Taoism

[David19]

Hi, i got a book this christmas on different religions and Taoism was in it. Reading about it made me interested in Taoist beliefs. Are there any followers here, if so what do you believe. From what i've read, i know ying/yang are a part of it but i also heard that there are many deities in it and other spirits, does anyone know their names. Also aside from deities, what other types of beings are there e.g. things like demons, angels, other, etc.

What type of rituals are involved in it and also is it shamanic, since i read Taoism incorporates aspects of ancient Chinese shamanism and the deities come from shamanism.

Anyway thanks for any help.

[Malcolm]

Its wierd. Its like animism but not really. Taoism always struck meas more of a philosophy than a religion.

Where as animism is the reverance of the spirit of an object, the Tao is more like the energy/whatever that the object has that is also part of the Tao..."use the force Luke" and all that kinda stuff.

As far as shamanism an the spirits/gods go...I'm not really sure. There is Taoist socerery but I'm unfamiliar with it.

[Jolixte]

Hi, i got a book this christmas on different religions and Taoism was in it. Reading about it made me interested in Taoist beliefs. Are there any followers here, if so what do you believe. From what i've read, i know ying/yang are a part of it but i also heard that there are many deities in it and other spirits, does anyone know their names. Also aside from deities, what other types of beings are there e.g. things like demons, angels, other, etc.

What type of rituals are involved in it and also is it shamanic, since i read Taoism incorporates aspects of ancient Chinese shamanism and the deities come from shamanism.

Anyway thanks for any help.
I'm not a Taoist so this is all just stuff I gathered from my mother who is one. To the best of my knowledge, there are no personified deities, spirits, demons, etc. they are all part of the Tao. I think the Taoist is supposed to balance the Chi and develope compassion, humility, and moderation.

[Shanti]

Well for starters you should read the Tao Te Ching.
Second, Taoism is not a religion nor path. Its a philosophy who's meanings are meant to be found by the individual for themself.
Theres no guidelines, no rules.

As for religion, Taoism philosophy fits into all.
Heck Taoism even fits into the belief that there is no spiritual.

Taoism is something to search on your own. Even the early masters of Taoism emphasized the need for the individual to come to their own understanding of Taoism. Taoism can not be taught like a religion can.

Anyone thinking of the Taoist way should remember the first verse in the Tao Te Ching:

The Tao that can be told is not the true Tao.
The name that can be named is not the Tao.
Even the finest teaching is not the Tao itself.
Even the finest name is insufficient to define it.
Without words, the Tao can be experienced,
and without a name, it can be known.

LaoTzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. If you want to know who he was or anything of Taoist beginnings, google, read. Read all you can. Dont take the philosophy on a few opinions. Read the history, read all you can from many sources.
Then after you have read all you can find and thought all you can, do what you will do and be you. :)

[Doctor Jeep]

Actually, there are many (primarily in the east, I would think) who would debate the idea that Taoism isn't a religion. Taoism does indeed have religious aspects, complete with dieties, rituals, etc.

Here in the west we generally get the more philosophical versions of Taoism. The Tao of Pooh, for example. Nothing wrong with that book (I think it's a very nice place to start) or the study of the philosophical aspects of Taoism, but definitely go beyond that if you want to get a bigger picture. You may not find the religious aspects to your liking, but I think it's important to know that they're there.

Beware of the plethora of hippy-skippy new-agey Taoism books out there, too. ;)

[Paracelsus]

There are other good introductions to Taoism - I would recommend "The Wheel of life" by John Blofeld - although it is his autobiography as a Buddhist, there are several interesting chapters on Taoism therein - as observed by a westerner in China before the cultural revolution. It is good for the feeling of taoism.

[Nacken]

Taoism or Daoism originated as a philosophy, but out of it came what is sometimes called Popular Taoism. The common people got hold of it and deified Lao Ze/ Lao Tzu. Then they created a number of Taoist immortals around him. Some of these immortals were historical figures. Taoist alchemy is sometimes in search of the secret of immortality and somehow this plays into things. Quan Yin is both Taoist and Buddhist. Folktales grew up. There is a favourite classic book most often translated as Journey to the West. It is fun to read but it shows a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist traditions that was common in China. Monkey King, Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka are beloved folk characters. In a way, Taoism and Buddhism synthesized and became a folk religion, very different from the original philosophy.
This 'Popular Taoism' is animistic with nature spirits. It has demons and dragons and such, but angels are a alien concept. You are thinking in Christian terms. As far as I know, rituals would just involve meditation and burning incense. At least when I've been to modern temples that was what I saw. Sometimes they used prayer wheels and what looked like noise makers. Umm I'm sure that they must have funeral and marriage rituals though.

[leaf-shadow]

quan yin is NOT daoist!!! quan yin, or better spelles as guan yin, is the name of a boddhisattva and, a buddhist figure. daoism today has been corrupted from its original form due to the folk-beliefs and stuff. its true though that the two religions has kind of... borrowed ideas from each other. but guan yin is buddhist.
daoism has some dieties in it, but daoists are told not to put attention into worshipping them, but rather follow the dao and inprove the self. daoist magic is a part of the folk corruption. in legends, and in history, there are many daoist figures wondering around the world, performing yi-jing (asa, i ching) readings, and feng-shui readings for people. the daoists do so, usually to earn a meal, but sometimes they remove demos from people's houses and villages out of their... compassion, you could say, and their righteousness. meditation is definitly an important part of daoism, it is often used to balance the chi in one's body.
the most important concept of daoism, i believe, is fan-ben-gui-zhen, i whould tanslate that as "going back to the self and returning to truth."

[Nacken]

Kwan Yin or Qan Yin is recognized both as a Doaist deity and a Boddhisattva. Which started using her as a religious figure first is difficult to say, but my guess is the Buddhists. You could certainly call Popular Daoism a corrupted form. I'm not arguing the point. I agree with most of what you say. The university professors use the term Popular Daoism to mean the religion which among the peasantry. I'm sure that the clergy had a different idea about it than the peasantry. Rituals are sparse in Doaism though. It is all fascinating, the wandering Daoist 'knights errant', the alchemists, the poets, the Daoist magicians, the politicians and scholars who left office to go fishing without a hook. I love reading about all that.

[Hamelyn]

(Edited to make more sense!)

I was under the impression that Taoism (however one spells it) was to buddhism and confucism what the protestant movement was to the catholic church. One reason for all the wandering figures in its legends is because the philosophy was more available to the common person to begin with... I could be looking at it from a skewed POV, but if one religion is a bastardization of another (even if it makes finer points in some areas), it seems silly to dismiss bastardizations of the bastardization. Philosophical Taoism is awesome, but that doesn't make alchemical, magical, or religious taoism any less real to the people who practiced (or practice) it I'm sure.

[Nobu]

I agree here with Hamelyn.

[Amryn]

Hamelyn has a very good point.

[Nacken]

Taoism isn't a bastardization of Buddhism, nor is Buddhism a bastardization of Taoism. They are separate religions. But in China it is thought to be possible that you can be both Buddhist and Taoist at the same time. Typically they added Confuscianism to the mixture. Christianity believes that you can't be Christian and something else at the same time, but many parts of the world religions are combined.