The Tao is a non-dualistic principle-it is the greater whole from which all the individual elements of the Universe derive. It is related to the idea of qi, the essential energy of action and existence. The Tao can be roughly thought of as the flow of the Universe or as some essence or pattern behind the natural world that keeps the Universe balanced and ordered. Liu Da asserts that the Tao is properly understood as an experiential and evolving concept and that there are not only cultural and religious differences in the interpretation of the Tao but personal differences that reflect the character of individual practitioners. The original use of the term was as a form of praxis rather than theory-a term used as a convention to refer to something that otherwise cannot be discussed in words-and early writings such as the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching make pains to distinguish between conceptions of the Tao (sometimes referred to as "named Tao") and the Tao itself (the "unnamed Tao"), which cannot be expressed or understood in language. Some scholars make sharp distinctions between the moral or ethical usage of the word "Tao" that is prominent in Confucianism and religious Taoism and the more metaphysical usage of the term used in philosophical Taoism and most forms of Mahayana Buddhism others maintain that these are not separate usages or meanings, seeing them as mutually inclusive and compatible approaches to defining the principle.
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In most belief systems, the word is used symbolically in its sense of "way" as the right or proper way of existence, or in the context of ongoing practices of attainment or of the full coming into being, or the state of enlightenment or spiritual perfection that is the outcome of such practices. Aside from its purely prosaic use meaning road, channel, path, principle, or similar, the word has acquired a variety of differing and often confusing metaphorical, philosophical, and religious uses. The word "Tao" ( 道) has a variety of meanings in both ancient and modern Chinese language. The bagua, a symbol commonly used to represent the Tao and its pursuit The Tao lends its name to the religious tradition and philosophical tradition that are both referred to in English with the single term Taoism.ĭescription and uses of the concept The Tao is "eternally nameless" and should be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.
Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness.
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