Throughout history, Taoism has been one of the mos Essay Example For Students

Throughout history, Taoism has been one of the mos Essay t influentialreligions of Eastern culture. This is certainly one of the most uniqueof all religions. Many Taoists, in fact, do not even consider it areligion; and in many ways it is not. Taoists make no claim that theTao exists.1 That is what essentially separates Taoism from the rest ofthe world religions: there is no heated debate or battle over Taoistdoctrine; there have been no crusades to spread the religion. The veryessence of Taoism is quite the opposite. Taoisms uniqueness andopen-endedness have allowed the religion to flourish almost undisturbedand unchanged for over two thousand years. The founder of Taoism was a man named Lao Tzu, who lived around theyear 604 B.C.E. According to Chinese legend, Lao Tzu was an archivistin the imperial library at Lo Yang was known for his knowledge, althoughhe never taught.2 When Lao Tzu left his position at the library, hewent to the Chinese province of Chou. At the border, however, he wasstopped and forced to write down his teachings. During this time, hewrote the Tao Te Ching, the major scripture of Taoism.3After Lao Tzus death, a man named Yang Chu (440-366 B.C.E.) took uphis teachings.4 A naturalist and philosopher, Yang Chu believed highlyin self-regard and survival as the core of human nature and direction. His ideals were personal integrity and self-protection, and said that hewas unwilling to pluck one hair from his head even if all humanity wereto benefit from it.5The next influential Taoist philosopher was Chang Tzu, who lived from350-275 B.C.E. He defined existence using Lao Tzus teachings.6 Hewrote fifty-two books in response to the Tao Te Ching, thirty-three ofwhich still survive today.7 Using exaggeration and fantasy, heillustrated Lao Tzus teachings and how the Tao acted in nature. Histheories spoke of a cosmic unity which encompasses all reality andguides it naturally, without force, to its proper end.8The Yin and Yang theory became part of Taoist philosophy around 300B.C.E. when they were mentioned in the Hsi tzu, an appendix to the IChing.9 Yin and Yang are defined as the two forces in nature. They areoften called the two breaths or chi.10 Yin is the feminineprinciple, representing darkness, coolness, and dampness; Yang is themasculine principle, representing brightness, war mth, and dryness.11 Neither principle is good or bad; they are not opposites, but each isneeded to maintain stability in the universe.12 This belief holds thateverything is defined through opposition; consequently, the virtues ofbalance and understanding are highly valued.13Taoism became an official religion between 100 and 200 C.E.14 Due tocompetition from Buddhism, Taoists adopted many Buddhist beliefs. During this pivotal point in the religions history, searching forself-knowledge and wisdom were replaced by searching for solutions tosorrows and other physical problems.15 Alchemy and superstition becamehighly popular during this period of time, as Taoists tried to escapereality rather than to control the artificial and unnatural. ManyTaoists used magic and the concept of Tao to try to extend the physicallife rather than to focus on the afterlife.16 Gradually the religionbecomes more complicated, with a wide pantheon of gods and a rulinghierarchy.17The leader Chang Ling took the t itle Heavenly Teacher in 200 C.E. Hecreated a dynasty of high priests who manipulated Taoism to support asuperstitious doctrine of magic and mysticism.18 Seizing higher poweras a religious leader, he pioneered a merging of Taoism andZoroastrianism into a system called Five Bushels of Rice Taoism. Eventually this developed into a society based on Mazdaism, aZoroastrian sect, where every believer was charged five bushels ofrice.19 Although the believers followed the basic Zoroastrian worshipformat, they worshipped different gods: the Tao instead of Ahura-Mazda,and the various Chinese folk gods in place of the Persian Angels.20Three hundred years later, the philosopher Honen moved away fromMazdaism and combined Taoism with Buddhism. This simplified religion hecreated became known as the Pure Land School, or Amidaism. Gradually,however, Taoism again became tied to magic, and it failed as areligion.21 Today, only its original philosophies survive and there arevery few followers of Taoism , mostly found in Taiwan.22 AlthoughTaoisms religious practices deteriorated with advancing Westerninfluence, its philosophical aspects have outlasted those ofConfucianism and Zen Buddhism.23For centuries, Taoism has been known as the Way of Harmony.24 This isbecause Taoists believe that the Tao leads all nature toward a naturalbalance. The Tao, however, is not considered to be a deity or a ruler:it may reign but it does not rule.25 This is reflected in seven basicstatements.26 The first states that the Tao is nature. This means thatthe Tao is the way of everything, the movement of everything in nature,and all existence. The second statement is that the Tao is knowledge,meaning that the Tao is the utmost form of understanding and wisdom andthat to understand it means to understand all. The third statement saysthat the Tao is Goodness. This indicates that the Tao is the pathtoward virtue, and the highest virtue of these is conforming to theTao. The fourth statement is that the Tao is imminent. This means thatthe Tao is the source of all reality and that the Tao is inseparable. The fifth statement tells that the Tao is being, or the process ofbecoming, which characterizes reality. The sixth holds that the Tao isfelt in passiveness, not in activity. The final statement asserts thatthe Tao is individual and unique for every person. Therefore, no personcan truly know the Tao outside themselves. As the Tao Te Ching states:The ways that can be walked are not the eternal way. Nuclear Holocaust EssayTaoism is in itself a very difficult religion to define. Little isknown of its founder or its origins, and it has no clear doctrine ormethod of worship.45 The whole concept of Tao is extremely abstract andtherefore cannot be fully explained, only understood. The religion mayhold a completely different meaning for each personit may be a form ofphilosophy, religion, or magic.46 The religion has guided countlessindividuals through life and toward union with the Tao. As it hasinfluenced the past through its writings, Taoism may influence the worldfor generations more with its wisdom. Bibliography1.Bettencourt, Jerome: Comparative World Religions: Notes. Oxnard: Fall Semester 1994-95. 2.Durrell, Lawrence: A Smile in the Minds Eye. New York: UniverseBooks,1982. 3.Goetz, Philip (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Vol. 28. Taoism. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1991. 4.Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching. New York: Bantam Books, 1990. 5.Pastva, Loretta: Great Religions of the World. Winona, Minnesota:SaintMarys Press, 1986. 6.Smullyan, Raymond: The Tao Is Silent. San Francisco: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1977. 7.Watts, Alan: Tao: The Watercourse Way. New York: Pantheon Books,1975. Endnotes1 Alan Watts, Tao: The Watercourse Way (New York: Pantheon Books,1975), p. 5. 2 Jerome Bettencourt, Comparative World Religions: Notes (Oxnard: FallSemester 1994-95). 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Philip Goetz, Ed., Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th Edition, Vol. 28:Taoism (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1991), p. 39910 Ibid., p. 39811 Bettencourt. 12 Goetz, p. 398. 13 Bettencourt. 14 Ibid. 15 Loretta Pastva, Great Religions of the World (Winona, Minnesota:Saint Marys Press, 1986), p. 117. 16 Ibid. 17 Bettencourt. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Goetz, p. 40723 Bettencourt. 24 Ibid. 25 Alan Watts, Tao: The Watercourse Way (New York: Pantheon Books,1975), p. 51. 26 Bettencourt.727 Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers,1977), p. 59. 28 Watts, p. 51. 29 Bettencourt. 30 Ibid. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Lawrence Durrell, A Smile in the Minds Eye (New York: UniverseBooks, 1982), p. 18. 34 Pastva, p. 117. 35 Durrell, p. 19. 36 Pastva, p. 117. 37 Ibid. 38 Goetz, p. 399. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid. 41 Ibid., p. 404. 42 Ibid. 43 Pastva, p. 11544 Ibid. 45 Ibid. 46 Ibid.