RajputMaster24
Member
Is Daoism a pantheistic religion? Are some schools of Daoism pantheistic and some polytheistic?
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regarding Daoism
- Thread starter RajputMaster24
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Baladas
An Págánach
Daoism has many different schools, so the answers will vary a bit.
It's really more of a Panentheistic (as opposed to Pantheistic) religious path in that Dao is said to be the source of all things, and in all things, but it also is all things.
Dao is not viewed as a god, and refers to something that is essentially the Absolute, which is said to be beyond words.
That said, there are indeed many gods within the Daoist traditions. Worship of these gods is entirely optional to the path however.
RajputMaster24
Member
Thank you for the reply Lyndon. Is the supreme God the Jade Emperor in Taoism?
Taoism can be pantheistic with respect to how a duality is perceived yet an underlying unity truly exists.
The very first chapter of tao te ching really sounds pantheistic to me.
"The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence
Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders"
The very first chapter of tao te ching really sounds pantheistic to me.
"The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence
Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders"
Politesse
Amor Vincit Omnia
Saying "with all respect" first, does not make whatever follows respectful.
sandy whitelinger
Veteran Member
Daoism is a philosophy espoused by Laotsu in the "TaoTe Ching." While there is a mention of heaven there is no mention of deity in the text that I'm aware of.
Deities in Daoism come primarily from Chinese folk/traditional religion, Buddhism, and a soupçon of Hindu seasoning (Garuda is one of several). Many of the deities are deified humans: Guan yu, the military general (not to be confused with Guan yin), for example.
It seems the closest we come to a creator god, or creation itself is in verse 42 of the Dao De Jing (which coincidentally sounds like the Norse creation myth):
Dao gives birth to One,
One gives birth to Two,
The Two gives birth to Three,
The Three gives birth to all universal things.
All universal things shoulder the Yin and embrace the Yang.
The Yin and Yang mingle and mix with each other to beget the harmony.
http://www.taoistsecret.com/taoistgod.html
It seems the closest we come to a creator god, or creation itself is in verse 42 of the Dao De Jing (which coincidentally sounds like the Norse creation myth):
Dao gives birth to One,
One gives birth to Two,
The Two gives birth to Three,
The Three gives birth to all universal things.
All universal things shoulder the Yin and embrace the Yang.
The Yin and Yang mingle and mix with each other to beget the harmony.
http://www.taoistsecret.com/taoistgod.html
sandy whitelinger
Veteran Member
The Tao is a unified or indivisible existence that gives rise to dualism; one, two three, all the way up to the ten thousand things, which is a euphemism for everything in the universe. The division begins with movement ergo something was here and now its there and the dualism begins.