Taoism
Taoism is a tradition which means living in consonance with the Tao. Taoism has Chinese origin and was founded by Lao Tzu in 550 B.C. The actual meaning of Tao is ‘The Way’. People from Japan, China and Korea with a range of 20 to 30 million follows Taoism philosophy .Taoism are also called Daoism in some areas. The people of rural areas of China consider it as a religion because of Tang Dynasty. Tao means doing the things naturally or going with the flow. According to Taoism beliefs if a person wants to live a healthy and successful life is to let it happen naturally and be flexible to whatever comes its way. According to Taoist ideals, there are no “poor people” but just people who act poorly. Anyone may be a “good guy” living in harmony with the world and with others, provided the necessary education and encouragement to understand how the universe functions. The person would be dissatisfied if a person resists the changes in his life. One’s ultimate aim is to live in harmony with the Tao’s way and agree that everything that happens in life should be acknowledged as part of the divine force that connects. and passes through all. Taoist rituals are about honouring the ancestors of a village, community or region, and the Grand Master will invoke the spirits of those ancestors while burning incense to purify the place. Purification is an important aspect of the ritual. Taoism has very energetic impact on Chinese’s people for centuries. For acquiring exorcism, techniques for ecstasy and getting immorality are the major teaching in Taoism. According to the local society, before the emergence of Taoism slaughtering animals for spirits was considers to be a sign of virtue, but as soon as people started believing in Taoism, people started to reject this act of sacrificing animals for spirits. Most of the population in Vietnam and China consider themselves as Taoist. Taoism has four rulings for having a better life:
- Letting go
- Compassion
- Flowing with nature
- Harmony
Stoicism
Stoicism means personal ethics and its views on natural world. Zeno of Citium was the person who founded this philosophy and named it ‘Zenoism’. The stoics usually teaches that ‘’virtue is a good to human’’. Money, health and pleasure are nothing but only have value as a material to act upon .To live a decent life, one had to accept the laws of the natural order, since they believed that all was inherent in nature. A person who is indifferent of pain and pleasure is commonly considered as strict. Most people consider stoics as the one who have no emotions or feelings about anything as they are free of passion. They do not show any kind of emotion as they consider everything as an order from nature. In ups and downs of life considering it as destiny and having a clear judgement about the event makes one stoics. Following are the major teachings of stoicism
- Wisdom
- Courage
- Justice
- Temper
There is a misconception that if a person is stoics, he does not feel for other but in reality they actually are unaware of the universal reasons. Stoicism became the most popular ideology among the educated elite in the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire. The distinctive characteristic of Stoicism is its cosmopolitanism; according to the Stoics, all people are embodiments of one common spirit and should live in brotherly love and support one another readily. Stoicism not means what a person says, it’s all about how he behaves .it is also called as ‘’philosophy of porch’’. Stoicism states that having virtuous life is free of disturbance and life passion. Living with nature will comfort and make people believe events are fated to occur in their life. There are two development stages first one is self love and the second one is living according to nature to heal you. The only teaching of stoicism is ‘virtue’ which means morals with high standards and is considered as a best thing to have a better life. In Roman Empire stoicism became an elite and most popular philosophy of time. Stoics believe that universal is all about nature .The reasoning of substance is considering it universal reason. Being a stoic gives inner peace and calmness.
Difference between Taoism and Stoicism
As stoicism means living in harmony with nature and Taoism says that nature is all about God, and is best to live with nature. Both beliefs have strong esteem. There is a misconception about Taoism and stoicism. Taoism gives people peace and energy to the body; while stoicism is philosophy of holding logical thoughts .Taoism and stoicism just have difference in conception. Both are just about living our life according to nature and with virtue. The major difference between the two is logic .Taoism is not logical; on the other hand Stoicism is logical .Stoicism works with understanding the order of nature and Taoism only beliefs in experiencing the natural order. According to stoicism and Taoism belief, you get calmness and peace of mind from your own self .It is from within your mind. But both have a difference that only society and environment have effect on your mental peace.
Similarities between Taoism and Stoicism
Taoism and stoicism share some common beliefs. Both teach to live with nature. The two of these beliefs teaches to live with nature and virtue as these two are the only things that give eternal peace of mind. When a person lives away from the world minding his own business, living the simplest life and experiencing the orders of nature, he is being Taoist or stoics. Stoics being practical to everything maintained balance with everyone around them .But they lack to speak along with motivating you to experience the happenings of nature. Taoism on the other hand flows with nature and letting it go like ‘not doing anything’. For stoicism reason means understanding nature and living according to it without complaining, while Taoism means letting it go or not doing anything about any event of nature.
Common ground between the two
Before the concept of Taoism local society slaughtering animals for the spirit was consider to be a sign of virtue, but with the passage of time people reject this act of sacrificing at the name of spirits.
Stoicism also teach about the “virtue “they said virtue is good for human.
So the common ground of the both believes are virtue. Which is good for human as well for animals.
Taoist rituals are about honouring the ancestors of a village community or region and the grand master invoke the spirits of those ancestors while burning incense to purify the places.
Stoicism states that having virtuous life is free of disturbance and life passions. They are not show any kind of empathy and consider everything as and order.
