religions of Eastern culture. This is certainly one of the most unique

of all religions. Many Taoists, in fact, do not even consider it a

religion; and in many ways it is not. Taoists make no claim that the

Tao exists.1 That is what essentially separates Taoism from the rest of

the world religions: there is no heated debate or battle over Taoist

doctrine; there have been no crusades to spread the religion. The very

essence of Taoism is quite the opposite. Taoism's uniqueness and

open-endedness have allowed the religion to flourish almost undisturbed

and unchanged for over two thousand years.

The founder of Taoism was a man named Lao Tzu, who lived around the

year 604 B.C.E. According to Chinese legend, Lao Tzu was an archivist

in the imperial library at Lo Yang was known for his knowledge, although

he never taught.2 When Lao Tzu left his position at the library, he

went to the Chinese province of Chou. At the border, however, he was

stopped and forced to write down his teachings. During this time, he

wrote the Tao Te Ching, the major scripture of Taoism.3

After Lao Tzu's death, a man named Yang Chu (440-366 B.C.E.) took up

and the various Chinese folk gods in place of the Persian Angels.20

and all existence. The second statement is that the Tao is knowledge,

2. Durrell, Lawrence: A Smile in the Mind's Eye. New York: Universe

the set of notions called the "five phases" (wu-hsing) or "powers"

In essence, the universe is a pattern which cannot exist without any

The fifth statement tells that the Tao is "being", or the process of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lao Tzu, Te Ching, Yin Yang, Lao Tzu's, Buddhism Taoists, Taoism Throughout, Taoism Neither, Tao Goodness, Universe Books, Che41 Ch'uan-chen, lao tzu, te ching, tao te ching, tao te, encyclopaedia britannica, lao tzu's, tao watercourse york, world religions, watercourse york, unity tao, statement tao, york pantheon, watercourse york pantheon, york pantheon books, pantheon books 1975,
Approximate Word count = 2100
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)