Taoism :: essays papers

TaoismIt is always present in you. You can use it anyway you want.Taoism is cardinalness of the two great philosophical and religious traditionsthat originated in China. The other philosophical system native to China isConfucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the sametime, rough the sixth century B.C. Chinas third great religion,Buddhism, came to China from India around the back century of thecommon era. Together, these three faiths befool shaped Chinese emotional state andthought for nearly twenty-five hundred years. One dominate opinion inTaoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. Theidea that biography does not end when ane dies is an integral part of thesereligions and the culture of the Chinese people. Although not acceptedby our beliefs, its considering helps build strength in our ownreligion. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardizedbetween the religions. Each religion has a different way of applyin gthis 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 origination 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 paragon or a supreme being as with Christians, for Taoism isnot monotheistic. The emphasis is not to worship one god, but instead on approach into harmony with tao. Tao is the essence of everything that isright, and complications exist only because people choose to modifytheir own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen ashindrances to a harmonious life. It is on ly when one rids himself ofall desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every temporal distraction,the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the oneslife, the close set(predicate) 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 concept