{"id":12,"date":"2013-01-30T11:11:31","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T16:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/?p=12"},"modified":"2016-07-03T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2016-07-03T21:23:54","slug":"article-what-is-tao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/30\/article-what-is-tao\/","title":{"rendered":"(Article) What is Tao?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photographer Unknown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is Tao? <\/strong><\/p>\n

(Continued from the article Taoism: The Science and Philosophy of Life & Longevity<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n

If Taoism<\/a> is the Science and Philosophy<\/a> of Life & Longevity; then a logical question is; What is Tao? What is the source of that which Taoists study?<\/p>\n

Most people translate Tao as the path or The Way<\/u>. This is partially true, if you use the lower case version of tao. Others will mention being in harmony with nature, being at peace, flowing with what\u2019s natural, balancing Yin & Yang etc\u2026 All of these are accurate descriptions but the question still eludes us, if Tao is the Path or The Way, then what is it the WAY of. What we are discussing here is not just tao, but TAO or Da Tao(\u5927\u9053, Great Tao). So what is this Da Tao or TAO that the ancient Taoists were speaking of. Quite simply TAO or Tao is the Chinese word for The Way of God<\/a><\/u>. When a person is following The Way and he\/she is in harmony with nature, at peace, balancing Yin\/Yang, etc\u2026 they are literally walking with God, <\/u>by elevating their body, mind & spirit. Let us look at a section from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu to see what he had to say about Tao. Note the following qoutes are from the \u201cTao Te Ching translated by Gia Fu Feng and Jane English\u201d. Notice how the text reads when you replace Tao with God.<\/p>\n

Section 21:
\n<\/strong>The greatest Virtue is to follow Tao (God) and Tao (God) alone.
\nThe Tao (God) is elusive and intangible.
\nOh, it is intangible and elusive, and yet within is image.
\nOh, it is elusive and intangible, and yet within is form.
\nOh, it is dim and dark, and yet within is essence.
\nThis essence is very real, and therein lies faith.
\nFrom the very beginning until now its (God’s) name has never been forgotten.
\nThus I perceive creation.
\nHow do I know the way of creation?
\nBecause of this.<\/p>\n

Section 23:
\n<\/strong>To talk little is natural.
\nHigh winds do not last all morning.
\nHeavy rain does not last all day.
\nWhy is this? Heaven and earth!
\nIf Heaven and earth cannot make things eternal,
\nHow is it possible for man?
\nHe who follows Tao (God)
\nIs at one with Tao (God).
\nHe who is virtuous
\nExperiences (God’s) Virtue.
\nHe who loses the Way (God’s Way)
\nFeels lost.
\nWhen you are at one with the Tao (God),
\nThe Tao (God) welcomes you.
\nWhen you are at one with (God’s) Virtue, The Virtue is always there.
\nWhen you are at one with loss,
\nThe loss is experienced willingly.
\nHe who does not trust enough
\nWill not be trusted.<\/p>\n

Taoism developed its 8 Subjects\/Pillars with the goal of helping a person to not only achieve balance, peace and harmony, but to literally create a system to completely elevate their body, mind & spirit so they could \u201cwalk with God\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let us review for a moment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tao is The Way of God, Taoism is the Science and Philosophy of Life & Longevity (designed to elevate a person\u2019s body, mind and spirit), and a Taoist is a person pursuing this path in an active, engaged manner. It is interesting to point out that being a Taoist does not interfere with a person\u2019s Religious beliefs or cultural customs. It is very common for someone to follow Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism etc\u2026 or be Agnostic and also apply the Taoist Principles and the Science of Life & Longevity to their lives in a meaningful way that further enriches, and deepens their life and understanding. Let us take a break for now and ponder the words of Lao Tzu. Before we meet again, make sure you go for a walk, breathe slowly and deeply, and take the time to enjoy family-friends-and nature.<\/p>\n

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What is Tao? (Continued from the article Taoism: The Science and Philosophy of Life & Longevity) If Taoism is the Science and Philosophy of Life & Longevity; then a logical question is; What is Tao? What is the source of that which Taoists study? Most people translate Tao as the path or The Way. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions\/253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.theqiinstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}