Taoism Essay Research Paper It is always

Taoism Essay, Research Paper

It is always present in you. You can use it anyway you want.

— Lao-tzu

Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions

that originated in China. The other philosophy native to China is

Confucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same

time, around the sixth century B.C. China’s third great religion,

Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of the

common era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life and

thought for nearly twenty-five hundred years. One dominate concept in

Taoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The

idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of these

religions and the culture of the Chinese people. Although not accepted

by our beliefs, its understanding helps build strength in our own

religion. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not standardized

between the religions. Each religion has a different way of applying

this concept to its beliefs. Ignorance of these beliefs is a sign of

weakness in the mind. To truly understand ones own religion, one must

also understand those concepts of the other religions of the world.

Hopefully this will be an enlightenment on the reincarnation concepts as

they apply to Taoism and Buddhism.

The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way. Tao is the

ultimate reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed

and which continues to guide the world and everything in it. Tao is

sometimes identified as the Mother, or the source of all things. That

source is not a god or a supreme being as with Christians, for Taoism is

not monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead on

coming into harmony with tao. Tao is the essence of everything that is

right, and complications exist only because people choose to complicate

their own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen as

hindrances to a harmonious life. It is only when one rids himself of

all desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction,

the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the one’s

life, the closer to tao one is presumed to have become. Eventually the

hope is to become immortal, to achieve tao, to have reached the deeper

life. This is the afterlife for a Taoist — to be in harmony with the

universe.

To understand the relationship between life and the Taoism concept

of life and death, the origin of the word tao must be understood. The

Chinese character for tao is a combination of two characters that

represent the words head and foot. The character for foot represents a

person’s direction or path. The character for head represents a

conscious choice. The character for head also suggests a beginning, and

foot, an ending. Thus the character for tao also conveys the continuing

course of the universe, the circle of heaven and earth. Finally, the

character for tao represents the Taoist notion that the eternal Tao is

both moving and unmoving. The head in the character means the

beginning, the source of all things, or Tao itself, which never moves or

changes; the foot is the movement on the path.

Taoism upholds the belief in the survival of the spirit after

death. To have attained the human form must be always a source of joy

for the Taoist. It is truly a reason to rejoice because despite

whatever is lost, life always endures. Taoists believe birth is not a

beginning and death is not an end. There is an existence without

limit. There is continuity without a starting point. Applying

reincarnation theory to Taoism is the belief that the soul never dies, a

person’s soul is eternal. It is possible to see death in contrast to

life; both are unreal and changing. One’s soul does not leave the world

into the unknown, for it can never go away. Therefore there is no fear

to come with death.

In the writings of The Tao Te Ching, tao is described as having

existed before heaven and earth. Tao is formless; it stands alone

without change and reaches everywhere without harm. The Taoist is told

to use the light that is inside to revert to the natural clearness of

sight. By divesting oneself of all external distractions and desires,

one can achieve tao. In ancient days, a Taoist that had transcended

birth and death and achieved tao was said to have cut the Thread of

Life. The soul, or spirit, is Taoism does not die at death. The soul

is not reborn, it migrates to another life. This process, the Taoist

version of reincarnation, is repeated until tao is achieved.

The followers of the Buddha believe life goes on through a

repitition of reincarnations or rebirths. The eternal hope for all

followers of Buddha is that through reincarnation one comes back into

successively better lives until one achieves the goal of being free from

pain and suffering and not having to come back again. This wheel of

rebirth, known as samsara, goes on forever or until one achieves

Nirvana. The Buddhist definition of Nirvana can be summerized as the

highest state of spiritual bliss, absolute immortality through

absorption of the soul into itself, while preserving individuality.

Birth is not the beginning and death is not the end. This cycle of

life has no beginning and can go on forever without an end. The

ultimate goal for every Buddhist, Nirvana, represents total

enlightenment and liberation. Only through achieving this goal is one

liberated from the never ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Transmigration, the Buddhist cycle of birth, death, and rebirth,

involves not the reincarnation of a spirit but the rebirth of a

consciousness containing the seeds of good and evil deeds. Buddhism’s

world of transmigration encompasses three stages. The first stage in

concerned with desire, which goes against the teachings of Buddha and is

the lowest form and involves a rebirth into any number of hells. The