Taoist Studies

[Bafana]

Anyone intersted in Taosist studies(probably not spelt properly).

I have to admit I am Chinese movie channel junky and really like the comedy horror movies involving chinese taosist priest, vampires and kung fu lah

I have been looking for some readin material so I can actually understand the Taiost religon.

Anyone got any good ideas (preferably that can be brought from a book shop in Singapore)

Thanks

BTW anyone care to give a Taosist 101 explanation adn what the differences are with Buddishm?

[Wind In My Hair]

i've been wanting to learn more about both taoism and buddhism as well, but it will have to wait a few years.

as far as i know, buddhism is a way of life more than a religion. it's more a philosophy, a way of thinking and achieving a detachment to the transcience of life. taoism on the other hand has gods (i think there is a kitchen god and several others) and involves worship (including ancestor worship) which is where joss sticks and such come into the picture.

i could be totally wrong and would love to be corrected if so.

[Bafana]

Went to Popular next to NTUC behind PArkway today and could'nt find any books that actually explained what Taoism is - I founf I chin in a couple of version (includign cartoon style) but what I really need is an expalantion of what it is all about. Anyone know if Popular in Bras Basah has any good books or any recommedned readings.

BTW is Taoism the one with chi force, yin yang and gods???

[Wind In My Hair]

Popular is not the place for such books, much as i like it for stationery.

I would try Borders if I wanted to get anything decent. or Kinokuniya.

[i20w24]

Hi all,

I'm sharing my finding on the net on taoism.

Taoism is science of life

Let’s consider what people seek in life.

Taoism says that people are seeking happiness.
If people cannot achieve happiness, at least the people will try to survive inside the realm of universe.

People follow religion and believe in God because they hope to be happy by entering heaven and avoiding hell. People work hard for money because they want to preserve their life and survive.

Surviving and looking for happiness are natural human impulses.

Those are the fundamental reasons behind Taoism spiritual development.
On the other side, as an intellectual sentient being, people are always curious regarding the mystery of life.

So, it can be said that there are three main triggers behind Taoist spiritual development;
1. Natural human impulse to survive and preserve their life.
2. Natural human impulse to be happy.
3. Natural human curiosity to seek the truth by revealing the mystery of life.

Base on the three aspects above ancient people tried to improve their skills and knowledge. They researched the physical and metaphysical world to reveal the secrets and find the truth.
The goal is to survive and be happy.

They tried hard to avoid death. They tried to preserve their life as long as possible.
They researched herbal ingredients to find magical tablet to prolong their life even to make their body immortal. This is the root of herbal medicine.
They researched human body metabolism and internal organs to try and stop physical body degradation that cause humans to get old and weak. From this we inherit acupuncture and other Taoism health treatment.
They develop breathing system and internal alchemy to prolong their life.
There are many Qi Gong Masters who can live more than 100 years even 200 years. So today we inherit many kinds of Qi Gong.

Much research had been done but Taoist still could not avoid death.
And then some Taoist researched death and after life.
And from this we inherit Taoist spiritual exercises.

The research begun about a thousand years ago.
That is why there are six branches in Taoism.

Spiritual Taoism was created by natural human reaction to face and overcome any worldly problem.

As we know, today modern science also tries to research afterlife and other dimension.
But Taoist has been doing it for a thousand years!

Spiritual Taoism is based on research and investigation and not based on superstition or dogma!

Spiritual Taoism is a method to survive and to improve our quality of happiness in this life and the afterlife.

Today, Tai Shang Men school shares this art openly!

Introducing Taoist spiritual system that is based on common sense and logical thinking!


quoted from studytaoism

[Strong Eagle]

You dig up a SIX YEAR OLD post to add this trivia?

That was Zen, this is Tao.

[i20w24]

I'm sorry if my posting is consided as a trivia thing.

I was very confused when I try to understand taoism.
In gong fu movies, there is a symbol of tai ji, in chinese geomancy also using tai ji, and in chinese vampire movies also shown taoist priest. But when I looked into the main taoist bible aka. dao de jing, it doesn't explain anything about that.

Then later on I found some of the articles that help me to get a boarder understanding on taoism, and this is what I'm sharing here.

[i20w24]

TAOISM SKILL & ART

Taoism is based on the concept of Yin Yang that consists of many meanings.

According to Yin Yang rule, spiritual and worldly life should be able to unite in harmony. That is why Taoism has no concept to leave society for spiritual learning. Even more, Taoist learns the spiritual to support their worldly life. Taoist should be able to succeed at both spiritual and worldly life. Taoist enters the worldly life.
Follow the flow (of life) but not float away.
That is why Ancient Taoist created many Taoism arts and skills to support their life. The skills are used to face and overcome any worldly problem.

Here are six branches of study in Taoism;
1. Dan Ding Men (Tan Ting Men) / medications, physiotherapy, healing, acupuncture.
2. Qi Gong Men /Breathing exercise /Inner power
3. Jing Zuo Men / Meditation
4. Wu Gong Men (Wu Kung Men) / Martial art / Kungfu
5. Xian Li Men / Philosophy / Theology
6. Cak Can Men / Geomancy, divination

All of the skills above were created by Taoist to support their livelihood.
It is a natural human impulse to survive and be happy inside the realm of the universe.

Taoism has very long history, more than 5.000 years.
Taoism is very large and consists of many arts and skills.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Why are you sharing it here? This is not your personal blog. Create a blog if you want to just post random thoughts.

Sharing usually means solicitation of one form or the other. I'm just waiting.

tic...toc...tic...toc...

moderator

[taxico]

I'm sharing my finding on the net on taoism...

They tried hard to avoid death. They tried to preserve their life as long as possible.

They researched herbal ingredients to find magical tablet to prolong their life even to make their body immortal.

This is the root of herbal medicine.

They researched human body metabolism and internal organs to try and stop physical body degradation that cause humans to get old and weak.

From this we inherit acupuncture and other Taoism health treatment.

They develop breathing system and internal alchemy to prolong their life.

There are many Qi Gong Masters who can live more than 100 years even 200 years.

say whaaat??

who are these 200 year old qi gong masters and why haven't we been introduced?

or can you point me to a few of those masters who are >125 years old? (well, dead or alive)

[x9200]

There are many Qi Gong Masters who can live more than 100 years even 200 years.

say whaaat??

who are these 200 year old qi gong masters and why haven't we been introduced?

or can you point me to a few of those masters who are >125 years old? (well, dead or alive)

It says they CAN live. It does not mean they do or want to

[taxico]

toaism in singapore, i feel, is a little weird. there seem to be a lot of mysticism about it here, with lots of little home temples all over the island. you can't miss it if you walk by one or drive past one at night.

i've witnessed some trances wherein controlled substances were involved. it appears that such behavior is also tolerated by the authorities... at least until the recent mass suicide by a group of teenagers.

i believe the singapore taoist federation has a website that you can look into.

toaism in other countries are equally weird. my wife tells me about taoist priests/believers in korea approaching and asking you to learn more about their religion, and then you end up at their home temples, trapped, and unable to leave without paying some sort of initiation fee, etc... and these things happen on university campuses! (in korea)

my observation has also been that toaism deities are a scary/menacing (sometimes both?) looking bunch. the buddhas i've seen tend to be rather genial looking

as far as i'm concerned, these two religions (again, this is my opinion) have a lot of differences! what they are, specifically, i am unable to know.

(and i'm sure buddhism has its dark sides too)

[i20w24]

say whaaat??

who are these 200 year old qi gong masters and why haven't we been introduced?

or can you point me to a few of those masters who are >125 years old? (well, dead or alive)

Wow, you are so sharp bro. Its not even cross in my mind to ask for this.

I just got the reply about the question:
Some of them who are live a long life are:
1. Chang San Feng around 200 years old
2. Li Ching Yuen around 256 years old
3. Huang Yuan Ji around 300 years old
4. Leng Jian around 200 years old
5. Chen Fei Long around 140 years old

Unfortunately Chinese is not my language, so I'm unable to get the full information about them. Maybe someone here have a good Chinese and able to get their profile.
I think the administration in the past may not comprehensive enough to collect all information about those long live qi gong master (especially if they are live in seclusion.

http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/chang1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ching-Yuen

[taxico]

who are these 200 year old qi gong masters and why haven't we been introduced?

or can you point me to a few of those masters who are >125 years old? (well, dead or alive)

Some of them who are live a long life are:

1. Chang San Feng around 200 years old
2. Li Ching Yuen around 256 years old
3. Huang Yuan Ji around 300 years old
4. Leng Jian around 200 years old
5. Chen Fei Long around 140 years old

I think the administration in the past may not comprehensive enough to collect all information about those long live qi gong master (especially if they are live in seclusion.

so what you're saying is, chinese masters in the past lived longer lives than modern day chinese masters? (or a person from any country, not necessarily china)

and taking a leaf from x9's book (thanks! :b), the assumption is perhaps modern day masters are choosing not to live for so long... OR alone in a cave.

now i get it... i think. thank you for those names and some pictures of old dudes.

[i20w24]

so what you're saying is, chinese masters in the past lived longer lives than modern day chinese masters? (or a person from any country, not necessarily china)

and taking a leaf from x9's book (thanks! :b), the assumption is perhaps modern day masters are choosing not to live for so long... OR alone in a cave.

now i get it... i think. thank you for those names and some pictures of old dudes.

In case of Li Ching Yuan, I don't think 1928 is ancient.

The point is that if in the past, where the human expectation life span shorter that today and yet some people are able to have an extraordinary long life because of practicing qi gong, then wouldn't it be wonderful if we can practice this art and gain a long life.

I understand that some people might be skeptical about it. However, as we have heard that nowadays there are some studies on qi gong to support the treatment of cancer and other chronic disease. Of course, it would be much better if we practice qi gong now than start after we are diagnose with the diseases.