http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/beliefs/tao.shtml
Relating to the Tao -Not always easy to draw accurate distinctions between ideas that are fundamentally Taoist and ideas that Taoism took from elsewhere -Tao cannot be described in words -Human language can only give hints that may help to form an idea -Most important: how the Tao works in the world/how humans relate to it -Speculation as to what the Tao is is less important than living in sensitive response to it The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The Named is the mother of all things. ...... There was something undifferentiated and yet complete, Which existed before Heaven and Earth. Soundless and formless it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. I do not know its name; I call it Tao. ...... All things in the world come from being. And being comes from non-being. (form comes from formlessness)? -The Tao is not a thing or substance.....can only be observed -Gives rise to all being but does not have being itself -NOT a god -NOT an object...energy....a system of guidance -One can translate 'achieving union with the Tao' into 'developing oneself so as to live in complete conformity with the teachings of the Tao' which is easier to understand, and closer to the truth.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/history/history.shtml
-No founder, no founding date -Grew out of various religions/philosophies in ancient China -Zhang Daoling = first "Celestial Master" and founder of first organized Taoist school of thought "Early religious Taoism was rooted in the ideas of the Taoist thinkers, to which were added local religious rituals and beliefs, both to provide examples of Taoist philosophy, and integrate Taoism into the existing world views of all levels of the Chinese people." -First recognized as a religious system during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE -Publication of Tao Te Ching = unknown "Taoism became a semi-official Chinese religion during the Tang dynasty and continued during the Song dynasty. As Confucianism gained popularity Taoism gradually fell from favour, and changed from an official religion to a popular religious tradition." -After Communist Revolution, Taoism was banned, number of practicing Taoists fell by 99% in 10 years "After the end of the Cultural Revolution the Chinese government began to allow a small measure of religious freedom. Taoism began to revive in China, and Taoist temples and practitioners can now be found throughout the country." http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/ataglance/glance.shtml
-Taoism originated in ancient China -2000 years old -Unity and opposites, complementary forces -"Before the Communist revolution fifty years ago, Taoism was one of the strongest religions in China. After a campaign to destroy non-Communist religion, however, the numbers significantly reduced, and it has become difficult to assess the statistical popularity of Taoism in the world." -2001 census recorded 3,500 Taoists in England and Wales BBC's got some good summaries that get the basics down. Here are some more notes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/rites/rites.shtml Order and Harmony -Order and harmony in the many layers of the cosmos (aka, the world of nature) -Harmony between whole cosmos, human society, and inner world of individuals -Many practice meditation, instrument playing, dancing...etc -One major ritual = chiao (jiao), a rite of cosmic renewal... ritual to restore order to the universe/bring peace and prosperity -Balance flow of yin and yang for individuals and the wider community Theory:
-Ethics concerned less with doing good acts than becoming a good person who lives in harmony with all things and people -Taoist ethics and spirituality contain the same ideas -Take decisions in context of the Tao: what will fit best with the natural order of things? -Tend not to initiate action... Instead, one must wait for events to make action necessary and avoid letting your own desires and compulsions push you into doing things. -Always do what is required by events and their context, but never more than what is required. Personal Community & Ethics: -A person takes action by changing themselves, thus becoming an example of good to others. -One should develop themselves so they live in harmony with the universe. (Not do good things- be a good person) -Change yourself to make the world a better place. If a person behaves well and becomes better, the community will respond in the same way. In the Te Ching, the Taoist life is one in which one achieves self-fulfilment as one is selflessly benefiting the lives of others. Russell Kirkland I've been doing a crap ton of research on BBC and other news sites about some more general parts of Taoism. Over the next few days I will make a quick post addressing Taoist approach to more social and cultural aspects of life, among them practice, theory, personal and community ethics, women, politics, human nature, and anarchism.
For today, here are a few basic points on how to "practice" Taoism. It is, as I've already said, important to note that Taoists have no church or community. It is an individual and communal way of life all at once, but it is mostly about the way one perceives the world. Taoism recommends the same sort of moral behavior that most other religions express, disapproving of killing, stealing, lying, etc and promoting helpful and kindly behavior. By practicing good behavior, one is practicing Taoism. It is an essential part of not only self-improvement, but it is also an essential part of improving the world as a whole. To reference the Tao Te Ching (54): "Cultivate the Tao within oneself; and one's virtue will be perfected. Cultivate it within the household, and one's virtue will be abundant. Cultivate it within the neighborhood, and one's virtue will be enduring. Cultivate it within the nation, and one's virtue will be overflowing. Cultivate it within the entire world, and one's virtue will be universal." Have been having issues where all of my content is deleted when I publish my post.
![]() Here are some notes I took on "The Real Self," a short lecture by Alan Watts. My notes are slightly incoherent, but the video provides amazing insight and focuses on the balances of life at a greater level: the universe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUJtdqa1i68 (the added music is cheesy) NOTES: THE REAL SELF The Real Self we don’t need to remember anything….just as we do not need to know how to work our thyroid glands When you die, you are not going to have to put up with everlasting nonexistence because that is not an experience! (black and white, balance) Try and imagine what it would be like to go to sleep and never wake up (death)…...if you think long enough, you find out that it will pose another question: what was it like to wake up after never having gone to sleep? (birth) You can’t have an experience of nothing! You can’t have any one thing without the other! We all know that after people die, other people are born….and they’re all you! Only you can only experience it one at a time….everybody is “I” You are all of them You know that very well….only, you don’t have to remember the past, just as you don’t have to remember how to work your thyroid gland You don’t know how to shine the sun, you just do it...like you breath….you are all! this fantastically complex thing, and you’re doing all this and you never were told how to do it, you never learned, but you’re this miracle? CONTINUOUS ENERGy and if “I am my foot, I am the sun” but we have this view that I am only something IN this body...the ego… ego = focus of conscious attention……..scan environment….. if you identify yourself with your ego, you will be in perpetual anxiety when we cease to identify with the ego and come to realize how harmonious we are, you realize we are miracles….so what is discord in one level of your being is harmony at another higher level……..the discords in our life...for a greater level of harmony: the UNIVERSE higher level of the universe = healthy and harmonious everything that you are and do is, at that level, as magnificent and as free of any blemish as the patterns in waves, in the markings of marble And that this world is really okay….it can’t be anything else or else it wouldn't exist It is all process, it isn’t “stuff” Life is pattern…….a dance of energy everything is standing right out in the open, it just a course of how you look at it When you realize this, you find extraordinary things……..what you do is what the whole universe is doing……...you are something the whole universe is doing THE REAL YOU IS NOT A PUPPEt…...The real, deep down you…..is the whole universe “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them.”
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