Chinese Religions

Lecture 11 27 October 2009

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Daoism and Confucianism Brief History Belief and Practice Soteriology and the Afterlife.


Do you want to live forever?

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Patterns p. 230

ShangShang-Chou folk religion



Shang Dynasty (1600-1122 B.C.E.) (1600Qi ..can exist in different modes and densities, yet followed the person to Yellow Springs Compare with Atman/Soul?  Shang-ti Supreme Ruler of Heaven/Divine Ancestor Shang(Patterns p. 227) Mandate by lineage


ShangShang-Chou folk religion



Chou Dynasty (1122-221 B.C.E.) (1122

Tien took precedence over Shang-ti, with a major Shangdifference that it was a special relationship based on merit, not birth Justifying their takeover?
A

deity or an ordering of the universe?

Celestial Bureaucracy  Cosmology and Divination


 Yin/Yang

complimentary interacting energy modes  Five elements (Patterns p. 229)  I Ching

Foundations of Daoism
  

Lao Tzu (6th century BCE) and his donkey Is he a God like Jesus? A Prophet like Muhammad? A sage like Buddha?

The Way
 

Dao as an Ultimate Reality Too infinite to be named or apprehended?



The Dao that can be named is not the true Dao



Islam? Brahman?

Harmony and Energy

Qi and Ying/Yang  a particular esteem for the female (Patterns p. 245) (Patterns p.


Ultimate Reality
About Brahman The self cannot be comprehended by voice or mind or eye: How then can He be understood, unless we say HE IS? HE IS So we must understand Him and as the true essence of the absolute and relativeWhen all desires that shelter in the heart of a mortal are cast aside, then a mortal puts on immortality thence to Brahman one attains. ---Katha Upanishad About Dao [Dao] It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth. I do not yet know its name; I style it the Way [Dao]. Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it the Great, We call it the mysterious female Subtle yet everlasting! It seems to exist. In being used, it is not exhausted ---Dao De Ching ---Dao

Daoist Beliefs
The Dao of Star Wars (http://www.exn.ca/starwars/taoism.cfm) http://www.exn.ca/starwars/taoism.cfm)  Is Daoism polytheistic? The Gestation of the Cosmos The Way gave birth to the One The One gave birth to the Two The Two gave birth to the Three And the Three gave birth to the ten thousand things

Is Hinduism Polytheistic?
How many Gods are there, Yajnavalakya? Three thousand three hundred and six, he replied Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? Thirty three. Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? Six. Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? Three. Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? Two Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? One and a half. Yes, said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalakya? One

(Cf. Eck 1998: 26)

Daoist Beliefs
  

WuWei : Non action and Let it flow Let http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtnu4kcKbik The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. Non-being penetrates that in which there is no Nonspace. Through this I know the advantage of taking no action. Few in the world can understand teaching without words and the advantage of taking no action Compare with Dharma and Jihad


How does non-action relate to religious duty? non-

Daoist Beliefs


Macrocosm and Microcosm



Table 6.5 of Patterns.. P. 246

Interaction with the ancestors

The afterlife.  Kinship and ancestor worship


Scripture and Text: Dao De Ching



Dao De Ching (The Way and its Power)

 

81 brief sections about the Dao Tao of.. Whatever (http://www.canonical.org/~kragen/tao-of(http://www.canonical.org/~kragen/tao-ofprogramming.html) programming.html)

" Not like Pooh, the most effortless Bear we've ever seen." "Just How do you do it, Pooh?" "Do What?" asked Pooh. "Become so Effortless." "I don't do much of anything," he said. "But all those things of yours get done." "They just sort of happen," he said"

Scripture and Text: Dao De Ching



Chuang tzu
Chuang tzu and reincarnation of qi? (Patterns.. P. 233)  A commentary on the quest for longevity/immortality


Daoism and this worldly salvation

Chuang-tzu was asked to help rule a kingdom by two Chuangofficials. He said: I heard that there is a sacred tortoise in Chu that has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it wrapped in cloth and boxed, and stores it in the ancestral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its bones left behind and honoured? Or would it rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud? It would rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud, said the two officials. officials. Chuang-tzu said, Go away! Ill drag my tail in the mud. Chuangmud.

Daoist Practice
Techniques of Longevity and Immortality
Embryonic Breathing  Holding the Ones  Yoga (Patternsp. 255)


 

Qigong control of qi TCM

Critical Conversion (**NEW**)

The Celestial masters in 142 C.E. Patterns.. P. 235 A divine revelation of Chang Tao-Ling TaoLao Tzu as a celestial master? Taoism as a state religion (215 C.E.)

For next week

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