taoism
DESCRIPTION
Taoism. The Way to Do is to Be. Tao = Way. The way the universe works. The way of nature. The Tao is inexpressible. Lao Tzu. AKA Lao-tse, Lao-chun, “Old Master” Legendary founder of Taoism B. 604 BCE Author of Tao te Ching. Legends about Lao Tzu. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Taoism
The Way to Do is to Be
Tao = Way The way the universe works. The way of nature. The Tao is inexpressible.
Lao Tzu AKA Lao-tse, Lao-chun, “Old
Master” Legendary founder of Taoism B. 604 BCE Author of Tao te Ching
Legends about Lao Tzu Born 604 BCE following 82 years of
gestation. One of Confucius’s teachers In old age travelled West, was
stopped at the border.
Religious v. Philosophical Tao-chiao = religious Taoism Tao-chia = philosophical Taoism
They may be practiced separately or together.
Eastman deals mainly with Tao-chia In Tao-chiao, Lao-Tzu (as Lao-chun)
is the primary deity.
Taoism v. Confucianism Confucian asks “What should I do?”
Transform society first. Transformation of individuals will follow.
Taoist asks “What kind of person should I be?” Transform individuals first. Transformation of society will follow.
The Eternal All nature is united in tao Immortality CANNOT be achieved by
liberating the soul/spirit from nature. Immortality IS achieved by becoming
one with nature, controlling the forces of nature within one’s own body.
Taoist writings are hazy on reincarnation except to suggest that it happens.
On Reincarnation Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end.
There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, that is the Portal of God (Chuang Tzu 23).
Ch’i The vital energy which pervades
and enables all things. Breath Life spirit
Wu-wei Active in-activity Going with the flow of things, like
water over the rocks. “Act in such a way that your action
and the results of your actions are not noticable…” (Eastman, p. 222)
Yin Yang Represents balance The universe is an integrated
whole composed of 2 opposing, but complementary forces.
Yang = light side, masculine, strong like the sun
Yin = dark side, feminine, fertile like the ground
Chuang Tzu Contemporary of Mencius Continues, rounds-out the
teachings of Lau-Tzu Lessons presented more in story
format, much like the difference between Confucius’s writing and Mencius’s.
Suggestion for Study Like The Analects and The Book of
Mencius, take Tao te Ching and Chuang Tzu and go back and forth. Read the second, looking for the lessons from the first.
For example: Chuang Tzu: “…Where can I find a
man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.” (p. 240)
Tao te Ching: “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.” (p. 227)
Last Thought Taoism differs from Confuciansim
in that it asserts that nature acts with spontaneity, and that it is therefore necessary to cultivate naturalness and spontaneity.