The tao is a concept to describe something that goes beyond our capability to define Taoism leaves the tao undefined, and a taoist happily explores the wonder that opens up as a result. Taoism is both a religion and philosophy with roots extending to ancient shamanism It is codified in the tao te ching, history’s second most translated book after christianity’s holy bible Tao (pronounced “dao”) means literally “the path” or “the way.” it is a universal principle that underlies everything from the creation of galaxies to the interaction of human beings. Tao is the basic concept in taoism
The chinese ideogram for tao is made of two characters The tao (or dao) is hard to define but is sometimes understood as the way of the universe Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe and the energy found in it Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding everything in the universe. The tao, the ultimate principle of the universe, evolved from a path to the source of all existence, as depicted in tao te ching and zhuangzi It shaped chinese culture, inspired western thought, teaches wu wei wisdom, and retains eternal value.
There is no forcing of the tao, as we have seen Religious taoism, however, is concerned with health and longevity in this life, as well as with immortality in the next.
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