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! AdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text===Aspects of self (xing, xin, and ming)=== The Taoist view of the self is a holistic one that rejects the idea of a separate individualized [[self]]. As Russell Kirkland writes, Taoists "generally assume that one's 'self' cannot be understood or fulfilled without reference to other persons, and to the broader set of realities in which all persons are naturally and properly embedded."{{sfnp|Kirkland|2004|p=190}} In Taoism, one's innate or fundamental nature (xing) is ultimately the Tao expressing or manifesting itself as an embodied person. Innate nature is connected with one's heartmind (xin), which refers to consciousness, the heart, and one's spirit.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=108}} The focus of Taoist psychology is the [[Xin (heart-mind)|heartmind (xin)]], the intellectual and emotional center (zhong) of a person. It is associated with the chest cavity, the physical heart as well as with emotions, thoughts, consciousness, and the storehouse of spirit (shen).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=115}} When the heartmind is unstable and separated from the Tao, it is called the ordinary heartmind (suxin). On the other hand, the original heartmind (benxin) pervades Tao and is constant and peaceful.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=116}} The ''Neiye'' (ch.14) calls this pure original heartmind the "inner heartmind", "an awareness that precedes language", and "a lodging place of the [[numinous]]".{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=116-117}} Later Taoist sources also refer to it by other terms like "awakened nature" (wuxing), "original nature" (benxing), "original spirit" (yuanshen), and "scarlet palace".{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=117}} This pure heartmind is seen as being characterized by clarity and stillness (qingjing), purity, pure yang, spiritual insight, and emptiness.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=117}} Taoists see life (sheng) as an expression of the Tao. The Tao is seen as granting each person a ''[[Ming yun|ming]]'' (life destiny), which is one's corporeal existence, one's body and vitality.{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=108}} Generally speaking, Taoist cultivation seeks a holistic [[Psychosomatic medicine|psychosomatic]] form of training that is described as "dual cultivation of innate nature and life-destiny" (''xingming shuanxiu'').{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=108}} Taoism believes in a "pervasive spirit world that is both interlocked with and separate from the world of humans."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Salamone |first=Frank A. |title=Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-415-94180-6 |editor-last=Levinson |editor-first=David |location=New York |page=430}}</ref> The cultivation of innate nature is often associated with the practice of stillness (jinggong) or quiet meditation, while the cultivation of life-destiny generally revolves around movement based practices (dongong) like [[daoyin]] and health and longevity practices ([[Yangsheng (Daoism)|yangsheng]]).{{sfnp|Komjathy|2014|p=109}} 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