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Beliefs of Death and the Afterlife in Taoist Tradition

Crystal Lowe RELS 2001: Introduction to World Religions May 28, 2013

2 Beliefs of Death and the Afterlife in Taoist Tradition Every tradition has their own beliefs when it comes to topic of death and the afterlife. In Taoist tradition is not an ending. Death is part of a continual cycle of production and destruction. This is where the idea of yin and yang stem from. Followers of the Tao, or path, strive for spiritual immortality or unbounded freedom from death. In order to prolong life, practices such as Tai Chi and Feng Shui have been created to be implemented into to the daily life routines to create balance. The beliefs of death and the afterlife in the pursuit of achieving harmony with nature will be uncovered through the philosophical and theological ideas behind them. Taoism is the belief of the path or the way. To think of the tradition simply would be that if you follow the path or go with the flow of nature you are able to achieve anything in life. The idea seems very basic, but at the same time very profound. This idea and more was presented by whom most regard as the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu. His most famous book, Tao Te Ching, is the sacred text of the Taoist Tradition. The teachings within this text are still used today. Like other religions in Asia, Taoisms beliefs include worship of ancestors and when it to death and the afterlife, their views include ideas that time within the universe is cyclical, there is a heaven and hell, and one should believe in the powers of the divine. On the surface, death and the afterlife to Taoist followers are just two pieces of the Tao. Within the Taoist tradition, death just part of the transformation from being to non-being. This brings up the topic in Taoism, yin-yang. In Taoism, yin and yang serve as light and dark or life and death. The symbol is a circle with a backward s shape inside. On the left side is white with a black dot and on the right side is black with a white dot. It can be interpreted from the picture that there can not be light without darkness and vice versa. According to Taoism: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts and Sacred Places by Jennifer Oldstone-Moore yin and

3 yang relate to death in that within the body there are two kinds of soul, usually designated as the hun and the po....The hun soul is made of yang chi and represents the spiritual and intellectual aspects; the po consists of yin chi, which is the bodily , animating principle.1 When you die, the two soul are thought to separate, with the yang ascending and the yin going into the ground. The passage you take to ascend to higher place with the divine is a story told since beginning of the tradition. According to The Encyclopedia of Taoism edited by Fabrizio Pregadio, Taoist rites for the dead still center on the rite of Opening a Road in the Darkness so that the deceased may leave the underworld, ascend to the Southern Palace, and be reborn again.2 Upon learning that, it can assumed that immortality and karma play a definitive role in death and the afterlife In Taoist tradition, if your goal is to be reborn again, then you must assume that what you do in life or in past lives plays a role in your fate. Especially in Chinese culture, karma and the manners in which you die play an important role in what happens to you and possibly the family you leave behind. According to Understandings of Death and Dying for People of Chinese Origin by Chiung-Yin Hsu, Taoism is the oldest indigenous religion in China...Taoists follow Lao Tzus viewpoint in beliefs about death and dying suggesting that death is not an achievement for life and that people should perform self-cultivation techniques, such as Feng Shui and Tai-Chi Chuan, in order to prolong physical life.3 This is a valid statement, why would one want to achieve death if you are to be reborn? Within that line of Jennifer. Taoism : origins, beliefs, practices, holy texts, sacred places / Jennifer Oldstone-Moore. n.p.: New York : Oxford University Press, 2003., 2003. 86 2 Pregadio, Fabrizio. The encyclopedia of Taoism / edited by Fabrizio Pregadio. n.p.: London ; New York : Routledge, c2008., 2008. 89 3 Hsu, Chiung-yin, Margaret O'Connor, and Susan Lee. "Understandings of death and dying for people of Chinese origin." Death Studies 33, no. 2 (February 2009): 153174.MEDLINE with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed May 23, 2013). 157
1 Oldstone-Moore,

4 thought, one should prolong death as much as possible. This is where the idea of the Taoist idea of spiritual immortality plays in. According to Daoism and Chinese Culture by Livia Kohn, Kohn explains the Taoist meaning behind immortality in reference to practicing Daoists, in their personal goals, would then retain the ancient ideals of nonaction, tranquility, and freedom of mind, but would also undertake health and longevity practices to extend harmony to their bodies, now seen as direct manifestations of the cosmos and the basis of all spiritual attainments.4 This is the ideal for the belief of the Tao. The idea is something very simple, yet at the same time integral to truly following the Tao. Taoisms teachings of death and the afterlife, death is not something that should be desired or feared. One should strive for the ultimate harmony with nature and essentially go with the flow. One should also be of karma and be wary of your actions and those of your ancestors. Taoist tradition is a very interesting belief system when it comes to their ideas of death and the afterlife. Immoral deeds and poor Feng Shui hasten death. Death and afterlife can be a troublesome notion to most people, but with understanding and faith with your respected tradition can ease the mind of the person.

Livia. Daoism and Chinese culture / Livia Kohn. n.p.:Cambridge, Mass. : Three Pines Press, c2001., 2001. 56
4 Kohn,

5 Bibliography

Hsu, Chiung-yin, Margaret O'Connor, and Susan Lee. "Understandings of death and dying for people of Chinese origin." Death Studies 33, no. 2 (February 2009):

153-174.MEDLINE with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed May 27, 2013). Kohn, Livia. Daoism and Chinese culture / Livia Kohn. n.p.:Cambridge, Mass. : Three Pines Press, c2001., 2001. Oldstone-Moore, Jennifer. Taoism : origins, beliefs, practices, holy texts, sacred places / Jennifer Oldstone-Moore. n.p.: New York : Oxford University Press, 2003., 2003. Pregadio, Fabrizio. The encyclopedia of Taoism / edited by n.p.: London ; New York : Routledge, c2008., 2008. Fabrizio Pregadio.