Taoism And Buddhism

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Term Paper Title	Taoism And Buddhism
# of Words	2156
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	8.62

Taoism and Buddhism

Taoism and Buddhism

     Taoism is one of the two great philosophical and religious traditions that
originated in China. The other religion native to China is Confucianism.  Both
Taoism and Confucianism began at about the same time, around the sixth century
B.C.E.  China's third great religion, Buddhism, came to China from India around
the second century of the common era.  Together, these three faiths have shaped
Chinese life and thought for nearly twenty-five hundred years (Hartz 3).

     One dominate concept in Taoism and Buddhism is the belief in some form of
reincarnation. The idea that life does not end when one dies is an integral part
of these religions and the culture of the Chinese people.  Reincarnation, life
after death, beliefs are not standardized.  Each religion has a different way of
applying this concept to its beliefs.  This paper will describe the
reincarnation concepts as they apply to Taoism and Buddhism, and then provide a
comparison of the two.

     The goal in Taoism is to achieve tao, to find the way.  Tao is the ultimate
reality, a presence that existed before the universe was formed and which
continues to guide the world and everything in it.  Tao is sometimes identified
as the Mother, or the source of all things.  That source is not a god or a
supreme being, as Taoism is not monotheistic.  The focus is not to worship one
god, but instead on coming into harmony with tao (Hartz, 8).

     Tao is the essence of everything that is right, and complications exist
only because people choose to complicate their own lives.  Desire, ambition,
fame, and selfishness are seen as hindrances to a harmonious life.  It is only
when a person rids himself of all desires can tao be achieved.  By shunning
every earthly distraction, the Taoist is able to concentrate on life itself. The
longer the person's life, the more saintly the person is presumed to have become.
Eventually the hope is to become immortal, to achieve tao, to have reached the
deeper life.  This is the after life for a Taoist, to be in harmony with the
universe, to have achieved tao (Head1, 65).

     To understand the relationship between life, and the Taoism concept of life
and death, the origin of the word tao must be understood.  The Chinese character
for tao is a combination of two characters that represent the words head and
foot.  The character for foot represents the idea of a person's direction or
path.  The character for head represents the idea of ...

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