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Dec 05, 2004 at 12:02 PM |
Tao has many meanings in Chinese. In general, it means a way or a path. In our prayer halls, we like to call it the "correct way of living". Tao is not a religion but it exists in all religions. To live in accordance with Tao is to live in accordance with nature. A person with Tao is unified with the universe and able to see the truth in all things. We believe that everyone has a true self (soul) within and it is originally kind and compassionate. Therefore, we need not learn how to be a good person because deep inside our conscious, we are already good; we are all living Buddhas or Saints. However, due to ignorance and attachment to material possessions, we find ourselves struggling between good and evil everyday. We tend to choose the easier way out - the selfish way of living - though subconsciously, we know that it is wrong. We then commit many bad karma which results in endless cycle of birth and death.
To cultivate the Tao is not to gain something new. It is actually exactly opposite – to lose something. We are used to the concept of gaining and winning but we have neglected the importance of losing. After many lives of re-incarnation, our soul is covered with too much impurity such as hatred, jealousy, greed, and attachment to material possessions. We just need to get rid of all these bad desires in order for us to regain back our true consciousness. Saying is always easy; the hard part is putting it into practice. Thus, like most other religions, we have a set of proprieties in our prayer halls to help us achieve that.
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Last Updated ( Jan 07, 2007 at 09:13 PM )
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