Taoism and T'ai Chi

Taoism and T’ai Chi are two of three “lost religions” of China. The other is Confucianism which, though similar to Taoism, is not nearly as related to T’ai Chi. T’ai Chi and Taoism, on the other hand, compliment each other very well.

Tao simply means “The Way.” Taoism is a name given to a sequence of thoughts and actions that get a person to a harmonious state of being. The Tao Te Ching is considered “The Bible” of Taoism. It was written by Lao-Tzu and is the world’s second most translated book. The book is a series of eighty-one of Lao-Tzu’s thoughts. Each thought has a message which helps lead the reader to discover Tao.

The first line of the Tao Ti Ching is, “A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path; names can be given, but not permanent labels.” If one can fully understand this statement, that person can understand everything about Taoism. However, I doubt even Lao-Tzu knew all of what he talked about. The message of Taoism is simple, though it is said in many different ways.

The part of the Tao Ti Ching that is one of the best is segment nineteen. It is as follows:

Eliminate sagacity, abandon knowledge,

And the people benefit a hundredfold.

Eliminate humanitarianism, abandon duty,

. . .

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Simply put, Chi is energy that surrounds and binds all things.

Therefore it is through difficulty

That sages end up with problems. However, unlike most religions, Yin and Yang is not worshiped, but absorbed and understood.

Four commonly-heard words in T’ai Chi as a martial art are “Chi,” “Jing,” “Shen,” and “Li. However, it is considered by most all great martial artists to be the most powerful of the martial arts. The key is to become unaltered, do not alter anything else, and just exist among everything, not needing or wanting for anything.

It is hard to really delve into this as thoroughly as one might like, mainly because of how incredibly interpretive this statement is, especially the last statement. Li is the physical force that is created by Jing. Li occurs when the Chi and Jing are harnessed and put to good use.

Eliminate craft, abandon profit,

And theft will no longer exist.

The most difficult things in the world

Must be done while they are easy;

The greatest things in the world

Must be done when they are small. However, it is also not disprovable, but only because almost nothing is really disprovable. They also both consider pacifism to be the best policy, as do most Eastern religions.

To describe the T’ai Chi-Chuan and the Meditative Movement is extremely difficult. It is practiced extremely slowly while one meditates.

Approximate Word count = 1768
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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