Five Beliefs That Make You Taoist

five beliefs that make you taoist if you're familiar with yin and yang wushu or the movie star wars then you're familiar with Taoism not only that but you might even be a Taoist the following is a list of five major Taoist tenants if you believe any of these then you may have been a Taoist all along a little background one of the primary texts Taoist based their beliefs on is the Dao de Jing a compilation of verses attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu who lived around 532 570 BCE for the purposes of this article I've used the translation of the Dao de Jing by Derek Lin you can find a complete version at Taoism net the Taoist religion boasts over 220 million practitioners all of these individuals come from different schools sects backgrounds dialects etc so beliefs and practices will certainly vary however these are some of the main principles that most died was believed one God is beyond comprehension Dallas don't believe that God is a person shaped entity in the sky in fact Dallas don't even believe God's nature can be comprehended at all in the daodejing chapter one mausi writes the dow that can be spoken is not the eternal doubt the name that can be named is not the eternal name the nameless is the origin of heaven and earth human beings are still pretty new to the universe we barely understand the complexities of our physical bodies let alone the precise nature of our Creator ascribing God human characteristics and human emotions is severely limiting the incomprehensible source of existence to good and evil our human perceptions Newton's third law states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction sounds like Newton had a copy of the Dao de Jing lying around Chapter two of the ancient text states when the world knows beauty as Beauty ugliness arises when it knows good is good evil arises thus being and non-being produced each other you can't have light without darkness good without evil beauty without arlena's wealth without poverty life without death what's more all of these aspects of existence are considered natural manifestations there is no supreme good or supreme evil negative or immoral actions are considered the result of imbalance in body mind or spirit three nature's laws are God's laws chapter 25 of the daodejing states humans follow the laws of earth earth follows the laws of heaven heaven follows the laws of down dow follows the laws of nature in Taoism God and nature are one in the same thus God's laws are the laws of nature living in harmony with the earth keeping your body healthy taking care of your family living a simple natural lifestyle these are the ways to cultivate contentment virtue and life chapter 44 explains fame or the south which is dearer the self or wealth which is greater gain or loss which is more painful thus excessive love must lead to great spending excessive hoarding must lead to heavy loss knowing contentment avoids disgrace knowing when to stop avoids danger thus one can endure indefinitely striving to conform to society acquire great wealth in living a lavish lifestyle all inevitably lead to suffering in Chapter three Lao Tzu says the sages empty their hearts fill their bellies weaken their ambitions and strengthen their bones let the people have no cunning and no greed so those who scheme will not dare to meddle act without contrivance and nothing will be beyond control for God doesn't need to punish us we punish ourselves in Chapter five we find that heaven and earth are impartial they regard myriad things as Straw Dogs hurting your fellow man hoarding wealth striving for Fame these are all unhealthy and subsequently unnatural actions they go against the natural flow of down and the laws of nature and can cause the individual suffering as a result in short God doesn't need to punish us because we create our own suffering this is illustrated in chapter 50 I've heard of those who are good at cultivating life traveling on the road they do not encounter rhinos or Tigers entering into an army they are not harmed by weapons rhinos have nowhere to thrust their horns Tigers have nowhere to clasp their claws soldiers have nowhere to lodge their blades why because they have no place for death this is about as good an explanation of karma as I've ever heard you reap what you sow either in this life or the next but that doesn't mean reincarnation is specifically a form of punishment in chapter 40 Lao Tzu writes the returning is the movement of the dao the week is the utilization of the doubt the myriad things of the world are born of being being is born of non-being everything happens in cycles including the cycle of death rebirth and reincarnation reincarnation is not the result of bad karma although your actions will certainly affect you in subsequent lifetimes but the fact of the matter is organic life-forms require souls to animate their material bodies by this logic we find that the souls process of exiting a body upon death and re-entering another at birth is as natural processes breathing five all is one Lao tzus theme of oneness is apparent throughout the entirety of the daodejing Dao is the creator the preserver and the transformer of all existence the universe is a vast and complex system of which we are just a microscopic part the named is the mother of myriad things thus constantly without desire one observes its essence constantly with desire one observes its manifestations these two emerge together the different name the unity is said to be the mystery mystery of mysteries the door to all wonders the door to all wonders mentioned in Chapter one is the oneness of all things humans like to do something that no other creature on earth does we like to give things names we label everything we ascribe all manners of characteristics to well myriads of things we obsess over differences in quantities and qualities and in doing so we forget that we are all a part of the same universe the door to all wonders is realizing that all is one therefore in order to cultivate a life of contentment one need only live a simple and healthy life in living naturally one moves with Dao not against it within the universal current it's easy to see and feel your place in the universe and realize that we are all one where to go from here so if you're a newfound Taoist and you're wondering where to go from here chapter 16 has some simple guidance for you attain the ultimate emptiness hold on to the truest tranquility the married things are all active I therefore watch their return everything flourishes each returns to its route returning to the root is called tranquility tranquility is called returning to one's nature returning to once nature is called constancy knowing constancy is called clarity not knowing constancy when recklessly causes trouble knowing constancy is acceptance acceptance is impartiality impartiality is sovereign sovereign is heaven heaven is Dao Dao is eternal the self is no more without danger 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Channel: The Taoist Psychic

Views: 173,329

Rating: 4.8600368 out of 5

Keywords: Spirituality, Taoism, Religion, Taoist Beliefs, What's a Taoist, Taoist, Am I a Taoist

Id: oenzfF-yFeE

Length: 8min 37sec (517 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 23 2018