Taoism

Taoism

It is always present in you. You can use it anyway you want.

Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions

that originated in China. The other philosophy native to China is

Confucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same

time, around the sixth century B.C. China's third great religion,

Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of the

common era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life and

thought for nearly twenty-five hundred years. One dominate concept in

Taoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The

idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of these

religions and the culture of the Chinese people. Although not accepted

by our beliefs, its understanding helps build strength in our own

religion. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardized

between the religions. Each religion has a different way of applying

this concept to its beliefs. Ignorance of these beliefs is a sign of

weakness in the mind. To truly understand ones own religion, one must

also understand those concepts of the other religions of the world.

Hopefully this will be an enlightenment on the reincarnation concepts as

they apply to Taoism and Buddhism.

The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way. Tao is the

ultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed

and which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao is

sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. That

source is not a god or a supreme being as with Christians, for Taoism is

not monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead on

coming into harmony with tao. Tao is the essence of everything that is

right, and complications exist only because people choose to complicate

their own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen as

hindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when one rids himself of

all desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction,

the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the one's

life, the closer to tao one is presumed to have become. Eventually the

hope is to become immortal, to achieve tao, to have reached the deeper

life. This is the afterlife for a Taoist -- to be in harmony with the

universe.

To understand the relationship between life and the Taoism concept