Paralles Between Taoism and Mainstream Religion
When we think of this world and its origins, we as human tend to think in one of two ways religiously or scientifically. Those of us who think religiously obviously go with our religious affiliations. For example, Christians tend to think about the story of creationism in the seven-day time frame where God created the heavens, the earth, and everything else therein. The followers if science don't hold to any real theories as to the origins of the universe, but as far as this world and its surrounding heavenly bodies go some hold on to the big bang theory; this hypothesis states that all nine planets, including the sun, were once an enormous mass and were separated by a giant explosion, but kept in orbit by the gravity of the sun. It is a very rare thing indeed to find someone who first thinks philosophically when he or she ponders the origins of the earth and its inhabiting life. With the radical pigeonholing of philosophers today, usually thought of as being agitators of! the status quo, their theories about the nature of the world are hardly looked at as plausible. Throughout this essay, I hope to point out that philosophical and religious views about the creation are not as far apart as many of us would assume them to b
It is not very hard to understand Anaximander's take on the origin of this current world order. His story does not entail any inexplicable phenomena, lengthy god lineage, or variations generations of man, although it does have its flaws when being observed by the more critical observer. Fortunately I am not here to give a critique of Anaximander's cosmology, just merely offer an overview of it. Anaximander's world order arises out of one source called the "infinite". The infinite is described as eternal and ageless, and encompasses all the world-orders. The term world-order was plural in the last statement because according to Anaximander, it is limited, but that out of which it comes from is imperishable. By giving this source of all things a name and characteristics, Anaximander needs not explain anything before the infinite because it has no beginning or end. From the infinite what is referred to as the opposites, which through their interaction also gives rise to th! There may be some speculation about the validity of my argument. Many people would probably attack my views from the angle that I used a religion that's not practiced here in the western world, so for their sake I will offer another religious point of view. Let's see how Anaximander and the Taoists stack up against the monotheistic religions. What monotheist wouldn't accept the fact that their God is the one source behind all things? According every Christian, Muslim, and Jewish scripture God is all-powerful and all knowing. And how about the belief that everything arises out of an interaction of opposites? Well, look at creation, for animals and plants alike there are males and females (for lack of a better term) and through their interaction comes forth life. And do I even have to discuss the vastness of all things here in this world; I mean lions, and tigers, and bears oh my! These parallels may be a little far fetched for some, but when you really look at it objectiv! Hesiod's Theogony is his own account on how the existing world order arose, and how the gods, and generations of men into being. Hesiod's tale starts with a description of what was before things came into being. Before the world order was established there was Earth and Heaven which was in distinguishable, one entity. Between Earth and Heaven there was gap that began to open up and separate the two, this was said to be caused by the creation of Chaos. Chaos allowed for there to be a distinction between Earth and the Heaven and although no explanation is given as what actually caused the separation, it is this severance that marks the beginning of the creation of the world order. After this separation begins follows the creation of the first generation of Gods. Before I proceed, I must point out that in this myth Heaven is masculine and Earth is feminine. From the rupture between Earth and Heaven, Love is born which brings about the desire of male and female for one anot! Taoism is derived from the word Tao, which mean the way or the path, so naturally, partakers of Taoism follow a certain path or way toward their spiritual enlightenment. As mentioned before, the Taoist view on the nature of the world is very much similar to that of the pre-Socratic philosophers. In Taoism, the source behind all things is the Tao, which gives rise to what they call the one; more specifically named chi. Chi is the cosmic energy that flows through all things, giving them vitality. I have chi, the paper this essay is printed on has chi, and all things have chi. The one, chi, gives rise to the two, called the yin and the yang. Chi gives things vitality and through interacti
Some common words found in the essay are:
Zeus Testament, Olympus Historically, , Taoists Taoism, Anaximander's Taoists, Muslim Jewish, Hesiod's Days, Earth Heaven, Heaven Love, Tartarus Tartarus, earth heaven, yin yang, chi chi, interaction opposites, generation gods, philosophical religious views, world arises, ten thousand, views start, mortal lived, golden race,
Approximate Word count = 2455
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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