2006-01-05
Various Thoughts on Taoism
Thoughts on TAOISM
These are interpretations of what Taoism and relating concepts are from the following sites:
"Taoism has a unique way of perceiving and understanding reality and has several key principles. This includes how we behave, what our actions are, what our values are, and how we interact with life and the earth. All in all, Taoism's central principle is that all life is part of an inseperable whole which comes from an unexplainable source which seems to be the Tao itself that is based on the natural laws of the world. Taoism is a belief that restores us to a more balanced, harmonius, and satisfying way of life."
"Taoism encourages working with natural forces, not against them. Taoism teaches the path of wu-wei - the technique of mastering circumstances, not trying to control them. Teachers of the Tao often use examples of the bending reed or grass blowing in the wind to illustrate this important point. A Taoist would encourage an individual to work with their obstacles and problems instead of fighting adversity at every turn."
"Taoists believe that nature and the earth is constantly in flux. Simply, the only constant in the world is change. When individuals learn that growth and movement are natural and necessary, they can become balanced. Reality is perpetual change."
"Taoism is a Chinese philosophical and religious system, which is second only to Confucianism in the influence it exerted on Chinese culture. Taoism was founded by Laozi in the sixth century BC. His teachings were passed down orally before they were compiled in the third century BC in a book called the "Classic of the Way and Its Power"."
"Taoism is a uniquely Chinese philosophy/religion. It must be considered both since the two forms usually recognized have characteristics of both. Religious Taoism refers to the indigenous religion of China and is full of gods , heavens and other features with typically religious connotations. The Taoism which westerners usually think of is called Philosophical Taoism and is much more like a philosophical system."
"The Taoism has neither living rules nor faith confessions. It also lacks a systematic teaching, which makes it uncertain if you can call it a religion. It consists in the first place of studies about cosmos and all beings place in there."
"Taoism denies material greed and admonishes one to enjoy the pleasures of work, instead of any materials acquired. These aspects of Taoism make it difficult to accept in modern goal oriented society. However, there is a balance between being materialistic, and denying all possessions. There are ways to acquire "things" without placing so much value on them that we are losing our balance. A Taoist would not tell another where to place his personal balance, that is for each individual to decide for himself."
"Traditionally, Taoism has been attributed to three sources, the oldest being the legendary 'Yellow Emperor', but the most famous is Lao Tse's Tao Te Ching.
- Lao Tzu (old master) the teacher of Chuang Tzu
- Chuang Tzu a Chinese author of the classic book written around 4th or 3rd century BC
- Lao Tzu, a curator of the archives at the courts
- Lao Tzu met Confucius and confounded Confucius with the Taoist Teachings
- Lao Tzu wrote his treatise on Tao and its power, Tao Te Ching
- He left China"
"The prime apologist for philosophical taoism was Lao Tzu. It is not clear if Lao Tzu was an actual person or not. The name means Old Sage and may well be a name used to represent the collective writers of several Taoist texts. If he lived it was in the 5th century BCE. Lao Tzu is know for three major works on Taoism. The most famous by far is the Tao Teh Ching. Two of his other well know works are the Hua Hu Ching and Wen-Tzu."
"According to the legend, Lao-Tse wrote down the whole philosophy of the Taoism in the book Tao-Te-Ching, but this is probably written during different periods of time, by more than one writer. "Lao" does as a matter of fact just mean "old man", and "tse" is an honor symbol."
"Second among the Taoist Sages was Chuang Tzu. He is best know by the book which bears the same title as his name. This work was completed in the 4th century BCE."
Taoist Scriptures
Tao Te Ching , statements on the nature of Tao (the way ) written by Lao Tzu
"Tao Te Ching is pronounced Dow Deh Jing. It can be translated as "The Book of the Way"."
- Chuang Tzu , named after its author it includes:
Descriptions of "spirit Journey"
Practices of ecstatic religion
Taoist masters and disciples
Techniques of meditation
Breath control
Sexual activity
Gymnastics
Diets
"Tao (the Way) leads to complete fusion with the rhythm of the forces of nature."
"A more practical exposition of the principals of Taoism is the Art of War by Sun Tzu. In this work Sun Tzu applies the principles of Taoism to military science."
"Sun Tzu [circa 400-320 B.C.] was a native of the Ch`i State. The surname "Sun" was bestowed on Sun Tzu's grandfather by Duke Ching of Ch`i [547-490 B.C.]. Sun Tzu's father, Sun P`ing, rose to be a Minister of State in Ch`i, and Sun Tzu himself, whose style was Ch`ang-ch`ing, fled to Wu on account of a rebellion. He wrote the ART OF WAR in thirteen chapters for Ho Lu, King of Wu and he was subsequently made a general by the king. He led an army westwards, crushed the Ch`u state and entered Ying the capital. In the north, he kept Ch`i and Chin in awe. His descendant, Sun Pin, born about a hundred years after his famous ancestor's death, was also an outstanding military genius of his time.
The book itself, being the oldest formalized concepts and principles of (conventional) war and military strategy written about two millenia ago, is still applicable today, not only in military but in business management as well."
"- Sacred Texts restricted to priests alone for:
Communication with deities
To ward off demons
To learn esoteric secrets
To perform liturgies for burial
To chart spiritual maps
To check the lists or names of spirits
The use of any of these text by unauthorized is sacrilegious.
- Tao Tsang (storehouse of Tao), 1120 volumes which contains:
Teachings of Taoist sects
Teachings of other groups
Basic doctrines
Vows
Rituals
Magical rites
Hymns and Melodies
Cures and Incantations
Famous Taoists:
- T'ai-P'ing Ching (classic of the great peace)
- P'u Tzu (master embracing:
Simplicity
Confucian teachings
Alchemic elixirs for immortality
Special diets
Certain sexual activities"
"Taoist Concept:
Tao , (The Way) or the cosmic force behind all phenomena
- Wu-Wei , non action (non striving) an aspect of Tao
- Chiao , relativity another aspect of Tao
- Identity of opposites
- Fu , Return to the source
- Hua , Transformation"
"There are two main schools of Taoism: Tao-Chia, or philosophical Taoism, and Tao-Chiao, religious Taoism. Much of the canonical works and varied schools belong to Tao-chia."
Philosophical Taoism and Religious Taoism:
"Philosophical Taoism or Mystical Taoism:
A philosophy of life found in texts dating from the 6th to 3rd centuries BC, it is the spiritual goal of the educated few."
"Philosophical taoism can trace its roots to the I Ching, most commonly translated as the Book of Changes. Besides expounding the Taoist idea of a universe which is constantly changing, the I Ching was used a a source of divination of future events, or perhaps more accurately possible future events. The books was traditionally held to be written by King Wen and his son Duke Chou in 1150 BCE."
"Religious Taoism or Popular Taoism:
Is a highly organized system with ceremonials, temples, and hereditary priesthood it appeared on the 2nd century AD"
"The goal of Taoism is union with the Tao, this is accomplished via wu-wei - nonaction."
"Another important part of the Taoism is the teaching about Wu-Wei or the princip of non-acting. For someone that is only superficially looking at Wu-Wei, it may seem as a kind of indifference towards the world. But as a matter of fact it is just that you try not to think about what you do and only act naturally. This also means to avoid friction against others, and to allow greatest possible individual freedom. It also means to let go of the ego, because that is what is responsible for selfishness and disharmony. Problems are solved (literally), by letting go of the tensions and understanding the true nature of the problems, by i.e. "sleeping on it".
Wu-Wei must not be confused with apathy, which bases itself on that you have given up the hope. With Wu-Wei you try to end an acting based on desire (Compare to the "Middle Way" of Buddhism).
The ideal is that you don't think about what you do, but just act spontaneously and naturally."
"The doctrine of wu-wei is that of detachment from the world. One becomes an observer of one's own existence; this in turn enables one to overcome worldly desires and attachments. If one sees the universe as his home, one no longer needs material possesions. If one is immortal, one does not need religion. One who is a god need not seek status. Thus fear, hatred, jealousy, etc., are vanquished, and immortality is attained. This attainment has five levels:
Kaishen- spirits seeking a place
Renshen- humans who have overcome weakness
Daishen- humans who have achieved physical immortality
Shenxian- those who have reached the abode of the immortals
Tianxian- those who have attained heavenly immortality
The Tianshen are the equivalent of gods, and in this way many gods from other Asian traditions have been easily absorbed into Taoism."
"Central to Taoist practice is the control of chi, which brings one into alignment with the Tao. Mastery of Chi is attained through breathing techniques, special diet and exercise, moral behavior, sexual rituals,meditation, and alchemy."
"The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest and most respected works of Chinese philosophy, and influenced Eastern philosophy for millenia. The I Ching was composed more than three thousand years ago, by a student of Taoism, and has influenced a number of important philosophers of the East, including Lao Tse, Sun Tzu and Confucius, who reorganized it into its current form. Today, as in the past, it is often used as a divination device, similar to the tarot in its complexity. Confucius gives divination directions based on the following ideas:
Change has a limit, which produces two polarities; yin and yang. These polarities produce four forms, yin, yang, changing yin, and changing yang. A changing form is one which has neared its limit and is expected to change into its opposite. An illustration of this changing nature is seen in the yin yang symbol, wherein opposing polarities are pictured continually changing into one another. These forms in turn produce eight trigrams; these determine fortune. The eight trigrams are as follows:
Sky
Lake
Thunder
Fire
Earth
Mountain
Water
Wind
The 64 combinations of these basic symbols, and their respective interpretations, form the body of the Book of Changes. It is traditional to familiarize oneself with the entire book before using the oracle.
Each consultation of the I Ching is accomplished by selecting a pair of trigrams, forming a pair of hexagrams. Symbols are chosen by their relation to factors in the reading, such as personalities or events. They can also be determined via a random tossing of coins, or a slightly more complex divination using a set of yarrow sticks."
Yin and Yang:
"The teaching about Yin and Yang etc. is written down in the book I Ching, "the book of changes".
In Daoism, Yin and Yang are negative and positive principles of the universe. One cannot exist without the other, and they often represent opposites in relations to each other. As you have more and more Yang, eventually, Yin will appear and replace this increase. Similarly in the opposite direction, Yang will appear to replace the increase in Yin.
The Yin Yang symbol, circle with black and white sections, depicts this clearly. As you travel around the circle, white or black will increase, until the opposite color is almost gone, but never totally gone. The cycle then repeats for the opposite color.
The Yin-Yang symbol was used to express the cyclical pattern of nature: light follows dark, day follows night, Spring follows Winter. As you can see, there is a little dark spot in the light area, and a little light spot in the dark area. This signifies that each has the potentiality to turn into the other, because they really aren't two things but one thing."
"The most common graphic representation of Taoist theology is the circular Yin Yang figure. It represents the balance of opposites in the universe. When they are equally present, all is calm. When one is outweighed by the other, there is confusion and disarray."
"Yin and Yang often represent the following opposites...
Yin
Negative
Female
Dark
Evil
Earth
Yang
Positive
Male
Light
Good
Heaven
"Yin & Yang is not meant to represent good vs. evil, that is more of a western concept. How can one say, "light is evil compared to dark", when they are both just what they are? They are each fulfilling their nature."
"Pa Kua or the eight tri-grams are symbols for the effects of Yin and Yang. The broken line represents Yin, and the unbroken represents Yang. By putting these together in different ways you get different combinations. These can then be further divided to new combinations etc.."
"Another essential element of the Tao is the term P'u or the uncarved block. A person who exemplifies this characteristic is one who is simple and looks at the world without preconceptions. P'u is the student, always held in wonder by the world and its constant change."
Last word from: The-Mystic-Tao:
"Taoism is an awesome philosophy because you can intermingle it with many different religions. Christians include Taoist principles into their beliefs. When Indian Buddhism reached Southern China, a monk by the name of Bodhidarma introduced a new version of Buddhism called Chan/Zen. It is basically the combination of both Buddhism and Taoism. They seem to go hand to hand. To me, Taoism is a universal philosophy that anyone can benefit from."
meyamind at 1:43 a.m.
