What Does taoism Mean
The Taoism is a philosophy that emerged from the Tao Te Ching (also known as Tao Te Ching or Dao De Jing ), a work that would have been written by Lao Tse in the sixth century BC . Its pillar is the Tao , a concept that is usually understood as the way or the method and that refers to the essence of the universe.
For Taoists, the Tao is the order of nature that governs existence. This order cannot be named, although it is made manifest through various questions that do have a name.
Taoism was born as a philosophical doctrine but then some currents developed that turned it into a religion . Even over the years it was conjugated with Buddhism and Confucianism .
Among the most significant principles that sustain Taoism, we can refer to the following:
-Believe in the brotherhood of each and every one of the men and also in what is the spirituality of what the material domains come to be.
-Determine that any action encourages the creation of an opposing force. Hence, therefore, the wise consider that the way to find action will be through inaction.
- Affirms that only what is Tao will last forever, man will pass, for his part, because it is finite.
The Taoists aspire to immortality , understanding this concept as the possibility of achieving harmony with the elements of nature and of transcending one's own being . That is why they consider Lao Tzu and other great personalities as immortal.
The concept of yin-yang is also very important for Taoism as it evidences the duality of the universe . The idea is based on the fact that there are three forces that interact in reality: yin , yang and Tao . The first two are opposing forces that complement each other and act as one: an active force and a passive force. The Tao , for its part, is the superior force that contains both.
Taoism, in short, aspires to the harmony of the human being and the Tao through sacrifice, meditation, honesty, goodness and piety, among other virtues. Importantly, however, it lacks a dogma.
In addition to all that has been exposed so far, it is worth knowing another series of aspects that are really unique to Taoism, such as the following:
-It is considered that the aforementioned main text on which it is based, also called "Book of Reason and virtue ”is one of the shortest religious books in history. And it is that it only has 5,000 words.
-One of his main slogans or ideas that powerfully attract attention is that he comes to compare man with bamboo. Why? Because it is considered that the human being, like this plant, is straight and useful although hollow in what is inside.
- At present, it is believed that Taoism is followed by a total of about 50 million people, spread throughout the world, although it is considered that it is in Asia where it has more "followers".