Taoism Essay Research Paper title TaoismIt is

Taoism Essay, Research Paper

title: TaoismIt is always present in you. You can use it anyway you want. — Lao-tzu Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditionsthat originated in China. The other philosophy native to China isConfucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the sametime, around the sixth century B.C. China’s third great religion,Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of thecommon era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life andthought for nearly twenty-five hundred years. One dominate concept inTaoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. Theidea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of thesereligions and the culture of the Chinese people. Although not acceptedby our beliefs, its understanding helps build strength in our ownreligion. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardizedbetween the religions. Each religion has a different way of applyingthis concept to its beliefs. Ignorance of these beliefs is a sign ofweakness in the mind. To truly understand ones own religion, one mustalso understand those concepts of the other religions of the world. Hopefully this will be an enlightenment on the reincarnation concepts asthey apply to Taoism and Buddhism. The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way. Tao is theultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formedand which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao issometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. Thatsource is not a god or a supreme being as with Christians, for Taoism isnot monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead oncoming into harmony with tao. Tao is the essence of everything that isright, and complications exist only because people choose to complicatetheir own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen ashindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when one rids himself ofall desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction,the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the one’slife, the closer to tao one is presumed to have become. Eventually thehope is to become immortal, to achieve tao, to have reached the deeperlife. This is the afterlife for a Taoist — to be in harmony with theuniverse. To understand the relationship between life and the Taoism conceptof life and death, the origin of the word tao must be understood. TheChinese character for tao is a combination of two characters thatrepresent the words head and foot. The character for foot represents aperson’s direction or path. The character for head represents aconscious choice. The character for head also suggests a beginning, andfoot, an ending. Thus the character for tao also conveys the continuingcourse of the universe, the circle of heaven and earth. Finally, thecharacter for tao represents the Taoist notion that the eternal Tao isboth moving and unmoving. The head in the character means thebeginning, the source of all things, or Tao itself, which never moves orchanges; the foot is the movement on the path. Taoism upholds the belief in the survival of the spirit afterdeath. To have attained the human form must be always a source of joyfor the Taoist. It is truly a reason to rejoice because despitewhatever is lost, life always endures. Taoists believe birth is not abeginning and death is not an end. There is an existence withoutlimit. There is continuity without a starting point. Applyingreincarnation theory to Taoism is the belief that the soul never dies, aperson’s soul is eternal. It is possible to see death in contrast tolife; both are unreal and changing. One’s soul does not leave the worldinto the unknown, for it can never go away. Therefore there is no fearto come with death. In the writings of The Tao Te Ching, tao is described as havingexisted before heaven and earth. Tao is formless; it stands alonewithout change and reaches everywhere without harm. The Taoist is toldto use the light that is inside to revert to the natural clearness ofsight. By divesting oneself of all external distractions and desires,one can achieve tao. In ancient days, a Taoist that had transcendedbirth and death and achieved tao was said to have cut the Thread ofLife. The soul, or spirit, is Taoism does not die at death. The soulis not reborn, it migrates to another life. This process, the Taoistversion of reincarnation, is repeated until tao is achieved. The followers of the Buddha believe life goes on through arepitition of reincarnations or rebirths. The eternal hope for allfollowers of Buddha is that through reincarnation one comes back intosuccessively better lives until one achieves the goal of being free frompain and suffering and not having to come back again. This wheel ofrebirth, known as samsara, goes on forever or until one achievesNirvana. The Buddhist definition of Nirvana can be summerized as thehighest state of spiritual bliss, absolute immortality throughabsorption of the soul into itself, while preserving individuality. Birth is not the beginning and death is not the end. This cycle oflife has no beginning and can go on forever without an end. Theultimate goal for every Buddhist, Nirvana, represents totalenlightenment and liberation. Only through achieving this goal is oneliberated from the never ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Transmigration, the Buddhist cycle of birth, death, and rebirth