A Taoism Thread (and other Eastern philosophies)

[Lokabrenna]

By definition, Taoism isn't exactly a religion, in that there is no direct worship of a god or deity. It's more of a philosophy set simply for one to live their life.
That's about the most basic definition I could find.

You've never heard of so-called "religious Daoism"?

Granted, there's not much information on it, but I'd recommend a read through of this document: http://www.daoistcenter.org/Daoism_Misconceptions.pdf

[Annie Roonie]

You've never heard of so-called "religious Daoism"?

Granted, there's not much information on it, but I'd recommend a read through of this document: http://www.daoistcenter.org/Daoism_Misconceptions.pdf

Bookmarked for work purposes! THANKS!

[Kasmira]

You've never heard of so-called "religious Daoism"?

Granted, there's not much information on it, but I'd recommend a read through of this document: http://www.daoistcenter.org/Daoism_Misconceptions.pdf

Thanks for posting that. It does a better job of pointing out a lot of the issues with the Western conception of Daoism than I could possibly do. I would, however, point out that the distinction drawn in the article between "traditional Chinese cosmology/culture" and Daoist religion is something of an oversimplification. Making this distinction requires that one erect a border between culture and religion that does not necessarily exist in Daoism's original cultural/religious context.

[Kasmira]

PS. Not sure anyone's linked to our last Daoism thread yet. Folks might like to take a look as some of the posts there go into a little more detail on Western misconceptions of Daoism.

[Lokabrenna]

Thanks for posting that. It does a better job of pointing out a lot of the issues with the Western conception of Daoism than I could possibly do. I would, however, point out that the distinction drawn in the article between "traditional Chinese cosmology/culture" and Daoist religion is something of an oversimplification. Making this distinction requires that one erect a border between culture and religion that does not necessarily exist in Daoism's original cultural/religious context.

I think what the article is saying is that these concepts didn't originate with "distinct, indigenous, cultural traditions like Confucianism and Daoism" which is what the misconception is saying, but that they were used by both traditions.

[DancesWithHorses]

PS. Not sure anyone's linked to our last Daoism thread yet. Folks might like to take a look as some of the posts there go into a little more detail on Western misconceptions of Daoism.

Thanks for posting this. I've been meaning to look at Taoism ever since there was a reference in one of John Marsden's books. Balance is such an important concept and often overlooked.