, therefore time repeats itself, has no beginning and no end. Tao is considered to be the first cause of the universe, and is the force that

1a) Taoism originated with a man named Lao Tzu. A shadowy figure, born about 604 B. C. Before his retirement from society, he left five thousand characters titled Tao Te Ching, or The Way and Its Power. He didn't preach he didn't organize or promote, he wrote a few pages on request, rode off on a water buffalo, and that was it as far as he was concerned

Deity, there is thus perhaps no real Deity with the capital letter to be equated with the God of Western religion. We have seen that Heaven eventually becomes the term customarily used for the Supreme Ruler, but we now know that behind or beyond heaven, there are the workings of yang and yin which have their source in tao (Thompson, 6). There is nothing distinctively Chinese in the way whereby the forces of nature were personified or the heavenly bodies were believed to exercise a direct influence in human affairs, or the way in which otherwise inexplicable occurrences of disease and other misfortunes were attributed to malignant spirits. The deification of human beings characteristic of both family and folk religion is somewhat more exceptional, although not unique (Thompson, 7). The founder of Taoism is Lao Zi and Chuan Tze, the school advocates the doctrine that the Dao is the course, the principle, the substance, and the standard of all things, to which all of them must conform. Based on the Dao De Jing, Taoism promotes the belief that a person should live a simple life, not to strive for wealth, fame or power, which will only give one worries and trouble. The school favors the political principle of “achieving good government through

Taoism is a polytheist religion. Taoists believes that the universe is divided into human being and gods. The latter is further divided into gods and ghosts. Each kind of god has

Taoism was founded on the principles of Tao Te Ching written by Lao-Tzu a Chinese philosopher living in the 4th century BCE. It

The reason it is more commonly known as Taoism is because Tao means "the way". These three philosophies affected modern day and historic China in many ways on a massive level; because they all contributed something to China's history and what they believe today. Some people even have Daoism or Confucianism as their religion. Back in ancient days the people of China relied on the thoughts and teachings of these people to figure how they should live or what they should believe, but not only did this affect China it also affected; the whole world! These three thinkers built most of our laws and religions or even political views we have today.

The first aphorism in the Tao begins “Tao called Tao is not Tao/ Names can name no lasting name” (Lao Tzu, 1). This statement initially seems very confusing, but when carefully considered reveals a good description of the Tao. The principle often referred to as the Tao is nameless, ageless. It is outside reasoning, and transcends written and spoken word- so much so that even calling the Tao the name Tao corrupts it into something it is not. Who would follow a philosophy that cannot be named? What respectable person would believe in a force that is beyond description? The answer lies in the word “who”. Tao is not a philosophy for those who care about themselves and their reputations. The Tao is a belief best followed by the selfless and intuitive, a philosophy that connects all to a force greater than time and

a. The idea of yin yang is a Chinese philosophical thought used to clarify how inverse

The origins of Taoism has become an extremely hard task for scholars to assemble, due to the massive size in canon. However they have found a way to focus on the beginning of taoism through scriptures. Through Taoism they have found that taoist have taken to and responded more to, the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Ching is a book that uses both philosophical Taoism and religious Taoism. This book is considered the “fountainhead” of most Taoist scripture, paving the way for Taoist. The book allows Taoist to reflect on the “way” (Tao) [Dow] and “power”

The founder of Taoism was Laozi, whose family name was Li and given name was Er. He lived in the later years of the Spring and Autumn Period, and worked as an archivist in the Imperial Library of the Zhou’s court.

Cao Dai is a unique religion; it is a new religious movement founded in Vietnam. It mixes ideas from other religions. Dao Cao Dai is the third largest religion in Vietnam after Buddhism and Roman Catholicism. Cao Dai is a monotheistic religion. Cao means “high” and Dai means “palace”. It refers to the supreme palace, which is the kingdom of heaven.

According to tradition, at approximately the same time that Confucius was teaching his ideas, another aspect of Chinese religion—Taoism—was taking form. Lao-tzu, simply known as “the old man” in Chinese tradition, compiled the classic text, the Tao Te Ching, the Way and its Power. Although there are institutional forms of Taoism that emphasize longevity of an individual’s life, the Tao Te Ching remains the classic statement of Taoist ideals.