Taoism

Daoism is fascinating! I'm a world religions junky in general, but Daoism is the one belief system that strikes a chord with me more than any other.

My personal favorite Daoist text is the Zhuangzi - his writing is all so full of passion for life. The I Ching is also very interesting. It's easy to write it off as a Chinese equivalent to astronomy or tarot cards, but the book itself is nothing but wisdom.

 

Chinese guy here. I've seen it firsthand.
Daoism/Taoism is pretty sweet.
The Way of no way, that's what I'd call it.
Going with the flow is a relaxing way of life.

 

Be careful not to identify with a religion before truly understanding it and being part of it. Although your curiosity is healthy, it's extremely insulting for smaller non-Western religions and beliefs to be picked up as a trend and dropped when the fad fades away; delegitimised to being a mere hobby for Westerners. Just be careful and considerate; religion is not something to be taken up lightly.

Other than that, I'd say read some introductory books about it, the original teachings (or what's passed on from them) and the context in which the religion was founded and carried on with. If there's an authority on Taoism near you, you should speak to them and get as much information as you can from them. Then decide if you want to go further with it.

Taoism is an interesting religion with a fascinating history. Taoism can be the philosophy as well as the religion, and has a lot of history that's really important to understanding it, even in the most basic sense of the word. I don't know much about it other than it's difficult for a Westerner to understand any philosophy/religion outside of our own social context, and Taoism requires a lot of study.

 

I've only read the Tao te Ching once but it was fascinating...and maybe An Gentleman can be kind enough to help me on this, but I believe because I have religion I can't really have Tao in my life?

Maybe that's just a Zen Buddhist thing

Foxface

 

I'm Chinese and have lived in a Chinese community my entire life. Our culture doesn't outwardly "practice" Taoism, but overall philosophy is very much embedded into the way many Chinese people lead their lives.

To be blunt, only white people call themselves Taoists, and that's usually after they read some shitty online article or book. Just sayin'. You don't need to outwardly follow another culture's religion to adapt its principles into your life.

Taoism is an ancient and beautiful system of beliefs. I wish I had been older when it was formally taught to me. If you read enough into it, you'll realize that it's just another religion with its own set of deities. Read about it, reflect, adopt the teachings that you like (about harmony and balance), and ignore the rest.

 

I'm not interested in any kind of conversion, but I find it an interesting religion for study purposes. I'd like to learn about it more, and from it.

 

i love studying new religions, it shows your knowledge of culture and helps you gain a new perspective.

 

One of the most egregious examples is Western. Wicca. I've seen more non-Wiccans claim the title than I have seen Wiccans by a long shot, because people listen to people like Silver Ravenwolf who are full of shit. I've seen the same in Norse, Greek, and Egyptian Neo-Paganism. My favorite is talk of witch burnings, because these people tend to have a very poor grasp of the history of witch persecution.