Taoism
The Tao is the ancient Chinese word for Undifferentiated Consciousness.
Syncretic Terms
Notes
The first organized school of Taoism was the Orthodox Unity or Celestial Masters school, founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 C.E. after a revelation by "the personified god of the Tao, Taishang laujun, the Highest Venerable Lord" [1]
"There were various precursors of this first organized school of Taoism. First, in terms of doctrine, there were the ancient philosophers of the Tao, Laozi and Zhuangzi with their major works Daode jing (Scripture of the Tao and the Virtue) and Zhuangzi (fourth and third centuries B.C.E.). Describing the world as created and sup¬ ported by the Tao, encouraging people to pursue simplicity and spiritual cultivation in order to recover and realize this allencompassing force, and developing the ideal of the sage and the perfect human being, these works furnished the conceptual framework for the later religion."[2]
The Tao is the ancient Chinese word for Undifferentiated Consciousness.
Syncretic Terms
Undifferentiated Consciousness > Absolute Essence, Ain, Dhat, Govinda, Light of the Void, Nondual God, Para Brahman, Supreme Essence, Tao, The Imperishable, The Unity, Undifferentiated Godhead, Unmanifest, Wuji
Notes
Note early Taoist schools were formed around revelatory/mystical experience.
The first organized school of Taoism was the Orthodox Unity or Celestial Masters school, founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 C.E. after a revelation by "the personified god of the Tao, Taishang laujun, the Highest Venerable Lord" [3]
"There were various precursors of this first organized school of Taoism. First, in terms of doctrine, there were the ancient philosophers of the Tao, Laozi and Zhuangzi with their major works Daode jing (Scripture of the Tao and the Virtue) and Zhuangzi (fourth and third centuries B.C.E.). Describing the world as created and sup¬ ported by the Tao, encouraging people to pursue simplicity and spiritual cultivation in order to recover and realize this all-encompassing force, and developing the ideal of the sage and the perfect human being, these works furnished the conceptual framework for the later religion."[4]
"The second major Taoist school was the school of Highest Clarity (Shangqing). It began with a revelation from the Heaven of Highest Clarity received by the medium Yang Xi in 364-70. Yang Xi was a member of a southern aristocratic clan, and the new scriptures and insights into the realms of the otherworld transmitted to him remained at first limited to this select group."[5]
Footnotes
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 3.
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 4.
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 3.
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 4.
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 5.
"A few decades after the Shangqing revelations, Ge Chaofu, a member of the Ge family, proceeded to develop his own vision of the otherworld. Calling his new understanding Numinous Treasure ( Lingbao), he integrated the Highest Clarity scriptures with Han dynasty thinking, Buddhist cosmology and doctrine, as well as the magico-technical practices transmitted within his family."[1]
Footnotes
- ↑ Kohn, Livia, ed. The Taoist Experience: An Anthology. State University of New York, 1993. p. 5.
