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Identifying And Understand Moral Value In Various Religions Including : Taoism

Moral Value in Presentation - Taoism

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Page 1: Moral Value in Presentation - Taoism

Identifying And Understand Moral Value In Various

Religions Including : Taoism

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Taoism

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• Taoism, also known as Daoism, is an indigenous Chinese religion often associated with the Daode jing (Tao Te Ching), a philosophical and political text purportedly written by Laozi (Lao Tzu).

• Taoism recognises Laozi as its founder and Zhuanzi as one of its most brilliant representatives.

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Laozi depicted as Taoist God

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• Another important figure in the development of Taoism is Chuang Tzu, which translates to “master Chuang”, is known as the second founder of Taoism.

• The founder of organized Taoist religion was Zhang Daoling.

• The most important Taoist text is Tao De Jing (“The Way and Its Power”), a 5000-character synopsis of Taoist beliefs reportedly written by Lao-tzu shortly before he died.

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• Two other important Tao texts are the Tao The King (a series of wise sayings) and the Writings of Chuang Tzu which a discourse written by the Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu, which appeared a few centuries after Lao-tze's reported death.

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• Tao Te Chin is the most influential book in Chinese literature.

• It has been the object of at least a thousand commentaries and has been translated into English more than forty times. The book was probably developed over the centuries and evolved into its present form around the fourth century.

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The Principles Of Taoism

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• There are four principles of Taoism - Tao, De (te), Wu wei and Pu.

• Tao In English, Tao means road, pathway, channel or doctrine.

• De (Te) is an active expression of Tao. It is related to a complicated concept of 'De'- power, virtue and integrity. De is the nurturing of the 'Tao'- or the path. De is inculcating the habit or imbibing the 'Tao‘.

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• Wu Wei literally means without action. It is the central concept in Taoism. In fact, it emphasizes that a human beings must be in harmony with the universe.

• Pu relates to simplicity and is symbolic of the state of Wu Wei. It epitomizes the state of pure perception sans prejudice. It is supposed to be an inactive stage of receptiveness.

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Concept Of Yin and Yang

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• Tao also has the principle of keeping balance and harmony with the universe; this is known as Yin and Yang.

• The concept of Yin and Yang is that the universe must constantly be kept in balance with its opposites; meaning that there must be a balance between good and evil, hot and cold and light and darkness.

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• One tradition states that Yin (the dark side) represents the breath that formed the earth. Yang (the light side) symbolizes the breath that formed the heavens.

• The most traditional view is that 'yin' represents aspects of the feminine: being soft, cool, calm, introspective, and healing while "yang" the masculine: being hard, hot, energetic, moving, and sometimes aggressive.

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The Morality Of Religion Taoism

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• Taoist ethical thinking reflects Taoism canon and discipline.

• Ethical and moral concepts of the Taoism, absorbs both the ethical and moral values of the Taoism, but also absorbed ethical and moral values of both Confucianism and Buddhism.

• Taoism ethics is mainly implemented by the power of the gods.

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• The Taoism guides the people consciously abide by ethics with beautiful illusion of immortality longevity.

• On the other hand, the Spirit power of blessing the good and punishing the evil forces the people to comply with the ethics.

• In addition, Taoist moral book brings the Taoist ethical and moral thinking more focused systematic and more popularized.

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• Chi also spelled ch'i or qi is variously known as the "breath of heaven," “mystical breath,” the "breath of nature" and the "quality of spirit".

• Taoists advocate a life of simplicity, and encourage their followers to perform good deeds not bad ones, and seek inner peace through the cultivation of optimism, passivity, and inner calm.

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• Taoists emphasize naturalness, personal freedom and happiness. Taoists believe that sickness is often caused by sin and bad deeds that disrupt the healthy flow of chi.

• Taoism morality is based on the Three Treasures of Taoism and they need to be charitable, thrifty and do not push ahead of others.

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Here are Taoism’s Ten Precepts which the individual is expected to uphold:

• Do not kill but always be mindful of the host of living beings.

• Do not be lascivious or think depraved thoughts. • Do not steal or receive unrighteous wealth. • Do not cheat or misrepresent good and evil. • Do not get intoxicated but always think of pure

conduct. • I will maintain harmony with my ancestors and

family and never disregard my kin.

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• I will maintain harmony with my ancestors and family and never disregard my kin.

• When I see someone do a good deed, I will support him with joy and delight.

• When I see someone unfortunate, I will support him with dignity to recover good fortune.

• When someone comes to do me harm, I will not harbor thoughts of revenge.

• As long as all beings have not attained the Tao, I will not expect to do so myself.

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• In verse 38 of the Daode Jing , Laozi offers us a pithy and profound overview of Taoism’s understanding of ethics and morality:

The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self

The highest kindness is to give without a condition

The highest justice is to see without a preference

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Taoism and Immortality

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• Immortality is an important idea in Taoism. Because all nature is united by Tao, Taoists believe, immortality can be attained.

• Taoists also believe that immortality it not something that can be achieved by separating oneself from nature, like with a soul, but rather is something achieved by directing natural forces through the body, creating more durable body materials, using techniques such as breathing, focusing sexual energy and alchemy.

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• Numerous Taoist prayers are dedicated to the spirits of immortality.

• Taoist painters have traditionally chosen immortally as one of their central themes. Famous Taoist painting dealing with immortality include Immortal Ascending on a Dragon, Riding a Dragon, Fungus of Immortality, Picking Herbs, and Preparing Elixirs.

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• In the old days, many Taoists spent their whole lives looking for elixirs of immortality. The Emperor Shi went through great lengths to try and achieve immortality.

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Deities

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• In the religion of Taoism there are many deities; some Taoists consider Laozi and Chuang Tzu as being deities. Some of the Taoist deities are the Three Purities, the Jade emperor, the Four Heavenly Emperors and the three divine officials. The Three purities are the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure, and the Celestial Worthy of the Tao and its Virtue.

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• The Three Purities where the highest of the Taoists deities. In many Taoists scriptures the Three Purities are a form of Tao, all knowing and everywhere.

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• There was also a Taoist deity known as the Jade Emperor. The Jade emperor basically ruled the universe. Another of the Taoist deities were the Three Officials - the Official of Heaven Official of water and Official of Earth.

• Each official had its own duties to the universe. The Official of water prevents disasters, the Official of Heaven gives blessings and the Official of earth forgives the sins of mankind

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The Three Pure Ones are the highest Deities in Taoism

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• “The Three Pure Ones” transcend the entire hierarchy of Taoist deities. In the middle is the ultimate highest deity of Taoism, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy. To your right is the Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Worthy, and to your left is the Supreme Way Heavenly Worthy.

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Internal Alchemy

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• Taoists believe that a person is just a small pattern of a greater pattern of the universe and in order to understand the universe one must understand himself.

• In order to understand one ’s self a person’s mental and physical health must be positive.

• A way that Taoists achieve positive physical and mental health is by internal alchemy.

• Internal alchemy is disciplining one’s self in order to balance ones’ internal and spiritual energies.

• Taoism has had a major impact on China’s mental health. It has also changed the meaning of life in Chinese families.

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• Internal Alchemy (neidan) – a term often used synonymously with Qigong - is the Taoist art and science of gathering, storing and circulating the energies of the human body.

• In Internal Alchemy, the human body becomes a laboratory in which the Three Treasures of Jing, Qi, and Shen are cultivated, for the purpose of improving physical, emotional and mental health.

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• Each of the Three Treasures used in the practice of Inner Alchemy is associated with a particular energetic location:

• (1) Jing, or reproductive energy, has its home in the lower dantian (and Snow Mountain area)

• (2) Qi, or life energy, has its home in the middle dantian

• (3) Shen, or spiritual energy, has its home in the upper dantian.

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Qigong exercise : a form of internal alchemy

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