Section Three: Basic Believes

Daoism’s most basic believe is “Dao”, that’s where the religion got its name. Daoism takes the book “Lao Zi” or “Dao De Jing” as its main classics. All doctrines of the religion are sprouted directly or indirectly from the single concept of “Dao”. Daoism is a religion believes in heaven and heavenly beings. It respects and honors beings of other worlds. More importantly, Daoism respects life and believes in immortality, and it believes that through proper practice a person can reach immortality. The emphasis on life is very important to Daoism, since it believes that life and Dao goes hand in hand, to have life is to have Dao, and vice versa. In the view of Daoism, the way to achieve immortality is to win favor from the immortals or heavenly beings, and to have the right prescription for self cultivation.  

Dao, the fundamental concept of Daoism, is believed to be the mother of all, the essence under all creations, the root of all miracles, and the law governs all the universes. In the book of “Dao De Jing” it says “Dao gives life to one, one gives life to two, two gives life to three, and three in turn creates all lives and beings”. Another way to put it is, Dao creates Qi or the energy of life, Qi creates everything else, including Heavens and all other universes.

Daoism believes that besides the world of human Being, there are other worlds where the immortals dwell, such as the 72 Fu Di, 10 major and 36 minor Dong Tian. It also believes that there are 36 levels of Heavens; the highest is Da Luo Tian, then the Three Heavens of Purity right underneath it, and then the rest under the Heavens of Purity. Each one of these Heavens is governed by a system of deities of its own, and they manage almost all possible aspects of life in their world.

Dao has the utmost wisdom, has eternal life, and can manifest itself into anything, any being, in any form. Dao is the creator of all beings; it had original manifested itself into 3 different kinds of energy or Qi, and they in turn transformed themselves into 3 highest Gods in Daoism, the Yuan Shi Heavenly God, the Ling Bao Heavenly God and the Dao De Heavenly God. These three Gods live inside the Three Heavens of Purity, so they are also being called “San Qing” (The Three Gods of Purity). Of course there are many other deities in Daoism, such as the Celestial Gods, Celestial Emperors, Celestial Kings, Celestial Masters, and various immortals. Moreover, there are also land bond deities or even ghosts live under the ground. These numerals deities, immortals and gods are all subjects for worship in Daoism. Deities of the underground and ghosts could also be subjects for worship as well.

Dao De Heavenly God of the San Qing (Three Gods of Purity) is also called Tai Shang Lao Jun or Lao Jun in short. According to Daoism Tai Shang Lao Jun was a person of Warring State Period, called Li Er, an influential thinker, philosopher and the honored creator of Daoism. Daoism believes Lao Jun was born from the beginning of the creation; Li Er was just one personification of the Dao.

According to Daoism Lao Jun has more than 1200 titles and 180 names. Ever since the time of great ancient Emperor Fu Xi (around some 7000 years ago), Lao Jun had began to descend to the world of ours and appeared as various figures to teach the way of Dao to royals and commoners alike, and to help the running of the society. In the legend, Li Er was born out of virgin birth, his human mother bear him for 81 years, and so he was born as an old man with white beard and hair. That is why he got the name Lao Jun, which literally mean an “Old Gentleman”.

Another fundamental belief of Daoism is that a person can achieve “eternal life” or “immortality”. A person who has achieved “eternal life” is called an “immortal”. In the view of Daoism Dao is eternal and whoever can hold onto Dao will therefore acquire eternal life. This concept is also called “De’, “De” in one sense can be understood as the acquisition of “Dao”. Underlining the concepts of Dao and De is the belief that life is not entirely predestined, that one is capable of escaping life’s bitterness and suffering, that one is capable of escaping the labyrinth of life and death, once for all. To do so one must go through proper Taoist procedures and practices. Therefore, Daoism has set the rule that every follower must “cultivate the Dao and nurture the De”. Opposite to the view of Buddhism which devalues the life of a mortal, Daoism believes life should be fully appreciated. Furthermore, according to Daoism, when one succeeded in pursuing the Dao, one could keep the physical body forever and ever if that is what one choose or capable of doing. In Daoism the term “death” is called “Yu Hua”, the phrase means “got one’s wings” literally, which also implies that one has successfully become an immortal. “Yu Hua” has many levels, “Fei Sheng” or flying away (to Heaven with one’s physical body) is the highest form, and going away without taking the physical body is at a lower level but a popular alternative.

The way to reach immortality is not one and only. For the schools of incantation and talisman, the approach is through worship, praying, reading holy scripts, using talismans and incantations. The path chosen by schools of “Wai Dan” or external elixir is alchemy using elements of the physical world such as cinnabar, mercury, arsenic sulphide, saltpeter, gamboges and etc. Schools of “Nei Dan” or internal elixir believe that Golden Elixir should be made inside one’s body using energies a man already has. The life giving, life extending Golden Elixir is but the harmonious unification of one’s vital energies, instead of combinations of minerals of the outside world. In addition to the practices for immortalities, Daoism also promotes many other exercises to benefit one’s well being, for example, stretching exercises, breathing exercises, Qi Gong exercises and etc.