Pixie

Hi everyone. I know pretty much nothing about Taoism so I am feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the amount of information posted in the pinned forums... I need some guidance! I would like to buy a book which is sound and easy to understand - an 'introduction' to Taoism so to speak, which includes a little background history to the path. I really don't know anything about it at all. Any suggestions? And if anyone is in the mood for a questionnaire... 1. Do Taoists believe in God (or a Goddess? or several?) 2. Do Taoists believe in the concept of Heaven and Hell, or any kind of afterlife for that matter? 3. What is the difference between "circular" and "linear" time? 4. What is the purpose of an individual in Taoism? 5. How do Taoists worship? 6. Is Taoism a religion or a philosophy? 7. Are there any sacred texts in Taoism? ... I realise that all of these questions have probably been asked thousands of times on this forum but I found it pretty difficult to find any basic answers... so thanks in advance for your time. Pixie

Thanks for your reply! As I am new to this, I'm currently focusing on getting to grips with the philosophical concepts. From there I plan to move on to the practical aspect if I find I agree with what Taoism teaches. Thanks for suggesting these DVDs to me, when I am ready to incorporate the practical side I will definitely try to get hold of them. Pixie

Ah I see, so it is a prevention rather than cure approach - and where we most often feel guilt we find the areas we most need to work on. That makes a lot of sense, thanks! Pixie

Ah, I see, that makes sense. It is a way of life and affects everything you do. It must have taken you a long time to reach a point (or maybe it is one of those things you never stop reaching for). Say you respond to a difficult situation to the best of your ability, but it turns out to be a mistake: do you feel guilty, and if so who do you ask forgiveness from? Coming from an entirely Christian background that is something that affects me a lot, a plaguing feeling of guilt when I haven't kept up to "standard". Pixie Hi Ian, thanks for your reply! Since there are so many different opinions, perhaps ch'i is something that is individual to each person, like the soul, but it is also connected with everything else. I'll be sure to read into this once I get hold of some books. Pixie

Ah okay, sorry, I got confused ^^ (this happens a lot...particularly just now as I have the flu, blagh). How do you go about practicing philosophical Taoism? I understand that religious Taoism involves incense, giving offerings, that sort of thing, but I figure this isn't the way you go about things. Pixie

Thanks for the replies, everyone! *still stunned by the helpfulness* trailmaker, I like your take on it - that Taoism has its place among all religions without being intrusive or contradictory. Do you feel that you practise Taoism as an addition to your existing faith? Hardyg, I did try looking it up on Wiki but unfortunately it seems to crash my browser (I'm using Safari so a lot of sites don't work on it). I will probably download Firefox to use as an alternative when this happens. goldisheavy and WhiteTiger, thanks for giving me such detailed answers to my questions, that has cleared up a lot of things. It's interesting that some choose to follow Tao as a religion and others as a philosophy, although, I think it makes more sense as a philosophy as there are no particular deities to worship in Taoism. Eric23 and Mal, thanks for the book suggestions, I will try to get hold of copies of those. fizix, thanks for the advice - I have noticed that and I am more interested now in studying it as a philosophy rather than as a religion. --- Onto the next dumb question! I understand that ch'i is spiritual energy and that it's important to one's health and wellbeing... but can anyone tell me about it in more detail? What are the ways of influencing ch'i? Do you get different strengths of ch'i in different people - can it be "grown" over time? Thanks all Pixie

Hi all! Let's see... where do I start?? I'm a quirky, off-the-wall 19-year-old from Scotland... and pretty disillusioned with most things in Western culture... I was brought up as a Christian and ended up in a Baptist church for 6 years... let's just say that there is NO WAY ON EARTH that that pastor was a Christian, all he taught was hatred and intolerance, it was totally imbalanced and wrong... so I have kinda lost faith in religious leaders, which also led me to question what I'd been brought up to believe. I've looked into various different faith systems without much success - this includes Ras Tafari, Catholicism, Wicca... everything you can think of. But everything, I have noticed, lacks harmony, and lacks control over one's own path. I had heard a little about Taoism and liked the concept of Yin and Yang... I felt I could relate to it somehow, as if it was something I was remembering from a dream... but somehow more real. If that makes any sense whatsoever. I've long had an interest in Eastern culture and religion because it's so different to what I have known. I'm hoping to find some answer/direction in joining this forum... I'm afraid I'm going to be asking a lot of stupid questions, but "He who dares ask is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask is a fool forever". Oh and a bit about my personal background, as well as spiritual: Parents divorced when I was 8, got bullied in school until I was 16, have had a couple of bad breakups, one of which I am still trying to get over. Had severe jealousy issues between myself and my siblings (step-siblings included). Basic result is... no harmony whatsoever, and this is really what I am searching for... wish me luck. Hoping to make some new friends on this forum too, so say hi and tell me a bit about yourselves... Sorry if this was long... Pixie

Thanks for replying so quickly, I'm really amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone has been so far. I haven't really experienced this from any religion before. I like that Taoism embraces both religion and philosophy. In Christianity I used to struggle with the commandments to have a "child-like" faith and to not ask questions... My feelings about that were something close to, "Why would God give me intelligence if I'm not allowed to use it?" I think I am going to find this very interesting to study, even if I don't adopt it as a religion myself. Thank you Pixie Hi thelerner, thanks for your reply! Everyone is being so helpful, I'm amazed. So far I am finding Taoism very interesting to study in that it openly acknowleges the many different aspects of life. As I said in my reply to DarinHamel, I used to struggle in Christianity with the concept of "child-like" faith, of not asking questions - it was like an insult to my intelligence! Could you tell me any more about Inner Alchemy? That sounds quite interesting. Do all Taoists practise it? Pixie

Thanks for the suggestion! Because of my spiritual background I am really quite hestitant about throwing myself into anything too quickly, so something that is consise will be very helpful to me! Thanks! Pixie

Hello trailmaker, thanks for the reply! Wow, that was fast. I think I'm going to like it here. Most forums don't welcome newcomers. Pixie