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INTRODUCTION

The Meetinghouse decided that its presentation of Taoism should be in the context of the religions of Asia. Geography has meant that the religions of China, Korea, and Japan are closely related. Of course, each of these great countries is a fine culture in its own right. Therefore, this summary does not attempt to explain the indigenous religions of Japan or Korea. Our focus is on the religions of China as an introduction to Taoism. Chinese religion is made up of many different religions and philosophies.

ONE

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.

The named is the mother of ten thousand things.

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.

Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.

These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness.

Darkness within darkness.

The gate to all mystery.

The Chinese are in their imagining of God, generous,and generous in two senses: they are prolific and they are hospitable. They believe that their many Gods and Goddesses are part of the worlds in which people live, so if additional Deities appear with newly arrived religions such are easily assimilated. We know that new religions have been subjected to severe persecutions at times. Communist leaders, who appear to act like fascists in disguise, have attempted to drive religious practice out of the minds of the Chinese without success. The Chinese government is restoring many Buddhist temples and the shrines of other religions as the spirit of worship is reawakened today in China.

The Three Ways are known as San-jiao the way of Confucius; Taoism (Daoism); and the third way: Buddhism. The fourth way is of major importance. It is the popular religion, the folk religion which is the religion of daily life. Chinese people do not feel that they must choose one religion. There are dramatic festivals, spirit worlds, techniques of magic, and care of the dead and of the ancestors. The Chinese have the virtue of choosing whatever seems most suitable or helpful in their life, whether at home, in public life, or for one the universal human rites of passage: birth, graduation, marriage, death. In that sense, the review of Taoism, below, is somewhat of an intellectual upper strata statement. The Chinese mandarin kind of class leadership in their wisdom has not attempted to force their intellectualism on the unlettered masses. The folk religions are vibrant and meaningful to everyone who cares about them.

The beginnings of the story of human relationship to God are scratched on the shells of tortoises and other bones. The bones were used in divination as oracles cracked by fire to yield the answers. Tian, originally represented by pictographs was connected to royal ancestor worship. Thereby Tian came to be connected to the god of the sky and offerings were made to "heaven". There was also Shang Di known from two written works: The Book of History and the Book of Odes. Shang Di was a source of goodness and blessing. Only those rulers who were in Shang Di's favor could bring prosperity to the people. During the time of Zhou (1122-255BCE) did Tian become paramount? The personal meaning of Tian as God was dominant. Tian was all powerful; the one who could guarantee peace and justice; the one who could bring punishment in the event of disaster. This meant that the ruler was the vital link between Tian (God) and the people.

Reverence for Tian was greatly enhanced during he Han dynasty. (The Han people are far and away the dominant genetic strain with the Chinese people, representing about 85 percent.) Humans being what they are there were good rulers and evil rulers. If Tian could not be relied upon to produce good and consistent results what purpose did a belief in Tian serve, became a more and more prevalent question.

Thomas Cleary has provided an expansive definition of the Tao in his excellent book, The Essential Tao. It will help Westerners to better understand this great way of life.

TAO is one of the basic and comprehensive symbols in the Chinese language as a center of philosophical and spiritual discourse. Tao may mean a path, a way, a principle, a method a doctrine, a system of order; and it also may mean the matrix structure and reality of the universe itself. Every art and science is called a Tao, or a way; but the source of everything, the fountain of all art and science is called the Tao or Way.

Taoism is based, first and foremost, on the experience of this universal Way, the essential reality through which all derivative way might be comprehended. The ultimate nature of the Way is inherently beyond human comprehension. Taoists sought traces of the way n the patterns of the events taking place in the natural world, the social world, and the inner world of the individual psyche. The followers of Taoism focused on perfecting the mastery of human nature and life in three critical areas: individual well being; social harmony, and accelerated evolution of consciousness. These three bases formed the foundation of overall human development, the guiding lights of arts and sciences. Furthermore, these developments were not to be guarded possessively but, instead to be put to the service of humanity. The two classics, Tao Te Ching and Chuang-tzu were made public long ago as maps of the way to the Way. They have for centuries been regarded as classics of world literature. Their subject matter ranges widely from politics and economy to psychology, and mysticism. They address the needs and interests of a diverse readership.

By the middle of second century, BCE, after the unification of China the Tao Te Ching was firmly established at the imperial court as a favored sourcebook of practical wisdom. The more arcane, Chuang-tzu was transmitted through the centuries in Taoist intellectual circles. These classics are ranked with the I Ching, The Book of Changes as popular classics of deep learning. Virtually all literate people of China have read these classics and used the I Ching. Countless readers have found endless fascination and enlightenment in the pregnant aphorisms and fantastic allegories of these source classics. Lao-tzu wrote extensively on the philosophy and art of enlightened leadership. In his turbulent times, Chuang Chou the author of Chuang-tzu was once asked to become the adviser of a king. He declined, explaining that he did not care to be like a sacrificial animal fattened and dressed for slaughter. His refusal to enter the service of a particular king not withstanding, he was no escapist or anarchist (as he is often made out to be by his detractors). He was a champion of liberty. His work is addressed to the purpose of furthering the general welfare of humanity through the edification and enlightenment of public servants and private individuals, as well. Taoists advocate no escapism but the never ending attempt to harmonize spiritual and social liberty. He encouraged people to seek freedom from tyranny and oppression of all kinds, whether political, social, intellectual, or emotional. He even inspired people to seek liberation from the ultimate tyranny of death.

Confucius (b. 552 BCE) played a major role in bringing education to the Chinese people. Confucius on himself is instructive: "At 15 I took to learning, at 30 to standing firm; at 40 I ceased to doubt; at 50 I knew the will of heaven, at 60 my ear understood, at 70 I did as I desired and broke no rules." (Analects 2:4). Confucius seemed to have little to say about the Chinese story of God and religion. He saw himself as a practical man of action, ready and willing to put his ideas of governance, order, and social responsibility into practice. He was unsuccessful. Yet, as a teacher, he asked and answered the question how in the practice of life one promoted the condition of peace, harmony, and justice thereby bringing about the will of Tian (God). Confucius placed great emphasis on Li an ideogram that is made up of a religious classifier and a vessel used in offerings to the ancestors. Therefore, it is rooted in religion but it is much more, those acts that create an ordered pattern of life. They draw on harmony, life in the family, society and the world of spirits and of nature.

Confucius was a moral leader of great consequence to him if he was not followed it was of no consequence. Confucius regarded sacrifice as a virtue if performed sincerely. It could not be a matter of outward form. He saw the bond between children and parents as a part of the essential ritual of sacrificing to the Gods. Confucius believed and taught that humans could be brought to good behavior through education and self-control or through discipline they can be required to follow the rules of good behavior. Tian brought the goodness into the world. Life should become an imitation of God in acts of selfless love. Unfortunately, the definition of good behavior for humans was muddied and stained by the sycophantic toadies of evil rulers. Tian knew what was good but the understanding of the true nature of human behavior was not. The debate was profound. The question had to be raised whether the exploration of God, nature and human behavior ought to be approached another way. The "way" was the way of the Tao (Dao). In the words of the Dao Te Jing:

You look at it, but it is not to be seen; its name is Formless. You listen to it, but it is not to be heard; its name is Soundless. You grasp it, but it is not to be held. Its name is Bodiless. These three elude all scrutiny, and hence they blend and become the Supreme One, The Tao." (Tao Te Ching 14).

But, since the Tao is the source, the un-produced Producer (Creator) the reason why anything exists at all that Dao is not wholly indiscernible The Creator can be discerned in the effects. All that exists is a consequence of the Dao.

In order to produce from its self, it becomes concentrated energy chi ( qi ) the initiating singularity. It brings forth the two contrasting energies yin and yang at the boundary condition within which the manifold and varied appearances of all becomes possible. The yin and the yang are visible in the contrasts of the universe, light and dark, male and female, heavy and light, hot and cold. For there to be harmony between them there is contest even conflict: summer is attacked and overcome by winter; winter is overcome by summer. All life is caught up in this contest. The dualism of the Yin and the Yang enhances human wisdom if one does not struggle against these dualities but in going with the flow as they unfold. Every action may also be called "inaction", that is wu-wei,acting without effort in accordance with the unfolding Dao...

Taoism

Taoism (Dao) is the indigenous religio-philosophical tradition that has shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years.

In the broadest sense, a Taoist attitude toward life can be seen in the accepting and yielding, the joyful and carefree sides of the Chinese character, an attitude that offsets and complements the moral and duty-conscious, austere and purposeful character ascribed to Confucianism. Taoism is also characterized by a positive, active attitude toward the occult and the metaphysical (theories on the nature of reality). In contrast, the agnostic, pragmatic Confucian tradition considers these issues of only marginal importance. Still, the reality of such issues is, by most Confucians, not denied.

Perhaps, more strictly defined, Taoism includes: the ideas and attitudes peculiar to the Lao-tzu from the Tao-te Ching; ("Classic of the Way of Power"), and related writings; and, the Taoist religion, which is concerned with the ritual worship of the Tao; and those who identify themselves as Taoists.

Taoist thought permeates Chinese culture, including many aspects not usually considered Taoist. In Chinese religion, the Taoist tradition,often serving as a link between the Confucian tradition and folk tradition,has generally been more popular and spontaneous than the official (Confucian) state cult and less diffuse and shapeless than folk religion. Taoist philosophy and religion have found their way into all Asian cultures influenced by China, especially those of Vietnam, Japan, and Korea.

The ancient Taoist mystics should be viewed against the background of the religious practices existing in their own times. Their ecstatics, for example, were closely related to the trances and spirit journeys of the early magicians and shamans (religious personages with healing and psychic transformation powers). The authors of the Tao-te Ching, the Chuang-tzu (book of "Master Chuang"), and the Lieh-tzu (book of "Master Lieh") are not the actual and central founders of an earlier "pure" Taoism Therefore, because there has been a nearly continuous mutual influence between Taoists of different social classes,philosophers, ascetics, alchemists, and the priests of popular cults,the distinction between philosophical and religious Taoism is made simply for the sake of ease of description.

There is also a tendency among scholars today to draw a less rigid line between what is called Taoist and what is called Confucian. Viewed from this common tradition, orthodox Confucianism limited its field of interest to the creation of a moral and political system that fashioned the society of the Chinese empire; whereas Taoism, inside the same world view, represents a more personal and metaphysical world view.

In the case of Buddhism,a third major tradition that influenced China,fundamental concepts such as the nonexistence of the individual ego and the illusory nature of the physical world are diametrically opposed to Taoism. In terms of overt individual and collective practices, however, competition between these two religions for influence among the people resulted in mutual borrowings, numerous superficial similarities, and essentially Chinese developments inside Buddhism. Taoist and Buddhist elements have coexisted without clear distinctions in the minds of the worshippers.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The great sages and their associated texts

Lao-tzu and the Tao-te Ching

Behind Taoism in all its forms, stands the figure of Lao-tzu, traditionally regarded as the author of the classic text known as the Tao-te Ching ("Classic of the Way of Power"). There are many versions of a meeting of Lao-tzu and Confucius. Lao-tzu is portrayed as the elder and his Taoist teachings confound his celebrated interlocutor. The Chuang-tzu, a later text, also gives the only account of Lao-tzu's death. Thus in this early source, Lao-tzu appears as a senior contemporary of Confucius (6th-5th century BC) and a renowned Taoist master, a curator of the archives at the court of the Chou dynasty (c. 1111-255 BC) and, finally, a mere mortal, although an adept master of wisdom.. He is said to have instructed Confucius on points of ceremony. Observing the decline of the Chou dynasty, Lao-tzu left the court and headed west within China. . At the request of Yin Hsi, the guardian of the frontier pass, he wrote his treatise on the Tao in two scrolls. He then left China behind, and what became of him is not known. The historian quotes variant accounts with passing references in other early texts, this constitutes the body of information on the life of the sage as of the 2nd century BC; it is presumably legendary.

The Tao-te Ching is regarded by many scholars as a compilation that reached its final form only in the 3rd century BC, rather than the work of a single author. It stands alone, with all its attractions and enigmas, as the fundamental text of both philosophical and religious Taoism. The work's 81 brief sections contain only about 5,000 characters in all, from which fact still another title is derived, Lao Tzu's Five Thousand Words.

The text itself appears in equal measure to express a profound quietism and determined views on government. It is consequently between the extremes of meditative introspection and political application

The Tao-te Ching was meant as a handbook for the ruler. The ruler should be a sage whose actions pass so unnoticed that his very existence remains unknown. Such has not bee the model of recent American Presidents. In fact George Bush the younger poses as an anti-intellectual.

The Taoist ruler is presented as imposing no restrictions or prohibitions on his subjects; so long as I love quietude, the people will of themselves go straight. So long as I act only by inactivity, the people will of themselves become prosperous. His simplicity cools passions and stillness and peace follows naturally. He does not teach them discrimination, virtue, or ambition because "when intellect emerges, the great artifices begin. When discord is rife in families, "dutiful sons" appear. When the State falls into anarchy, "loyal subjects' appear." Thus, it is better that a leader be humble, hiding his wisdom, righteousness, and ingenuity, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.

Therefore the Holy Man rules by emptying their hearts (minds) and filling their bellies, weakening their wills, and strengthening their bones, ever striving to make the people knowledge less and desire less. (Note: The word people in this passage more likely refers not to the common people but to those nobles and intellectuals who incite the ruler's ambition and aggressiveness.). War is condemned but not entirely excluded: "Arms are ill-omened instruments," and the sage uses them only when he cannot do otherwise. He does not glory in victory; "He that has conquered in battle is received with rites of mourning."

The classic book shares certain constants of classical Chinese thought but clothes them in an imagery of its own. The sacred aura surrounding kingship is here rationalized and expressed as "inaction" (wu-wei), demanding of the sovereign no more than right-minded cosmological orientation at the centre of an obedient universe. Survivals of archaic notions concerning the compelling effect of renunciation,which the Confucians sanctified as ritual "deference" ( jang),are echoed in the recommendation to "hold to the role of the female," with an eye to an ultimate mastery that comes from passivity.

It is particularly in the function attributed to the Tao, or Way, that this Ta Te Ching stands apart. The term Tao was employed by all schools of thought. The universe has its Tao; there is a Tao of the sovereign, his royal mode of being, while the Tao of man comprises continuity through procreation. Each of the schools, too, had its own Tao, its way or doctrine. But in the Tao-te Ching, the ultimate unity of the universal Tao itself is being proposed as a social ideal. It is this idealistic peculiarity that seems to justify later historians and bibliographers in their assignment of the term Taoist to the Tao-te Ching and its successors.

From a literary point of view, the Tao-te Ching is distinguished by a highly compressed style. It is not anecdotal, it articulates its cryptic subject matter in short, concise statements. There is much rhyming; and close parallelism recurs throughout the text. No proper name occurs anywhere. Although its historical enigmas are apparently insoluble, there is abundant testimony to the vast influence exercised by the book since the earliest times and in surprisingly varied social contexts. Among the classics of speculative Taoism, it alone holds the distinction of having become a scripture of the esoteric Taoist movements, which developed their own interpretations of its ambiguities and transmitted it as a sacred text.

The Interpretations by Chuang-tzu

Pseudo-historical knowledge of the sage, Chuang-tzu, is even less well defined than that of Lao-tzu. Most of the brief portrait of the man is transparently drawn from anecdotes in the Chuang-tzu itself; as such it has no necessary basis in fact. The Chuang-tzu, however, is valuable as a monument of Chinese literature and because it contains considerable documentary material, describing numerous speculative trends and spiritual practices of the Warring States period (475-221 BC).

Whereas the Tao-te Ching is addressed to the sage-king, the Chuang-tzu is the earliest surviving Chinese text to present a philosophy for private life, wisdom for the individual. Chuang-tzu is said to have preferred the doctrine of Lao-tzu over all others; many of his writings strike the reader as metaphorical illustrations of the terse sayings of the "Old Master." Whereas Lao-tzu in his book as well as in his life (in legend) was concerned with Taoist rule, Chuang-tzu, some generations later, sadly, rejected all participation in society. He compared the servant of state to the well-fed decorated ox being led to sacrifice in the temple. As for him, his figure of speech was that of the untended piglet blissfully frolicking in the mire.

In the Chuang-tzu text there is none of the Tao-te Ching's studied density. The rambling Chuang-tzu opens with a sprightly fable, illustrating the lack of understanding of small wildfowl for the majestic splendor of a gigantic bird. Other such parables demonstrate the relativity of all values: the sliding scales of size, utility, beauty, and perfection. There is a colloquy between the Lord of the Yellow River and the God of the Eastern Ocean. Therein, the complacent self-satisfaction of the lesser spirit is shaken by his unexpected meeting with inconceivable vastness. Humble artisans are depicted, who, through the perfect mastery of their craft, exemplify, for their social superiors, the art of mastering life. Life and death are equated. The dying is seen to welcome their approaching transformation as a fusion with the Tao.

A succession of acquiescent cripples exclaim in rapture on the strange forms in which it has pleased heaven to shape them. Those involved in state ritual are brought onstage only to be mocked. The propositions of contemporary logic-choppers are drawn into the unending whirl of paradox then spun out to their conclusions, and thereby abolished. These are a few aspects of this wild kaleidoscope of unconventional thought. It is a landmark in Chinese literature. Its concluding chapter is a systematic account of the preeminent thinkers of the time, and the note of mock despair on which it closes typifies the Chuang-tzu's position regarding the more formal, strait-laced ideologies that it parodies.

Among the strange figures that people the pages of Chuang-tzu are very special classes of spiritualized beings. They dwell far apart from the turbulent world of men, dining on air and sipping the dew. Moreover, they share none of the anxieties of ordinary folk and have the smooth, untroubled faces of children. These "supreme men," or "perfect men," are immune to the effects of the elements, untouched by heat and cold. They possess the power of flight and are described as mounting upward with a fluttering (hsien) motion. Their effortless existence was the ultimate in autonomy, the natural spontaneity that Chuang-tzu ceaselessly applauds. Perhaps, these striking portraits were intended to be allegorical, but whatever their original meaning, these Immortals (hsien - as they came to be called,) were to be come the centre of great interest. These purely literary descriptions of their freedom, their breathtaking mobility, and their agelessness were construed as practical objectives by later generations.

By a variety of practices, men attempted to attain these qualities in their own persons, and in time Chuang-tzu's unfettered paragons of liberty were to see themselves classified according to kind and degree in a hierarchy of the heavenly hosts before the formation of the philosophic schools. These legendary figures continued to be venerated until the first radical break with tradition and the overthrow of dynastic rule at the beginning of the 20th century. Obviously, they are thus not specifically Taoist. The most important of these concepts fostered ideas of the solidarity of nature and man. To Chinese there was interaction between the universe and human society; the cyclical character of time; and the universal rhythm; and the law of return along with the worship of ancestors, the cult of Heaven, and the divine nature of the sovereign.

CONCEPTS OF THE UNIVERSE AND NATURAL ORDER

Cosmology

What Lao-tzu calls the "permanent Tao" is in reality nameless. The name (Ming), in ancient Chinese thought implied an evaluation assigning an object its place in a hierarchical universe. The Tao is outside these categories in all directions. It is something formlessly fashioned and existed before Heaven and Earth; its name (Ming) - we do not know; Tao is merely the byname that we give it. Were one forced to say to what class of things to which it belongs - I should call it Immense without size.

Tao is the "imperceptible, indiscernible," about which nothing can be predicated. Still, it latently contains the forms, entities, and forces of all particular phenomena: "It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang. Tithe (Named) is the mother that rears the Ten Thousand Beings, each after its kind." The Nameless (wu-ming) and the Named (yu-ming), Not-Being (wu) and Being (yu), are all interdependent and "grow out of one another."

Not-Being (wu) and Tao are not identical; wu and yu are two aspects of the permanent Tao - . . . "in its mode of being Unseen, we will see its mysteries; in the mode of the Seen, we will see its boundaries."

Not-Being does not mean Nothingness but rather the absence of perceptible qualities. In Lao-tzu's view it is superior to being. It is the Void (that is, empty incipience) that harbors in itself all potentialities and without which even being lacks its efficacy.

Emptiness realized in the mind of the Taoist who has freed himself or herself from all obstructing notions and distracting passions. This state makes the Tao act through him without obstacle. An essential characteristic that governs the Tao is spontaneity (tzu-jan). The what-is-so-of-itself, the self-so, the unconditional... The Tao, in turn, governs the universe: "The ways of Heaven are conditioned by those of the Tao, and the ways of Tao by the Self-so."

This is the way of the wise adept who does not intervene but possesses the total power of spontaneous realization that is at work in the universe. Of his accomplishments "everyone, throughout the country, says "It happened of its own accord" (tzu-jan)."

The Microcosm-Macrocosm Concept

The conception of the universe common to all Chinese philosophy is neither materialistic nor animistic (a belief system that centers on soul substances). It could be called magical or even alchemical or in modern times the subtle electro-magnetic energy within. The universe is viewed as a hierarchically organized mechanism in which every part reproduces the whole. Man is a microcosm (small universe) that corresponds rigorously to the macrocosm (large universe). The human body reproduces the plan of the cosmos. Between man/woman and the universe there exists a system of correspondences and participations that the ritualistic philosophers, alchemists, and physicians have described but certainly they did not invent It is important to realize that this originally magical feeling of the integral unity of mankind with the natural order has always characterized the Chinese mentality, and the Taoists especially have elaborated upon it. Observe how different that is from Western man's desire to exploit and conquer nature viewed as a powerful, even terrible, adversary.

The five organs of the body and its orifices and the dispositions, features, and passions of man correspond to the five directions, the five holy mountains, the sections of the sky, the seasons, and the elements (wu-hsing), which in China are not material but more like five fundamental phases of any of the processes in space-time. Whoever understands man thus understands the structure of the universe.

The physiologist knows that blood circulates because rivers carry water. The body has 360 articulations because the ritual year has 360 days. In the religious Taoism the interior of the body is inhabited by the same gods as those of the macrocosm. A wise adept Taoist often searches for his divine teacher in all the holy mountains of China until he finally discovers him in one of the "palaces" inside his own head.

Return to the Tao

The law of the Tao as the natural order refers to the continuous reversion (cycle) of everything to its starting point. Anything that develops extreme qualities will invariably revert to the opposite qualities: "Reversion is flowing motion of the Tao" (Lao-tzu). All that is being issues from the Tao and ineluctably returns to it; Undifferentiated Unity becomes multiplied and diverse in the movement of the Tao". Life and death are contained in this eternal transformation from Non-Being into Being and back to Non-Being, but the underlying primordial unity is never lost.

For society, any reform means a type of return to that which was done in the remote past. Civilization is considered a degradation of the natural order. Always there is the ideal - to return to an original purity. For the individual, wisdom is to conform to the rhythm of the universe. The Taoist mystic, however, not only adapts himself ritually and physiologically to the alternations of nature but creates a void inside him that permits him or her to return to nature's origin. Lao-tzu, in trance, "wandered freely in the origin of all beings." Thus, in ecstasy he escaped the rhythm of life and death by contemplating the universal return. "Having attained perfect emptiness, holding fast to stillness, I can watch the return of the ever active Ten Thousand Beings." The number 10,000 symbolizes the totality.

Change and Transformation

All parts of the universe are attuned in a rhythmical pulsation. Nothing is static; all beings are subjected to periodical mutations and transformations that represent to the Chinese their view of creation. Instead of being opposed with a static ideal, change itself is systematized and made intelligible, as in the theory of the five phases (wu-hsing), and, in the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching (Classic of Changes), which are basic recurrent constellations in the stasis of general flux. An unchanging unity (the permanent Tao) is seen as underlying the kaleidoscopic plurality.

Chuang-tzu's image for creation was that of the activity of the potter and the bronze-caster: "to shape and to transform" (tsao hua). These are two phases of the same process. The imperceptible Tao shapes the universe continuously out of primordial chaos. It is the perpetual transformation of the universe by the alternations of Yin and Yang, or complementary energies (seen as night and day or as winter and summer). It is nothing more or less that the external aspect of the same Tao. The shaping of the Ten Thousand Beings by the Supreme Unity and their transformation by Yin and Yang are both simultaneous and perpetual. Thus, the wise Taoist adept's ecstatic union is a "moving together with the Tao; dispersing and concentrating, his appearance has no consistency." United with the permanent Tao, the wise Taoist's outer aspect becomes one of ungraspable change. The gods can become perceptible only by adapting to the mode of this changing world. Thereby their apparitions are "transformations" (pien-hua). The mystical/magician (hua-jen) is believed to be one who transforms rather than one who conjures out of nothing.

CONCEPTS OF MAN AND SOCIETY

Wu-wei (inaction, subtle harmonic energy)

The power acquired by the Taoist is his efficacy in the Tao in the realm of Being, which is translated as "virtue." Lao-tsu viewed it, however, as different from Confucian virtue:

The man of superior virtue is not virtuous, and that is why he has virtue. The man of inferior [Confucian] virtue never strays from virtue, and that is why he has no virtue.

The "superior virtue" of Taoism is a latent power that never lays claim to its achievements. It is the "mysterious power" (hsien te) of Tao. It is present in the heart of the sage,"the man of superior virtue never acts (wu-wei), and yet there is nothing he leaves undone."

Wu-wei is neither an ideal of absolute inaction nor a mere "not-overdoing." It is an action so well in accordance with things that its author leaves no trace of himself in his work: "Perfect activity leaves no track behind it; perfect speech is like a jade worker whose tool leaves no mark." It is the Tao that "never acts, yet there is nothing it does not do." There is no true achievement without wu-wei. Every deliberate intervention against the natural course of things will sooner or later turn into the opposite of what was intended and will result in failure.

The sage who practices wu-wei lives out of his original nature before it was over-elaborated by knowledge and restricted by morality. He has reverted to the undiminished vitality of the newborn state or infancy. He has "returned to the state of the Uncarved Block (p'u)." P'u is also like uncut, unpainted wood, simplicity. Society carves this wood into specific shapes for its own use; thereby it robs the individual piece of its original totality. "Once the Uncarved block is carved, it forms utensils (that is, instruments of government). However, when the Sage uses it, he would be fit to become Chief of all Ministers. This is why the great craftsman (i.e. ruler) does not carve (i.e. rule)."

The Social Ideal of Primitivism

Any willful human intervention is believed capable of ruining the harmony of the natural transformation process. The spontaneous rhythm of the primitive agrarian community and its un-self-conscious symbiosis with nature's cycles is thus the Taoist ideal of society. On is reminded of Jefferson's ideal agrarian society in which democracy would flourish responsibly.

In the ideal society there are no books; the Lao-tzu (Tao-te Ching) itself would not have been written but for the entreaty of the guardian of the pass Yin Hsi, who asked the "Old Master" to write down his thoughts. In the Golden Age, past or future, knotted cords are the only form of records. The people of this age are "blunt not witty, they have no desire for material things. This is called uncarved simplicity. In Uncarved simplicity the people attain their true nature." Chuang-tzu liked to oppose the Heaven-made and the man-made; that is, nature and society. He wanted man to renounce all artificial "cunning contrivances" that facilitate his work but lead to scheming "cunning hearts" and agitated souls wherein the Tao will not dwell. Man should equally renounce all concepts of measure, law, and virtue. "Make pecks and bushels for people to use as measures and they will steal by the peck and bushel." He blamed not only the culture heroes and inventors praised by the Confucians but also the sages who shaped the rites and rules of society.

(Tao) and its Virtue (te) were destroyed in order to create benevolence and righteousness,this was the fault of the sage without virtue. This phrase resonates with the crafty nature of St. Augustine.

Even "coveting knowledge" is condemned because it engenders competition and "fight to the death over profit."

Ideas of Knowledge and Language

Characteristic of Chuang-tzu are his ideas of knowledge and language developed under the stimulus of his friend and opponent, the philosopher Hui Shih. In the Taoist view, all beings and everything are fundamentally one. Therefore, opposing opinions can arise only when people lose sight of the Whole and regard their partial truths as absolute. They are then like the frog at the bottom of the well who takes the bit of brightness he sees for the whole sky. The closed systems,i.e., the passions and prejudices into which petty minds shut themselves,hide the Tao that is the "Supreme Master" which resides inside themselves and is superior to all distinctions. Much of the current strife in Christianity arises from this kind of opposing opinions. They believe themselves to be devoted but have lost sight of Jesus teachings.

Thus, Chuang-tzu's beau ideal of the holy man fully recognizes the relativity of notions like good and evil and true and false. He is neutral and open to the extent that he offers no active resistance to any would-be opponent, whether it is a person or an idea. "When you argue, there are some things you are failing to see. In the greatest Tao nothing is named; in the greatest disputation, nothing is said."

The person who wants to know the Tao is told: "Don't meditate, don't cogitate, Follow no school, follow no way, and then you will attain the Tao". Discard knowledge, forget distinctions, and reach no-knowledge. The key is that "Forget" indicates that distinctions had to be known first. The original ignorance of the child is distinguished from the no-knowledge of the sage who can "sit in forgetfulness."

The mystic does not speak because declaring unity, by creating duality of the speakers and the hypocritical affirmations, destroys it. Those who speak about the Tao (like Chuang-tzu himself) are "wholly wrong. For he who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know." Chuang-tzu was aware of the fact that, in speaking about it, he could do no more than hint at the way toward the all-embracing and intuitive knowledge. Many of our preachers today are like the sounding of cymbals signifying nothing.

Identity of Life and Death

Mystic realization does away with the distinction between the self and the world. This idea also governs Chuang-tzu's attitude toward death. Life and death are but one of the pairs of cyclical phases and no more. They are such as day and night or summer and winter. "Since life and death are each other's companions, why worry about them? All beings are one." Life and death are not in opposition but merely two aspects of the same reality. They are arrested moments out of the flux of the universal mutations of everything into everything. Humans are no exception; "They go back into the great weaving machine: thus all beings issue from the Loom and return to the Loom."

Viewed from the single reality experienced in ecstasy, it is just as difficult to distinguish life from death as it is to distinguish the waking Chuang-tzu from the dreaming butterfly. Death is natural. It is certain humans ought neither to fear nor to desire it. Chuang-tzu's attitude thus is one of serene acceptance. "Free - Free at Last?

Religious Goals of the Individual

The Confucian wise leader (sheng) is viewed as a ruler of antiquity or a great sage who taught men how to return to the rites of antiquity. The Taoist way to being an adept, however, is internal (nei sheng), although it can become manifest in an external great leader (wai wang) who brings the world back to the Way by means of quietism: variously called "non-intervention" (wu-wei); "inner cultivation" (nei yeh); or, "art of the heart and mind" (hsin-shu).

Whereas worldly ambitions, riches, and (especially) discursive knowledge scatter the person and drain his energies, the exemplar "embraces Unity" or "holds fast to the One" (pao i); that is, he aspires to union with the Tao. He seeks Tao in a primordial undivided state underlying consciousness. "Embracing Unity" also means that he maintains the balance of Yin and Yang within himself along with the union of his spiritual (hun) and vegetative (p'o) soul, and the diffusion which spells death; the macho male chauvinist warriors of the wayward West have lost their connection with this fundamental principle. Few of them do not embrace unity nor do they acknowledge the Ying within themselves.

Taoists usually believed there were three hundred and seven p'o. The spiritual soul tends to wander (in dreams). Passionate wants and desires can result in loss of soul. To retain and harmonize the parts of one's soul is important for physical life as well as for the unification of the whole human entity. Cleansed of every distraction, the holy one creates inside himself a void that in reality is plenitude. Empty of all impurity, he is full of the original energy (yuan chi's), which is the principle of life that in the ordinary man begins its decay from the moment of birth on.

Because vital energy and spirituality are not clearly distinguished, old age in itself becomes a possible proof of sainthood. The aged Taoist sage became a holy one because he had been able to cultivate himself throughout a long existence. His longevity in itself was the proof of his goodness and union with the Tao. Externally, he had a healthy, flourishing appearance while inside he contained an ever-flowing source of energy that manifested itself in radiance and in a powerful, beneficial influence on his surroundings. This very radiance is the charismatic efficacy (te) of the Tao.

The mystical insight of Chuang-tzu made him scorn those who strove for longevity and immortality through physiological practices. Nevertheless, physical immortality was a Taoist goal probably long before and alongside the unfolding of Taoist mysticism. The adept at immortality had a choice among many methods that were all intended to restore or revitalize the pure energies possessed at birth by the infant whose perfect vital force Lao-tzu admired. Through these methods, the adept became an immortal (hsien) who lived 1,000 years in this world if he so chose. Once satiated with life he or she, "ascended to heaven in broad daylight." This was the final apotheosis of the Taoist who had transformed his body into pure Yang energy. One should note that the Chinese don't reserve this ascension to Jesus Christ and those selected by Church fathers, instead, it is available to those who live the Way of the Tao to perfection..

Chuang-tzu's descriptions of the indescribable Tao, as well as of those who have attained union with the Tao, are invariably poetic. The perfect man has identified his life rhythm so completely with the rhythm of the forces of nature that he has become it. He or she is indistinguishable from them and shares their immortality and infinity, which is above the cycle of ordinary life and death. He is "pure spirit". He feels neither the heat of the brush lands afire nor the cold of the waters in flood"; nothing can startle or frighten him. Not that he is magically invulnerable (as the adepts of physical immortality would have it), but he is "so cautious in shunning and approaching, that nothing can do him injury."

"A human like this rides the clouds as his carriages and the sun and moon as his steeds." The theme of the spiritual wandering (yuan yu), which can be traced back to the shamanistic soul journey, crops up wherever Chuang-tzu speaks of the perfect man. We find echoes of this poetic view in many of the world religions.

Those who let themselves be borne away by the unadulterated energies of Heaven and Earth and can harness the six composite energies to roam through the limitless, whatever could they need that they henceforth depend on? Many believe that the Mahatma Gandhi now roams through the limitless, a perfect human adept.

These wanderings are journeys within one; they are a happy trip through the Infinite in a state of ecstasy. Transcending the ordinary distinctions of things and being one with the Tao, "the Perfect Man has no self, the Holy Man has no merit, and the Sage has no fame. He lives inconspicuously among men, and whatever applies to the Tao applies to him." Would that the Western world's leaders discover this fundamental concept and make it their own goal. .

SYMBOLISM AND MYTHOLOGY

Taoists prefer to convey their ecstatic insights in images and parables. The Tao is low and as receiving as a valley, soft and life-giving as water, and it is the "mysterious female," the source of all life. It is the Mother of the Ten Thousand Beings. Man should become weak and yielding as water that overcomes the hard and the strong. Humans should always take the low ground; he should develop his male and female sides but "prefer femininity," "and feed on the mother," Thereby he or she will find within himself the nurturing well that never runs dry. Tao is also the axis, the ridgepole, the pivot, and the empty centre of the hub. The virtuous human is the "useless tree" or the huge gourd too large to be fashioned into implements. A frequent metaphor for the working of the Tao is the incommunicable ability to be skillful at a craft. The skilled artisan does not ponder on his action, but, in union with the Tao of his subject, he does his work reflexively and without conscious intent. Those who apprentice to him or her must learn by watching and following the leader...

Much ancient Chinese mythology has been preserved by the Taoists. They drew on it to illustrate their views. A chaos (hun-tun) myth is recorded as a metaphor for the undifferentiated primal unity; the mythical emperors (Huang Ti and others) are extolled for wise Taoist rule or blamed for introducing harmful civilization. Dreams of mythical paradises and journeys on clouds and flying dragons are: metaphors for the wanderings of the soul; the attainment of the Tao; and the identity of dream and reality. Taoists have transformed and adapted some ancient myths to their beliefs. Thus, the Queen Mother of the West (Hsi Wang Mu), who was a mountain spirit, pestilence goddess, and tigress, became a high deity,the Goddess Queen of all immortals.

Early Eclectic Contributions - The Idea of Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang literally mean "dark side" and "sunny side" of a hill. They are mentioned for the first time in the Hsi tz'u, or "Appended Explanations" (c. 4th century BC), an appendix to the I Ching (Classic of Changes): "One [time] Yin, one [time] Yang, this is the Tao." Yin and Yang are two complementary, interdependent principles or phases alternating in space and time; they are emblems evoking the harmonious interplay of all pairs of opposites in the universe. First conceived by musicians, astronomers, or diviners and then propagated by a school that came to be named after them, Yin and Yang became the common stock of all Chinese philosophy.

The Taoist treatise Huai-nan-tzu (book of "Master Huai-nan") describes how the one "Primordial Breath" (yuan ch'i) split into the light ethereal Yang breath, which formed Heaven; and the heavier, cruder Yin breath, which formed Earth. The diversifications and interactions of Yin and Yang produced the Ten Thousand Beings. To produce water, the essence of which became the moon.

The Idea of Ch'i

Yin and Yang are often referred to as two "breaths" (ch'i). Ch'i means air, breathe, or vapor,originally the vapor arising from cooking cereals. It also came to mean a cosmic energy. The Primordial Breath is a name of the chaos (state of Unity) in which the original life force is not yet diversified into the phases that the concepts Yin and Yang describe. . E very human has a portion of this primordial life-force allotted to him at birth, and his task is not to dissipate it through the activity of his senses but to strengthen, control, and increase it in order to live out his full span of life.

The Idea of Wu-hsing (The five agents or powers)

Another important set of notions associated with the same school of Yin-Yang are the "five agents" or "phases" (wu-hsing) or "powers" (wu-te): water, fire, wood, metal, earth. They are also "breaths" (i.e., active energies), the idea of which enabled the philosophers to construct a coherent system of correspondences and participations linking all phenomena of the macrocosm and the microcosm. Associated with spatial directions, seasons of the year, colors, musical notes, animals, and other aspects of nature, they also correspond, in the human body, to the five inner organs. The Taoist techniques of longevity are grounded in these correspondences. The idea behind such techniques was that of nourishing the inner organs with the essences corresponding to their respective phases and during the season dominated by the latter.

Yang Chu and the Lieh-tzu

Yang Chu (c. 400 BC) is representative of the early pre-Taoist recluses, "those who hid themselves" (yin-shih), who, in the Analects of Confucius, ridiculed Confucius' zeal to improve society. Yang Chu held that each individual should value his own life above all else, despise wealth and power, and not agree to sacrifice even a single hair of his head to benefit the whole world. The scattered sayings of Yang Chu in pre-Han texts are much less hedonistic than his doctrine as it is presented in the Lieh-tzu (book of "Master Lieh"). With the Earth headed for over-population this way lacks touch with reality. It seems to be escapist.

Lieh-tzu was a legendary Taoist master whom Chuang-tzu described as being able to "ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill." In many old legends Lieh-tzu is the paragon of the spiritual traveler. The text named after him (of uncertain date) presents a philosophy that views natural changes and human activities as wholly mechanistic in their operation; neither human effort nor divine destiny can change the course of things. This fatalism discourages concern for the poverty of others; Service to other as a way to serve God does not fit this philosophy.

Kuna-tzu and Huai-nan-tzu

In the several Taoist chapters of the Kuna-tzu (book of "Master Kuna"), another text of uncertain date, emphasis is placed on "the art of the heart (mind)"; the heart governs the body as the chief governs the state. If the organs and senses submit to it, the heart can achieve a desirelessness and emptiness that make it a pure receptacle of the "heart inside the heart," a new soul that is the indwelling Tao.

The Huai-nan-tzu is a compilation of essays written by different learned magicians (fang-shih) at the court of their patron, the Prince of Huai-nan. Although lacking in unity, it is a compendium of the knowledge of the time that had been neglected by the less speculative scholars of the new state Confucianism. The Huai-nan-tzu discusses the most elaborate cosmology up to that time, the position of man in the macrocosm, the ordering of society, and the ideal of personal sainthood.

TAOISM UNDER THE T'ANG, SUNG, AND LATER DYNASTIES

Taoism Under the T'ang Dynasty (618-907)

China's reunification under the T'ang marked the beginning of Taoism's most spectacular success.
The dynasty's founder, Li Yuan, claimed to be descended from the Lao-tzu; as his power increased, even the influential Mao Shan Taoists came to accept him as the long-deferred fulfillment of messianic prophecy. This notion was built into the dynasty's state ideology, and the emperor was commonly referred to as the"sage-exemplar" (sheng). Prospective candidates for the civil service were examined in either the Ling Pao "Classic of Salvation" (Tu-jen Ching) or the Mao Shan "Classic of the Yellow Court" (Huang-t'ing Ching). Under a series of celebrated patriarchs, the Mao Shan organization dominated the religious life of the age.

One of the greatest of the line, Su-ma Ch'eng-chen, initiated innumerable government officials and eminent men of letters and served as spiritual master to emperors. The personnel of the Mao Shan revelations even entered into the formal framework of state religion. When Su-ma Ch'eng-chen pointed out that the sacred peaks of the Imperial cult were in reality under the superintendence of the perfected of Shang-ch'ing, officially sponsored shrines were erected to them there; and their propitiation was incorporated into the traditional rites.

The wide diffusion of Taoism throughout the vast T'ang Empire is reflected by the sizable proportion of Taoist texts discovered in the walled-up caves at Tun-huang (in Kansu Province). This town in the far west of China was the gateway to Central Asia; and here Taoists came into contact not only with Buddhists of many different doctrinal persuasions but also with Nestorian Christians and Manichaean's. Copies of the Lao-tzu were sent to the King of Tibet, and the book was translated into Sanskrit at the request of the ruler of Kashmir. It also reached Japan in the 7th century, as did texts of religious Taoism.

Reports of Taoism's dominance on the continent may still are read in the diaries of Japanese Buddhist pilgrims. The geographic extension of the religion at this time was also represented, in the legendary sphere, by the systematic elaboration of its sacred mountains and the traditions attaching to each of them. They are described by the great hagiographer, Tu Kuang-t'ing, at the end of the T'ang dynasty. In addition to the great "cavern-heavens" (tung-t'ien), 10 holy mountains known to the original Mao Shan revelations, he lists 36 lesser cavern heavens and 72 sanctuaries (fu-ti). Situated throughout the length and breadth of the empire, they are fitting spiritual guideposts across the dominions of the T'ang, which saw itself as essentially a Taocratic realm.

TAOISIM UNDER THE SUNG AND YUAN DYNASTIES

Internal Developments

The Sung (960-1279) and Yuan (1206-1368) periods witnessed a great religious effervescence, stimulated in part, under the Sung, by the menace of foreign invasion and, during the Yuan, by Tantric (esoteric, or occultist Buddhism that was in vogue among the new Mongol rulers of China. During the preceding centuries the Way of the Celestial Masters, centered at Lung-hu Shan (Dragon-Tiger Mountain, Kiang-si), had been eclipsed by the prestige of Mao Shan.

At the end of the Northern Sung period, the 30th celestial master, Chang Chi-hsien, was four times summoned to court by the Sung emperor Hui Tsung, who hoped for spiritual support for his threatened reign. Chang Chi-hsien was credited with a renovation of the ancient sect, thereafter called the Way of Orthodox Unity (Cheng-i Tao), and with the introduction of the influential rites of the "five thunders" (wu-lei) into Taoist liturgy.

After the retreat of the Sung government south of the Yangtze River (1126), a number of new Taoist sects were founded in the occupied North and soon attained impressive dimensions. Among them was the Ch'uan-chen (Perfect Realization) sect, founded in 1163 by Wang Ch'ung-yang (Wang Che). This last sect came to the favorable attention of the Mongols, who had taken over in the North, and its second patriarch, Ch'iu Ch'ang-ch'un, was invited into Central Asia to preach to Genghis Khan. The sect enjoyed great popularity, and its establishments of celibate monks continued to be active into the 20th century, with the famous White Cloud Monastery (Po-yun Kuan) at Peking as headquarters. In the South. Mao Shan continued to prosper, while the Ko-tsao sect flourished at the mountain of that name, in Kiangsi Province.

TAOIST LITERARY DEVELOPMENTS

As early as c. 570, the need for a comprehensive collection of information on all the schools had resulted in the first great Taoist encyclopedia. Like other such works in China, it was made up of extracts from sundry books, classified by subject matter. The compilation of similar reference works flourished during the Sung and Yuan periods. The most important is the Seven Slips from the Book bag of the Clouds (Yun-chi ch'i-ch'ien) (c. 1022), made just after the first printing of the Taoist Canon in about 1016. There were huge general collections, containing the lives of both legendary and historical figures, of particular interest are the extensive monographs devoted to the great mountain canters of Taoism. The Treatise on Mao Shan (Mao Shan chih) (1329) is among the most monumental. It includes lives of the saints and patriarchs, notes on topography and history, and a valuable selection from 1,000 years of literary testimony and inscriptions on the mountain and it's Taoism. The new Taoist movements, which took northern China by storm in the 12th and 13th centuries, also furnish their own very copious literature: into Central Asia in response to the summons of Genghis Khan.

ALCHEMICAL DEVELOPMENTS

This period witnessed increasing interest in internal alchemy (nei tan), in which the language of the laboratory was used to describe processes realized within the human body. This, in a sense, was nothing new. Alchemical metaphors had very early been applied to physiology; Ko Hung, for example, called semen the "Yin elixir." By Sung times, however, the systematic exteriorization and sublimation of alchemy had become so widespread that all earlier texts of operative, external alchemy (wai tan) were henceforth supposed to have really been written about nei tan. The attempt to compound a tangible chemical elixir was thought to have been no more than a hoax. Liturgy also provided its own sublimation of the older art: the lien-tu ("salvation by smelting"). Funeral service was developed at this time, in which an "elixir of immortality" was compounded of written talismans and offered to the deceased.

SYNCRETISM, TAO SYNTHESE

With such prestigious examples as Ch'an Buddhism (emphasizing intuitive meditation) and Neo- Confucianism (emphasizing knowledge and reason) in vogue, Taoists did not long delay in constructing interesting syntheses of their own and other beliefs. Confucianism and Buddhism were cultivated as fertile source of inspiration Ho Chen-kung in 1131 inspired the "Pure and Luminous Way of Loyalty and Filial Obedience" (Ching-ming Chung-hsiao Tao). This sect preached the Confucian cardinal virtues as being essential for salvation, and consequently won a considerable following in conservative intellectual and official circles. Another highly popular syncretistic movement of Taoist origin was that of the Three Religions (San Chiao). Its composite moral teachings are represented by popular tracts, the so-called "books on goodness" (shan-shu), which have been in extremely wide circulation since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

DEVELOPMENTS OUTSIDE THE MANDARIN BUREAUCRATIC STREAM

Communal Folk Taoism (shen chiao)

It is of great importance to understand that popular, or folk, religion is not a separate religious tradition but the wholly unorganized undercurrent of Chinese religious culture from the earliest times, shared by all strata of society. The Chinese have no single name for it; it may be called the religion of the gods, or spirits (shen chiao). The deities of the popular pantheon come from all traditions. What the deities have in common is that in shen chiao they are all gods intimately involved in everyday life as givers of blessings or bringers of calamities. Every object or activity of daily life has its presiding spirit that has to be consulted and feasted or appeased and driven off, especially at all special occasions in the life of the family or the community. The person primarily involved in the practice of shen chiao in modern times is the fa shih (magician).

For the orthodox Taoist priests the shen chiao rites are the "little rites"; the chiao rituals, the exclusive function of the Taoist priests, are the "great rites." Both kinds of priests,the orthodox and the magicians,operate on different occasions in the same temples and are consulted for the family rites of burial, birth, marriage, house construction, and business affairs.

Major Exorcism of Demons

Rites such as purification of haunted houses and treatment of the sick or mentally deranged) are performed by the orthodox Taoist priests, because they have been ordained into the ranks of the shen, they have power over the demons with who they are on an equal footing. The fa shih priest's specific function is the manipulation of possessed mediums (specially gifted lay persons).

The Possessed Medium puts himself or herself into a trance in which he becomes the mouthpiece of a deity (or a deceased relative) giving medical, personal, or business advice that is interpreted by the fa shih. Professional mediums attached to a temple or a private cult lacerate themselves in trances. This is considered to be a vicarious atonement for the community during the great feasts.

A different form of mediumistic communication among lay people is automatic writing, either with a brush on paper or with a stick on sand.

Secret Societies

Politically dissident messianic movements have existed and developed separately from the established Taoist church from early times (2nd century AD). Their leaders were priest-shamans, similar to the modern fa shih priests of folk Taoism. Their followers were the semiliterate or illiterate classes socially below the tradition of orthodox Taoism, and their organization was similar to that of the syncretistic religions and of modern secret societies. Although the secret societies have had no organizational contact with the Taoist tradition for centuries, their religious beliefs, practices, and symbols contain some Taoist elements, such as initiation rites, worship of Taoist deities, mediumism, and the use of charms and amulets for invulnerability. These influences reached them either directly or through popular religion.

INFLUENCE - TAOISM AND CHINESE CULTURE

Taoist Contributions to Chinese Science

Taoist physiological techniques have, in themselves, no devotional character. They have the same preoccupations as physicians: to preserve health and to prolong physical life. Medicine developed independently from about the 1st century AD. Still many Taoist faith healers and hygienists added to medical knowledge.

The earliest surviving medical book, the Huang Ti nei Ching, or "The Yellow Emperor's Esoteric Classic" (3rd century BC?), presents itself as the teachings of a legendary Celestial Master addressed to the Yellow Emperor. Experiments with minerals, plants, and animal substances, inspired to some extent by Taoist dietetics and by the search for the elixir of life, resulted in the 52 chapters of pharmacopoeia called Pen-ts'ao kang-mu, or "Great Pharmacopoeia" (16th century).

This interest in science is considered a reflection of the Taoist emphasis on direct observation and experience of the nature of things, as opposed to Confucian reliance on the authority of tradition. Chuang-tzu declared that tradition tells what was good for a bygone age but not what is good for the present.

The Taoist secret for efficacy is to follow the nature of things. This does not imply scientific experimentation but rather a sensitivity and skill obtained by "minute concentration on the Tao running through natural objects of all kinds." It was believed that knowledge and skill could not be handed down but is that which the men of old took with them when they died (Chuang-tzu). The image for it is the skill of the artisan so admired by the Taoists in their numerous parables on wheelwrights, meat-cutters, sword makers, carvers, animal tamers, and musicians.

Though extolling the intuitive comprehension and skillful handling of matter, the Taoists did not observe nature in the Western sense and rejected technology out of their aversion to the artificial. Any new idea or discovery in China was phrased as "what the old masters really meant." This ideology of re-discovery makes it hard to study the evolution of scientific thought. Some progress over the ages (for example, in alchemy) can be seen, but the Taoist contribution to Chinese science seems indirect as a mindset rather than direct contributions.

Taoist Imagery in Culture and Literature

Taoist literature manifests such richness and variety that scholars tend naturally to seek the symbolic modes of expression that served as points of unity within its historical diversity. No image is more fundamental to all phases of Taoism than that of the child. The Tao-te Ching praises the infant's closeness to the Tao in its freedom from outside impressions. Chuang-tzu describes the spiritual beings nurtured on primal substances, air and dew, as having the faces of children. Thus many of the spirits, both indwelling and celestial, in their esoteric system are described as resembling newborn babes. Similarly, when the Immortals appear in visions, though hundreds of years old, they are at most adolescent in appearance. Other persistent images are those of mountain and cavern. Found in the older texts, they are carried over, with particular connotations, into the later works.

The mountain is a meeting place of heaven and earth, gods and men, and master and disciple (as already in Chuang-tzu). It takes on a vast downward extension for beneath the mountains are the great "Cavern-heavens" (tung-t'ien) of esoteric Taoism. The caverns are staffed by a numerous immortal hierarchy. Thus, for example, while Mao Shan is only some 400 meters (1,300 feet) high, to the gaze of the initiate. He or she knows that its luminous grottoes plunge thousands of meters into the earth. Light is everywhere in Taoist revelation: spirits and paradises gleam with brilliance unknown in the world of men.

Influence on Secular literature

During the Warring States period and the early Han, Taoism had made its appearance in the works of the other schools. Both direct quotations and patent imitations were frequent. Citations from Tao-te Ching and Chuang-tzu abound throughout later Chinese literature.

Esoteric Taoist writings, too, held great fascination for men of letters. Their response might vary from a mere mention of the most celebrated Immortals on the one hand, to whole works inspired by specific Taoist texts and practices, on the other. Many a poet recorded his search, real or metaphorical, for Immortals or transcendent herbs or described his attempts at compounding an elixir. A certain number of technical terms became touchstones of poetic diction.

The revealed literature of Mao Shan came to have the greatest effect on secular writings. As works of great literary refinement, the Lives of the Perfected directly inspired a very famous tale, the Intimate Life of Emperor Wu of Han (Han Wu Ti nei-chuan; late 6th century), which in highly polished terms describes the visit to the emperor of a goddess, the Queen Mother of the West. This work, in turn, made a decisive contribution to the development of T'ang romantic fiction. Literary accounts of fantastic marvels also drew heavily on the wonders of Mao Shan hagiography and topography. The Mao Shan influence on T'ang poetry was no less important. Precise references to the Mao Shan literature of the sect abound in the poems of the time, while many of the greatest poets, such as Li Po, were formally initiated into the Mao Shan organization. Recently, scholars are faced with the intriguing possibility of religious origins of whole genres of Chinese literature.

Influence on the Visual Arts

A number of early Chinese books of spiritual interest claim to have been inspired by pictures seen on the walls of local temples. A similar tradition attaches to the Lives of the Immortals, of which it is said to have derived from a pictorial work called Portraits of the Immortals. As has been noted, the Immortals were depicted on Han mirrors. Graphic guides existed from early times to aid in the identification of sacred minerals and plants, particularly mushrooms. This practical aspect of Taoist influence resulted in the exceptionally high technical level of botanical and mineralogical drawing and calligraphy sooner attained by China than other cultures.

Taoists set the highest standard. One of the greatest of all calligraphers, Wang Hsi-chih (303-361), was an adherent of the Way of the Celestial Master, and one of his most renowned works was a transcription of the Book of the Yellow Court. The efficacy of talismans, in particular, depended on the precision of the strokes from which they were created. Figure painting was another field in which Taoists excelled. China's celebrated painter Ku K'ai-chih, a practicing Taoist, left an essay containing directions for painting a scene in the life of the first Celestial Master, Chang Tao-ling. Many works on Taoist themes, famous in their time have been painted for use in ritual, and religious paintings of the Taoist pantheon. They are still produced today. The Taoist scriptures, with their instructions for visualization of the spiritual hierarchy, including details of apparel and accoutrements, are ready-made painter's manuals.

Finally, the language of speculative Taoism was pressed into service as the basic vocabulary of Chinese aesthetics. Consequently, many secular artists attempted to express their own conceptions of the "natural spontaneity" of Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu's "spirit of the valley." Here Taoism found still wider imaginative extension, and the efforts of these painters are embodied in those magnificent landscapes that have come to be thought of as most characteristically Chinese.

TAOISM AND OTHER RELIGIONS

Confucianism and Buddhism

It is said, Confucianism is concerned with human society and the social responsibilities of its members; Taoism emphasizes nature and what is natural and spontaneous in man. The two traditions are, "within society" and "beyond society," They balance and complement each other. This classic definition is generally correct concerning orthodox Han Confucianism. But, it neglects some aspects of Confucian thought, such as the speculations on the I Ching, which are considered to be among the Confucian Classics. Also, the prophetic occult (ch'an-wei) commentaries to the classics, as well. As far as Taoism is concerned, this definition neglects the social thought of the Taoist philosophers and the political aspects of Taoist religion. While, Chinese Buddhism has been viewed not only as a merely a Chinese version of the Indian religion but also as flowers on the tree of Chinese religions that blossomed under Indian stimulus and that basically retained its Chinese character.

The first mention of Buddhism in China (AD 65) occurs in a Taoist context, at the court of a member of the Imperial family. The Indian religion was at first regarded as a foreign variety of Taoism. This is in part because the particular Buddhist texts chosen to be translated during the Han period reveal that the earliest converts were preoccupied with Taoist rules of conduct and techniques of meditation. The Buddha, in achieving enlightenment (bodhi), was described as having "obtained the Tao". ; the Buddhist saints (arhat) become perfected immortals (chen-jen); and "non-action" (wu-wei) was used to render nirvana (the Buddhist state of bliss). During this period it claimed that Buddhism was a debased form of Taoism, designed by Lao-tzu as a curb on the violent natures and vicious habits of the "western barbarians," and as such was entirely unsuitable for Chinese consumption. However, by the 4th century there was a distinct Buddhist influence upon the literary form of Taoist scriptures and the philosophical expression of the most eminent Taoist masters.

The process of interaction, however, was a mutual one; Taoism participated in the widening of thought because it was influenced by a foreign religion. Buddhism underwent a partial "Taoicization" as part of its adaptation to Chinese conditions. The Buddhist contribution is particularly noticeable in the developing conceptions of the afterlife; Buddhist ideas of purgatory had a striking effect, not only on Taoism, but especially on Chinese popular religion The goal of illumination in a single lifetime, rather than at the end of an indefinite succession of future existences, was analogous to the religious Taoist's objective of immortality as the culmination of one life lived in accordance with the Way of the Tao.

As early as the T'ang dynasty, there are traces of the syncretism of the "Three Religions" (San Chiao), which became a popular movement in Sung and Ming China. It was to be a mixture of Confucian ethics, the Taoist system of merits, and the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. The "books on goodness" were; widely produced and followed. By the ordinary people the school of the "Three Religions" received wide support in Taoist circles. Many Taoist masters of those periods transmitted nei tan and other techniques of inner cultivation to their disciples while at the same time preaching the moralist of the "Three Religions" to outsiders and the laity.

Other Asian Religions

The affinities of Taoism with other Asian religions are numerous. Though Taoism is a more culture-bound religion as are Japanese Shinto and Hinduism it has broader aspects somewhat like Islam and Christianity. Taoist affinities and influences on Shinto features, such as the cult of holy mountains, the representation of the human soul as a bird, bird dances, the representation of the world of the dead as a paradisiacal country of immortality, and the concept of the vital force (tama, in objects as well as in man) are clearly derivative. Like Taoism, Shinto is the religion of the village community. There was never an attempt to implant a Taoist religion officially in Japan. There are the "masters of Yin and Yang" (ommyo-ji), a caste of diviners learned in the I Ching, Chinese astrology, and occult sciences who assumed importance. Taoist mysticism lives on. And is still active in Japan. Popular Taoist moral tracts were printed and widely diffused in the Tokugawa period. Modern Japanese scholarship on Taoism (Dokyo) ranks very high in the world.

Western Mysticism and Religions

The similarity of mysticism in all religions points to the realization that there is only one Inner Way, the experience of which is expressed differently in the respective cultural and religious environments. Lao-tzu's notion of "the One," which is not only primordial unity but the oneness underlying all phenomena, the point in which all contraries are reconciled, was spoken of by Western mystics

Taoism, like all other forms of Eastern mysticism, distinguishes itself from Western mysticism by its conscious techniques of mind and body designed to induce trance and to give access to mystical experience. These disciplines of learning to "sit in forgetfulness" are akin to Plotinus' concern to "be deaf to the sounds of the senses and keep the soul's faculty of apprehension one-pointed" and to the 16th-century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila's state where "the soul is fully awake as regards God, but wholly asleep as regards things of this world and in respect of herself." Expanding on that idea, Lao-tzu's strangely sober and abstract descriptions of ecstatic union with the Tao have been compared to the medieval German mystic Meister Eckhart's "still desert of the Godhead" and his pupil Heinrich Suso's union of the essence of the soul with "the essence of Nothingness." Some Taoist meditative practices have similarity to the physiological breathing techniques of the Hesychasts, a sect of Greek Orthodox mystics who used respiratory practices (focused breathing) to concentrate on the internal organs to prepare for the mental "Jesus prayer."

TAOISM IN MODERN TIMES

The principal refuge of Taoism in the 20th century is on Taiwan. Its establishment on the island is doubtless contemporary with the great emigration from the nearby mainland province of Fukien in the17th and 18th centuries. The religion, took much impetus when, Chang En-pu, a celestial master took refuge there in 1949. On Taiwan, Taoism may still be observed in its traditional setting by way of its manifestations in popular religion. The liturgy chanting still embodies elements that can be traced back to earlier times. The religion has enjoyed a renaissance since the 1960s, with great activity being carried on in temple building and restoration.

A significant event in Taoist history may be the ordination in Taiwan as a Taoist priest (in 1964) the Dutch scholar, K.M. Schipper. His systematic, first-hand researches into Taoist practices may very well revolutionize scholarly knowledge of the religion, which will thus acquire an unforeseen historical extension, in the West and into the future. In the USA the spirit and practice of Taoism has been encouraged by the presence of the brilliant and learned Dr. Stephen T. Chang. With great clarity he has made available to the general public a masterful exposition of the Great Tao in the book he has authored, published and widely circulated. Dr. Chang has supplemented it with small volumes that are specific to main areas of actual Taoist practice and scholarship it would behoove one and all to delve more deeply into Dr. Chang's work. This will bring to the spiritual but not religious wisdom that has been renewed by Dr. Chang and related to current ways of life. One can be uplifted and enlightened by its overall message. The following excerpts are abstracted from this major classic. �

PART II - TAOISM

Modern Primer for Helping You to Understand THE TAO & Learning to Apply it to Your Life.

Tao is God, according to the Chinese, when translated thus: "In the beginning was the Tao, and the Tao was with All and the Universe and the Tao was God." Compare with the English translation of the Bible, "the Word is God". And according to the original Greek translation of the Bible, "Logos is God". The word Logos generally connotes life, light, creation, power, wisdom, love, healing, spirit, force, .knowledge, rational, logic, reality, and method. The Chinese word for Tao has the same connotations as the word Logos. That is why the Tao was used in the Chinese Biblical translation.

The ancient masters did not envision Tao as an old man on high above the clouds, who struck people with a bolt of lightning when they transgressed. Since Tao is life, light, space, time, energy, it is everything and everywhere. Since Tao is omnipresent, it is in you and me as long as we are alive; therefore, God can be experienced in our daily living.

(Editorial Note: For expansion on the idea of God see the link to the sub-site entitled, The Problem of God.)

Once, a request was put to the Taoist master Chuan Tse by his disciples.

"All-knowing master, please show us God," said they.
Chuan Tse replied, "God is omnipresent. He is in the table, in you, in me. He is even in excrement." "Gosh master! How could God be there?"
Chuan Tse replied, "If God were not in our bowel movement,Then we would all be in big trouble!"

Mankind's concern since the beginning has been and is that of "survival. To survive one must learn to understand oneself, one's needs, one's functions, and one's goals. Mankind is prone to experience the flow of life as the Way by which we must learn to know and to ride it if we are to achieve success. Living enables us to glimpse something of these mysterious rhythms, and to re-align our lives so that we can live more in harmony with the laws of nature. This is the key to success.

According to Taoism the formula for success is as follows:

S=P+O

(Success is the sum of preparation and opportunity.)

"Everybody must die" is a universal principle; but where there is a principle there are exceptions to it. Besides Enoch, those who have attained. Immortality includes Elijah and the Taoists of China. How and why these individuals were able to accomplish this feat is simple. They walked with God. How does one walk with God? Experience Tao. Can we can you and I, learn to walk with God? Many important religions and philosophies of the world have taught that consciousness, spirit, or soul cannot die and that there are specific ways to prepare the consciousness for an after-life.

For example, Buddhism teaches people to prepare for their next life by undergoing asceticism. Still among all of these teachings we find no mention of how to prepare for the immortalization of the present physical body. It is really unnecessary to teach to thereby prepare, or know of the �dying consciousness", because the spirit is not limited by space and time (it cannot cease to exist). The spirit is not limited by space and because it is formless our bodies are merely physical forms, which are limited by birth and death.

Since the spirit has no beginning or ending, it is infinite. We are wasting precious time when we sacrifice the present life - subjecting our physical bodies to renunciation such as asceticism for example-to prolong something that is everlasting.

"The human being follows (the laws of) the earth, the earth follows the heavens, the heavens follow God (Tao), and God must follow nature." Tao Te Ching

Buddha it is said was is the transformation of Lao-Tze, who was a grand master of Taoism. Even in the twenty-first century, the teachings of Taoism are continuously being proven effective with scientific means. Valued preciously in the twenty first century are the Eight Great Systems (Pillars) of the Tao. We will discuss them later.

What is "WALK WITH GOD?"

When we live according to the natural law, we walk with God. How do we live by the natural law? This is revealed by Taoism, the oldest religion, philosophy, and science in the world. Taoism is a science because it is based upon a detailed understanding of underlying physical, chemical, biological, mathematical, psychological, and political theories and laws. Science rests on the assumption that all events of the entire universe can be described by physical theories and laws. But the sciences studied in our universities deal with the material universe. Their methods, their paradigms cannot deal with the spiritual or immaterial universes, which cannot be observed directly or indirectly through our senses. Taoism acknowledges that all elements of the universe are subject to the same physical theories and laws; therefore, the physical theories and laws of the material universe are applied to the spiritual universe as a part of the body of knowledge. Taoism is a complete science, and an understanding of Taoism results in the complete understanding of the entire (material and non-material) universe.

Taoism consists of many scientific techniques or methods that help could immortalize the physical body. These techniques have endured over six thousand years of continuous testing The passage of time has increased their value, so greatly that many Asians believe that Sakyamuni Buddha is the transformation of Lao-Tze, who was a grand master of Taoism.

Even in the twentieth century, the teachings of Taoism are continuously being proven effective with scientific means. Valued preciously in the twentieth century, the Eight Great Systems of Taoism, which will be explained later, are tremendously beneficial for people of all walks of life and of all ages. For thousands of years, these teachings have been kept beyond all other possibilities for the attainment of complete knowledge. Fortunately the great master, Dr. Chang had the feeling that the recent years have been the right time for the secret to be unveiled to the world which he started doing in 1985 with his great classic treatise, THE GREAT TAO.

How the ancient Taoists incorporated the principles of philosophy, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, etc. into a system called Taoism can be summarized by the principles of Yin and Yang. Taoism is a complete science, and an understanding of Taoism results in the complete understanding of the entire (material and non-material) universe.

The relationship of Yin and Yang to that of the world is often illustrated in another way by equating them to the negative and positive poles within a galvanic current flow; each is separate and distinct in expression. But both are an integral part of the same current. The current could not possibly exist without the bi-polarity of its Yin and Yang elements. Hence Yin and Yang are distinct and individual but they are also inseparable. Within every object in the universe is the constant, dynamic interaction of these two polar opposites.

Consideration of the principles regarding the natures of Yin and Yang has led Taoists to conclude that the feminine is Yin and the masculine is Yang.

YANG = heat, dryness, hardness, expansion, life, masculinity, goodness, justice, righteousness, light, peace, sun, heat, wealth, happiness, heaven, risings, the active, metaphysical, God, that which is on the surface, that is Yang.

YIN = cold, softness, contraction, wetness, femininity, death, evil, the devil, injustice, unrighteousness, darkness, war, moon, poverty, unhappiness, earth, sin, queens, the passive, that which is deep or hidden, is Yin. (Note: the spiritual but not religious might observe that this ancient definition seems to have a male bias that contains fear of the feminine).

Just as we cannot know what heat is if we've never been cold, or, too, what happiness is if we've never been sad? So, too, Yin and Yang can never exist in total isolation from one another. Each is a different side of the same coin; both are constantly interacting and changing. This inseparable dualism persists through all things: food, attitudes, personal characteristics, thoughts, etc.

Yin and Yang represent every conceivable pair of opposites: birth and death; growth and decay; health and illness, etc. Everything that is born must die. Everything that grows will one day decay. We can assume that what is Yin today is destined to become Yang in the future, and vice-versa. The relativity of Yin and Yang and the dynamic tension of their interaction are the basis of thought and expression in Taoist thought. Maintaining a balance between Yin and Yang results in perfect health of body, mind, and soul.
Life is to be lived. Life is also to evolve. Anything that takes form in this universe has a purpose, that of using space and time to improve it self and to evolve into a higher form.

There are four kingdoms in this earthly universe: the Kingdom of Vegetation, the Kingdom of Animals, the Kingdom of Humankind, and the Kingdom of God. The members of each kingdom exist to improve themselves, to evolve into a higher kingdom. Not all human beings can evolve into the Kingdom of God. According to Taoism there are four kinds of human beings in the universe.

Evil men are only human in form, for they are still animals in their nature. Their evolution from the animal kingdom is not complete. Ideally the physical and mental bodies should be subservient to the spiritual body. The spiritual body should send orders to the mental body, which determines the proper method of bringing these orders into fruition. The mental body then guides the physical body. to carry out these plans. Every activity is based on foresight, wisdom, and conscience and every activity conforms to the ways of Taoism. We are essentially chiseling out a circle with the teachings of Taoism

For an important example, consider that because of the diet and lifestyle in the Western world there is obesity. Obesity is a major weight imbalance among many humans in our society. It is present in all its forms, from extreme obesity, to "slightly overweight." You may think that a few extra pounds make no difference. But think about it. Those pounds appear different when we realize that for every inch of excess fatty tissue on our bodies, we need an additional four miles of good blood vessels to support that tissue. Of course that requires your heart to work harder, pumping blood through those four miles of circulatory vessels. Two inches of excess tissue require eight miles of the same blood vessels; three inches need twelve miles. Yes, twelve more miles through which your heart has to pump blood. That is a lot of extra work for your heart. And that extra strain is going to weaken your body's constitution (Immunological system) and eventually cause it to break down.

Consider that it is no different than with an automobile. If you load your car too heavily and use it for a long time under the additional strain, the engine, the springs, the alignment, etc. will break down. The heart is your engine ,when it is overused, it becomes enlarged. The muscles soften and loosen. It can no longer pump well. Heart disease and diabetes II are the result of obesity. In addition, it results in hardening of arteries and a weakened heart. Furthermore, high blood pressure soon follows. It is perfectly clear that humans should seek a balanced diet and way of life.

The eight groups of eight hexagrams were designed to reflect all levels of the process of transmutation in the universe and the nature of all the elements of the universe. Also, it was designed to help mankind lead successful lives. The secrets of success were hidden within the groups of eight hexagrams.

The first group, called Heaven, describes the nature of success, creation, leadership, power, and social position. It also describes the problems associated with these phenomena and the best way to face and solve these problems.
The second group, called Water, deals with danger, risk, challenge, death, the military, and the associated problems and solutions.
Mountain, the third group, describes the phenomena of stability, retreat, tolerance, aggregation, wealth, and their associated problems and solutions.
Thunder, the fourth group, deals with stimulation, commencing events, establishment, and the problems and solutions associated with these phenomena.
The fifth group Wind deals with choice, discipline, diversity, stress, healing, fate, external and internal pressure, politics, education, and instincts. Also described are the associated problems and solutions.
Fire, the sixth group, describes the phenomena of brightness, charm, desire, sex, relationships, jubilation, engrouping, rigidity, strength, and legal battles. The associated and cited problems and solutions are also described.
The seventh group: also deals with competition, disaster, suffering, rebellion, overpowering, recovery, patience, subjugation, and the associated problems and their solutions.
Lake, the eighth and last group, deals with the phenomena of happiness, surroundings, finance, emotional connection, modesty, poverty, entertainment, overflow, and inertia. The associated problems and solutions are also described.

Moreover, the sixty-four hexagrams can be arranged in many differing patterns. These arrangements are used for astronomy, geomancy, construction, and other special purposes. Because these subjects have no :bearing upon daily living, details of the arrangements will not be generally known and will be of little or no interest to many of the regular (common) people.
Interested readers who want more on the I Ching should go to www.ICHING.com where Visionary Networks provides a way for you to obtain a CD software program that will be a joy to behold for novices and adepts. The pastor of the MeetingHouse recommends this brilliant and superior presentation of an interactive I Ching, Oracle of changes.

Understanding Taoism Requires an Understanding of the Relationships of the Kingdoms of Living Things:

The members of the Kingdom of Vegetation, which includes bacteria and protozoa, have only physical bodies and physical feelings. Their sole purpose is to reproduce. They possess no creativity and never benefit each other in any way. Any physical body that has feelings also has a right to live and to die in the greater scheme of things...
The members of the Kingdom of Animals have, in addition to a physical body, a mental body. Possessing a mind, a dog is trainable. Animals always reproduce according to a certain timetable, they have no comprehension of the why of dissatisfaction, and they have no creative abilities. They mechanically follow universal laws, with no will or desire to change their position in life.
The members of the Kingdom of Humankind possess physical, mental, and spiritual bodies. The spirit imbues human-beings with the ability and desire to create-the development of science and results from creativity. God gave mankind His spirit and His desires. Therefore man's basic desire is to be immortal. God gave man and woman this desire so that he or she will improve himself, so that one day he or she may enter the Kingdom of God. However, man has reversed this desire. Humans have perverted this to a desire to create material things. Man has hope, but this hope is never satisfied by material things. This creates frustration. The members of the Kingdom of God are spiritual beings! They possess spiritualized bodies and have access to all corners of the universe. Could this being be immortal and experience total happiness and tranquility? Hope springs eternal.
This being is in unity with Tao and the universe. The Kingdom of Humankind contains many kinds of humans. They are (in ascending order) evil men, little simple men, gentlemen, and sages. Only those who are sages a qualified to evolve into the Kingdom of the Divine. In the USA because of the political support of vertical social mobility all income classes may produce sages. (In the early twenty-first century there is much dissatisfaction because verticality of social mobility has diminished.) There are three kinds of sages/hsiens, or immortals, and they are (in ascending order) Jen Shine (Transformed Immortal), Ti Shien {Terrestrial Immortals) and Tien Shien (Celestial Immortals). Clearly, there must first be "promotion among the ranks" before there is evolution to a higher kingdom. Unfortunately this evolution is rare.

We find instead repressed spirit bodies and enslavement of the mental bodies by the physical body among the many because global trade emphasizes material things. Mankind's need for entertainment, lust for sex, thirst for violence, and need for food delights forces the mental body to contrive ways to satisfy rather than sanctify these primal needs. There is a fast developing complete reversal of the true order. The result is all the miseries of this world.

Lao Tse has said that when Tao is lost human beings take to virtue; then virtue is lost, then, human beings insist on love; when virtue. is lost people demand righteousness; when righteousness is lost people rely on propriety; when propriety is lost, law is sought; when law is lost, force is sought; when force is sought, all traces of civilization are lost.

What are the prerequisites for evolutionary advancement? It is the practice of Taoism that culminates in the accomplishment many good deeds during a life. .

According to Pao Piao Tse, 200 good deeds are required to become a Transformed Immortal. 300 good deeds are required to become a Terrestrial Immortal. While, 1200 good deeds are required to become a Celestial Immortal.

With one significant transgression, all of the good deeds that were accumulated will be nullified. According to Lao Tse, our every action is recorded and computed by the stars, which are governed by the North Star. .

Evolution without Taoism is a painfully slow process. It has taken us millions of years of evolution to become what we are. Practicing Taoism speeds up the evolutionary advancement by helping mankind to accumulate good deeds in the most efficient way possible thereby contributing to society without martyrdom. A long-life and properly functioning physical body allows more good deeds to be accomplished. Martyrdom cuts off the flow of benefits to society and retards one's evolutionary advancement.

Good deeds are defined as actions that benefit one's self as well as others. Actions that hurt one party while benefiting another are undesirable. Actions that hurt both parties are least desirable as they are mistakes that can nullify all of the accumulated good deeds and reverse one's evolutionary progress.

Without the practice of Taoism, there will be no salvation.

Without Taoist evolution, there will be no Kingdom of God.

In ancient times, laws and regulations were said to be as numerous as the hairs on a cow. That dynasty was overthrown and was replaced by the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty, a Golden Age of China, began with the nullification of these laws and regulations. Only three simple laws were made, but everybody remembered and obeyed them enthusiastically.

Honest Policy

The government should treat its subjects with honesty thereby creating a bond of trust between its subjects and itself. The policies of the government, by reflecting the moral wishes of the larger portion of the population, should protect the people from oppression in any way, form, or means. The government should not be allowed to grant any wish of the majority that may cause any short-term or long-term serious discomfort or harm to any individual or minority.

Government officials must serve the people and represent their moral wishes.

Lao Tse said that politicians should not form their own opinions. They must regard the mind of the people as their own. Note that to the contrary, in Romans 13:1, Saint Paul said, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God." But according to Tao entrusting a ruthless politician with one's well-being is not wise, especially when his policies reverse one's evolutionary progress. A succession of abuses of power must be halted by selecting government officials for their integrity toward the people. Otherwise, according to Lao Tse, "the politicians who are not benevolent treat people like dogs."

When a government engages in lying and cheating games with its subjects, it weakens the state. No matter what ruses it uses against its subjects, its subjects will always outwit it, because they outnumber the government workers. Such games create an unbridgeable rift between the subjects and the government. Nothing will prevent a revolution from toppling this kind of government. Lao Tse said, "Rulers who try' to use cleverness cheat the country. Those who rule without cleverness are a blessing to the land."

Economic System

Lao Tse said, "The Tao is nameless because it is in everything and yet is formless. Its simplicity and minuteness is unmatched by all the power of the alliance of all the world's nations. When the leaders are able to utilize it, everything comes to equilibrium and heaven and earth will be unified."

Consider: Why does a government suffer from thirst, or deficits?

War and weapons.
Squandering and extravagance.
Oversize.
Scandal and corruption.

Government Deficits Require Bold Rulers

These four problems make government deficits a chronic disease. This "disease" may be treated by a good "physician." Moreover if conditions are worse, then, a great "surgeon" better suits this purpose. Of course, this is metaphor. The cure' is moral adjustment rather than economic adjustment. The cure should be administered to the ruler himself.

As such he who ruler serves as a model to his subjects, the leader should reverse selfishness and corrupt behavior. If reversing a leader's chi becomes impossible, then healing of the nation is virtually impossible without his replacement. .

Population

Lao Tse insisted upon small governments. He also insisted on small populations. It is impossible to achieve peace and happiness if population growth is not firmly controlled. Overpopulation causes Hunger and leads to war. War results in death which is the greatest transgression from the viewpoint of Taoism. These are only There are only a few elementary birth-control responses that ought to be triggered by overpopulation. Nature has others that include natural disasters and killing diseases. Over-reproduction takes place among people who can not discipline their lust; it is a result of poor education.

To prevent over reproduction, people must be taught that sex should not be used for mere physical interactions. Sex should be an act of intimate understanding, helping, and caring. Taoist teachings also show techniques that separate sex play and reproduction as discussed elsewhere. Sexual activity can be utilized to improve one's life and elevate one's spirituality. Practicing Taoism will help a person discipline their lust and further social progress. Population control is not empty conjecture, or a kind of biased political or, philosophical belief that can never be practiced. It is vital to the advancement of society and the effectiveness of small government and individual freedom.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

Taoism values and respects life. That is why its emphasis is upon protecting life. According to the Taoist evolution, all humans arise from other forms of life and are dependent upon other forms of life; therefore, Taoists do not do harm to the Earth through excessive use of it by exploitation.

The Tao of Change reveals that nothing stands still. That nothing lasts forever and that for everything there is a proper time. He who does not strive to hasten good fortune (prematurely), coupled with being he who can accept inevitable decline, will achieves true contentment. Treading the middle path of balanced progress, he/she avoids all conflicts by aligning himself with steady rhythms of the universe and finally becomes one with Tao, and walks with God.

The Tao of Change

(I Ching) is as timeless and as limitless as the changes in this universe. The universe is in essence a manifestation of change. All that exists must change. If nothing changes, there would be no life, and if there is no life, there would be only emptiness. The universal changes follow many complex sets of rules, and there is a pattern to these rules. The Tao of Change is about these rules and their patterns. As the pattern of change is repetitious, the Tao of Change will never be obsolete. The timeless and limitless teachings of the Tao of Change direct man through the maze of universal changes. Everything, including success and decline, follows a specific pattern of succession and occupies a specific period in time. Understanding and following this pattern insures true contentment. Doing otherwise, fighting decline or fighting any other changes, will result in abject misery, because the way of the universe cannot be changed. The person who fights the universe always loses. The Tao of Change helps people live with the way of the universe, reap many rewards in the process, plan for what is inevitable in order to meet all challenges and adversities with confidence, and become wise masters of their fates.

The ultimate purpose of the Tao of Change is to raise the caliber of human beings, so that they may enter the Kingdom of God. By living correctly, according to the way of the universe, people will dissolve their past Karma and then lead productive lives. The Tao of Change presents abstruse evaluations of all sides of an issue, and this encourages people to sharpen their intellect while solving their problems. The Tao of Change helps people climb the ladder of society, success and evolution so that, in the end, all may enter into the Kingdom of God.

The teachings of the Tao of Change are encoded in its hexagrams. To extract the teachings, these hexagrams must be deciphered. But before deciphered messages can be presented to the reader, he or she should achieve an understanding of the Yin and Yang diagram as it forms the content of the hexagrams. Otherwise one may lose sight of the original purpose of Taoism. .

According to Taoism, the cultivators who stray are working against themselves, their fortunes and their future. They will suffer, sicken and die like Regular People. So there are ample motives for giving service to God and doing many good deeds. One should not erroneously call oneself a cultivator, because such false self-praise will waste oneself and others.

A true cultivator of Taoism must learn and enjoy the entire teaching of Taoism. Many people who call themselves cultivators concentrate on only one of the eight departments of Taoism, thinking that the benefits derived from that particular department is enough. This is a great waste. Unfortunately some self-proclaimed Taoists pass this unsound approach of Taoism on to their students, which creates even more waste and leads death without meaning. To encourage novices, we list here the names of the Eight Pillars of Taoism The Eight Pillars are:

The Tao Philosophy, The Tao of Revitalization (Internal Exercises); The Tao of Balanced Diet; The Tao of Forgotten Food Diet; The Tao Healing Art; The Tao of Sex Wisdom; The Tao of Mastery; and The Tao of Success.

Certainly no other world religion is so profoundly complete in providing the Way to practice and serve Tao.

Waste is the cause of calamities and death is the greatest punishment, according to Taoism. People who promise or guarantee results without asking for hard work create waste. These people, who claim that only prayers and rituals will save you, waste the lives of others by leading them away from the cultivation of the love of Taoism. If people walk with God today, they will have a tomorrow. If people do a good deed today, they will receive rewards tomorrow. The good results are guaranteed by your own hard work.

According' to Pao Piao Tse, the Taoist cultivator must make longevity, happiness, health, and wisdom his or her primary reasons for cultivating Taoism. The second priority is to help other people find the Way to Tao.

In order to help us live longer, healthier, happier, and wiser, Pao Piao Tse gave us this advice: "Never depend on diseases not to attack you. Only depend on your invulnerability to attack." He also said,' "To become a Taoist, one shall never hurt oneself. There are many things that hurt people greatly. Unfortunately, people never pay attention to these."

Almost two thousand years ago, Pao Piao Tse wrote that as a cultivator you should avoid these destructive influences which are:

Forcing your self to think too much-trying to solve a problem you will never be able to solve.
Forcing yourself to lift weights far beyond your capability.
Worrying until depression sets in
Too much entertainment, joy, or heightened excitement
Fulfilling endless desires and ambitions-becoming over enthusiastic
Talking or laughing excessively
Insufficient rest or sleep
Too much exercise or participation in martial arts or sports
Drinking too much
Excessive use of drugs, both pharmaceuticals and controlled substances
Lying down immediately after stomach is full from eating
Running too much
Crying or shouting too loudly
Celibacy (Male or female)
Too much sex
Allowing you to become too cold before adding clothing
Spitting (except into a handkerchief)
Dirtiness
Walking too quickly
Reading too much
Listening to loud music or too loud noise
Sitting for excessive lengths of time
Sleeping too long and too many times in a day
Becoming too hungry before eating
Over-eating
Drinking too much water
Rising too early before one is rested
Perspiring too profusely
Racing horses or motor vehicles
Being in crowds without good purpose
Allowing cold wind to contact body after consuming alcohol.
Eating too many raw things in a day
Bathing too often and too long
Sleeping without covers or camping out too often
Studying or researching too intently
Excessive use of heating in winter and excessive use of cooling air in summer
Going outside on extremely cold, hot, windy, foggy days
Over consumption of sour, spicy, sweet, bitter or salty foods

Surely, Benjamin Franklin would enjoy and approve this list of guides for moderation in living. The balanced healthy body is better able to cultivate the Taoist Way.

�FLOW WITH THE TAO

Lao Tse said, "People of highest caliber, upon hearing about Taoism (want) to follow and practice it immediately. People of average caliber, upon hearing about Taoism, reflect for some time and then experiment even dabble with it. People of lowest caliber, upon hearing Taoism, turn and let out a great laugh. If such people do not laugh, it will not be Taoism. "My words, Lao Tse said, Are few simple and easy, but few people can do as I say."

Those of lowest caliber are legion and those of highest caliber - those who truly possess the sprit of Tao-are few. Most people have neither the fortune nor the ability to understand the Tao, or the Truth. This is why human evolution seems to progress so very slowly.

The word "fortune" bears great significance to Taoists, not only because Taoism is worth a gold mine to those who find it, but because people must have the fortune to find the Tao Way. Throughout the centuries, the richness of Taoism has never been flaunted in public, just as the riches of the truly rich are never flaunted in public. Taoism awards its cultivators immediately. It is too valuable to be the subject of preaching.

Who Has The Fortune To Meet With Tao?

The Tao is actually everywhere and it is forever awaiting obtainment by anyone with sincere devotion and discipline. The Tao is formless, nameless, and undiscriminating. Therefore, to practice Taoism, the cultivator need not leave family, friends, work, or belongings. Pao Piao Tse said, "Preeminent scholars can obtain Tao in the battlefield (of life). Secondary scholars can obtain Tao in urban areas. Lower scholars can obtain Tao only in the mountains." No matter who or where you are, no sacrifice is demanded of you. You need not become a monk or a nun or hide in the mountains. You need only devotion and discipline to Taoist principles. Therefore, whoever has true devotion and discipline has the fortune referred to above. The doors of Taoism will be thrown open to who ever has the fortune.

Taoists called the unthinking masses the Regular People. The researchers of the truths of life are the Scholars. On a higher plane are those devoted and disciplined the Cultivators. The adept are the integrated, mature fully developed practitioners of the Taoist Way and they are the possessor of the Great Tao a Truer. Truer understand the nature of the universe and possess its wisdom. Finally The god-like beings are called Immortals.

The Law of Cause and Effect also determines who is fortunate enough to cultivate Taoism in his present lifetime. Those who have done many good deeds in the past will have the fortune to cultivate Taoism. Knowing this, the cultivator must conserve and respect his or her fortune and do more good deeds to safeguard his or her future.

This is not an easy task, for Taoism has powerful tools that can be easily abused. Through the practice of Taoism, a people's respect can be won and enormous material profits can be made. However, these gains can tempt and lead cultivators astray; thereby harming others for short-sighted gains. People may also be tempted to make a living from utilizing only one part of Taoism. Thus many people lose sight of the original purpose of Taoism.

A True Cultivator Of Taoism Will Automatically Gain The Following Powers:

The power to see through things. All things in the universe emit electromagnetic waves. Television and radio were created to receive these waves sent from thousands of miles away. This ability to receive electromagnetic waves and reconstruct an image from them is innate in human beings. However, it is clouded and covered by the compromising ways of those chosen by materialists to tutor the young. Because of desires of the physical body and self-centeredness, this ability has been covered over and humanity has become weakened for some they even become powerless.
Through the cultivation of the Eight Pillars of Taoism, people will automatically rediscover their powers. They will not need to open a box to see its contents. The image of the object will have already been constructed in the brain before the box is opened. People will be able to see through others both physically and mentally. Physical problems, emotional states, etc., will all be apparent to the true cultivator. This power eliminates distance from the space dimension.
Intuitive or psychic power. A true cultivator will be able to read someone else's mind and foresee events before they occur. Things evolve under definite patterns and history repeats itself. The true cultivator will have gained insight and recognize the warning signals. This power eliminates distance from time.
Healing power. All true cultivators will automatically have the ability to heal.
The power to project an image from the body. All true cultivators will be able to be in several places at the same time.
The power to transform into different forms or into nothingness.
The power to control circumstances and prevent various forms of violence from hurting people.

Obviously, these awesome powers will not come easily. They will come only as humans continue to evolve along the right Way. We repeat for emphasis that the powers will not come easily, especially with imitators and liars claiming they can do it or teach others. Long ago Zoroaster warned us of these aggrandizers and self-seeking sycophants and toadies. From the first day a true person begins cultivating Taoism, these powers begin to increase. These powers are given to cultivators to insure that they will someday reach immortality. Those who cultivate Taoism will receive all the powers claimed in the New Testament of the Bible and more. One should observe that Taoism is tolerant and compatible with other religions that are non-violent and urge practitioners to serve God by doing good deeds, i.e. helping other humans.

There is a principle of the Yin and Yang Theory that applies to the cultivation of Taoism. There are true cultivators and there are imitators.

Imitators

Taoists derive their power from cultivation. But magicians can imitate Taoist powers. Sometimes the imitation of Taoist powers can look even more attractive than the real thing. Truth is truth, and imitators are only imitators. Generally, other religions have also had serious trouble with the imitators and the hypocrites. Magicians imitate Taoist powers to flaunt their abilities. Taoists who have such powers do not flaunt them.

Chuang Tse said, "It is not wonderful that Taoists can gain power. It is very wonderful that they do not flaunt their power."

Since Taoists possess powers, they are cautioned against abusing them. The abuse of power - using power for unrighteous gains - will be a great misdeed.

The GREAT TAO (a book) by Dr. Stephen T. Chang is the first in history that constitutes a compilation of all the departments of Taoism. From this book, readers can learn and practice true Taoism in the correct sequence and direction.

Dr. Chang has the wisdom to present a thorough but incomplete treatise on the Tao for the novices and cultivators. His book does not contain detailed information about Space and Time, the I-Ching System, Personology, Astrology, Directionlogy. Before such knowledge can be given to the serious reader or novice, he or she must have a thorough understanding of the teachings presented in the book by Dr. Chang. Otherwise these powerful systems can be misused and the cultivators will be induced to become egotistic, materialistic and ambitious.

Those who misuse such vital heavenly secrets will meet with severe punishments. Blindness is an example of the lightest form of punishment; death, the severest. Also the reader may feel overwhelmed if the excluded information which is extremely technical were included in this book. As Dr. Chang states the Great Tao book already provides enough information to help a cultivator benefit from practicing Taoism.

Although the exclusion of certain information is done for the protection of mankind, a devoted cultivator will eventually have the fortune to learn the entire truth and become a Truer. We, the spiritual but not religious have set forth these excerpts to whet the appetite of those who want t learn more about how to serve God. without being captured by some exclusionary, institutional dogma that claims to be the final word. (Note: Dr. Chang offers lectures and courses on all levels of Taoism from time to time, in different countries and different cities under the auspices of the Foundation of Tao.

Lao Tse Said,

"The highest excellence is like water. It benefits all things without striving. It stays in the lowest and the most abhorred places. Hence its way is near to that of the Tao . . .

"The excellence of a residence is in the suitability of the place; that of the mind is in abysmal stillness; that of association is in being with the virtuous; that of government is in its ability to secure good order; that of work is in its workers' capabilities; and that of any movement is in its timeliness. . . .

"Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honor and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions of the same kind. What is meant by speaking thus of favor and disgrace? Disgrace is to be placed in a lower position after the enjoyment of favor. . . .

"The obtainment of favor leads to the apprehension of losing it. The loss of it leads to the fear of calamity. This is what is meant by saying that favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared. What is meant by saying that honor and great calamity are to be regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the Self. . .

"If I had not the self, what great calamity could come to me? Therefore, he who would administer the state, honoring it as he honors his own person, may be employed to govern it. He who would administer it with care which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it . . .

"Honest words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not honest. Those who have perfect knowledge do not dispute. The disputants do not have the perfect knowledge. Dilettantes never have true wisdom. Those who do not have true wisdom are dilettantes. . .

The editors list here the Eight Pillars of Taoism which we have NOT summarized for you. Instead, we offer you a buffet to whet your appetite! The Eight Pillars are:

The Tao Philosophy
The Tao of Revitalization (Internal Exercises)
The Tao of Balanced Diet
The Tao of Forgotten Food Diet
The Tao Healing Art
The Tao of Sex Wisdom
The Tao of Mastery
The Tao of Success

Without having any desire to create the illusion that we are defining each of the Eight Pillars, we have chosen to set forth some introductory thoughts to start the serious student on the Way.

The Tao of Philosophy is based on the spiritual discovery of the hidden, reliable laws that permeate this universe. It discloses the rationale of the way of life that unfolds, and the purpose of destiny.

The Tao of Internal Exercises is designed, first, to direct one's innate healing power to specific organs and glands. Second, one learns of the Meridian Exercises used to adjust balance, and elevate the energy level of the body. This integrates the mind, body, and spirit. Third, it concerns energy breathing techniques. In sum, the purpose of the Internal Exercises is to promote longevity so one will have the time to learn the Tao and do good deeds.

The Tao of Balanced Diet makes clear that humans have a great need to learn about which foods it is best to eat, which foods have therapeutic properties, and. How to combine these foods into attractive tasteful dishes. The correct Chinese system is a cuisine that emphasizes, first, good health.

The Tao of Forgotten Food Diet. Taoists long ago learned and have continually refined the knowledge that there are the regular foods but they must be supplemented with stronger foods and herbal foods said to be the Forgotten Food Diet for regular people.

The Tao of Healing Art is designed to balance and to elevate the human body's vital energy (chi), or, our electro-magnetic subtle energies. A form of massage (Tu-Na) works to adapt the body to the fundamental elements that make up the universe - earth, metal, water wood, and fire. Acupressure, Acupuncture, and moxibustion are ways experts aid one to restore balance.

The Tao of Sex Wisdom is a philosophy of sexual wisdom. Taoism was the first religion to encourage humans to take into account the way people could use their sexual energy to transform them for the better. (The Hindus with their Kama Sutra also set forth rules of marriage and sex), Taoist sexology explains how to use sexual energy to do many acts that enhance sexual enjoyment without depleting one's energy.

The Tao of Mastery provides tools to gain insight into self and others. It is a complex study of: Personology, the fingerprint system, Taoist numerology, the North Star astrological system, Directionology, and Symbology. Becoming adept in these systems facilitates personal and working relationships and reduces stress.

The Tao of Success. The ancient Taoists discovered analytical methods to study the forces that shape life's greatest events and thereby to systematize strategies for success. There are three parts. The study of Symbols and signs represents the exacting laws defined by physics, chemistry, and mathematics. The Tao of Change is the study of both social philosophy and transactional psychology which for Taoism is by ways of the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching. - The Book, of Changes. Each of the 64 hexagrams is composed of six lines each of which provides the opportunity to recognize certain patterns to develop successful, detailed accurate strategies about both opportunity and adversity. (Editor's Note: See the recommended DVD, entitled the Oracle of Changes referenced below) The third part is known as the space and time system of the I Ching used in the actual practice of forecasting events. Like Albert Einstein the ancient Taoist knew that time is illusory. Cyclicality is our reality. For many centuries the Chinese, and now many others, have used the I Ching as a means for interpreting events the outcome of which is uncertain. The use of the Oracular method is the key to so-called forecasting.

The na�ve who have reviewed this recital about Taoism have exclaimed why not put the Eight Pillars of Taoism at the beginning! Simply stated we had to get the regular people ready for the practice of Taoism thus the essential introduction. In the words of another sage, "You've got to know where you been before you can know where you are going." Using the I Ching is not a parlor game.

As Dr. Chang has said, "Taoism is a simple and easy science that is still strong after 6,000 years. It is strong because it benefits people easily and people keep it strong. Life can be simple and easy if one is a Taoist. It is also abundant, rewarding, and successful because whatever one sows one reaps." There are those who call it a great religion.

"The Taoist does not possess. The more that he expends for others, the more he possesses. The more that he gives, the more does he have. . .
"The way of heaven: it benefits without hurting.
"The way of a Taoist: he does without striving."

SO LET US FLOW WITH THE GREAT TAO!

A Recommended Reading, An Essential to the Spiritual but not Religious is:
Chang, Dr. Stephen, T, THE GREAT TAO, A Tao Institute Book, 1985 (Library B 1)

See also: Lawrence, Bruce, B., The Complete Idiot's Guide to Religions On-Line, Alpha Books, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2000. (available from publisher)

A Recommended CD/DVD" The Oracle of Changes. This is a gateway to the I Ching. The use of which can bring better timing, better choices, better relationships and greater peace of mind. It use is a beautiful and challenging experience. This CD/DVD can be obtained from Visionary Networks, Inc., 503-246-4043. See also www.ICHING.com.

Other Recommended Web Sites:

www.chinapage.com/laotze.html ;
www.taoist.org ;
www.edepot.com/religion.html ;
for a Pooh and Piglet version see: www.algorithms.com/users/belascot/pooh/html
in re Confucianism, www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Springs/6339/Confuscianism.htm