Taoism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Tao === {{Main|Tao}} [[File:道-bronze.svg|thumb|[[Bronze script]] for ''tao'' {{lang|zh|道}}]] ''Tao'' (or ''Dao'') can mean way, road, channel, path, doctrine, or line.{{sfnp|DeFrancis|1996|p=113}} [[Livia Kohn]] describes the Tao as "the underlying cosmic power which creates the universe, supports culture and the state, saves the good and punishes the wicked. Literally 'the way', Tao refers to the way things develop naturally, the way nature moves along and living beings grow and decline in accordance with cosmic laws."{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} The Tao is ultimately indescribable and transcends all analysis and definition. Thus, the ''Tao Te Ching'' begins with: "The Tao that can be told is not eternal Tao."{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} Likewise, Louis Komjathy writes that the Tao has been described by Taoists as "dark" (xuan), "indistinct" (hu), "obscure" (huang), and "silent" (mo).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=2}} According to Komjathy, the Tao has four primary characteristics: "(1) Source of all existence; (2) Unnamable mystery; (3) All-pervading sacred presence; and (4) Universe as cosmological process."{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=95}} As such, Taoist thought can be seen as [[Monism|monistic]] (the Tao is one reality), panenhenic (seeing nature as sacred), and [[Panentheism|panentheistic]] (the Tao is both the sacred world and what is beyond it, immanent and transcendent).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=98}} Similarly, [[Wing-tsit Chan|Wing-Tsit Chan]] describes the Tao as an "ontological ground" and as "the One, which is natural, spontaneous, eternal, nameless, and indescribable. It is at once the beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their course."{{sfnp|Chan|1963|p=136}}<ref>A. Chan, cited in {{harvp|Kohn|2000|p=20}}</ref> The Tao is thus an "organic order", which is not a willful or self-conscious creator, but an infinite and boundless natural pattern.{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} Furthermore, the Tao is something that individuals can find [[immanent]] in themselves, as well as in natural and social patterns.{{sfnp|LaFargue|1994|p=283}}{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} Thus, the Tao is also the "innate nature" (''xing'') of all people, a nature which is seen by Taoists as being ultimately good.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=83}} In a naturalistic sense, the Tao as visible pattern, "the Tao that can be told", that is, the rhythmic processes and patterns of the natural world that can be observed and described.{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} Thus, Kohn writes that Tao can be explained as twofold: the transcendent, ineffable, mysterious Tao and the natural, visible, and tangible Tao.{{sfnp|Kohn|2008|p=20}} Throughout Taoist history, Taoists have developed different [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] views regarding the Tao. For example, while the [[Xuanxue]] thinker [[Wang Bi]] described Tao as [[Mu (negative)|wú]] (nothingness, negativity, not-being), [[Guo Xiang]] rejected wú as the source and held that instead the true source was spontaneous "self-production" (zìshēng 自生) and "self-transformation" (zìhuà 自化).<ref>Chan, Alan, [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neo-daoism/ "Neo-Taoism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305221227/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neo-daoism/ |date=5 March 2023 }}, ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)</ref> Another school, the [[Chongxuan School|Chóngxuán]] (Twofold Mystery), developed a metaphysics influenced by Buddhist [[East Asian Mādhyamaka|Madhyamaka]] philosophy.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Assandri |author-first=Friederike |title=Chán Buddhism in Dūnhuáng and Beyond: A Study of Manuscripts, Texts, and Contexts in Memory of John R. McRae |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-90-04-43191-1 |editor1-last=Anderl |editor1-first=Christoph |series=Numen Book Series |volume=165 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |pages=363–390 |chapter=Buddhist–Daoist Interaction as Creative Dialogue: The Mind and Dào in Twofold Mystery Teaching |doi=10.1163/9789004439245_009 |s2cid=242842933 |issn=0169-8834 |editor2-last=Wittern |editor2-first=Christian}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page