IS TAO A Religion?

Is TAO a religion?

TAO is the wisdom of the ancient Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, who lived a few hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. His beliefs—more at a personal than a social or political level—could not be expressed in words, and therefore never intended to be a religion.

However, it must also be pointed out that over time different religions began to evolve from the philosophy of Lao Tzu. For that reason, nowadays, many people have erroneously come to believe that Buddhism, Zen, and other Taoist religious practices in worshipping many gods and ancestors were all related to TAO, or that TAO was a originally a religion in itself. But nothing could be further from the truth. Lao Tzu believes that the entire universe with everything in it flows with a mysterious force that not only controls but also maintains the natural order of things. That ultimate reality is nondescript; all we can know is that it is not only within and outside us, but also everywhere and nowhere.

“The Way to the Creator existed

before the universe was created.

Its essence is formless and unchanging.

It is present wherever we turn,

providing compassion to all beings.

It comes from the Creator of the universe,

who has no name.

To identify him, call him the Creator.

He can also be called the Great Mystery,

from whom we come, in whom we live, and to whom we return.”
(Chapter 25, Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu

Accordingly, Lao Tzu’s emphasis is on to be, rather than to do—which is the opposite of Confucius’ (another famous ancient Chinese philosopher, who was a contemporary of Lao Tzu) focus on the way of doing, instead of being.

TAO is not a religion. It is self-enlightenment of the mind so that one may acquire the human wisdom to appreciate and understand spiritual wisdom.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau >