Daoism aimed at achieving immortality through breathing, meditation, helping others and use of elixirs. Daoism has influenced Chinese culture positively vastly as it has given birth to martial arts such as Tai chi and Qigong (James Miller, 2009)
These Jewels are instrumental in guiding people, especially the leaders in handling the crisis that are common across the globe and in particular in Middle East. There is need to approach the issue that build tension among the people with compassion for the suffering, moderation in any steps that a leader takes and also humility before the people they lead and there is surety of attaining peace in these regions (The Shangra-La Mission, 2010)
Like Hinduism, Christianity aims to create a balance between its religious teachings and its application to the people's realities. Thus, Hindus being secular because of the multi-faceted nature of their religion, Christians have similarly tried to achieve secularism as an integral and inevitable part of what is called the 'dialogue in Christology' (Bhakiaraj, 2006:280)
Moreover, it is sympathetic to the African-American male, whatever his socio-economic level is, because Buddhism primarily teaches the individual to deprive himself of worldliness in ideals and materialism, two criteria that makes the African-American male more oppressed when compared to the white American or the non-African-American male. It is through Buddhism that the black American male realizes the triviality of the world he lives in, and achieves satisfaction and anticipation of enlightenment by becoming contented of what he is -- being an African-American male discriminated against or prejudiced because of his race or status in the society (Elmore, 2006)
In Christianity, the soul represents the individual as he reaches the next stage, the eternal life, after death. In Buddhism, the soul functions as part of the "karma" cycle, in which the individual becomes another entity in the next stage of his life, and the kind of entity the karma will take is dependent on the kind of life the individual lived while he was still a human (Fair, 2005:73)
In Buddhism, enlightenment is experienced individually, while Muslims believed that enlightenment can be experienced collectively and concretely. For the latter, enlightenment is said to happen when human society is able to progress in its ultimate modern state, a society so progressive it has achieved enlightenment not just in its religious experience, but in its existence in the world, most importantly (Jeffrey, 2005:55)
Islam and Hinduism share similar teachings when it comes to describing the concept of self-realization, called "jnana" in the Sanskrit language. Like the Islam objective of achieving self-realization by discovering the truth in human existence, which is through the establishment of a society wherein the political structure is guided by the teachings of Islam and thoroughly learning the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (Shahi, 2006:16)
Philosophy - Taoism PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES of TAOISM Background and History of Taoist Philosophy: Taoism (or Daoism) is not a specific religion, but rather, it refers to a large class of religious philosophies dating back to the third or fourth century, BC. The most remote origins of Taoism go back even further, perhaps one or two thousand years, to the shamans and cults associated with ancient China before recorded history (Bowker 1997)
Taoism conceives of the natural harmony and balance of nature in the notion of qi, which represents the natural flow of energy in the world. According to Taoist philosophy, the undisrupted flow of qi is necessary for the balance of yin and yang, as much in human society and affairs as in nature (Capra 1991)
Instead of advocating treating others as one would have others treat him, Taoist philosophy favors the Bronze Rule according to which kindness and goodness should be repaid with similar kindness and goodness, but evil should be repaid with justice instead of vengeance. In contemporary life, the Taoist moral rule is useful as an appropriate guide for reciprocating for moral behavior in kind while prohibiting the harshness inherent in the human impulse for revenge that tarnishes the character of the initial recipient of immoral conduct (Russell 1992)
Moreover, the ruler, as the moral exemplar of the entire state, must be irreproachable, however, every individual has a deep obligation to be virtuous (Confucianism pp). Although it is seen more as humanism, Confucianism does have a religious character since the definition of religion focuses on identification of an Absolute and transformation of the individual then Confucianism is a religion because the end result of Confucianism is "Sagehood," which is the "transformative process that takes the seeker toward the realization of its Absolute, T'ien, Heaven, or Tien-li, Principle of Heaven" (Taylor pp)
" As to the concepts of "truth and virtue," on page 29 Chen describes a notion from the Taoist philosophy that explains very well how the strategy works: "The person of perfect virtue is not conscious of his virtue, and in this way he truly has virtue" (from the Dao De Jing). Taoism and the environment of the earth is the subject of an essay in the book, Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within a Cosmic Landscape (Birdwhistell, 27-28); the essayist discusses a Taoist story called "Three August Ones," which she writes could be, "with a few changes in language," a description "of the effects of modern industrialization
" The Han dynasty was "as large and developed as the extensive Roman Empire," and clearly, Taoism had its origins at a time when Confucianism is very strong, but people were in the midst of a period of the "flowering of culture, wealth, and learning." While on the subject of misunderstandings of Taoism, which was brought to light by Kirkland, it is worth noting that in many Taoist texts there is mention of the importance of avoiding "grains," according to the book, Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion (Eskildsen, 43)
The original meaning for Yin was "north side of a hill (away from the sun)," while the Yang's original meaning, the Web site explains, was "south side of a hill (facing the sun)." A very relevant and exciting discovery was made in China in 1973 when archaeologists discovered two copies of the "Lao-Tzu," the ancient silk manuscripts from a Han Dynasty tomb in southern China, according to an article in Contemporary Review (Mackintosh, 1992)
" the religious, political, and social currents of the Han Dynasty; in fact, it was the Han imperial government that deified Lao Tzu, the author explains. The Han Dynasty, according to the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (Smith, 70), ruled from 202 B
This story is pertinent because in Chinese history, the destruction of the environment was the result of beliefs that were related to some other specific problem: for example, the Chinese "often destroyed forests," Birdwhistell writes, "because they were viewed as 'hideouts for bandits and rebels' and as places where uncivilized people lived." Meanwhile, in an article published in UNESCO Courier (Xiong, 1991), the author explains another main difference between Buddhism and Taoism: "
Thus, instead of outer laws, rites were preferred as they determined the individual to act while using his virtue, rather than obeying an external will, as it is said in the fourth chapter of the Analects: "The Master said, 'If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness.'"(Legge) As opposed to this, Taoism believed not in virtue as such, but in the following of "the way" or "tao," which was also a way of behavior or a general attitude towards life, but which focused on the means of attaining absolute truth and absolute knowledge: "Those who are good I treat as good
/ the further one goes / the less one knows."(Tzu) From this, the Taoists derived the principle of non-action or stillness, which implied that the way or the "tao" is to be seen by looking deeper into things, rather than by pursuing learning
/ the further one goes / the less one knows."(Tzu) From this, the Taoists derived the principle of non-action or stillness, which implied that the way or the "tao" is to be seen by looking deeper into things, rather than by pursuing learning
Taoism Bending towards the way of the Tao -- how the Taoism of Zhuang and Laozi influenced the polity of Song Dynasty Next to Confucianism, the most important philosophy of the Chinese has undoubtedly been that of Taoism." (DeBarry, Chan & Bloom, p