Taoism :: essays papers

TaoismIt is always present in you. You can use it besides you want.Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditionsthat originated in China. The new(prenominal) philosophy native to China isConfucianism. Both Taoism and Confucianism began at about the liketime, more or less the sixth century B.C. Chinas third great religion,Buddhism, came to China from India around the second century of thecommon era. Together, these three faiths have shaped Chinese life andthought for nearly twenty-five hundred years. One run belief inTaoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of reincarnation. The estimation that life does not end when one dies is an integral part of thesereligions and the acculturation of the Chinese people. Although not acceptedby our beliefs, its understanding helps build metier in our causereligion. Reincarnation, life after death, beliefs are not interchangeablebetween the religions. Each religion has a different way of applyingthis 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 testament be an enlightenment on the reincarnation concepts asthey apply to Taoism and Buddhism.The destination in Taoism is to carry out tao, to find the way. Tao is theultimate reality, a presence that existed in the first place the universe was formedand which continues to guide the world and boththing in it. Tao issometimes identify as the Mother, or the source of all things. Thatsource is not a god or a supreme being as with Christians, for Taoism isnot monotheistic. The focus is not to worship one god, but instead oncoming into harmony with tao. Tao is the essence of everything that isright, and complications exist nevertheless because people rent to complicatetheir own lives. Desire, ambition, fame, and selfishness are seen ashindrances to a harmonio us life. It is only when one rids himself ofall desires can tao be achieved. By shunning every earthly distraction,the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The longer the oneslife, the closer 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