ZAKI Posted August 21, 2009 Assalam, a game for all the taoists on this site (and people who know alot about it). Say a fact about the religion taoism and your not allowed to repeat something someone else said-then whoever has posted the most is the winner! (a fact per post). Okay let the game begin!!! wasalam (peace) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigweard Posted August 21, 2009 Assalam, a game for all the taoists on this site (and people who know alot about it). Say a fact about the religion taoism and your not allowed to repeat something someone else said-then whoever has posted the most is the winner! (a fact per post). Okay let the game begin!!! wasalam (peace) Well Marblehead will say that Taoism is not a religion but a philosophy that became a religion! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZAKI Posted August 21, 2009 Well Marblehead will say that Taoism is not a religion but a philosophy that became a religion! is it a FACT though bcz then that wont count as a point wasalam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted August 21, 2009 You guys cracked me up!!!!! Yes, I have said something like that; and you are right; if I were to say that here it wouldn't count. Actually, what I said is that religious Taoism evolved out of philosophical Taoism. So I guess that could be used as my first statement about religious Taoism. Oh, sure, there are tons of additional influences that were involved in the creation of the religion. Hopefully there will be many members here who will expound on those. This thread will be fun if we get some players. Be well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigweard Posted August 21, 2009 You guys cracked me up!!!!! Yes, I have said something like that; and you are right; if I were to say that here it wouldn't count. Actually, what I said is that religious Taoism evolved out of philosophical Taoism. So I guess that could be used as my first statement about religious Taoism. Oh, sure, there are tons of additional influences that were involved in the creation of the religion. Hopefully there will be many members here who will expound on those. This thread will be fun if we get some players. Be well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZAKI Posted August 22, 2009 This thread will be fun if we get some players. Be well! agreed we just need them now wasalam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Creation Posted August 22, 2009 Well, I'd love to help get the ball rolling but I don't like the idea of a collection of facts. So you'll have to make do with one of my characteristic rants. There are two types of religious Taoism: The community kind and the monastic kind. The community kind is where there are priests who train to be able to do spiritual tasks for the common people like exorcisms. Organized shamanism, in a sense. Monastic Taoism is a the kind where people cultivate themselves to reach "immortality" or "enlightenment" (they don't have to monks, it just seemed like a fitting name). Neither of them are necessarily derived from philosophical Taoism. (Note that there is overlap, because the priests of community Taoism have to cultivate. But it may not be to perfect themselves.) Community Taoist movements popped up from time to time in ancient China. Like the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Modern Community Taoism traces back to Zhang Daoling, who founded the Celestial Teacher's Way. What is his connection to philosophical Taoism? He says Laozi appeared to him and transmitted teachings to him. That's it. Monastic Taoism is harder to trace because guys cultivating caves did not always leave a mark. The Yellow Emperor, who lived over 4000 years ago, was said to be a high level cultivator. Presumably, Laozi was a high level cultivator and his philosophy grew out of his cultivation. Organized monastic Taoism only developed when the Buddhist model of monasteries and ordained monks was introduced to China. Now philosophical Taoism as a separate entity grew out of divorcing Laozi and Zhangzi's philosophy from their mysticism/cultivation and only thinking about what they said about morality and government. But all this stuff traces back to people cultivating themselves and seeking to understand the world and then applying their knowledge and power to government (philosophical Taoism) or helping people (community Taoism), not to mention developing sophisticated marital and healing arts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZAKI Posted August 23, 2009 Well, I'd love to help get the ball rolling but I don't like the idea of a collection of facts. So you'll have to make do with one of my characteristic rants. There are two types of religious Taoism: The community kind and the monastic kind. The community kind is where there are priests who train to be able to do spiritual tasks for the common people like exorcisms. Organized shamanism, in a sense. Monastic Taoism is a the kind where people cultivate themselves to reach "immortality" or "enlightenment" (they don't have to monks, it just seemed like a fitting name). Neither of them are necessarily derived from philosophical Taoism. (Note that there is overlap, because the priests of community Taoism have to cultivate. But it may not be to perfect themselves.) Community Taoist movements popped up from time to time in ancient China. Like the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Modern Community Taoism traces back to Zhang Daoling, who founded the Celestial Teacher's Way. What is his connection to philosophical Taoism? He says Laozi appeared to him and transmitted teachings to him. That's it. Monastic Taoism is harder to trace because guys cultivating caves did not always leave a mark. The Yellow Emperor, who lived over 4000 years ago, was said to be a high level cultivator. Presumably, Laozi was a high level cultivator and his philosophy grew out of his cultivation. Organized monastic Taoism only developed when the Buddhist model of monasteries and ordained monks was introduced to China. Now philosophical Taoism as a separate entity grew out of divorcing Laozi and Zhangzi's philosophy from their mysticism/cultivation and only thinking about what they said about morality and government. But all this stuff traces back to people cultivating themselves and seeking to understand the world and then applying their knowledge and power to government (philosophical Taoism) or helping people (community Taoism), not to mention developing sophisticated marital and healing arts. taoism in a nutshell? wasalam Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigweard Posted August 23, 2009 Well, I'd love to help get the ball rolling but I don't like the idea of a collection of facts. So you'll have to make do with one of my characteristic rants. There are two types of religious Taoism: The community kind and the monastic kind. The community kind is where there are priests who train to be able to do spiritual tasks for the common people like exorcisms. Organized shamanism, in a sense. Monastic Taoism is a the kind where people cultivate themselves to reach "immortality" or "enlightenment" (they don't have to monks, it just seemed like a fitting name). Neither of them are necessarily derived from philosophical Taoism. (Note that there is overlap, because the priests of community Taoism have to cultivate. But it may not be to perfect themselves.) Community Taoist movements popped up from time to time in ancient China. Like the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Modern Community Taoism traces back to Zhang Daoling, who founded the Celestial Teacher's Way. What is his connection to philosophical Taoism? He says Laozi appeared to him and transmitted teachings to him. That's it. Monastic Taoism is harder to trace because guys cultivating caves did not always leave a mark. The Yellow Emperor, who lived over 4000 years ago, was said to be a high level cultivator. Presumably, Laozi was a high level cultivator and his philosophy grew out of his cultivation. Organized monastic Taoism only developed when the Buddhist model of monasteries and ordained monks was introduced to China. Now philosophical Taoism as a separate entity grew out of divorcing Laozi and Zhangzi's philosophy from their mysticism/cultivation and only thinking about what they said about morality and government. But all this stuff traces back to people cultivating themselves and seeking to understand the world and then applying their knowledge and power to government (philosophical Taoism) or helping people (community Taoism), not to mention developing sophisticated marital and healing arts. Well said my friend .... 5 stars from me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mal Posted August 23, 2009 Say a fact about the religion taoism The Way cannot be said in words. Guess what book Trans from enlightenedbuddha.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zhuo Ming-Dao Posted August 23, 2009 @Creation - Great summary! I think this game would have worked a little better if it were focused on either community (folk) Daoism or monastic (cultivation) Daoism. By having both, it leaves the game a little unfocused. That said, I will throw in a funny anecdote from community Daoism to highlight an interesting fact about that manifestation of religious Daoism. A close Taiwanese friend of mine was born with a very auspicious given name, which meant Soaring High (Tengfei). When he was 12 years old, his aunt took him to a Daoist priest who specialized in naming-astrology, and the priest "discovered" that his future would be quite mundane and that he would suffer throughout his life from not being able to live up to his name. So the priest had them legally change it to one that had the correct stroke count and that meant Stable (Peng). Suffice it to say, he hated his new name and as soon as he was 18 he had it officially changed to Kevin. By switching to an English name, he decided to sidestep the whole problem. In regions where fortune-telling is more popular, many parents may name their children on the advice of literomancers. The advice are often given based on the number of strokes of the names or the perceived elemental value of the characters in relation to the child's birth time and personal elemental value; rarely on the sound of the name as there is no system of fortune-telling based on character pronunciations. In jurisdictions where it is possible, people may also choose to change their legal given name, or their children's names, in order to improve their fortune. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mal Posted August 24, 2009 as he was 18 he had it officially changed to Kevin. that is a cool story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
