Women’s Bodies in Taoism Essay -- Religion Religious Essays

Womens Bodies in TaoismI would rather withstand in a world where my flavour is surrounded by secret than live in a world so small that my caput could comprehend it. This powerful statement by Henry Emerson Fosdick so but defines the concept of a common Chinese pietism. Taoism is a religion technical by many Asians and by people around the world. It is a religion that is so beautifully complex and yet based on dogma as simple as breathing in and out. This paper allow outline some basic information on the Taoist tradition, realise the views of the female body in Taoism as presented by Barbara Reed and my profess critique of the tradition will be provided.A brief write up of Taoism is required in order for us to pursue these goals. To begin with, Taoism originated from a man named Lao Tzu. He wanted to deeply come to an brain of how unrivalled could induce human beings to live together. Tradition says that he positive such a theory but there was no one around to l isten to him. In turn, he hopped on his water overawe and rode to Tibet. When he arrived, he found a border guard and Lao Tzu taught the guard his philosophy. The guard agreed with all Lao Tzu stated and he encouraged Lao Tzu to write his teachings down.The word Tao means The way. This is the entire basis of the Taoist tradition, finding harmony, living peaceably and being inventive during the flow of nature. Taoists have a goal as living life for the wayand achieving immortality.The Taoist tradition has two sacred texts. Both of these texts exclaim the way of nature as the path of happiness. says Barbara Reed in Women in World Religions.(161) The Tao te ching is the basic text for Taoism. It has been translated to mean The Way an... ... History, University of simoleons Press, Chicago and London, 1970. Reed, Barbara, Taoism, Sharma, Arvind, eds. Women in World Religions, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1987.Schipper, Kristofer, The Taoist Body, Universit y of calcium Berkley and Los Angeles, CA, 1993.Smith, Houston, The Worlds Religions, HarperCollins, San Francisco, CA, 1991.Tortchinov, Evgueni A., The Doctrine of the Mysterious Female in Taoism a Transpersonalist View, Department of Philosophy, St. Petersburg State University,Russia, reprinted from, Everything is According to the Way Voices of Russian Transpersonalism, Bolda-Lok Publishing & educational Enterprises, Brisbane, Australia, 1997. http//etor.h1.ru/mystfem.htmlYoung, Serinity, eds. An Anthology of Sacred Texts By And About Women, The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1993.