Taoism
Taoism
Taoism is a religion as well as a philosophy that can be dated all the way back to around 500 B.C. It is one of the two dominant religions in China. Taoism is also termed “Daoism” in the more common language system, called Hanyu Pinyin, representing Chinese letters using Roman letters and is more commonly used amongst China and around the world.
Like the Christian faith, they too use a sacred book, Tao Te Ching written by the great Sage, Lao Tzu as a guidance. This text has been translated almost as much as the Christian Holy Bible it. It consists of 81 poems or chapters that are quite broad and vague and because of this, it can be interpreted and applied universally. It speaks of possible inner greatness but also the possible inner failure. The word “Tao” may be translated as the “Way”.
The goal of Taoism is to achieve Tao, to find “The Way”. Tao is the Ultimate Reality, a presence in which existed before the universe was formed and which continues to guide the work and everything in it. Tao is sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things.
One of the principles of Taoism is dynamic balance and is expressed with the Yinyang symbol. This concept has many meanings to a Taoist which include: “(1) yinyang as the coherent fabric of nature and mind, exhibited in all existence, (2) yinyang as jiao (interaction) between the waxing and waning of the cosmic and human realms, and (3) yinyang as a process of harmonization ensuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things.” Lao Tzu once wrote, “Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides”, respectfully. The notion of the relativity of all values and the identity of opposites is one found in Taoism. This symbol, which is highly used in the Taoist religion, represents life’s basic opposition in the universe such as female/male, light/dark, good/bad, and spring/winter. This does not mean that they necessarily oppose each other rather they complement and
Taoism is a religion as well as a philosophy that can be dated all the way back to around 500 B.C. It is one of the two dominant religions in China. Taoism is also termed “Daoism” in the more common language system, called Hanyu Pinyin, representing Chinese letters using Roman letters and is more commonly used amongst China and around the world.
Like the Christian faith, they too use a sacred book, Tao Te Ching written by the great Sage, Lao Tzu as a guidance. This text has been translated almost as much as the Christian Holy Bible it. It consists of 81 poems or chapters that are quite broad and vague and because of this, it can be interpreted and applied universally. It speaks of possible inner greatness but also the possible inner failure. The word “Tao” may be translated as the “Way”.
The goal of Taoism is to achieve Tao, to find “The Way”. Tao is the Ultimate Reality, a presence in which existed before the universe was formed and which continues to guide the work and everything in it. Tao is sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things.
One of the principles of Taoism is dynamic balance and is expressed with the Yinyang symbol. This concept has many meanings to a Taoist which include: “(1) yinyang as the coherent fabric of nature and mind, exhibited in all existence, (2) yinyang as jiao (interaction) between the waxing and waning of the cosmic and human realms, and (3) yinyang as a process of harmonization ensuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things.” Lao Tzu once wrote, “Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides”, respectfully. The notion of the relativity of all values and the identity of opposites is one found in Taoism. This symbol, which is highly used in the Taoist religion, represents life’s basic opposition in the universe such as female/male, light/dark, good/bad, and spring/winter. This does not mean that they necessarily oppose each other rather they complement and