This article presents some of the misconceptions in the beliefs of Taoism, from those who founded it and those who wrote it, how people can understand the Tao Te Ching more easily, it also presents the reason whereby non- The action is easily misunderstood and the way Westerners have interpreted it themselves. This article also aims to present what Taoism really is and what its importance is for me, personally. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Taoism is a Chinese philosophy, a religious tradition believed to be led by Lao Tzu. But Lao Tzu is a term for Old Master and not a personal name, it is in Sima Qian's account that he initiated it when he wrote that Li Er is Lao Tan, and that Lao Tan is the pseudonym of Li Er, a historical figure in Chinese philosophy, it is the one whose existence is known because of its biography told by Suma Qian. Lao Tan, however, is known to be a legendary character but there is no definitive evidence that he actually existed. The misconception that Taoism is led by Lao Tzu is widely known throughout the world, but people are not even sure if he really existed. There is no "founder" of Taoism, but it has multiple well-known and followed figures. The main concept of Taoism is the Tao, and in order to understand the Tao we must first understand the concept of Change for the ancient Chinese. They view change as a cycle that continually moves just as the earth revolves around the sun and as we experience the seasons. The different states of nature for them are not opposites but are all connected, that which possesses a quality that, if understood correctly, together, everything is everything. This change is connected with the ten thousand things: “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. That which is nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. of ten thousand things." In which the thing is not exactly the thing but is, in which it does but does not do. In which we can know the Tao, but we know it now, and that all things came from heaven and earth, but also came from the ten thousand things. It is said that there are many paradoxical sentences in the Tao Te Ching, as can be seen from its first sentence, that is why it is difficult to understand and interpret even for people who study Taoism. Many people misunderstood one of the sentences and its concept. Wu Wei which means “non-action” because it means doing nothing. To reach and follow the Tao all we can do is wu wei. But that doesn't mean literally doing nothing. It means not doing anything that contradicts what we need to do. For example: “Using a sports-based example, wu wei equates to being 'in the zone.' When a hitter in baseball is in full swing, I've often heard him say that it's as if everything around him slows down and the ball seems as big as a beach ball. They hit him without consciously thinking about it. Another example is the writer who, struck by inspiration, lets the words and images flow out of themselves. Many will say that it is as if the book or poem wrote itself. Both of these examples exemplify wu wei. “We completed what we set out to do as if we had actually done nothing.” (Two typical misconceptions) This means that wu wei is letting the Tao do its work through your body to complete what needs to be done, letting nature do the work and not contradicting it. Because when we are not “in the zone” we are aware of what we need to do, we are aware that we are doing something because we need to accomplish something. But when we are “in the zone” we let go of our conscience and don't think about what we need to do next,we are surprised when something is done because we are not aware of the things we are doing. Quoting Suma Qian: “According to the changes of the seasons, they respond to the development of natural things. Their results fit everywhere. Their ideas are simple and easily achievable. They perform little, yet their results are numerous. which means that everything that is followed is by nature, and that the work that is done is also by nature. Many people who study Taosim mistakenly conceptualize wu wei something out of laziness because they take it literally that they don't have to do anything about things to do. Some people (especially from Western culture) believe that Taoism is a lazy philosophy/religion. Western people have also mistakenly conceptualized Taoism by saying that it has two forms, one "religious" and the other "philosophical". But an informed view of Taoism knows that it is an understanding of Western culture with a colonialist and missionary agenda that gives it two forms. From the Warring States period, it is known that Taoism is a complex and diverse religious tradition, it is viewed as a whole and does not have any form. Taoism has many individual ideas, beliefs, philosophy, principles that cannot simply be divided into two. The complexity of all this can be seen from the story itself and their way of reaching the Tao. Another misconception is that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. But the Tao Te Ching is a book that has many authors and many contributors, one of them being Chuang Tzu, another Taoist figure, and another Taoist book. Both books are a collection of works from the Taoist community. One of the misconceptions about these books is that these two books are the only books that matter in the religious tradition of Taoism. Because the Tao Te Ching is the most central and influential scripture in Taoist history. But the Taoist religion has been based on several books over time, their main text is the Daozang which means Taoist Canon, this is the book that contains all the text of the Taoist religion. Contains 1400 texts, coming from all the main periods and movements of Daoist history. It may not depend on who founded Taoism and who wrote the text, but on the outcome, on how people interpret the texts and how they apply them in their lives. The real concern is how Taoism affects people's lives and how people understand its beliefs. The problems may be due to the paradoxical sentences of the Tao Te Ching because it has no direct text that tells what people should do, another thing is for people to understand the changes in the Tao Te Ching and the ten thousand things, they also need to know the the natural order of Yin Yang philosophy. The biggest misconception about wu wei is the biggest problem here, because many people, even practitioners of Taoism, are misled by the name "non-action", it requires a lot of effort to know what people really need to do is based on Tao Te Ching. The incorrect conceptualization of the two forms however is brought to Westerners because they want to understand the idea with their own understanding, which is a problem, as always stated, we must not try to understand the beliefs and ideas of Eastern philosophy with Western one because they differ in many ways. We must let go of what we know in order to understand Eastern texts. We must not forget, to always go back to the primary source of what we are reading, we must not be selective about what we want to read. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers .Get a custom essay Even though we say that it is a confusing religious tradition, we cannot say that it is not effective and good. 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