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Principles of Taoism
By peace | May 22, 2008
Taoists have dedicated Lao Zi’s birthday, 15th day of the second lunar month, as a day to offer homage. All Taoist temples conduct prayers to mark respect to him and confer this day as the Taoist Day.
Loyalty and filial piety are important Taoist attributes. Devotees are told to ‘respect heaven, honour ancestors, and be compassionate to Man and all things under heaven’. It adheres to the principles of liberty, equality and peace. Personal cultivation in Taoism has two aspects to it: Inner and Outer. The inner stresses a state of truth to and authenticity within one’s self. The Outer requires one to be loyal, filial, benevolent and thrifty, all with the purpose of improving oneself and helping others.
Taoism teaches that the world, indeed the entire cosmos is finely tuned and balanced, and that the role of humanity is to maintain this balance. The Tao is the primal source of all unity and existence — The One. From this one come the twin forces of yin and yang, polar opposties that are locked in a struggle for supremacy, which can never be achieved because they each contain the seed of the other within them.
In Taoism, the Tao (the way) moves from being a descriptive term for the relentless cycle of the natural world to being the ultimate ‘divine’ force. The Tao is classically represented in Taoist temples by three statues. These statues of male figures represent the Tao as the Origin, the Tao as manifest in the human form of the sage Lao Zi and the Tao as Word , as found in the Tao Te Ching.
The two forces of yin and yang dominate all existence and from their dynamic, eternal struggle they produce the trinity of Heaven, Earth and Humanity. Heaven is yang while earth is yin and their interaction gives rise to the forces that animate all life. Humanity is the pivot upon which this all hinges.
Another important area of Taoist teaching is the possibility of achieving longevity and even immortality. Taoism teaches that immortality is about ensuring the physical body is transformed into an eternal body through rituals and even diet. The quest for immortality and the supernatural powers that this involves, has been a major facet of the mythology of China and manifests itself today in serious practitioners on sacred mountains and in the extravagant antics, such as flight, of certain figures in popular Chinese movies and stories. The quest for immortality takes many forms. For some it is the literal quest for certain food and substances which if eaten will transform the body. For others, it is daily meditational practices that encourage the growth of a spiritual body. For yet others it is a life of abstinence and devotion, undertaken as a hermit in the wild, by which the body becomes simply a part of the cosmic Tao and thus can never die.
The symbol of Taoism is called taiji, meaning the ‘Great Ultimate’. It represents the forces of yin(negative) and yang(positive), which embody the Tao. The dark portion represents the forces of yin, like earth, night, darkness, coldness, inwardness and femininity. The light portion represents the forces of yang, like heaven, day, brightness, heat, outwardness and masculinity.
The forces function in the form of the five basic elements: water, fire, wood, metal and earth. The movement and transformation of yin and yang are constant and spontaneous, producing cycles of changes. The merger of yin and yang into the Taiji is the perfect stage of Tao.
Topics: Religion, View All Post | 1 Comment »
December 9th, 2008 at 4:37 am
“The Tao is classically represented in Taoist temples by three statues. These statues of male figures represent the Tao as the Origin, the Tao as manifest in the human form of the sage Lao Zi and the Tao as Word , as found in the Tao Te Ching.”
This reminds me a lot of my World Religions professor’s explanation of the Christian concept of the Trinity in that God is Father (i.e. Source or Origin) and somehow he became manifest in the Holy Spirit and his word became flesh in the human form of Jesus Christ (if I understood him correctly). My question is are there any connections between the Taoish representations of the Tao mentioned in this article and the notion of the Trinity in Christianity? Was Christianity influenced by Taoism?