Taoism Beliefs

Taoism Teachings of Taoism and their application Taoism, also referred to widely as Daoism is known as an indigenous Chinese Religion which is closely associated with Tao Te Ching which was a philosophical and political manuscript written by Laozi in the 4th Century BC. The writings focused on Dao (Tao) as a path or way and this stood for the appropriate manner of behavior and also the way to lead others. It also stood for something that was there before the earth and the heavens came into being.

However, in the context of this paper, the prime focus will be on the teachings and the beliefs of Taoism and how they can be applied in the contemporary society in order to shape and make the society better. Taoism developed in four stages which include: Proto Daoism-During this period classic works were the Daode Jing, the Zhuangzi in particular they were highly influential upon the flourishing of the classical Daoism. Classical Daoism-Here Daoling established the way of the celestial masters known as the way of orthodox unity.

Modern Daoism-This time the boundaries between elite Daoist religion, Budhism and local cult began to blur increasingly. Contemporary Daoism-Here Daoism started to be practiced. Daoism aimed at achieving immortality through breathing, meditation, helping others and use of elixirs. Daoism has influenced Chinese culture positively vastly as it has given birth to martial arts such as Tai chi and Qigong (James Miller, 2009). Also it has improved the healthy living such as practicing vegetarianism and exercise. Its texts have codified Chinese views on morality and behaviors regardless of religious affiliation.

In line with the Tao Te Ching teachings, one biggest challenge that humans face is that they do not know who they truly are, yet it teaches that human beings are part of the cosmic process which is referred to as Tao. It therefore challenges human beings to either choose this reality and acknowledge it and live better lives or try to establish our own individual identities and have a tough life.

This teaching is very applicable in the contemporary world were people disregard the environment as though it is a very different entity and no one wants to take care of the environment but instead pollute it with impunity in the name of industrialization hence the global warming. The other teaching of Taoism is that current world that we experience is a manifestation of the unmanifest Tao, hence the patterns of return that Tao uses.

This indicates that everything is in the process of coming into being, then goes into maturity and finally decaying and returning to the Tao. All things are in a constant cycle and they have their own destiny (Te) and if this Te is not tampered with or hindered, it will come to show itself in the cycle of life.

This is a teaching that can be used to encourage a system that is democratic and fair hence giving each individual in the society their rightful space to experience life to the fullest without denying them some rights or provisions. The other teaching that is fundamental is the interaction of Yin and Young which isall about the idea of nonaction that stands for the natural course of things in the universe as Toism believes. It is this natural interaction that governs the behavior of things.

This shows that in the current world, there are so many interferences with nature such that the behavior of things provided by nature becomes unpredictable. If people learnt to conserve nature, may be we would be having a more interactive nature hence a better lifestyle that it is rather than forcing the separation of nature even people on lines of race and color and tribe. More fundamental in this context are the Three Jewels or three characteristics that guide Toism and that Toism should live by.

They are stated in the Tao Te Ching as the jewel of compassion, the jewel of moderation and the Jewel of humility. It is further noted that once one posses the jewel of compassion, it will lead to courage, once one has possessed the jewel of moderation it will lead to generosity and once one has possessed the jewel of humility, it will lead to leadership. These are the three jewels that are considered to be paramount to returning to the Tao, which is the ultimate goal of Taoism.

These Jewels are instrumental in guiding people, especially the leaders in handling the.