Module 5: TAOISM

Prerequisite Skills: Knowledge and skills in the application of spirituality

Instructor:
Mrs. Nieves R. Madelar
Level:
First Year College
Allotted Time:
Three Hours
OVERVIEW
This module is designed to help you understand the basis of Spirituality of all existing religion

OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

1. Develop a sense of spiritual awareness in Taoism.

2. Appreciate the spiritual value necessary for the enhancement of their spiritual life.
3. Trace the origin and development of Taoism.

PRETEST

Direction: Read the following sentences and write True if the statement is correct and False if the statement is wrong. Write
your answer on the blank provided before the number of the statement
_________ 1.Taoists walk in the highways and follow instruction on road signage.
_________ 2.Taoist believes that when he dies he will transform into a butterfly.
_________ 3.Taoists are vegetarian for they believe that they can protect themselves through light foods.
_________ 4.Taoists believe that when they eat a pinch of gold, mercury and jade they will become immortals.
_________ 5.Taoists promote ignorance and have no ambition in life.

LEARNING FOCUS
TAOISM-is Mysticism
Tao- is pronounced Dow

Chuang Tzu the 2nd Taoist book (name after the founder of Taoism)
-both books are based on what has been called mystical philosophy or wisdom
-Lao tse/ Lao Tze/ Lao Tsu/ Laao Tzu/ Laozi/ Laotze
The Tao Te Ching (Dow Deh Jing)- first Taoist book can be translated in English- The Book of the Way and its
Virtue or The Book of the Way and its Power.
1. Keeping people in ignorance so they will not know there is anything better to strive for, which Taoism at its
worst.
2. Death, the ultimate uprooting is not to be feared; it follows life as surely as life follows death.
3. Transformation- the process of change into another form like the butterfly.
- Tao walks on the way where there is no sign
Mysticism usually refers to the knowledge of communion with, or perhaps even union with the divine.
If Tao means change, if change is the way of life, the ways are found to adjust to that process.
The Taoist way is to adjust to or fit into this process of change, to see that there is no this or that, only the
unity of all things.

4. There is no need to strive for fame or plan and execute strategies, or manipulate people to get things
done. Rather true Taoist travel where there is no sign, exercise what they have received from nature,
live out the Tao which is within all people and within all things.
5. Taoist believes that when he eats lighter diet and does breathing exercises everyday and fresh air to
inhaled they can prolonged the span of their lives. They eat more of vegetables and flowers, or one tiny
portion of gold, mercury, and jade which they call pill of immortality.
Acts of celebration:

The Tao Tsang- a collection of Taoist sacred literature describing their rituals.
Chiao- community festival- some of the festivals are held only once in 60 years and so are extremely
special.

People engaged in acts of purification and penitence for a month before the festival begins; the more devout
abstain from meat and increase their acts of charity to the poor.
Other acts or merits such as performing deeds of filial piety, reciprocating good deeds, and repaying debts are
common in the weeks before the festival.
Wool, leather, and white objects associated with death are avoided, and guards are set up around the temple
to keep anyone wearing such items from entering.
The rituals last for three, five, and seven or nine days, depending on how well the town people have funded
the festival.
Three Pure Ones or Taoist Trinity
- Pure August One or Yu Huang, the Jade Emperor
- August Rules of Tao
- August Old Rules
The Tao of Chinese religion is a pathway which both the Confucian and the Taoist can follow.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
a. Group Discussion- divide the class into 4 and assign a leader and a secretary to discuss the following items to be reported
next meeting
1. Why do Taoists walk where there is no road signage?
2. Is it just right to regard a pinch of gold, mercury and jade as pills of immortality when in fact they poison the body?
b. Reflection
What among the t belief s of the Taoist are you going to embrace and why?

Activity 2
Graded recitation

POST TEST
Name: __________
Course/Year/Section: __________

Course: __________
Date: __________

1. Direction: Answer the question briefly but completely.

State five Taoist beliefs and practices and make an analysis if we need to adapt them or not as Christians.
References:
1. The Worlds Religions- Understanding the Living Faith by Dr. Peter B. Clark pages 182 189