Features of the teachings of Taoism
The date of origin of Taoism is approximately the fifth century BC. The concept combined the features of religion and philosophy. Tao jiao is treatises, the study of existence, gaining knowledge about the Universe, and Tao jiao is belief in higher powers and carrying out spiritual practice. But the division is practically imperceptible, so Taoism is considered as a set of aspects. There is no God in the teaching, there is only Tao. This term refers to the Universe, the path to its achievement and self-improvement. The goal of any monk who professes this philosophy is to merge with the Tao.
Taoism
Confucianism has several similar definitions. But in this teaching, Tao is called the rules of humanism and moral principles. A person must improve: study exact sciences, music, writing, and various sports.
Taoism views nature as the beginning of existence. Adhering to this philosophy, a person must obey natural laws, forgetting about his own “I”.
There is no need to interfere with the measured flow of life; it is better to submit to it.
[edit] Links
- The Tao of Programming (more)
- Tao of the enlightened fucker
- The Tao of Pooh “It’s more like…the Tao of Pooh,” said Pooh, rubbing his paw.
- The Tao of Star Wars - Not a bad research book.
- Tao in Zhezheshechka is the only place in the universe where Tao has not yet managed to penetrate.
- Taoist parables
- Good site about Tao
| [ + ] Taoism originated from China. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| [ + ] “Taoism is the opium of the people!” | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Founders of religion
Taoism was finally formed only in the second century AD. The basis for the teaching was the shamanism of the southern Chinese provinces, the magical rites of the Qi region and the philosophy of the northern regions.
There are only three founders:
- Huang Di or "Yellow Emperor";
- Lao Tzu;
- Zhuang Zhou.
There are several legends about the founders of Taoism. One of them talks about Emperor Huang Di. His biography is shrouded in secrets, and the tomb contains only his clothes. It is believed that the emperor himself ascended to heaven.
But the main founder is the sage Lao Tzu. He was the first to combine all the components into a single teaching and wrote the book “Tao Te Ching”. This treatise later became the basis for the development of philosophy.
There are several theories about the origin of Lao Tzu. His mother was simultaneously touched by the rays of the sun and the moon, and then she conceived the future sage. According to the second option, the woman swallowed a shard of rock crystal. And she carried the child for several decades, so he was born already elderly. Because of this, he was given the name Lao Tzu - “Old Baby”.
There is evidence of the sage’s personal acquaintance with Confucius. Lao criticized the philosopher for being too active in his social life. That is why he founded his own teaching, where the basic ideas were completely different. In short, Taoism is a contradiction of Confucianism.
The further fate of the sage remained unknown. He either lived out his years in Tibet or in India, where he adopted Buddhism. There is also an opinion that he went to the lands that later became Kievan Rus. Lao Tzu's book was supplemented by Zhuang Zhou with his treatise. He lived in the 4th-3rd centuries BC and also studied Taoism.
Stages of development of Taoism
In the first century BC. e. Schools of Taoism began to appear. Over time, they changed, and some merged into one institution. Main institutions:
- School of Heavenly Mentors;
- Quanzhen;
- Maoshan;
- Lingbao.
The School of Heavenly Masters, or “Five Buckets of Rice,” was the first to teach the basics of Taoism. It was founded by patriarch and mountain hermit Zhang Daoling. Over time, it was divided into southern and northern. But then the establishment became united again, its name changed to Zhenyi.
In the southern regions, in the times after the dominance of the Mongol tribes, the Quanzhen school opened. Maoshan or Shangqin existed until the 14th century. Here students practiced communication with spirits and higher powers. Lingbao focused on meditation; it was more like a Buddhist school.
In the fifth century, the number of adherents of Taoism increased: they were joined by hermits who dreamed of longevity. The doctrine at this time turns into religion, and its goal becomes the desire for immortality. At that time there were only 250 treatises with basic definitions, principles and concepts. And today there are more than 1,500 books and essays.
Basic ideas of Taoism
Taoism is not considered a traditional religion. It is based on the principle of equality of humanity. Thanks to this, philosophy was studied by different categories of people. But in the Middle Ages, monasteries were built where only enlightened monks were allowed.
In the 17th century, the Qing dynasty ruled, which encouraged the persecution of philosophy. The rulers considered the teaching to be pseudoscience, so they ordered to burn books, destroy monasteries, and punish supporters of Taoism. Rehabilitation began only in the 60s of the last century. But modern philosophy is different. It was based on meditation and magical rituals.
The teaching became famous in the West thanks to its unique martial arts, breathing exercises, and Feng Shui.
Social and philosophical schools of Ancient China - Confucianism and Legalism
1. Confucianism
- the oldest philosophical school that considers man primarily as a participant in social life.
The founder of Confucianism is Confuci
y (Kun-Fu-Tzu), who lived in 551 - 479. BC e., the main source of the teaching is the work of Lun Yu (“Conversations and Judgments”).
The main issues addressed by Confucianism:
• How should people be managed?
• How to behave in society?
Representatives of this philosophical school advocate soft management of society. As an example of such management, the power of the father over his sons is given, and as the main condition - the attitude of subordinates to their bosses as sons to their father, and the boss to his subordinates as a father to his sons. The Confucian golden rule of human behavior in society says: do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself.
2. The teachings of Confucius contain a number of fundamental principles:
- live in society and for society;
- give in to each other;
- obey your elders in age and rank;
- obey the emperor;
- restrain yourself, observe moderation in everything, avoid extremes;
- be humane.
3. Confucius pays great attention to the question of what a boss (leader) should be. A leader must have the following qualities:
- obey the emperor and follow Confucian principles;
- to rule on the basis of virtue (“badao”);
- have the necessary knowledge;
- serve the country faithfully, be a patriot;
- have great ambitions, set high goals;
- to be noble;
- do only good to the state and others;
- prefer persuasion and personal example to coercion;
- take care of the personal well-being of subordinates and the country as a whole. In turn, the subordinate must:
- be loyal to the leader;
- show diligence in work;
- Constantly learn and improve yourself.
The teachings of Confucius played a major role in unifying Chinese society. It remains relevant today, 2500 years after the life and work of the author.
4. Another important social teaching of Ancient China was legalism
(school of legalists, or Fajia).
Its founders were Shang
Yan (390 - 338 BC) and Han Fei (288 - 233 BC). During the era of Emperor Qin-Shi-Hua (3rd century BC), legalism became the official ideology.
The main question of legalism (as well as Confucianism): how to govern society?
Legalists advocate governing society through state violence based on laws. Thus, legalism is the philosophy of strong state power.
5. The main postulates of legalism
are the following:
- man has an inherently evil nature;
- the driving force behind human actions is personal selfish interests;
- as a rule, the interests of certain individuals (social groups) are mutually opposed;
- in order to avoid arbitrariness and general hostility, state intervention in social relations is necessary;
- the state (represented by the army and officials) must encourage law-abiding citizens and severely punish the guilty;
- the main incentive for lawful behavior of most people is fear of punishment;
- the main distinction between lawful and unlawful behavior and the application of punishment should be laws;
- the laws should be the same for everyone, and punishment should be applied to both commoners and high officials (regardless of rank) if they violated the laws;
- the state apparatus should be formed from professionals (that is, bureaucratic positions should be given to candidates who have the necessary knowledge and business qualities, and not be inherited);
- the state is the main regulatory mechanism of society and, therefore, has the right to intervene in social relations, the economy, and the personal lives of citizens.
Forms of manifestation
Taoism was divided into several forms. This happened because it was necessary to satisfy the issues and interests of different sectors of society. There are three forms of manifestation of teaching:
- mystical;
- scientific;
- philosophical and ethical.
Basic concepts of Taoism
The poor went to the monks to receive advice and predictions. This was the mystical side of Taoism. Thanks to this influence of the enlightened, ordinary peasants were instilled with moral values and norms of behavior.
The monks constantly tried to find the secret of immortality. There were legends that Chiang Taolin, one of the supporters of Taoism, found a recipe for the elixir of eternal youth. But later it was lost, although the monk himself was worshiped for a long time and it was believed that he lived as a hermit in the mountains.
As a result of the following searches and studies of alchemy, many useful objects for humans appeared - a compass, gunpowder, porcelain, glass, and battering tools. The first theories about the origin of people and other living beings, heaven and earth also appeared thanks to the constant thoughts of the monks.
Ethics and philosophy were created on the basis of Taoism. The teaching helped the educated segments of the population to express themselves. But at the same time, universal equality was observed at the spiritual level. With the help of the philosophy of Taoism, it was possible to explain the essence of human existence and worldview, the purpose of life.
Main postulates
The universe in Taoism is the macrocosm, and man is the microcosm. Monks are not afraid of death, since it only means union with the Tao. Teaching does not take on personalities, shapes or colors. All worldly joys are perceived as emptiness, and a person should only observe what is happening, but not interfere.
At the same time, the enlightened try to instill in others the ability to distinguish between evil and good, through meditation to look into their inner world and achieve harmony with others. You can comprehend the Tao only if you follow the ancient Chinese postulates:
- saturation of the soul;
- nutrition of the body;
- wu-wei.
Basic forms of Taoism
The nourishment of the soul was to maintain its qualities. You cannot feed your demons, as this distances a person from happiness. Monks and all who study Taoism should eat freely. You need to follow diets and fasts. And the ideal option, indicated in the treatises, is to saturate the body only with dew from plants and your own family. Be sure to perform physical and breathing exercises. Sexual relations are allowed, but only with one permanent partner.
Wu wei in Taoism is non-action, that is, non-interference in the changeability of the universe. The concept consists of two hieroglyphs: Wu - non-existence or absence, Wei - action, implementation. A person should not do something purposefully, since interaction with cosmological portals can lead to bad consequences.
Understanding the Tao is not easy. You will have to forget about selfishness, self-worth and personality, relate yourself to the world around you and become part of it. Even while doing simple things, you need to stop the mental flow.
What is Tao?
Tao is an eternal path, an endless road without end or edge, which passes everywhere and nowhere, it is unknown where it leads and where it ends. Tao is the eternal Absolute, everything is subordinated only to it, even Heaven acts according to the laws of Tao. The eternal path is also an eternal movement, since in nature nothing is at rest, everything is constantly flowing and changing. Man lives by these same laws.
The greatest happiness, according to Lao Tzu and his followers, lies in the knowledge of Tao and eternal merging with it. A person who has comprehended Tao and obeys its laws gains immortality. In order to understand the Tao, one must follow a number of rules regarding the nourishment of the body and the nourishment of the spirit, as well as the concept of non-action .
Man is a collection of divine spirits and demons who constantly fight for the possession of his soul. If he feeds the spirits with his good deeds, the soul becomes stronger and moves closer to the Absolute, and if a person increases the number of demons with evil deeds, the soul weakens and moves away from the Tao.
Nourishing the body is following a special diet, which consists of almost completely abstaining from physical food. Through constant physical training, a person must bring his body to complete submission to the mind and learn to feed on his own saliva and the dew of herbs and flowers.
The third postulate of Tao - the concept of doing nothing - is the refusal of purposeful activity, since nature itself arranges everything, as Heaven and Tao need, and human intervention only destroys everything created by nature. Based on this idea, Lao Tzu derives the following formula applicable to the political life of society: the best ruler is the one who tries not to do or change anything in the state; his subjects live according to the will of Heaven and solve their own problems.
Pillars and Treasures
There are only eight methods, or pillars, of Taoism. They must be followed in order to improve your health and achieve harmony with the world around you. They are as follows:
- philosophy;
- update;
- nutrition;
- forgotten food;
- treatment;
- sexual wisdom;
- perfection;
- success.
The first pillar is necessary for knowledge of social and natural laws, the essence of existence and the purpose of life. Renewal means conducting meditations and practices to improve health. As for nutrition, you need to completely abandon meat and other animal foods. Forgotten food means that during strict diets and fasts you cannot eat at all. You will have to live exclusively on the water.
Extraction is the distribution of energy throughout the body through acupuncture and massage manipulation. Sex in Taoism is considered only as a method of strengthening sincere feelings and one of the types of therapy. The seventh pillar is excellence. A person must constantly develop and look for new buildings. And success means setting and achieving goals, fulfilling plans.
Lao Tzu called the three treasures of Taoism:
- qi;
- jian;
- Shen.
The first treasure is the energy of mercy, life and love. Jian means rational economy. This also applies to people’s appearance. You should not pay much attention to your clothes and hairstyle. It is enough to be neat and clean. Shen is a symbol of the intelligent spirit.
Masculine and feminine principles
The Chinese Yin-Yang sign, which has already become national, has been known for a long time. It was first depicted in the 4th century BC. Taoist monks drew a circle divided into two parts. One characterized the feminine dark principle, and the second – the masculine light.
It was believed that these two concepts could not exist separately. The fate of man depended on them. Likewise, a person’s fate cannot be exclusively light or dark. The feminine is characterized by balance and calm, and the masculine by power and activity. It's like two opposing elements. But in nature they cannot exist without each other, just like the components of the Yin-Yang sign.
If in a person one of the principles prevails over the other, then his fate may turn out wrong. It is believed that such people will not be able to understand the Tao, so they should not begin training.
Comparative analysis
Confucianism and Taoism have common cultural roots; both faiths adopted the traditions of primitive religion with its cult of nature:
- Ancestor cult belongs to Confucianism. But the principles of the cult (filial piety, for example) are characteristic of the entire Chinese society;
- Taoism is characterized by polytheism, Confucianism is dominated by the cult of the emperor and Heaven;
- Confucianism is the path to perfection through self-restraint, suppression of base passions, and remaking oneself. The teaching encourages constant social activity. The main emphasis is on moral and moral principles;
- Confucianism refers to man as a social being, in whom reason should prevail over feelings, Taoism - as a creature of nature, with all its advantages and disadvantages, emotions and passions;
- Taoism accepts a person as he is;
- The main virtue of Taoism is non-action, since attempts to change anything in nature or society violate the natural order of things.
