The document discusses key concepts in Taoism, including:
- Tao or Dao refers to the natural order and flow of the universe. It cannot be defined but is experienced through living in harmony with nature.
- Yin and yang represent the complementary forces in nature - yin is feminine, passive, dark while yang is masculine, active, light. Balance between these is important.
- Laozi is considered the founder of philosophical Taoism. The Tao Te Ching, attributed to him, guides Taoist thought and living in harmony with natural energies like qi.
The document discusses key concepts in Taoism, including:
- Tao or Dao refers to the natural order and flow of the universe. It cannot be defined but is experienced through living in harmony with nature.
- Yin and yang represent the complementary forces in nature - yin is feminine, passive, dark while yang is masculine, active, light. Balance between these is important.
- Laozi is considered the founder of philosophical Taoism. The Tao Te Ching, attributed to him, guides Taoist thought and living in harmony with natural energies like qi.
The document discusses key concepts in Taoism, including:
- Tao or Dao refers to the natural order and flow of the universe. It cannot be defined but is experienced through living in harmony with nature.
- Yin and yang represent the complementary forces in nature - yin is feminine, passive, dark while yang is masculine, active, light. Balance between these is important.
- Laozi is considered the founder of philosophical Taoism. The Tao Te Ching, attributed to him, guides Taoist thought and living in harmony with natural energies like qi.
The document discusses key concepts in Taoism, including:
- Tao or Dao refers to the natural order and flow of the universe. It cannot be defined but is experienced through living in harmony with nature.
- Yin and yang represent the complementary forces in nature - yin is feminine, passive, dark while yang is masculine, active, light. Balance between these is important.
- Laozi is considered the founder of philosophical Taoism. The Tao Te Ching, attributed to him, guides Taoist thought and living in harmony with natural energies like qi.
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 12
THE WAY OF TAO
WHAT IS TAO OR DAO?
TAO OR DAO is the natural order of the universe, whose character, ones intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of east Asian philosophy, east Asian religions, or any other philosophy that aligns to this principle. This intuitive knowing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, It is known true actual living experience of one’s everyday being. It’s name, Tao or Dao came from Chinese, where it signifies the way, path, route , road or something more loosely doctrine, principle, or holistic belief. Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one’s being of aliveness. The Tao is “eternally nameless”(Tao Te Ching-32 Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before is descriptions of it. Tao lends its name to the tradition(Wade-Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Dao Jiao) and philosophical tradition(Wade-Giles, Tao Chia; Pinyin, Dao Jia)that are both reffered to in english with the single term “Taoism”. WAYS OF TEACHING
Taoism(also spelled Daoism) is a religion ad a philosophy from ancient
China that has influenced folk and national belief. Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500 B.C.E wrote the main, book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching. Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao, or the universe. Taoists believe in spiritual immorality, where the spirit of the body joins the universe after death. The Tao Te Ching, or “The way and Its Power,” is a collection of poetry and sayings from around the third and fourth centuries B.C.E that guides Taoist thought and actions. While the author is traditionally believed to be the philosopher Lao Tzu existed at all. Rather, the Tao Te Ching is a gathering of earlier sayings from many authors. This book was given an origin with the philosopher Lao Tzu for cultural and political reasons. Lao Tzu is sometimes understood as the image of the Tao, or a god, and given legendary status. The Tao(or Dao) is hard to define but is sometimes understood as the way of the universe. Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe, and the energy found in it. Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding everything in the universe. The Tao Te Ching and other Taoist books provide guides for behavior and spiritual ways of living in harmony with this energy. However, Taoists do not believe in this energy as a god. Rather, there are gods as part Taoist beliefs, often introduced from the various cultures found in the region known now as china. These gods are part of the Tao, like all living things. Taoism has temples, monasteries, and priests who make offering, meditate, and perform other rituals for their communities. Taoism became well-known in the eighth century C.E. as the religion of the tang dynasty. In the following centuries, it existed alongside Buddhism and Confucianism (another philosophical religion ).however ,during the communist take over in 1959,Taoism, Confucianism, and other religions were banned. This caused a decline in the practice of Taoism in china. Many modern Taoists line in Taiwan, although recent reforms in china have increased the number of Chinese Taoists. One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or Yin and Yang. These ideas represent matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work together toward a universal whole. Yin and Yang show that everything in the universe is connected and that nothing makes by itself. Laozi(Lao-tzu) ○ is the name of a legendary Daoist philosopher, the alternate title of the early Chinese text better known in the West as the Daodejing, and the moniker of a deity in the pantheon of organized “religious Daoism” that arose during the later Han dynasty (25- 220 C.E.). ○ Laozi is the pinyin romanization for the Chinese characters which mean “Old Master.” Laozi is also known as Lao Dan (“Old Dan”) in early Chinese sources (see Romanization systems for Chinese terms). ○The Zhuangzi (late 4th century B.C.E.) is the first text to use Laozi as a personal name and to identify Laozi and Lao Dan. YIN AND YANG
Yin, Chinese for “female” or “moon”, represents darkness, femininity,
passivity, and the earth. Yang “ sun” or “male” represents light, masculinity, activity, and the heavens. The balance of yin and yang were seen to influence health and order within and individual, society, and the entire universe. The yin and yang symbol represents the interconnectedness of the world, particularly the natural world. There be no positive without a negative, no open without closed, no light without shadow. The yin and yang itself portrays that interrelatedness. YANG YIN MALE FEMALE LIGHT DARK DAY NIGHT HOT COLD STRONG WEAK ADVANCING RETREATING SUMMER WINTER ACTIVE PASSIVE AWAKE ASLEEP LOUD QUIET SUN MOON ACTIVITY REST GOOD BAD FAST SLOW SKY ABOVE OR HEAVEN GROUND BELOW OR EARTH IN SOCIETY THE EMPEROR LOYAL SUBJECTS HEAD LEGS EXPANDING CONTRACTING MOVEMENT STILLNESS DOMINATING CREATIVE THE KNOWN THE UNKNOWN ACTIVE CALM CLEAN DIRTY SMOOTH ROUGH LARGE SMALL BOLD SUBTLE MASCULINE FEMININE STRAIGHT CURVY Click icon to add picture