Philosopical Dàoism vs. Western Dàoism

Dàoism is known as the path or the way. It refers to a power, which envelops, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living. The Dào regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the Universe. It embodies the harmony of opposites (i.e. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.) (The Western Reform Taoist Congregation, 1998). The founder of Dàoism was Lao-Tze (604-531 BCE). He was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted life during his lifetime. The result was his book: Dào Dē Jīng.

Dàoism started as a combination of psychology and philosophy but evolved into a religion in 440 CE when it was adopted as a state religion. At that time Lao-Tze became deity. Dàoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, became the three great religions of China. With the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty in 1911, state support for Dàoism ended. Most of the Dàoist heritage was destroyed during the next period of the warlords. After the Communist victory in 1949, religious freedom was severely restricted. Close to seven million monks were reduced to fewer than 50,000 by 1960 (The Taoist Restoration Society (TRS), 1998).

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Excessive loss of Jing results in premature aging and a shortened life span. This system of channels is like rivers and tributaries that supply the entire body with energy.

Yin (dark side) is the breath that formed the earth. It is difficult for the westerner to be without its influence. Dàoism does not look for or expect a uniform world. Thus, they do not pray as Christians do; there is no God to hear their prayers or to act on them. Feng Shui is geomancy, the science of placement and of living in harmony with the earth. Daily meditation helps reconfigure the energetic body, aligning body, breath, and mind. Of course, there is Chinese Dàoism. Together, the first three healing arts - meditation, nutrition and movement arts - are the three pillars of daily cultivation for health (McCann, 1999). Acupuncture is the stimulation of specific points along the body with needles, finger pressure, herbs, heat or even electricity and lasers. The second healing art is nutritional science.

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