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Short note on taoism
Short note on taoism
Essay on the tao teaching
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Taoism
The first chapter of Pursuing Happiness, editors of Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski. I stumble the first reading about a religious of Chinese and it was quiet interesting. The material was translated from the book of The Tao Te Ching by a translator name Stephen Mitchell. With the entire little stories got me thinking of how Taoism was relate with the stories was provide in the book and how effect with the Chinese cultural. The studies I choose be discuss about what is Taoism, a brief origin history, and the beliefs of the religion.
Taoism (or the Daoism) is a religious and philosophical tradition of the Chinese formed around 3rd or 4th centuries B.C.E. They indicate of living in harmony with nature, humanity and the divine emphasized. The Tao means “the way”, “the path” or “the way things are”, and can be found in other Chinese philosophies and religious. Everything about Taoism comes from The Tao Te Ching written by Laozi (or Lao Tzu) and father of Taoism. The book explains what to know about the Tao, how the Taoist disciple’s should follow the Tao, and which is his/her main
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All these text are relating to each other for observing the nature and the belief of humans innately been good. There is no “bad people” in the text of Taoist principles, only if people that are behaving badly. Given the proper education and understanding the guidance of how the universe is work, therefore anyone can be a “good person” just living in harmony in earth and each other. According the beliefs, the best way to live is accepting what life brings you. A person adapts the changes to life easy, then the person will be happy; if the person resists the changes, the person will become unhappy. The ultimate goal is to live in peace in the way of the Tao and to recognize everything that life happens should be accept as part of your eternal
After watching the documentary The Long Search: Taoism: A Question of Balance—China, I am totally surprised by the details in the video, which explain every single aspect of people’s daily life in Taiwan as religious, especially Taoist. Since China does not consider itself as a nation of religious beliefs and practices, I do not actually think of what Chinese people do everyday as religious. However, after studying Religions in China for a semester, I finally realize that all the Chinese traditions and beliefs have evolved as a mixture of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As a result, it all makes sense to see in the video that Taoism is a dominant religion that has deeply influenced individuals’ life in Taiwan.
Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence, many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. From philosophical ideas different beliefs sprung, and existence of different religions followed. Every theory raised by a philosopher attracted different followers. In today's modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their "way". One of these religions is the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of Taoism Lao-Tse was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted his society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching. Lao-Tse described Taoism as a path or a way which one must follow in order to reach inner serenity and peace. In order to reach these inner goals one must live in harmony with nature and natural process that creates the balance in the universe.
people were content and happy (Han Yu 111). Han Yu presents a background of China without Buddhism to compare how Buddhism destructed China and left it in ruins. This demonstrates his ambition to rid Buddhism in China, for he depicts how stable ...
Robinson, B.A. "History of Taoism." Taoism. March 21, 2002. http://religioustolerance.org/taoism.html Velasquez, Manuel. Philosophy: A Text With Readings. 8th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002.
In Benjamin Hoff’s the Tao of Pooh, he carefully explains through the story of Winnie the Pooh what it means to be a Taoist. The theme of the one’s own happiness appears multiple times throughout the book. Illustrated through Winnie the Pooh and his friends, but explained by Hoff, comes the Taoist idea that happiness can be reached by any person. The idea sounds simple and appealing, but Taoism claims that whether or not a person reaches happiness rests in one’s own power. Consequently, since one has power to reach happiness and bliss, one’s Self creates obstacles that can prevent the Self from accomplishing the goal of happiness such as knowledge and limitations.
realizes that she will not find one in the text after seeing the first sentence.
Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion, a religion of peace focused on universal balance. The religion itself, though generally surviving today, was almost entirely wiped out in ancient times. Taoism’s primary symbol is still visible on the global market in modern times, though it tends to carry somewhat different meanings then it necessarily did previously. An incredibly life-structure oriented religion, it has permeated through society and is more easily understood through analysis of Taoism’s historical origins and leaders, its types and beliefs, ethics, and the modern influences of Taoism on society.
This is important, for humans are urged by Taoist thought to place themselves below all else, especially the world, but also other people. The wise person will put another person's needs before their own.
Lao Tzu believed that Tao is a natural thing. He believes that you come by it or you realize its presents and experience it. The best way for me to explain how Lao Tzu perceives the Tao is to take it directly from our reading in Molloy, “The Doa cannot be named because it has no form. But the Dao can be experienced and followed by every individual thing that has a name (213).” Lao Tzu used Tao as a way of being and living in harmony with nature. Lao Tzu believed that Tao came to you by using his teaching of Wu Wei, Simplicity, Gentleness and Relativity (217-218).
In the book, The How of Happiness, author and researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky sets her book apart from other self-awareness books by being the first to utilize empirical studies. She uses data gained through scientific method to provide support for her hypothesis. This hypothesis consists mainly of the idea that we have the ability to overcome genetic predisposition and circumstantial barriers to happiness by how we think and what we do. She emphasizes that being happier benefits ourselves, our family and our community. “The How of Happiness is science, and the happiness-increasing strategies that [she] and other social psychologists have developed are its key supporting players” (3).
In its second sense, Tao means "the way of the universe." Tao is something that goes through all beings, all of the earth. It is everywhere, all the time. It is something that flows through everything. This flowing idea links with the idea in Buddhism that Nirvana can be reached by anyone, as long as one is devoted enough and has lost all attachments.Thirdly, one life must be a certain way to work with the Tao: Tao also refers to "the way of human life" as it "meshes" with the universal Tao in its second sense.
“The whole character of Chinese popular religion flows in the direction of plethora of rituals and obligations without much discernable doctrinal underpinning” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). The Chinese popular religion has gravitated away the gods of Buddha and Daoism and captured the philosophy of luck and materialism (Corduan, 2012), while it “is less concerned with philosophical issues and
Kaltenmark, Max. Lao Tzu and Taoism. Translated by Roger Greaves. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1969.
Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113). Therefore, since the two religions grew up together, there are similarities, such as their views on humans, attempting to find harmony in life and in nature, and serve as guides for their followers through self-cultivation and improvement techniques. Confucianism believes that their congregation should have human conduct over the idea of God in their lives, whereas Taoism is formed on the belief that its congregation should create a relationship with nature. This is pointed out by Smith in Experiencing the World’s Religions, “Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic; Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness; Confucius focus is on the human, Lao Tzu’s on what transcends the human” (Smith 218).
Lao-Tze founded Taoism around 550 BC. The goal in Taoism is achieve Inner harmony, pea...