A question for taoists?

Taoism is both a philosophy and a religion. as a religion it is called Hsien (immortals) Taoism so called because those who practice religious Taoism seek spiritual immortality thru various practices such as Feng shui, Qui Kong and Tai Chi being the most well known.

there are really no right or wrongs in Taoism as shown in this story.

There was once a Taoist farmer. One day the Taoist farmer’s only horse broke out of the corral and ran away. The farmer’s neighbors, all hearing of the horse running away, came to the Taoist farmer’s house to view the corral. As they stood there, the neighbors all said, "Oh what bad luck!" The Taoist farmer replied, "Maybe."

About a week later, the horse returned bringing with it a whole herd of wild horses, which the Taoist farmer and his son quickly corralled. The neighbors, hearing of the corralling of the horses, came to see for themselves. As they stood there looking at the corral filled with horses, the neighbors said, "Oh what good luck!" The Taoist farmer replied, "Maybe."

At that same time in China, there was a war going on between two rival warlords. The warlord of the Taoist farmer’s village was involved in this war. In need of more soldiers, he sent one of his captains to the village to conscript young men to fight in the war. When the captain came to take the Taoist farmer’s son he found a young man with a broken leg who was delirious with fever. Knowing there was no way the son could fight, the captain left him there. A few days later, the son’s fever broke. The neighbors, hearing of the son’s not being taken to fight in the war and of his return to good health, all came to see him. As they stood there, each one said, "Oh what good luck!" The Taoist farmer replied, "Maybe."

Some Taoists worship but not in the sense of worship in a christian sense, it is more along the lines of veneration as in the festival of the spirits of the dead.

Meditation is perhaps the core of Taoism, it allows the mind to become restful, just as we can only see our true reflection in still waters, we can only see our true nature when our mind is at rest. that is not distracted by the notion of things or past and future events which do not exist.

There is no comparison in Taoism to Genesis, the universe came to be as a natural act thru the Tao.

the Tao is something that cannot be defined by words, and any attempt by me to do so would only confuse the issue.

Death depends on the different sects of Taoism, as taoism teaches that death is a concept and concepts only exist in our minds and has no real existence, all that death can be is a change in a appearance. some Taoists will argue over this. which is why the Hsien Taoists seek immortality by trying to align themselves with the Tao.

While philosophical Taoists would say, there is no immortality. For immortality is a concept that can only be sought by the ego, and the Ego is false. we already are immortal we just have realise and accept it. All we ever do is change in appearance.

Sorry, I'm not a Taoist. I am a teacher, however, and I tell my students that although Wikipedia can't be used as a source for their papers, at the bottom of each wiki articles are links to external sources. So it can be used as a starting point.

The Tao or Dao, is the "way". There are religious versions that make a God of either Lao Tzu (the founder) or the "Jade Emperor". But most forms are atheistic. Most versions of Taoism do believe in reincarnation. The question of cosmology (how the world or universe came to be) isn't considered all that important.

As far as I know, it is a philosophy that encourages you to accept things as they are, or things you can not change. Some see that as a way for others to control an accepting crowd but part of that acceptance would be to accept change...'the only constant in life is change' )I saw that some where, don't remember though)...

Anyway, it doesn't teach a creation ,or beginning-just the philosophy of how to interpret/deal with your situation as you are here now

there are spiritual practices, such as mediatation but te practitioner doesn't have a particular deity to worship...I think the majority believe in reincarnation.

I'm not as practicing Taoist but from what little I've heard, it would be the one I be likely to follow...I don't nevessarily believe in an after-life...I don't think it matters whether you do or not.

Read this and deside what you think for yourself. I personaly think it is a great religion, I'm not taoist but still.

http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/...