THE WAY OF TAO

WHAT IS TAO OR DAO?

TAO OR DAO
 is the natural order of the universe, whose character, ones intuition
must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as
conceived in the context of east Asian philosophy, east Asian
religions, or any other philosophy that aligns to this principle.
 This intuitive knowing of life cannot be grasped as a concept.
Rather, It is known true actual living experience of one’s everyday
being.
 It’s name, Tao or Dao came from Chinese, where it signifies the
way, path, route , road or something more loosely doctrine,
principle, or holistic belief.
 Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing,
but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is
difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one’s
being of aliveness.
 The Tao is “eternally nameless”(Tao Te Ching-32 Laozi) and to be
distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be
its manifestations, the reality of life before is descriptions of it.
 Tao lends its name to the tradition(Wade-Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Dao
Jiao) and philosophical tradition(Wade-Giles, Tao Chia; Pinyin, Dao
Jia)that are both reffered to in english with the single term “Taoism”.
WAYS OF TEACHING

 Taoism(also spelled Daoism) is a religion ad a philosophy from ancient

China that has influenced folk and national belief.
 Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500
B.C.E wrote the main, book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching.
 Taoism holds that humans and animals should live in balance with the Tao,
or the universe.
 Taoists believe in spiritual immorality, where the spirit of the body joins
the universe after death.
 The Tao Te Ching, or “The way and Its Power,” is a collection of poetry and sayings
from around the third and fourth centuries B.C.E that guides Taoist thought and actions.
While the author is traditionally believed to be the philosopher Lao Tzu existed at all.
Rather, the Tao Te Ching is a gathering of earlier sayings from many authors.
 This book was given an origin with the philosopher Lao Tzu for cultural and political
reasons.
 Lao Tzu is sometimes understood as the image of the Tao, or a god, and given legendary
status.
 The Tao(or Dao) is hard to define but is sometimes understood as the way of the
universe.
 Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the
universe, and the energy found in it. Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding
everything in the universe.
 The Tao Te Ching and other Taoist books provide guides for behavior and spiritual ways of living
in harmony with this energy. However, Taoists do not believe in this energy as a god. Rather,
there are gods as part Taoist beliefs, often introduced from the various cultures found in the
region known now as china. These gods are part of the Tao, like all living things.
 Taoism has temples, monasteries, and priests who make offering, meditate, and perform other
rituals for their communities.
 Taoism became well-known in the eighth century C.E. as the religion of the tang dynasty. In the
following centuries, it existed alongside Buddhism and Confucianism (another philosophical
religion ).however ,during the communist take over in 1959,Taoism, Confucianism, and other
religions were banned.
 This caused a decline in the practice of Taoism in china. Many modern Taoists line in Taiwan,
although recent reforms in china have increased the number of Chinese Taoists.
 One of the main ideas of Taoism is the belief in balancing forces, or Yin and Yang. These ideas
represent matching pairs, such as light and dark, hot and cold, action and inaction, which work
together toward a universal whole. Yin and Yang show that everything in the universe is
connected and that nothing makes by itself.
Laozi(Lao-tzu)
○ is the name of a legendary Daoist philosopher, the
alternate title of the early Chinese text better known
in the West as the Daodejing, and the moniker of a
deity in the pantheon of organized “religious
Daoism” that arose during the later Han dynasty (25-
220 C.E.).
○ Laozi is the pinyin romanization for the Chinese
characters which mean “Old Master.” Laozi is also
known as Lao Dan (“Old Dan”) in early Chinese
sources (see Romanization systems for Chinese
terms).
○The Zhuangzi (late 4th century B.C.E.) is the first
text to use Laozi as a personal name and to identify
Laozi and Lao Dan.
 YIN AND YANG

 Yin, Chinese for “female” or “moon”, represents darkness, femininity,

passivity, and the earth. Yang “ sun” or “male” represents light,
masculinity, activity, and the heavens.
 The balance of yin and yang were seen to influence health and order
within and individual, society, and the entire universe.
 The yin and yang symbol represents the interconnectedness of the world,
particularly the natural world. There be no positive without a negative, no
open without closed, no light without shadow. The yin and yang itself
portrays that interrelatedness.
YANG YIN
 MALE  FEMALE
 LIGHT  DARK
 DAY  NIGHT
 HOT  COLD
 STRONG  WEAK
 ADVANCING  RETREATING
 SUMMER  WINTER
 ACTIVE  PASSIVE
 AWAKE  ASLEEP
 LOUD  QUIET
 SUN  MOON
 ACTIVITY  REST
 GOOD  BAD
 FAST  SLOW
 SKY ABOVE OR HEAVEN  GROUND BELOW OR EARTH
 IN SOCIETY THE EMPEROR  LOYAL SUBJECTS
 HEAD  LEGS
 EXPANDING  CONTRACTING
 MOVEMENT  STILLNESS
 DOMINATING  CREATIVE
 THE KNOWN  THE UNKNOWN
 ACTIVE  CALM
 CLEAN  DIRTY
 SMOOTH  ROUGH
 LARGE  SMALL
 BOLD  SUBTLE
 MASCULINE  FEMININE
 STRAIGHT  CURVY
Click icon to add picture