Comparing Shintoism And Taoism

No matter what religion someone believes in, if they believe in any religion at all, most people can agree on the fact that we are not going to live forever here on earth, we are going to die. No one knows when they are going to or how it will happen, but dying is a part of life, the end of a life. However, even though most of us can agree that we will all die, we do not all agree on what happens after the fact. Shintoism and Taoism (Daoism) have two interesting ways of looking at death and the afterlife. Taoism, also referred to as Daoism, focuses on life. They believe that one needs to be in harmony with the world and with nature. They say that “heaven” is being in harmony with the universe. Heaven can be achieved whether one is dead or alive. Taoists believe much more in living in the moment, or the here and now, rather than focusing on what happens when someone dies (Life…Taoism).
Death is seen as part of the circle and reality of life. When dying, a person goes from yang to yin, which is another way of saying they go from being to non-being. Even though Taoists don’t always focus on what happens after death, they
In Shintoism, objects, energy, nature, and elements are what is sacred. Shintoism is all about humans and nature and the balance that is between them, which those who believe in Shintoism need to maintain throughout their lives the best they can. Another big thing in Shinto are kami. Kami are “nature spirits, spiritual presences, godlike beings, or all three” (Life…Shinto). Every kami has two sides to it, a gentle side and a rough side. What is understood in the Shinto religion is that there is a kami that dwells within each human. When someone dies, the kami keeps living. Also when someone dies, that person is a spirit-deity, which will join a group of ancestors (ancestral collective), which “is the manifestation of the great Divine”