Tao Te Ching By Lao Tzu

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Doctrinal and Ethical Dimensions
Taoism has two main forms, philosophical and “religious”. In the philosophical branch of taoism it is mainly focused on texts like the Tao Te Ching and the Chuang Tzu which contain the fundamental teachings. The Tao Te Ching is most commonly thought to be written by Lao Tzu, but most scholars now believe that it was written much later than the time of Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching is a very short book and only contains about 5000 words of text. Although it seems short it is 81 chapters of very short pieces of writing, similar to poems, these writings seem short but they could take more than a lifetime to comprehend. In the Tao Te Ching there are many themes that are talked about like, the way, virtue, the sage, …show more content…
Having paradoxes makes one rely more on their intuition to try and process these paradoxes. Among the paradoxes in Taoism there are many teachings about living in one with nature. The other main form is the more popular form known as “religious” taoism. In religious taoism people thrive to reach immortality. The followers of religious taoism use the ideas from the texts and also folk traditions to reach immortality. They use techniques like various breathing exercises and eating of certain herbs and minerals. With religious taoism there are still temples with religious monasteries and priests. There are also gods and goddesses that believers worship. Many of the practices in temples teach how to live in one with the tao and the different relationships between humanity and the gods and spirits. The Tao is the Way of nature. Another teaching is that living in the way with the tao is the only way one individual can thrive. In Taoism their beliefs on afterlife are that death is a transformation from being living to nonliving. Another fundamental concept in Taoism is the idea of Ch’i which refers to energy flow but …show more content…
One value that taoists have is the idea of being selfless. Being selfless means that one is more concerned with the needs of other more than themselves. In Taoism it does not mean exactly the same thing as the definition that most know. It means that they live and think about the big picture opposed to looking and worrying about small things. With this they also act spontaneously so that they are not affected by social and political ideas. They believe that this is living in harmony in nature, which is living according to the Tao. One thing that is different about Taoist ethics is that they are not preached. Taoists do not believe that they should tell someone else how to live their own life, but they should separate themselves and have their actions focused on the wellbeing of the community. One paradox in Taoism is the idea of humility. The sage is shown to be unattractive and lacking ability, but humility is one of the chief virtues of the sage. To live with the Tao it requires humility because humility is seen as a great strength, not a weakness. A similar paradox applies for non competition. The sage does not want to compete but still does not give up a fight and comes out victorious. Also in Taoism there is the idea of non aggression. The idea of non-aggression is also applied to warfare. Taoists believe that sometimes war is necessary but that soldiers should not be
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