Religious and philosophical Taoism

Religious and philosophical Taoism

Religious and philosophical Taoism

Lantern in a temple ©

The word Taoism is used to refer to both a philosophy and a set of spiritual doctrines as well as an extensive ritual hierarchy and monastic institution. Although textbooks often distinguish between 'religious' and 'philosophical' Taoism, this is an artificial distinction, and is no more than the difference found in all religions between the practices of the faith, and the theological and philosophical ideas behind them.

Chinese and Western Taoist philosophy

A more useful distinction might be between Chinese Taoism and Westernised Taoism because some forms of Westernised Taoist philosophy add unauthentic new age and other faith elements to Taoism, while removing much of its religious content; and few Western 'Taoists' include Taoist gods and goddesses, liturgy, worship, or specifically religious meditative practices in their religious life.

Religious Taoism

Taoism is often taught in the West as an atheist or agnostic philosophy, but in China and Taiwan particularly, Taoism still functions like any conventional religion, and not like an abstract philosophy of life.

There are Taoist temples, monasteries and priests, rituals and ceremonies, and a host of gods and goddesses for believers to worship. These are as vital to the survival of Taoism as individual understanding and practice.

Taoism's rich palette of liturgy and ritual makes the Tao more real to human beings and provides a way in which humanity can align itself more closely to the Tao to produce better lives for all.

The religious elements of Taoism draw much of their content from other Chinese religions (including many local cults), and so enfold a very wide range of culture and belief within the wings of the Tao.

The many traditions within the Taoist framework gives priests the tools to carry out the conventional tasks of any religion: worship, healing, exorcism, intercession, purification, divination and so on.

Most Taoist temple practices are designed to regulate the relationship between humanity and the world of gods and spirits, and to organise that relationship, and the relationships in the spirit world, in harmony with the Tao.

Religious Taoism traditions

Two traditions

Religious Taoism follows two main traditions. Each has a clear hierarchical and well-organised structure with special headquarters, rules, guidelines, ordination rites and registration procedures.

The celestial masters (Tianshi or Zhengyi) - Temple Daoism are centred in Taiwan. The monastic branch of the Complete Perfection School (Quanzhen) has its headquarters in Beijing.

The Complete Perfection School ordains people and provides monastic communities as a focus for Taoist practice and rituals.

Taoist priests

Taoist priests undergo long and intense training to acquire the necessary skills. They must study music, liturgy and ritual, as well as meditation and other physical practices; and they must learn Taoist theology and the spiritual hierarchy of the Taoist deities. During this training they are required to live highly disciplined lives.

Shamanism

Taoist experts believe that they can journey in spirit to higher realms of being - in much the same way that Shamans can journey out of the body.

The Taoist traveller makes such journeys through ritual, meditation, and visualisation which separate them from this world and harmonise them with the energy flows of the universe. The journeys gradually move them closer and closer to the Tao itself.