![]() It dwells in lowly places that all disdain. Water is good it benefits all things and does not compete with them. When the highest type of men hear Tao,They diligently practice it.When the average type of men hear Tao,They half believe in it.When the lowest type of men hear Tao,They laugh heartily at it.Without the laugh, there is no Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. Important in this respect is the Taoist concept of De. This involves meditative and moral practices. In Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism, the object of spiritual practice is to 'become one with the tao' or to harmonise one's will with Nature in order to achieve 'effortless action'. Tao is thus "eternally nameless” and to be distinguished from the countless 'named' things which are considered to be its manifestations. In the foundational text of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching, Laozi explains that Tao is not a 'name' for a 'thing' but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe. Within these contexts Tao signifies the primordial essence or fundamental nature of the universe. The concept of Tao was shared with Confucianism, Chán and Zen Buddhism and more broadly throughout East Asian philosophy and religion in general. Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, Tao is a metaphysical concept originating with Laozi that gave rise to a religion and philosophy referred to in English with the single term Taoism. Tao or Dao is a Chinese concept signifying 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle', or as a verb, speak. ![]() Freebase Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes
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