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  • Essay / Misconceptions in Taoist Belief

    This article presents some misconceptions in Taoist belief, who founded it and who wrote it, how people can understand the Tao Te Ching more easily, it presents also why the no-action is easily misunderstood, and how Westerners have interpreted it for themselves. This article also wants to introduce what Taoism actually is and how important it is to me personally. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Taoism is a Chinese philosophy, a religious tradition said to be led by Lao Tzu. But Lao Tzu is a term for Old Master and not the name of a person, it was in Sima Qian's account that started it when he wrote that Li Er is Lao Tan, and Lao Tan is the pseudonym of Li Er, historical figure in Chinese philosophy, he is the one whose existence is known thanks to his biography told by Suma Qian. Lao Tan, however, is known to be a legendary figure, but there is no definitive proof of his actual existence. The misconception that Taoism is led by Lao Tzu is widely known around the world, but people are not even sure if it actually existed. There is no “founder” of Taoism, but it has multiple known and followed figures. The main concept of Taoism is the Tao, and to understand the Tao, we must first understand the concept of Change for the ancient Chinese. They see change as a cycle that continually shifts, just like the earth rotates this sun and how we experience the seasons. For them, the different states of nature are not opposites but are all related, which has a quality that, when understood correctly, together everything is one. This change is linked to the ten thousand things: “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. » In which the thing is not exactly the thing but it is, in which it does but does not do. In which we can know the Tao, but now we know it, and that all things come from heaven and earth, but also from ten thousand things. It is said that there are many paradoxical sentences in the Tao Te Ching, as shown in the first sentence, which is why it is difficult to understand and interpret, even for people who study Taoism. Many people have misunderstood one of the paradoxical phrases in the Tao Te Ching. its design. Wu Wei which means “non-action” because it means doing nothing. To achieve and follow the Tao, all we can do is do wu wei. But that doesn’t literally mean doing nothing. This means not doing anything that contradicts what we should do. For example: “Using a sports-based example, wu wei equates to being “in the zone.” When a baseball hitter is on a hot streak, I've often heard him say that it's like everything around him is slowing down and the ball feels as big as a beach ball. They strike without consciously thinking about it. Another example is that of the writer who, struck by inspiration, allows words and images to escape. Many will say that it is as if the book or poem was written by itself. These two examples illustrate wu wei. “We carried out what we set out to do as if WE had done nothing at all. » (Two typical misconceptions) This means that wu wei lets this Tao do its work through your body to accomplish what needs to be done, letting nature do the work and notcontradict him. Because when we are not “in the zone,” we are aware of what we need to do, we are aware that we are doing something because we need to accomplish something. But when we are "in the zone" we let go of our awareness and we don't think about what we should do next, we are surprised when something is done because we are not aware of what we are doing. Quoting Suma Qian: “In accordance with the changes of the seasons, they respond to the development of natural things. Their creations find their place everywhere. Their ideas are simple and easy to realize. They perform poorly, but their achievements are numerous. meaning that whatever is followed is by nature, and the work that is done is also by nature. Many people who study Taosim have misconceptualized wu wei out of laziness because they take it literally that they don't belong in things. to do. Some people (mainly from Western culture) believe that Taoism is a lazy philosophy/religion. Westerners have also misconceptualized Taoism by thinking that it has two forms, one “religious” and the other “philosophical.” But an enlightened view of Taoism knows that it is an understanding of Western culture that has a colonialist and missionary agenda that gives it two forms. Since the Warring States Period, it has been known that Taoism is a complex and diverse religious tradition, which is considered as a whole and has no form. Taoism has many ideas, beliefs, philosophy and individual principles that cannot be simply divided into two. The complexity of it all can be seen from the story itself as well as their way of attaining the Tao. Another misconception is that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. But the Tao Te Ching is a book that has many authors and many contributors, one of them is Chuang Tzu, another Taoist figure and another Taoist book. Both books are a compilation of works from the Taoist community. One of the misconceptions about these books is that these two books are the only ones that matter in the religious tradition of Taoism. Because the Tao Te Ching is the most central and influential scripture in Taoist history. But the Taoist religion has been based on different books over time, their most primary text is the Daozang which means Taoist Canon, it is the book that contains all the text of the Taoist religion. It contains 1,400 texts from every major period and movement in Taoist history. It may not be about who founded Taoism and who wrote the text, but it is about the result of how people interpret the texts and how people apply it in their lives. The real concern is how Taoism affects people's lives and how people understand its beliefs. The problems caused could be due to the paradoxical sentences in the Tao Te Ching because there is no direct text that says what people should do, another thing is that people understand the changes in the Tao Te Ching and the ten a thousand things, they must also know the natural order of Yin Yang philosophy. The biggest misconception about wu wei is the biggest problem here, because many people, even practitioners of Taoism, are misled by the name "non-action", it requires great effort to know it . what people should really do is based on the Tao Te Ching. The erroneous conceptualization of the two forms however is brought to Westerners because they want to understand the idea with their own understanding, which is a problem, as always said, we must I don't try 15, 2019)