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Recommended: Essay On Taoism
Taoism, also known as Daoism, is an ancient religion that originated in China. The main principles of this religion are that the Tao is a force that flows throughout everything and everyone. The main ambition that its followers want to accomplish is to become one with the Tao; those who become fully immersed by the Tao are known as sages (Robinson). Lao Tzu, the writer of Tao Te Ching, firmly urges readers to understand that humans, plants and anything else in the natural world function with the guidance of the Tao. In order to live a meaningful life, and after death have the ability to reincarnate, followers must adhere to the ways of life that are metaphorically described in this religious text.
Guidelines for Taoist followers to embrace
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In Chapter 76 he describes that both younger trees and younger people are always gentle. Although most people do not like the idea of being labeled as weak or gentle, Tzu argues that this is the best way to live throughout the person’s entire life. Young minds always have the ability to grow and learn. If done with a humble and gentle attitude, without boasting the amount knowledge accumulated, the person will remain like that aforementioned young tree. In contrast, older trees are on their way to dying, and look visually older and toughened. Although many individuals are tempted to carry out a tough demeanor, Tzu believes that the person will mirror the characteristics of an old, dying tree. He states “Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death” …show more content…
Tzu helps readers understand this idea by sharing an example in Chapter 16 of how plants go through generations in a recurring fashion. A plant starts out as a tiny root but as it grows, it becomes fuller and richer; eventually it produces beneficial foods (Tzu). Eventually the plant dies and shrivels up, but the life cycle is repeated with a new generation. The Taoists believe that life does not end when one dies; he or she continues to live their life. Especially, if the person had once lived like a sage, the same ways that Tzu’s text suggests, the person is instructed to not ever worry about death; it could still be something enjoyable (Personal Tao)! A final example that describes a rule sages should adhere to is demonstrated in Chapter 50, where Tzu notes that a true follower of Taoism would have no need to carry any weapons while approaching an enormous animal such as a tiger. Sages are invincible so he or she need not worry about having to fight an animal away, or even defend against another armed warrior. Any animal found in nature would never be any match for a well-equipped weaponless sage, because the person who has found Tao is the most powerful person of
Tao-te Ching (in English pronounced “dow deh jing”) is believed to be written by Lao-tzu (6th century B.C). However, it is not for certain that he wrote the book. Lao-tzu is translated as “Old Master”. He was born in the state of Ch’u in China. It’s been said that he worked in the court of the Chou dynasty. The day that he was leaving the court to start his own life, the keeper of the gate urged him to write his thoughts as a book. Lao-tzu’s work mostly illustrates Taoism –a religion founded by Chang Tao-ling A.D. 150. His main purpose in this piece is practicing peace, simplicity, naturalness, and humility. Lao-tzu believes that people are overloaded with temporal objects in this world. He recommends his readers to let go of everything and always keep the balance in anything. In my opinion, Lao-tzu would more likely dislike our government and the way that people live nowadays. The reason is because majority of the people are attached to secular things. To paraphrase the famous, people have materialistic characteristics in today’s world which is completely against Lao-tzu’s view.
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.
coldest winter to pass us by; many of my friends and I went out to hit
As one of the greatest founding novels of Taoism, Book of Chuang Tzu serves to strengthen Lao Tzu 's arguments in Tao Te Ching and lays the foundation for Taoism 's place in Chinese philosophy. Because Confucianism and Taoism are two competing philosophy schools that share more outstanding differences than similarities, the followers of both schools often refute and evaluate the ideals of the opposite school. However, the constant appearance of Confucius as the main character in more than twenty chapters in Book of Chuang Tzu not only surprises the readers, but also calls for deep analysis of the roles played Confucius in order to understand the true meaning of this ancient literature. While Chuang Tzu criticizes many of the Confucian ideas
Keep sharpening your knife, and it will blunt." A Taoist is not someone who is
The Art of War is a treatise written in Ancient China that discusses the most and least effective military strategies for successful warfare according to Sun Tzu, a military general whose existence is still debated to this day. While not every military commander in the history of warfare has read it, the strategies provided can be used as a way to assess said commanders and the effectiveness of their campaigns. In Sun Tzu 's own words, “The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!”1 This paper will discuss various iconic battles throughout history and how closely the leading commanders of each army followed the advice of Sun Tzu. Despite the fact that Sun Tzu lived hundreds of years before many of these battles took place, the
Taoism is the first major philosophical and religious tradition explored by Peter Marshall, in his book Nature's Web. Marshall calls Taoism "the way of nature," emphasizing that this is the ideal religion from the perspective of ecological sensibility. Passivity is a key element of Taoist thought, and is a repeated concept in the primary Taoist text, the Tao Te Ching. The concept of passivity stresses that the wise person will not attempt to cause change in his world, but will rather be receptive to and allow natural changes to happen, as is the way of nature. Other Taoist principles concerning government, society, life, and death branch off from this concept. Marshall considers this religion to be a necessary foundation for an ecologically sound world and way of life, which is why he makes it the foundation of his book. However, Marshall's views may not be entirely realistic when we consider the practicality of the philosophy to our modern ecological crisis.
What does it mean to be a leader? Leadership is a way in which a person can influences others to accomplish an objective. Leaders do this by applying their leadership qualities, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skill. Two really good leaders with their own way of thinking how a country should be ran. Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli both have the ability to run a good country. They have a lot of similarities but they also have a lot of differences that set them apart from each other. Our country needs someone who is loyal to the people and trusts them. A President is a leader and is someone who others will trust and rely on to make the right choices and decisions for his country. The American people should have a good relationship with the leader. I feel that Lao-Tzu would fit as a better President than Machiavelli because he puts his trust into the people and do what is best for them.
For instance, Lao Tzu, the philosopher who founded Taoism based on spiritual tenets of what death and afterlife are. Lao Tzu indicates that “Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides”. Lao Tzu uses thread metaphor for death and life; death and life are different sides of the line. Which means, death is not the end of the life but the beginning of the new life. He also believes that death is a law of natural, and human beings ought to accept and follow it instead of resisting it. People who want their body live forever are foolish. Dickinson’s poem could be observed from the perspective of Lao Tzu’s notion, which encourages people to accept death normally and peacefully. Emily Dickinson style in poetry, as she deals with spiritual ideas, seem to evoke philosophical principles as those proposed by Lao Tzu, despite their geographical or chronological distance. Emily Dickinson is an American writer who lived in 19the century, and Lao Tzu is an Eastern philosopher who lived in 500 B.C.; apparently, they do not have the opportunity communicate with each other, but they convey the same view on death through their literature. Although, both Lao Tzu and Dickinson think highly of spiritual life, they do not despise the physical life. The idea they may want to express is that only if human beings take advantages of the
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).
Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.
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.
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).
Unlike Rumi, Tao Te Ching isn’t self-centralized and instead broadens the view for everyone. Pojman gives an example in Philosophy of Religion where if you hear something and nobody else does, it causes confusion (pg. 52). When you speak of religion in one light and one lesson, it’s confusing in a sense that it isn’t relatable. Lao Tzu handles this by making his text a somewhat universal truth. Lao Tzu also has this showing as more of a life guide, on how to find peace within your religion and with your God, but also within yourself. He poses many questions (“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”, “When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?”, “My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasp their meaning?”) to make his audience question themselves and who they are. This insinuates that Taoism means finding a peace, or harmony, with the Tao by first finding harmony within yourself. Tolstoy reiterates that within his own text called, “A Confession” by writing that he eventually cut himself off from the church and found spirituality within himself and his God. Tolstoy makes a point that the meaning of life is trusting that God has a plan and a purpose for everyone. Meanwhile, a connection can be drawn with Tao Te Ching where everything has meaning because the Tao is everything that exists and simultaneously everything that doesn’t exist, according to Lao Tzu. Tzu also writes, “If you want to know me, look inside your heart,” and “The more you travel, the less you know [of the Tao]”, providing the argument that the Tao is imbedded into every atom, every cell, every human as well, and that is why you must make