Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around B. Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immortality, where the spirit of the body joins the universe after death.
While the author is traditionally believed to be the philosopher Lao Tzu, there is little evidence that Lao Tzu existed at all.
Rather, the Tao Te Ching is a gathering of earlier sayings from many authors. This book was given an origin with the philosopher Lao Tzu for cultural and political reasons. Lao Tzu is sometimes understood as the image of the Tao, or a god, and given legendary status.
The Tao or Dao is hard to define but is sometimes understood as the way of the universe. Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe, and the energy found in it. The Tao Te Ching and other Taoist books provide guides for behavior and spiritual ways of living in harmony with this energy. However, Taoists do not believe in this energy as a god. Rather, there are gods as part of the Taoist beliefs, often introduced from the various cultures found in the region known now as China.
These gods are part of the Tao, like all living things. Taoism has temples, monasteries, and priests who make offerings, meditate , and perform other rituals for their communities. One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or yin and yang. These ideas represent matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work together toward a universal whole. Yin and yang show that everything in the universe is connected and that nothing makes sense by itself.
Taoism became well-known in the eighth century C. In the following centuries, it existed alongside Buddhism and Confucianism another philosophical religion. However, during the Communist takeover in , Taoism, Confucianism, and other religions were banned. This caused a decline in the practice of Taoism in China. Many modern Taoists live in Taiwan, although recent reforms in China have increased the number of Chinese Taoists. To remain pure a person should avoid certain activities and foods.
Greed, lust, pride and dishonesty are examples of things that should be avoided. Meditation is important to many Taoists. Complex meditation rituals are practiced in various temples. A vital use of meditation is to create mental stillness and enhance mindfulness. This can give a person the mental space to know the Tao directly. Breath is the most easily perceived form of ch'i , and there are many Taoist breathing exercises. Taoist breathing exercises are called Qui Gong qigong.
The flow of life energy - ch'i - within the body can be enhanced, regulated and harmonised by various forms of exercise, meditation, and techniques such as acupuncture and moxibustion. Modern forms of Tai Chi are more likely to be secular exercises than Taoist practices. It can be the mother of all under heaven. Within the realm there are four great ones, and the king sits as one among them.
Men emulate earth; earth emulates heaven; heaven emulates the Dao; the Dao emulates spontaneity. The relation between man and Nature, or man and spontaneity, is a central issue for Daoism.
If a lord or king can preserve this the things of the world will of themselves be transformed. Transformed, should desire arise, I will press it down with the uncarved block of namelessness. The uncarved block of namelessness — surely then they shall be without desire. Without desire and thus still, so will all under heaven be spontaneously settled.
Weakness is the method of the Dao. The things of the world are born from being, and being is born of nothing. The Dao of Heaven is like the stretching of a bow: the high is brought down and the low is raised up; it takes from what has abundance and supplies what is wanting. The Dao of Heaven takes from what has abundance and supplies what is wanting, but the Dao of man is not thus.
It takes from what is wanting in order to supply what has abundance. Who can serve Heaven by means of abundance? Only one who possesses the Dao. Hence the sage acts but relies on nothing. His task accomplished, he does not take the credit: he does not wish to manifest his worth.
The ten thousand things bear Yin on their backs and embrace the Yang. They exhaust their qi in harmony. People detest being orphaned or widowed or unemployed, yet these are the terms kings and lords use to refer to themselves. One may detract from a thing and it is enhanced thereby, or enhance it and so detract from it. According to the Taoist creation theory which is similar to the Chinese Creation Theory : "In the beginning of the universe there was only material-force consisting of yin and yang.
This force moved and circulated, turning this way and that. As this movement gained speed, a mass of sediment was pushed together and, since there was no outlet for this, it consolidated to form the earth in the center of the universe How was the first man created? When the essence of yin and yang and the five agents are united, man's corporeal form is established. This is what the Buddhist call production by transformation. There are many such productions today, such as lice. According to the Taoist text Tso Chuan, written in the early Han era: "Heaven and earth gave rise to yin and yang, wind and rain and dark and light, and from these are born the Five Elements [Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth].
Out of man's use comes the Five Flavors [sour, salty, acrid, bitter, sweet], the Five Colors [green, yellow, scarlet, white, black] and the Five Modes [in music]. But when these are indulged to excess, confusion arises and in the end man loses sight of his original nature.
The key to keeping the universe going was harmony. Therefore in ruling, if one violates this order, there will be chaos, but if one follows it, all will be well governed. Many of the key concepts of Taoism are incorporated into the Taoist Creation Theory.
One of the most important is summed up in the following passage: "The creator of things is not among things. If we examine the Great Beginning of antiquity we find that man was born out of nonbeing to assume form in being. Having form, he is governed by things.
But he who can return to that form which he was born and become as though formless is called a "true man. In his explanation of the universe Lao-tzu wrote: There is a thing confusedly formed, Born before heaven and earth, Silent and void It stands alone and does not change Goes round and does not weary, It is capable of being the mother of the world. I know not its name So I style it "the way. Man models himself on earth, Earth on heaven, Heaven on the way, And the way on that which is naturally so.
Addressing the beginning of the universe, Taoist philosopher Kuo Hsiang wrote in A. There must be another thing, and so ad infinitum. We must understand that things are what they are spontaneously and not caused by something else.
When asked about the existence of God, Kuo Hsiang said, "But let us ask whether there is a Creator or not. If not, how can he create things? If there is he is capable of materializing all forms. Therefore, before we can talk about creation, we must understand the fact that all forms materialize by themselves.
Hence everything creates itself without the direction of any Creator. Since things create themselves, the are unconditioned. This is the norm of the universe. At Mao Mountain, Taoist monks gather each morning to read ancient texts and to write calligraphy next to trees and stones while visitors climb the stairs each day to pay respect to Lao-tzu.
Rather than stressing human salvation with the help of a transcendent beings as is often the case with Western religions, Taoism stresses that meaning and energy are found in all natural things and that reality unfolds with its own rhyme and reason impervious to human intervention. There's nothing that is not real and nothing that is insufficient. Hence, the blade of grass and the pillar, the leper and the ravishing beauty, the noble, the sniveling, the disingenuous, the strangein Tao they all move as one and the same.
Unlike Confucianism and traditional Western religions, which portrays nature as something evil or immortal which man has to overcome, Taoism encourages its followers to act in "harmony with the order of nature" and view life as a "series of transformations, procreation and re-creations.
In pursuit of naturalism some Taoists in the old days let their hair grow as long as possible, refused to talk and expressed themselves by whistling. Others took off their clothes and lay on the ground and drank large amounts of wine, in part to thumb their noses at Confucian manners and codes Some of China's greatest poets and artists tapped into this interpretation of Taoism. Taoism often argues against human action, saying it is better to do nothing and let nature take its course than do something that could have terrible, unforseen consequences.
By being lower than they. The things of the world burst out everywhere, and each returns to its own root. Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called returning to destiny; returning to destiny is called constant; knowing the constant is called enlightenment.
Not knowing the constant one acts blindly and ill-omened. Knowing the constant one can accommodate; accommodation leads to impartiality; impartiality leads to kingliness; kingliness leads to Heaven; Heaven leads to the Dao. With the Dao one may endure, and to the end of life one will not be in danger. All know that the weak conquers the strong and the soft conquers the hard. But none are able to act on this.
Thus the sage says: Who receives the derision of the state, is the lord of the state altars;, Who receives the misfortune of the state, is the king of all under heaven. Straight words seem to reverse themselves. No-thing penetrates where there is no space. Thus I know that in doing nothing there is advantage. The wordless teaching and the advantage of doing nothing. There are few in the world who understand them.
Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom, 2nd ed. Clay is fashioned to make a vessel; grasp the nothingness at the center to get the use of the vessel. Bore windows and doors to create a room; grasp the nothingness of the interior to get the use of the room. Thus that which is constitutes what is valuable, but that which is not constitutes what is of use. All deem the good to be good; it is bad.
It is thus that what is and what is not give birth to one another, what is difficult and what is easy complete one another, long and short complement one another, high and low incline towards one another, note and noise harmonize with one another, before and after follow one another. Hence the sage dwells in the midst of non-action wuwei and practices the teaching that has no words. Herein arise the things of the world, it does not turn from them;, What it gives birth to it does not possess; What it does it does not retain.
The achievements complete, it makes no claim to them. Because it makes no claim to them, They never leave it. When wisdom and insight emerged, then came the Great Artifice. When the six kinship classes fell out of harmony, then came filiality and parental kindness. When the state is darkened with chaos, then the loyal ministers appear. There is no calamity greater than not knowing what is sufficient; there is no fault greater than wishing to acquire.
Thus the sufficiency of knowing what is sufficient is eternal sufficiency.
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