Daoism Religion

The Daoism Religion The Real Origin (primeval roots) of the Daoist Religion & Forerunners of the Daoist Religious Practices Versus Atheism, Agnosticism, Deism & Pantheism Macro Daoism(Laoism老学;大道,道家) Vs Micro Daoism (道教小道, 道教 道士 道人 ) The symbolism representing Daoism with Yin and Yang together occupying a circle was created by Daoist Religion through syncretism it with then different but popular Yin-Yang School. Cf. Angus Charles Graham "Disputers of the Tao"(1989). Yang is what we can sense of the sense-data and Yin is what cannot be sensed prima facie. However a saying in China "A person's face could be painted, yet the painter would not know this person's heart (dispositions). A tiger could also be painted, yet the painter would not know about its bones(skeleton)." expresses more to the point of the relation of what can be shown ostensibly and what can be known in depth. Nevertheless, since the Daoist Religion's organized, though loosely, mass movement has successfully and erroneously established itself as the mouthpiece of Laozi, it is worthwhile to examine its origin, in history and practice. The conclusion is equally true, when examine it from the perspective of Laoism--the philosophy of Laozi. Accordingly, historically and philosophically the relationship between the Daoist Religion and the Laoism are far-fetched, particularly under the sway of the populated Daoist Religious practices, of superstitious bearing rites and rituals, the remoteness grows. Here in the West, particularly in influential USA, under the religious enthusiasm to broadcast, majority talks and publications (scholarly included) about Daoism are about the description of Daoism delivered by the Daoist(Taoist) Religion, with splintered piecemeal descriptions about ideas in Laoism to engage in taking-out-of-context interpretations. However that partial representation reflects partial of the partial, i.e. splintered the philosophical framework of Laozi. It is like sizing up images through broken or dirty mirrors. What distortions will this treatment make? Nevertheless a number of the Religious Daoist books, which they gave them titles as "Jing"(Scripture), aiming at competing with then popular Buddhist scriptures. Their attributing Jing to Laozi's book, had been inadvertently offensive to Laozi. It is even more intellectually insulting to Laozi by attributing their other Jings as Laozi's work. Isn't that we call identity theft? They were manufactured by people through fooling themselves and others as to be on the ESTERICAL vein of Laozi's teaching. Yet those esoterically oriented Daoist scriptures had provided convincing means which appealed to gullible superstitiously minded people, much more than the book Laozi(Daodejing) that was to be understood by most people with common sense. It is a joke that the philosophy (spirit) of Laozi could be apprehended by just a few selected armchair amateurs fooling themselves they possessed superior spiritual capacity, just because they could dance to the rites and rituals created by the organized and professionalized Daoists. It is the performance, of going through the motion of work out exercising in Qigong气功，Tai Chi太极(ultimate extreme) and mental game Feng Shui风水(wind & water)--another form of approaching Laoism exoterically while lacking scientific supports. 'Knowing how' and 'knowing that is the case' don't constitute knowledge. It is like animals being able to eat does not lead to the knowledge where the food go next. Accordingly the buck of studying the aforementioned Daoist inspired activities stops at the activities of going through the form of motion, e.g. of rites and rituals etc, yet lacking substance, i.e. not knowing why it is the case. In the West, even many current so-called scholarly philosophical discussions on Daoism were mistakenly engaging in the esoteric interpretation of Laozi's book Laozi(aka Daodejing)--all brought forward by the misconception that the book is in poetic forms while it is not even sonnet or Shakespearean, or rites and rituals of the Daoist religion carry significance of some kind. Therefore, it should fall in the domain of Micro Daoism, that is the private understanding of the difficult text of Laozi's book through bypath. A first grader could also have the freedom to interpret Einstein's Theory of Relativity within his private (solipsist) knowledge, that is the freedom of speech. It may be noted here that comparatively there are Mahayana(Chinese translation da cheng大乘: Big Vehicle) and Hinayana (Chinese translation xiao cheng小乘: Small vehicle) in the Chinese Buddhism Nevertheless it is not proper to publicize this esoteric apprehension as philosophy or to spread it to the public. The Chan(Zen) Buddhism did carry out the dictum "What can be shown cannot be said"(Wittgenstein). Accordingly since Daoist Religion has adopted the esoteric means to interpret Laozi's philosophy and it lacks supports of science, it is the Micro Daoism(Taoism)--personal interpretations to fit in personal frameworks. Accordingly it fits in the truth of the afore-mentioned aphorism by Wittgenstein "What can be said cannot be shown". Philosophically it should be dealt with Wittgenstein's suggestion on the role of private language, as a contrast to the public language. Languages, public and private issue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_language_argument In other words, esoteric interpretation of Lao's thinking belong to the domain of private language. If it is said in public language, it is not about philosophy but about private exercise like qigong气功, fengsui风水 or gongfu功夫. Talking about esoteric approach to Laozi's book Daodejing, there were also modernized hearsay that either Laozi was an UFO or his book was dictated by UFOs. Also sounds convincing too? They are not knowledge but hearsays. On the other hand, if there is scientific study of engagements of Religious Daoism, namely through the life science, it will turn out to be the exotically publicly understood knowledge of 'knowing why'. That's the understanding of the big picture of Daoism--Macro Daoism. In the practice of Buddhism in China, the discern between private and public understanding was strictly applied that, for instance, Shaolin kungfu practices only manifest 'knowing what' and 'knowing how' , but not 'knowing why'. Furthermore this proves what Laozi has said : 1. I Dao [Truth] can be talked about [described or theorized] in any manner each person considers feasible, though hardly any of these descriptions will be perpetually valid; Names [Descriptions] can be ascribed to Dao in any manner each person deems workable], yet hardly of these will last forever. So, the benevolent Laozi may not have any objection to the way Daoist Religion so distorted and sloganized his teaching, for they, (impoverished and semi-literate), should be forgiven for not knowing what they have been doing. But not forgiving those who are not victims of the society that who had not been impoverished they had been poorly educated. Because they are not capable to know what they are on the right track.  The Daoist Religion's Introduction of the newer title Daodejing道德经 It substituted the original name of Laozi's only book Laozi老子 and developed his thoughts as esoteric teachings (to their likeness) The reason Laozi's book was giving a new title with the character "Jing经"(Scripture) was because those people who initiated a new religion they called Daoism and they want to compete with then popular religion Buddhist, which had had many scriptures brought back from India. Another reason was, in the early Han Dynasty of the 2nd BC, it was by government’s decree books were classified and ranked as jing经(Ching;scriptures), zi子(scholars), dian典(classics) shu书 and shi史(history) etc. Books in the class of jing are ‘must read and memorize the text over and over again” like Buddhist monks chanting on their scriptures. Since even Confucian books were only considered scholarly books—zi books子书. In order to promote their religion, it was advantageous to present their bible Laozi as a jing, on the same par with Yi Jing would place its importance superior to then politically overwhelming Confucianism. That was the beginning of promoting their celebrity Laozi’s book socially and politically rather than intellectually. It was also a very good publicity work to promote and organize their social-political movements. The title Dao De Jing(tr. The Scripture of Dao and De) was convenient for sloganizing his belief for his organization’s mass movement—Daoism. Soon after that, the uncertainty in the nation and the society had made room for superstition to seep in for a quick fix of pacification. Accordingly, the substituted book title Daodejing was conveniently introduced to the Chinese public together with Zhang’s social religious movement Daoism, slightly tinged with politics, since the 2nd Century AD with the allegation of allegiance to that great historical celebrity—Laozi. To posterities, history was confounded and people were fooled about Laoism, not some of the time, but all the time, even in progressive modern societies. Maybe we could distinguish this distorted offshoot Daoism from the Laozi’s Da Daoism大道(Macro Daoism) from the medley of popularized Xiao Dao小道(Micro Daoism) through the promotion of authentic Laoism, Laozi’s philosophy in the right light of the early Greek philosophy. The kind ‘imaginative’ hearsay and misinterpreted version of Laozi’s philosophy may thus be hopefully retired to their proper place. Laoism, the comprehensive philosophy of Laozi, is about Macro Daoism and the vulgarized version of it is Micro Daoism. Some recent publications have wrongly used the word “Laoism” to explain their vulgar and non-philosophical Micro Daoism. The romantic Zhangzi was not joking when he explained that Dao is everywhere that it is even in feces. He must be referring to Micro Daoism, both could be referred to as Daoism; it is a case of identification of indiscernible in analytic philosophy. The real origin(primeval roots) of the Religious practice of the Daoist Priests, Forerunners of Daoist Religious Practices The Weak Linkage of Daoist Religious Practices to Laoism Historically Its primeval roots had Nothing to do with the Old Venerated Scholar Laozi but Early Indigenous Religions. About four thousand years ago During Shang Dynasty(1666-1046 BC) China was passionately religious country for Heaven worship, and prayer rooms, big and small, were very popular. Before then witches and warlocks were popular. It was reported individuals, including Emperors, had spent up to a whole day in the prayer room. Sometimes they’re naked to show their sincerity. Both Laozi and Confucius came from this Ying ethnic group. Looks like together with the wide spread study on Yijing(I Ching) people were more and more relying on their intelligence about Tian—Heaven; they’re more tempted to learn how the rules of Tian worked. The passion to concentrate on praying for long hours were graduate waning during Zhou Dynasty(1046-221 BC) thanks to their substituting ‘Li’(etiquettes) for prayers. Mildly people entertain beliefs of characters in myth, e.g. Chang-e(the Goddess in the moon) and her pet jade rabbit, which are now renamed to satellites launched on the moon. However, those legendary characters were growing and gained more followers among uneducated myth lovers; ordinary people feel better to cling to vagaries (even for entertainment). Nevertheless, there had had not been any organized religion in ancient China before the Daoist Religion organized and launched their social mass movements, generation after generation. From the perspective of community organization, it had overwhelmed even the government supported Confucianism, which only aimed at spreading the Confucian philosophy. These kind of Daoist followers are especially extensive among the less educated and less affluent majority. Zhang Daoling of the Theism Laced Daoist Religion The Forefather of the Commonly Accepted Earthy Daoism Around 2nd to 3rd Centuries AD during Eastern Han Dynasty China again suffered from uncertainty that it ended up splitting into the famous Three Kingdoms. It was also during this period opportunists with political bend formed and developed a hatch patched entity with folklore, yin-yang & five-elements talks, alchemy, witchcraft, spirits and spagirism; that the beginning of Daoism. At that time, it was originally called Five-dou Religion五斗米教, Each dou is equal to 35.2 liter for grains, five dou is about 5x1.3 cubic yards, used to be a county leader’s monthly salary. the due (equivalent to 6.8 cubic yardstick) followers had to pay to be included in that society to receive blessings. It was mistakenly reported that the founder of this Five –Dou Religion was the famous Zhang Daoling张道陵(34-156? AD), even though in public he presented himself with the religious name Zhang Tianshi张天师（Zhang The Teacher sent by Heaven） There was even some blog on the Chinese internet that God bears the surname “Zhang” as “Zhang Daoling” another rumor mongering.. In fact, it was always a fascination of emperors or kings of good-life to extend their lives perpetually. So beginning in the 4th Century BC some self-claimed Dao Shi道士--Daoists had already made their way to their wealth, by convincing emperors and kings of their abilities for life extension, through their elixir and alchemy skills. Before Zhang Daoling, the gospel of Five-Dou religion was originally delivered by Zhang Jiao张角 and Zhang Xiou张修. Zhang Daoling later succeeded them as the leader of Five-Dou Religion. His descendants and successors inherited this name Daoism Religion道教 until now. Under the mantle of the Daoism Religion, Zhang became a celebrant and leader; he had also exemplified the double-dealing of politics(for power) and commercialism(for profit), a tact used by freebooters. People were also convinced that Laozi and Zhang each lived up to 122 years. Zhang, further presented himself as an interpreter of this book, with his religious Daoist twist, by joining all the above mentioned interpreters of Laozi. Here the term ‘religious’ has the connotation of ‘being superstitious and embracing folklore and hearsay. Zhang Daoling, the so-called ‘the Heaven-Sent Teacher’ 张天师 was a title created with his manufactured legend that he was omnipotent, i.e. he was able to call shots for the change of weather (summoning wind and commanding rain), disabling ghosts and spirits, and grandmaster of alchemy sorcery, helping people to live longer or be immortalized with elixir, as well as traveling in-and–out of earth and heaven. In the West they dragged down Daoism. Micro Daoism carries elements of primitive religions like shamanism and paganism. Zhang’s ambition may be due to the obsession to start a political and religious mass movement, in order to compete with then popular Confucianism and Buddhism. There was the factor of provincialism as well, as Laozi was used as a native son against the foreign invasion of Buddha. In the 2nd Century AD, Laozi, Confucius and Buddha had had been celebrities in China for many centuries already. Zhang even went further by hijacking Laozi’s fame to place and mythologized him to be in the circle of deities Zhang had ‘fabricated’. He had stolen Laozi’s celebrated intellectual success with his piecemeal myopia out-of-context quotes, and further enforced his fabrication with his twisted mythologized interpretations. His title as ‘the Heaven-sent Teacher’ had had been handed down and inherited by his biological descendants like royal inheritance. It sounds like a new dynasty was born from out of this world (alien?); existed concurrently with the historically authentic dynasty, out of the world of deities. This kind of trick of taking advantage of mass movements in the name of religion has had being been played until now, e.g. The Boxers’ Movement of the 19th Century. Zhang was successful, even though his Daoism reflected only far-fetched trivialized myopia hearsay about Laoism, yet it Zhang’s brand of idle talks on Daoism (with heavy dosage of pretention and make-believe) has had being been spreading smoothly socially, politically and culturally. Most unfortunate for the modern time, that people have suffered more from uncertainties and anxiety, its success is in the process being repeated in the modern West, e.g. evidence by the spreading of Daoist organizations in Japan and in the Western democratic modern world. The illusion is that this newcomer Eastern religion may solve the problems the traditional Christianity could not fix. Even linguistically the religious Daoists are prolific, there are additional terms created with the prefix of the character ‘dao’ exclusively for their religious purposes, e.g. daozi, daoju, daoyi, doguang, daoshu, daoqing, daoguang, daohai, daosu, daoliang, daoxing, daogu, daochang, daopao, daodi etc. In this vein, we’ve freedom to add existing likes of daocan(Dao Meal) or daochan(Dao Property) to enhance the list for the modern living. What an across-the-board sloganization and proliferation of “Dao”! However, none of these ‘Dao’ words have any significance that could lead to Macro Daoism—Laoism. Since their affiliations are too far-fetched, e.g. it is like alleging that enjoying to eat Chinese meals will make one a Chinese expert. Furthermore, Laozi was very much against pretentiousness and idolization. To any sincere follower of Laozi being pretentious and idolization is the treachery and betrayal of the teaching of Laozi. When the Daoist Religion teaching is accepted, science is particularly being pushed to the back burner, a step further for the mind to tiptoe into the darkness of superstition. In this scenario the brilliant wholesomeness of authentic Laoism is, by a powerful missile of mass movement, sent far away to the remote space where stars cannot be seen, let alone it has had also been clouded by the smoke-screen of the mythologization of professional Daoists and their followers. Notwithstanding, traditionally in China, even without the consciousness of the fact Laoism represents the core philosophy of Laozi, there has had always been discretion among intellectuals about the reference of the term Daoism itself: the group concentrated on the study of the philosophy, based on the discussion of the Macro Dao--the principle truth of nature, is called Dao Jia 道家 (Scholars of Dao) and the religious Daoism practiced by professionalize religious Daoists is called Dao Jiao道教(Dao Religion). To be precise: The professionalize Daoists are called Dao Shi道士 (道人) or Lao Dao老道(old professional Daoist) or Daogu道姑(Dao nuns) et al. Whereas the non-professional pursuer of Dao, i.e. people who are convinced, that Laozi was talking about the deep truth of the world and ethics of being proper human beings, are called Dao Jia 道家. The term ‘Dao Jia’ was introduced way back in the 4th Century BC when hundreds of schools competing to make to the top ten teachings in the era of free competitions in China, also known as the Era of the Blooming of Hundred Flowers. In fact the term “Dao Jia” originally appeared before Laozi—maybe about 10th Century BC. Accordingly both groups claimed to be pursuers of Dao, a name shared by both Macro Dao and Micro Dao. Many Western experts have difficulties to discern these two, and their confusingly discussion on Daoism are, truthfully, the medley of the day-and-night different Dao Jia (Macro Dao) and Dao Shi (Micro Dao). Or the esoteric Dao techings of Dao Shi, i.e. Daoism practiced through Daoists' rituals, and the exoteric study of Dao, i.e. Laoism, of Dao Jia. For the sake of enhancement of Intelligence, the study of Daoism should center on studying Laoism--Laozi’s philosophy, rather than the rites and rituals of the Daoist Religion. In other words, not discern Macro Daoism and Micro is like identifying tree branches as forest. However intellectually speaking, introduction of ghosts and spirits in the practice is promoting superstition, as well as treating Laozi as a god(deity; spirit), is irrational and great let down of the greatest Chinese philosopher. Not to mention this smearing of his contribution to libertarianism and humanitarianism With inadequate information about the distinction of ‘Dao Jia’ and ‘Dao Shi’ in China and shortage of their discretion even like Chinese with common-sense, one should have decency not to claim to be an expert on Daoism to the public. For general welfare of the public, this is like misleading people with the blind vision; it is the scenario of “A blind person being led by another blind to walk”. So the mythologization in the description and interpretation of Daoism, along the misleading vein, was particularly frequent in the West by wiseacres, amid the established scholarly papers on Daoism due to the ignorance of the historical Chinese documentations of Laoism. Those who tried to depict Daoism [e.g. draw snakes] by adding legs, i.e. poetic styles and half-baked information, in translating Laozi(Daodejing) into style of poetries, are also on the same path and cheer leaders of religious Dao Shi. Different from the real Dao Shi though is their lack of religious dedication to this religious mass movement. However, from the perspective of their limited knowledge of both the world and self their Dao is Micro Daoism 小道, comparing to Laozi’s Dao for the cosmology—Macro Daoism大道. Micro Daoism has a big advantage of appealing to the gullible mass. The time when Zhang Daoling stated assemble followers for his new political-religious social movement, there had had been many successful Buddhist masters in China already, particularly practicing Chan(Zen) Buddhism. The theological footing of Buddhism was comparable to the early West Christian theologies, which had had crisscross inheritance of both Greek philosophies, of Plato and Aristotle, and Judaism on the other hand. When comes to the theological footing of Zhang Daoling's Daoism, the question is how much his creative pantheism was going against Confucius' rationalistic teachings against superstition and gullibility? Let alone Laozi's Laoism. In other words, in addition to expropriate Laoism through out-of-context slogans; Zhang's pantheistical Daoism further hijacked Laoism for anti-intelligence mass movements, for opportunistic social political agendas. Its purpose was providing opium for the crowd. Kind of taking advantage of people's gullibility, particularly when life is disappointing. At its onset in China, the Zen(Chan) Buddhism when first practiced, was deeply imbued in Laoism. Even until this day, it still influence its practitioners when they tried to verbalize their thoughts. Accordingly, loaded with pantheism and fallible 'superstition' the Daoist religion cannot be on the same par with other religions, like Buddhism and Christianity. Their problem was that the Religious Daoist could never shake off the hue of shamanism and paganism and let Laoism to permeate in its teachings, even though their advocacy of Laozi was based on torn out-of-context ideas. It appears that, in China most mass movements are still, in essence, mixed bags of religious and political movements. This double dealing extended from southwest Tibet to the northwest Xinxiang and even to budding religions in the Eastern regions of China. It is playing out in the modern society, whose democratic bend bestows more freedom for the outcry of making-beliefs; it is the performance of wearing religious mask for carrying out social-political movements. For example in the early 20th Century there was Boxer Movement. And a century later, similar pseudo-religious movements, in big and small scopes, with the political undertone and agenda, almost nearly matched the similar running in early 20th Century. All under the mantle of the distorted slogans of democracy and freedom of speech (for mass opiate). Both Westerners and Chinese have had suffered from Boxers, a home bred religious movement which was reminiscent of the earliest politically religious mass movement of the Daoist Religion. It has had successfully established itself, maybe under political pressure exerted several times in the Chinese history, all its original political undertones faded and vanished within the Daoist Religion gradually. It had become apolitical like all other long existing religions in China. However the modern day arisen democracy and religion-freedom incited political-religious mass movements are richer medley of slogans borrowing from Daoist Religion, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; it depends on whichever is more convenient. Nevertheless those intellectuals who are inadvertently following bypath of Laozi's Daoism--Laoism without further reflection are much more blamable, due to their lack of arduous inquisitiveness and intellectual honesty, or ignorqance of philosophical framework, most time it happens in the West. Maybe the inadequacy of the linguistic inadequacy is the main reason; the classical Chinese is closer to archaic Latin and it could be understood with hermeneutical trainings only. Whereas Chinese, who are aware of the traditional difference between Dao Jia and Dao Shi (of Dao Jiao), should only follow established Western academics on their grounded approach on Chinese classics, e.g. like H.G. Creel or Kalgren, Giles, Julien, Legge and Wilhelm. The present spread of the wrongful “Daoism” is even hijacking “Laoism” for their esoteric approach to the exoteric Laoism. Exoteric:  suitable to be imparted to the public <the exoteric doctrine>-- Merriam-Webster Esoteric: only taught to or understood by members of a special group : hard to understand. -- Merriam-Webster Consequently it has gone drastically leading the world to the on the wrong path to Laozi's philosophy(teaching). Was it a theft of the identity of both the reputation of the historical Laozi and his exoteric Laoism's? It looks like this adulteration of Daoist Religion has been too far gone to be remedied? Nevertheless true believers that Laozi is a world-class great philosopher, like Popper and Nietzsche et al have had, should fight hard to preserve this last clean unspoiled land (jing tu 净土as said in Buddhism). It is therefore necessary to injecting thoroughness and sobriety in studying the Macro Daoism--Laoism. The Daoist Religion could be qualified as a religion, on the account that it is a social organization, which provides rites and rituals, names for deities to idol worship to numerous followers. Nevertheless, their theology is a very far cry in substantiality from that of both Buddhism and Christianity. Not to mention its failure to expound the altruistic humanism and humanitarianism contained in Laoism. Since their designation of ‘Daoism’ has had being been so overwhelming, Laoism should be discernibly identified as Laozi’s true and authentic philosophy, which should be accepted as having faint minute intellectual association with the widely spread Micro Daoism. This last stand of Laoism should be defended by any worriers of the Chinese civilization and human heritage. That is the story of the discernment of Macro Daoism(Laoism) and Micro Daoism. The Daoist Religion could thus still, with no complaint, stand up as Dao Jiao道教and its priests will be known as Dao Shi道士or 道人 or 道姑 to the infinitum as these terms has had already being been used in China for the last two thousand years. Just as the saying goes “The water in the well will not flood (impinge the territory of) the water in the river and vice versa”. The difference between Macro Daoism and Micro Daoism are like day and nights. Moonbeam is available in the night only while sunlight is around only in the daytime. But the domain of Laoism should be protected against misappropriation. Laozi did have Talked about Macro Dao(Da Dao) in Chapters 18, 25, 34 and 67. For instance: 18.0 When the Macro(great) Tao was abandoned [by society], theories on humanitarianism and righteousness sprang up; When the quest for wisdom was overlooked (discarded by people responsible for social agenda), sophisticated pretenders flourished; 67.I People in this world often complained: either that my theory was big and empty, or worse than that it does not appear to be about anything significant; It is just because I discussed matters of great important that it was difficult for [ordinary people] to comprehend its outline; Accordingly for the sake of seeking truth in order to defend the authentic Laoism, efforts should be aimed at discussing Macro Dao, the basic principles of nature and human beings, as well as the survival of human race, apart from small talks about Dao, is the obligation of those who are the crusaders to preserve and sustain the wholesome human intellectual heritage and truth of the world. It takes all kinds of people to make this world, as well as all human assemblages, particularly a loosely liberally voluntarily gathered one. Unlike religions like Islam, Christianity or even Buddhism, there is hardly any pressure for one to show dedication to Daoism Religion, let alone to commit to it professionally. Buddhism has always been a refugee for politicians or socially disappointed in China and other Asian countries. Somehow due to its relatively less tight control of followers, people were free come and go, in and out of this religion; however many were brain-washed that abandoning the supervision of Daoist priests may lose the protection of many gods. One merit of Daoist religious practice is that the Daoist temples usually pick environmentally friendly locations with vegetations, particularly surrounded or among big trees. That has created an atmosphere of simplicity and tranquility out of the maddening world. Its advice on food were based on the experience of millennia of the traditional Chinese herbal medicines beginning as early as before people invented fire. Even though the efficiency of this practice is kind of hearsay, sustained with extremely fuzzy and loose logic, yet it was the best people could hang on when they did not have any other better means, e.g. life science et al. Yet modern people are in much better position to screen this kind of assertion through the lens of modern science and logic, i.e. away from playing the being superstitious or easy to fool audience. Both the philosophies of Laozi and Buddha were originated from their great humanitarian sentiments. Buddhism had addressed to compassion extensively and deeply. Perhaps due to Laozi's political and cultural brought up (of super prudence), he (Confucius too) were stoic and had tried to steer away from being expressively sentimental or whining; they were disciplined to keep private feeling to themselves. However being kind and benevolent playing a key part in both teachings of Macro Dao of Laozi and Confucius. Laozi's historically original statements on libertarianism was oriented to minimize the evil of authoritarianism of governments, specially the ill-conceived and poorly designed governments, which we are still living under globally and locally. Their bureaucracy beget a great deal of injustice and distorted people's 's natural rights of being equal with shabby substitutes, e.g. society thrive with crafty opportunist politicians and injustices on all phases. Basically both Buddhism and Christianity have been aiming at making this a better world for humanities with their teachings. It is hard to count in others on the same equivalence. A humanitarian like the octogenarian Laozi was just a thinker not a man of action of any sort, e.g. a revolutionary or reformer. So when applying his libertarian view, particularly for political or economical policies, without considering his philosophy, could also be considered as a performance of taken it out-of-the-context of Laoism. Or sloganizing the simple ideas splintered from its source. The Yin-Yang logo below was created by the Daoist Religious Group  Laoism(Daoism) Versus Atheism, Agnosticism, Deism & Pantheism All in all, Laozi’s Laoism (Macro Daoism) should deserve its proper respect as it is a world-class great rational philosophy. Popper & Wittgenstein’s poker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittgenstein's_Poker. More details on this: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/21/guardianfirstbookaward2001.gurardianfirstbookaward The following is a quotation from H.G. Creel’s article on Lao Tse (Laozi) and Laoism: [PDF] Lao Tse and Laoism. HG Creel - The Open Court, 1929 - opensiuc.lib.siu.edu http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4170&context=ocj “The school of thought which is usually designated as "Philosophic Taoism" is referred to in this study as Laoism, for reasons stated in Chapter III. Of all the nuances of ancient Chinese thought, it is the one best calculated to catch the attention of the Occidental philosopher. A detailed study of this philosophy, by itself, is fascinating. The present purpose is, however, to orient it with regard to ancient Chinese thought as a whole.” Nevertheless due to the constraints of language, geography and time, Creel’s view still reflects that of someone to look at the Chinese civilization from the far outside in. He can’t help to bring in his understanding of the neighboring Indian culture. Laozi’s Book had been called Laozi, as all books of that time customarily bore names of their authors and main narrators. For example, books like Mencius, Zhangzi, Hanfeizi, Muozi et al. For centuries posterities separated this book into two parts (maybe for the convenience of carrying heavy bamboo-slip books): Part One Laozi for Dao(Truth) and Part Two Laozi for De(Arete; Virtue). Nevertheless, the title “ Dao De Jing” did not appear until about the 2nd to 3rd Centuries AD concurrent with the appearance and population of Daoist Religion founder Zhang Ling’s interpretation of Dao De Jing, as the competition to Buddhist books, which all were called Jing(tr. must read books). His interpretation of the book Laozi had boldly mythologized the original text, yet social psychologically attractive; he provided general public of all walks of what they wanted, maybe fancifully, particularly their reactionary outbursts to the disappoints towards government, unrest society, natural disasters and even popularities of Confucians and Buddhists. It is human nature that people could ignore painful cold reality through gaining comforts fancifully, e.g. there was a long circulated fantasy in Russia that there had been a tropical paradise in the Arctic by people living in the far North. It is ridiculous to describe Laozi as the founder of Daoism, or even more ridiculously the originator of the religion Daoism.. If Laozi did mean to originate a religious belief, it would be rationalistically much more profound, magnificent and significantly related to the cosmos, in the extent of that of Einstein. What a great let down to assimilate Laoism--the (Macro)Daoism to the blind and superficial religious faith, which was significantly originated ad hoc among cave men. Ad hoc: Definition of AD HOC:  for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) This is a piece misinformed statement misled to the fragmentation and trivialization of Laoism—the Macro Daoism, particularly in the West. Not to mention it blocks out the pursuit for the framework of Laozi (aka Daodejing). Another ridiculous translation is to use the word “Old Boy” for ‘Laozi’. If so, Confucius could be ridiculously translated as “Kong Boy”, Sunzi as “Grandson” etc. The literary meaning of “Laozi” is “the old (venerable) scholar”. Many of the present widely circulated discussions on Daoism and its Western interpretations are poor spin-off of and improper affiliation of Laoism, it failed miserably to shift and neglect Laoism-- Laozi’s philosophy, even among educated Westerners. It is a misfortune for such misinformation to be spread and broadcasted, even among self-claimed serious intelligent pursuers thoughts of Laozi. Laoism is a top-class philosophy in the world witnessed by many top-notch philosophers. The most serious harm the Daoist Religion has done to Laoism is their mythologization of it and that leads to the distortion and damage of its wholesomeness--integrity. Furthermore, Laozi was a human being, yet was trivialized by religious Daoists as a spirit(ghost)--Daoist deity. What will Confucius’ devotees treat such nonsense if this trick is played on the Ultimate Sage(politically ordained) of China? Destroy it with the political power, as they had attempted to do this to Laoism, when they assimilated it to Micro Daoism? Laozi had never laid any foundation or made any suggestion for any kind of organized (orchestrated) mass movement; both he and Confucius reject spiritualism which are about strange forces or spirits, that is being irrational and non-scientific. When both Laozi and Confucius talked about ‘tian’(Heaven), it was about the determining forces in the universe—the forces(virtue of human beings) that sustain the perpetuity and the realm of perfection. It is on this footing both Laozi and Confucius were religious about the meaning of their lives. However, unlike Mozi, Mozi (740-391 BC) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi. neither of them ever even preached this gospel of the universal love to the world like Buddha, Jesus and even as Confucius intended. Laozi did promote, theoretically, about mercifulness and universal kindness to fellow human beings, the theme taught by Christianity and Buddhism. This element is not highlighted, as it did in major worldly religions, in the Daoist Religion teachings, it only teaches one how to love and prolong(eternalize?) SELF. Because of this, this Daoist Religion is not on the same par, or to be part, as for the universalized good to human beings like Buddhism and Christianity which are manifested to save the world and human beings. What good will such an organized mass movement to human beings even if holds a neutral position about not to ‘killing or competing’ with your neighbors but mindful about the survival only of selfish selves? Laoism, the philosophy originated from Laozi’s great concern and sincerity for co-existence of human beings and showing them the way to stay away from wars conflicts, totalitarian societies, as well as seeking egalitarianism and liberalism, is itself already much more religious than the Daoist Religion. Therefore it does not need an organized mass movement of it to support it, let alone their sloganization has debased the greatness of Laoism significantly. Laoism has nothing to do with ceremonies, rites and rituals, as well as their by-product of elixir and alchemy etc. The religious tempo of Laoism is similar to that of Zen(Chan) which is mindful of substance while attaching little significance to forms. However Chan(Zen) Buddhism was originated in China under the impact of Laoism. Accordingly, the highly publicized and popularized practices conducted by Dao Shi (Dao priest) of the Dao religion should be considered as a mass movement that offers practices for self-improvement exercises in a gym or a class, e.g. qi gong or feng shuei. Laoism is too rational and too philosophical to serve as its theology; they have to cease this self-claimed affiliation and come out to carve out their own theology from the (soil of) mythologization they are infused. Even the description Micro Dao cannot justify their association with Laoism substantially to a reasonable extent; their mythologization had brought in too much trivialization and distortion of the original Daoism--Laoism. Cf. Laozi 67.I People in this world often complained: either that my theory was big and empty, or worse than that it does not appear to be about anything significant; It is just because I discussed matters of great important that it was difficult for [ordinary people] to comprehend its outline. Therefore the Daoism Religion道教 should have its own life to live and be distinguished from Laoism. Laozi should be left alone to retain the historical image as described in the venerable Shi Ji(The History Book). Even those Dao Jia 道家(Dao Scholar), devoted followers of Laozi, who adhere to his teachings of renouncing the materialism and the vulgarism for the quest of serenity, as preached by Laozi, would certainly feel closer to bona fide Buddhism or Christianity than to the Daoist Religion. The word “Laoism” has been used, almost strictly and exclusively, by very serious diligent devotees of Laozi. Thanks to their humility of admitting not knowing adequate Laoism, most pursuers of Laoism modestly preferred to use the denotation Dao Jia to refer to themselves rather than Lao Jia, the connotation of 'Dao Jia' is for an intellectual pursuer of Laozi's exoteric thoughts, rather than through byways, e.g. seeking esoteric meaning of his words. Were any Western philosopher's words ever dealt this way? Nobody dared to offend them of their wisdom through bending, twisting and distorting philosophies from Plato to Nietzsche. About the Distorted and Pirated Use of the Term Laoism for the Esoteric Micro Daoism As it stands, the Laoism is the last frontier to expound the philosophy of Laozi, as the use of the word “Daoism” has had already long been hijacked, misconstrued and populated for almost two thousand years. And this rampage is spreading with the tendency to spread esoteric rather than rational religions. In addition, when comes to interpret or translate Daoism, misconstruction by brave and bold hearts’ are generally winning, particularly through playing cunning esoteric games. It will take more than a world war to return it to its original denotation and connotation. Nevertheless, to serious pursuer of truth, discretion is required to fight off the piracy on the last intellectual front of Laoism--the philosophy of Laozi; it is the precious worldly heritage of human beings. Didn’t Confucius say that in order to set a course right we should first set right the name for it. As this analysis has shown, that the use of the word “Daoism” has had been tainted with mythologization [added legs snake depiction] to the point of hard-to-return to its righteous original connotation. The one and the only way is to alert people of the truth of the importance of Laoism is through reminding people that they should familiarize and recognize his great philosophy; the philosophy is on the same par with philosophies that had propelled the advancement of the human civilization, e.g. early Greek philosophies. More than Western philosophies though, Laoism also teaches people how each SELF could live a meaningful life in the cosmos through caring about one another like the religions that aim at saving the world and people, i.e. Buddhism and Christianity, through knowing oneself, at least physiologically and biologically. This is why Qi Gong and Tai Ji (Tai Chi) could be explained with the guidance of the scientific research in physiology and biology. The bigger ticket about Qi, the life force, has to wait until science has reached much more advanced development, e.g. to the least match that of our understanding of the working of the dark matter in the universe. Laoism is strictly philosophical, in the sense philosophies of great Western philosophers were originally developed and defined. Accordingly, in order to understand Laoism the first step is to understand the demarcation between philosophy and poetry i.e. to read Laozi accurately as a piece of philosophical work rather than a piece of philosophical poems like Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespeare's works are abundant with philosophical wisdom indeed, yet they were not organized with even fussy logic to have a philosophical framework. Laoism is absolutely the rightful denotation and designation of the philosophy of Laozi, and the rightful way to talk about it is to follow the logic (vein of thoughts) of the framework of Laoism. Versifying it, as well as translating it without knowing Chinese hermeneutics, commits the fallacy of cherry picking, it both happened in and out of China. Otherwise, just as Confucius said, any misappropriate direction of discussion will be futile (non-effective) and fail to lead to any accomplishment, e.g. the accomplishment of defining etiquette, crime and punishment. 攻乎异端，斯害也己—Confucius. Naturally all that is discussed here is about the Macro Daoism大道, also known as, the philosophy of Laozi老学--Laoism. This also explains why Laozi pointed out even in Chapter One that “Dao is covert” (implying too to be comprehend superficially). He also said “My talk about Dao is so macro (encyclopedic and complex) that it appears to be formless (no shape to ordinary minds)”. It is not an exaggeration that Macro Daoism is difficult to follow; it is not as easy a reading poems, or as arm-chair philosophizing or theorizing. It takes hard work and exerted deliberation and meditation to tackle this hardship. Laozi has talked about the Macro Dao in Chapters 18, 25, 34 and 67 in his book. It might take a man, to certain extent, of deep knowledge of the universe like Einstein, or Chern or Popper, to comprehend the greatness of Laoism. It may be noted here that comparatively, in the practice of the Chinese Buddhism, there are Mahayana(Chinese translation da cheng大乘: Big Vehicle), for the general public, and Hinayana(Chinese translation xiao cheng小乘: Small vehicle) for the hard-thinking elite devotees. Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana The characteristic of Laozi's Macro Daoism refers to its all-embracing framework--net; it covers from individual minute details to the cosmos. He says, 73.II The heavenly(the highest) Tao permeates in the following manner: It prevails with certainty, though it is not competing [with anything or anyone]; It responds with precision, though it is wordless; It befalls spontaneously, though nobody calls for it; Its plan has been laid out meticulously, though it is open and truthful; [The heavenly Tao] is like a gigantic net whose snare covers and all and everything exhaustively that nothing can slip through its [seemingly] loose mesh. In different Chapter, Laozi reported his observation that people with common sense would treat his theory as follows: 67.I People in this world often complained: either that my theory was big and empty, or worse than that it does not appear to be about anything significant; It is just because I discussed matters of great importance that it was difficult for [ordinary people] to comprehend its outline; If its contents is familiar to [any kind of those superficial] discourses people were accustomed to, [then they could pick it up lightheartedly and argue about it frivolously]; Before long, the meaning [of my theory] will be shifted [to satisfy their flippancy] that it will end up to be [nothing more than] trivial talks too! Had one read writings of Empiricism of the 20th Century, e.g. perception theories by H.H.Price and A.J.Ayer, or phenomenalism, H.H. Price, a philosopher, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_H_Price the above statements in depth could be easier to understand. In any case, from time to time, in the book Laozi, there are abundant alertness that the study and pursuit of comprehensive Dao requires serious and arduous intellectual effort; it is about the appearance and reality. Is the same is true about searching for the truth of the world and one's self? Einstein assured himself that God is not playing dice with the world. He had joined Buddha and Kant to believe that the basic truth of the world and self are eternal. However, it is a matter of faith. Philosophically we have to weigh in the uncertainty because of our capacity to reach the ultimate truth. Just like Russell has concluded, and greed by Popper, that we need a sober philosophy to guide us how to live in uncertainty and making peace with fellow human beings. Accordingly stipulations of the ubiguity (all over), in the names of truth, substance, and Dao, are in the cosmos is the first baby step, we must take, in order to formulate our knowldge of where and how we are. So is Laoism for Pantheism? Not quite, but it does have closer view to Natural Pantheism endorsed by philosopher Spinoza and Einstein. Accordingly, Laoism is particularly refuting Theism, to the big disappointment of Religious Daoists. In spite of the similarities of Laozi's ethics to that of Christianity, strictly speaking Laozi is not for Deism either. His philosophy is drawing closer to that of agnosticism or atheism. Describing him as either agnostics or atheist is not improper, whereas it is improper to describe him as a pantheist or deist, particularly when examining his teaching on self-reliance and self-realization. Laozi's view is closest to that of Empiricists from John Locke to Russell, for our empirical knowledge should led us to either believe or doubt there is a personal God as many religions have asserted. So it is more appropriate to join the chorus of agnostics or atheists 17