Daoism

Elements of Indigenous Chinese Religions

1. Spirits

   • active in every aspect of life

2. Tian

   • “heaven”

   • envisioned as an impersonal divine force that controls events on earth and a cosmic moral principle that tells right from wrong

3. Veneration of ancestors

   • ancestors at death become spirits that need to be placated to ensure positive influence

4. Patterns in nature

   • even though you can’t control nature, you can work with it to survive by understanding its patterns

5. Yin and Yang

   • dynamic balance

   • everything has its opposite and will become its opposite

6. Divination

   • system of methods for knowing more about the future

Historical Overview

• Laozi

  • said to be the founder of Daoism

  • old master or old child

  • existence is unknown

    • Sima Qian

• Daodejing

  • central scripture

  • early as 350 BCE

  • written by Laozi

  • elements:

    • Repetitive

    • no clear order

    • deliberate lack of clarity

    • lack of a single author; compilation of texts

  • theories about its purpose

    • handbook for rulers

    • lead to spiritual insights

    • practical guide to living in harmony with the universe

  • Dao

    • most referenced concept

    • beyond any description

    • nameless + formless, but can be experienced and followed by everything with a name

    • origin of things, but NOT a god

    • leave behind desires for individual things

    • only watch and feels strangely like an outsider

• not an organized religion since practitioners lived in isolation

  • two organizations formed

    1. Way of the Heavenly Masters

       • tianshi

       • based on a hereditary model

       • set up parishes

       • believed in Qi

    2. Way of Complete Perfection

       • quanshen

       • elements of confucianism, buddhism, and daoism

       • monasteries and celibate monks

       • keeping peace

  • early Daoists had a goal:

    • longevity

    • supernatural abilities

    • control over disease

    • social reform

    • political control

    • spiritual insight

Core Beliefs

• Basic Teachings

  1. Dao

     • the way (existence, pattern, process)

     • whatever mysterious reality makes nature what it is and act the way it does

     • way nature expresses itself - the natural way

     • person can unite themselves with the Dao

       • helps the person feel the flow of nature, attain spiritual purity, and live a long life

  2. Wu Wei

     • ideal of effortlessness

     • how to live

       • no action

       • no strain

  3. Simplicity

     • eliminate all unnecessary things

     • appreciate the ordinary

  4. Longevity

     • practices that are thought to bring a person into union with the Dao

     • help the person feel the flow of nature

       • Taiji: slow arm and leg motions to aid balance

         • prolong one’s life by spiritualizing qi

  5. Relativity

     • attain a vision of things that go beyond the obvious opposites

  6. Gentleness

     • pursue the gentle way

       • no weapons or war

       • a wise person loves peace and restraint

       • no unnecessary violence

• Deities

  • Three Purities - Sanjing

    1. Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning

       • first pure one

       • celestial, universal Dao

    2. Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure

       • second pure one

       • principal disseminator of Daoist teachings

    3. Celestial Worthy of the Way and its Power

       • third pure one

       • Divine/Lord Laozi