Some Facts about Taoism
07 Sep '11 11:20Taoism is one of the three great paths of China, with Confucianism and Buddhism, that arose in India.
"Tao" or "Dao" includes a principle meaning of "way" or "path". It can also refer to walking that way, or "way-ing". It is intentionally vague, as is Taoism when it comes to defining what this "way" is, for the sages of Taoism arising in a very practical and less "heady" China were wary of verbal defining and simply referred to it as the "Great", the Mystery of Mysteries, or simply, the Way. Lao Tzu was the principal early sage who is connected to the major Taoist writing, the "Tao Te Ching". Chuang Tzu is another. There is some literary discourse on who or what group was "Lao Tsu". Legends litter ancient Chinese history.
Buddhism and Taoism found they had many understandings in common, underneath the different cultural expressions and behaved as "friends" towards each other. Some see Buddhism greatly influenced by Taoism in the arising of Zen Buddhism. The is much Taoist flavour in Zen.
It is believed that Taoism arose from an ancient shamanic tradition in China, continually refining itself. There is popular folk form of Taoism with a tradition of gods, immortals demons etc to which practices of Feng Shui attach. Taoism has an alchemical stream also and many of its writings use alchemical symbolism to hide and explain its mysteries, some quite evocative.
It is the philosophical expression of Taoism that is usually being referred to in philosophocal discussions (funny, that), and it is good to be clear about the different aspects of Taoism seen in China's long history, ranging from frank superstition to highly refined philosophy.
The most well known symbol of Taoism is the Tai Chi, with its Yang and Yin intertwining in a circle, often surrounded by trigrams with symbolic meanings from the ancient Chinese book of Change, the Yi Jing or I Ching. These different spellings arise from two different systems of pronouncing Chinese characters. Dao Jing and Yi Jing are from the more modern way of pronouncing.
In the Tao Chi, you will usually see a black dot in the opposite white or red part and vice versa. Taoism is not dualistic, despite the emphasis on Yin and Yang that represent all dualistic opposites. It is within the one circle. The smaller dots remind that from within any Yang there is arising also some Yin as the movements of life occur. And vice versa. The Yin and Yang are the ever changing flow of the Tao, present in all, sometimes active sometimes quiescent, sometimes full of light sometimes dark, but always maintaining balance and flow within itself.
To work against the Way, the Great, brings inevitable misfortune, which is itself not outside the Tao but is another way the Tao does its Way-ing abd bringing back to harmony.
Taoism is close to nature and uses much of natural process to illustrate the movement of the Tao and how to respond effectively and in a harmonious way to it, and with it.
I will post later some of the major themes found in Taoist philosophy.
"Tao" or "Dao" includes a principle meaning of "way" or "path". It can also refer to walking that way, or "way-ing". It is intentionally vague, as is Taoism when it comes to defining what this "way" is, for the sages of Taoism arising in a very practical and less "heady" China were wary of verbal defining and simply referred to it as the "Great", the Mystery of Mysteries, or simply, the Way. Lao Tzu was the principal early sage who is connected to the major Taoist writing, the "Tao Te Ching". Chuang Tzu is another. There is some literary discourse on who or what group was "Lao Tsu". Legends litter ancient Chinese history.
Buddhism and Taoism found they had many understandings in common, underneath the different cultural expressions and behaved as "friends" towards each other. Some see Buddhism greatly influenced by Taoism in the arising of Zen Buddhism. The is much Taoist flavour in Zen.
It is believed that Taoism arose from an ancient shamanic tradition in China, continually refining itself. There is popular folk form of Taoism with a tradition of gods, immortals demons etc to which practices of Feng Shui attach. Taoism has an alchemical stream also and many of its writings use alchemical symbolism to hide and explain its mysteries, some quite evocative.
It is the philosophical expression of Taoism that is usually being referred to in philosophocal discussions (funny, that), and it is good to be clear about the different aspects of Taoism seen in China's long history, ranging from frank superstition to highly refined philosophy.
The most well known symbol of Taoism is the Tai Chi, with its Yang and Yin intertwining in a circle, often surrounded by trigrams with symbolic meanings from the ancient Chinese book of Change, the Yi Jing or I Ching. These different spellings arise from two different systems of pronouncing Chinese characters. Dao Jing and Yi Jing are from the more modern way of pronouncing.
In the Tao Chi, you will usually see a black dot in the opposite white or red part and vice versa. Taoism is not dualistic, despite the emphasis on Yin and Yang that represent all dualistic opposites. It is within the one circle. The smaller dots remind that from within any Yang there is arising also some Yin as the movements of life occur. And vice versa. The Yin and Yang are the ever changing flow of the Tao, present in all, sometimes active sometimes quiescent, sometimes full of light sometimes dark, but always maintaining balance and flow within itself.
To work against the Way, the Great, brings inevitable misfortune, which is itself not outside the Tao but is another way the Tao does its Way-ing abd bringing back to harmony.
Taoism is close to nature and uses much of natural process to illustrate the movement of the Tao and how to respond effectively and in a harmonious way to it, and with it.
I will post later some of the major themes found in Taoist philosophy.
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