Concept in Definition ABC

In the fourteenth and third centuries BC. C some treatises appeared in China that constitute the so-called Taoism, both in its philosophical and religious versions. In any case, this doctrine comes from the word tao, which means way or teaching. Wu wei is another essential concept and means not to interfere with the natural course of events. Thus the tao is the way that nature teaches and the wu wei is the flow spontaneous of nature itself.

The fundamental ideas of philosophical Taoism or Dao-jia

The exaltation of the Liberty individual is the fundamental idea of ​​Taoism as a philosophical doctrine. For Taoists, personal freedom is achieved through harmony with nature.

The symbol of the tao is represented by an ideogram divided into two parts and one of them refers to the path and the other at the head, which is interpreted as the need to lead oneself along the way suitable. On the other hand, the symbol of the tao is identified with the idea of ​​infinity or absolute, but specialists emphasize the difficulty of finding a precise definition.

Understood they interpret the tao as the empty totality, that is, the set of all beings but in an empty set

This apparent contradiction can be understood with some examples of Taoism, in which it is proposed to act without doing anything or savoring that which has no flavor (This not intervening in the course of things is precisely the wu wei and from the Western point of view we could understand it as the need for things happen).

For philosophical Taoism, the wise person is one who does not intervene, that is, whoever acts ends up failing and, therefore, the passivity of the sage allows him not to fail. This idea does not mean that we should not do anything in a literal sense, but that it is about not acting with an end, since the desire towards something achieves the opposite effect. According to Western schemes, we could say that situations should not be forced, since it is preferable that things happen spontaneously.

The fundamental ideas of religious Taoism or Dao-jiao

Lao Tzé and Chuag Zú are considered the founders of religious Taoism or Dao-jiao. Taoists believe that the universe is governed by a Energy and this energy or force permeates all the phenomena of nature. Therefore, there is no one god or set of gods. Consequently, Taoism must be interpreted as a cosmology (a way of understanding the world) and not as a religion in a strict sense.

Religious Taoism is a way of life based on the Balance personal (the acquaintances yin and yang) and in the understanding of the harmony that governs the entire universe.

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