taoism

1255 Words3 Pages

History tells a story about a man named Laozi, who lived in the sixth century B.C. and his teachings are the basis for Taoism. This religion believes that we should put away our desires of ambition to seek harmony with the forces of nature.

Interestingly enough, Taoism is a very passive religion that strives for peace. One of the main symbols that are associated with this religion is the Ying Yang symbol. The yin represents the male, and the yang represents the female. If you look closely at this symbol, you will see that each side of the symbol has a little bit of the counterpart. Taoism is a religion that was founded over 2000 years ago. It is both a religion and a philosophy, based on the belief that they live a simple honest life with little intrusion from events in society.

They also believe that the way to live is based on the Tao. With the Tao, and the believe system they live with the personalities of calmness, passiveness and humility. Taoists do not agree with the likes of politics, administration, or elaborate rituals. Basically this means that they like to live in areas that have little or no surrounding rural area. Since Taoists do not like to live in society, there is no emphasizing on the status, intelligence, or possessions of the people. They try to govern with the least visibility and with a serving attitude. They chose to take few actions that involve the people and to treat other countries non-aggressively.

One holiday that is celebrated by Taoists is the Chinese New Year, and this is celebrated in February. This celebration can be described as our thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one, making it a celebration that will last for more than one day. The first full moon of the year wi...

... middle of paper ...

...rimordial energy at the beginning of the world. These gods developed as part of Taoism between the second and sixth centuries C.E. We will be giving examples of this type of god. This second type of Taoist deity and this type consist of human beings who, through learning, self-discipline, or some other means, have purified themselves of mortal imperfections and become gods.

The most important idea, and life to a Taoist is to find harmony with one’s soul. They believe that every person is in a state of disharmony due to violence, disorder, etc. The Tao is seen as the universal energetic intelligence that informs and directs all life. It is the Supreme Being or the ultimate truth and is beyond words or any theoretical understanding. “Accepting the mystery, believing in emptiness, having faith in mind, is entering the mystery, is walking in harmony with the Tao.”

Open Document