Taoism > Definition

What is Taoism?

There are several kinds of Taoism. The most known is the religious Taoism. It has gods, and rituals like any other religious system. There are also many mystical schools that follow esoteric disciplines in search of longevity and immortality, most of them dealing with alchemy recipes and philosophy.

Lao-tzu (the wise old man) is the father of Taoism.

There's also a branch called tao-chia - the school of tao or of unity with the tao - which has as its initiators the famous Taoist masters such as Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu.

What is tao-chia? A way of life. Pointing to it, Alan Watts, the most important western author who wrote about Taoism, says:

Taoism [is] the way of man's cooperation with the course or trend of the natural world, whose principles we discover in the flow patterns of water, gas, an fire, which are subsequently memorialized or sculptured in those of stone and wood, and, later, in many forms of human art. (From Tao: The Watercourse Way).

Chuang-tzu, the famous Lao-tzu's disciple, did a great deal for the spreading of Taoism thinking

This book explains what is Tao (the central philosophical item of tao-chia) and what should be the Taoist disciple's conduct in order to follow the Tao.

Chuang-tzu further developed the ideas of Tao-te ching by means of short stories, most of them fictions, parables and metaphors.

We may add to these sources the well-known I-ching (Book of Changes), used as an oracular means from the ancient times of Chou dynasty in China. I-ching comprises a lot of things about Tao contained in its insights and advises.

Taoism and the Western World

The religious Taoism resembles Christian and other such religious systems. Tao-chia is not equaled by any known Western system. Its philosophy is difficult to grasp for the westerners mainly interested in reason or a personified God. . So the questions are: Can we follow this way of life too? And what is our benefit of following it?

The answer is yes, tao-chia Taoism can be followed by western disciples as well! And what is worth, it is not necessary to retreat from the turmoil of our life to follow the Taoist path as one may think.

The Taoist (Tao) spiritual journey starts for each of us here and now by trying to accommodate the natural trends, as we already said. One may take the first step right now!

Finally, what is the benefit of living like a Taoist? Trying to accommodate the natural tendencies grant us the way to a healthy and successful life.

Note that you may study Taoism further by following our online courses intended for beginners - click here to learn more...

• Read also:
  => Founder of Taoism
  => Taoism Symbols
  => Taoism Quotes
  => Abstracts
  => Tao
  => Te
  => Tao-te ching
  => Chuang-tzu

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