The practice of Taoism are somewhat confusing. Unlike religion such as Christianity, there is nothing to tell you what to do and not do. The closest book similar to bible is the Tao Te Ching. The problem that this book causes, is that everything is in riddles. This leads to multiple interpretation of Laozi's teachings. Other then that aspect, Taoism is quite simple. The Taoist believed that there is a balance in everything throughout the Universe, good and bad, small and big, and the Yin and Yang. Their goal in life is to be harmonious with all. Compared to the other great religion of China, Buddhism and Confucianism, Taoism is by far the most optimistic. There’s a famous Chinese story that explains this concept really well, known as the Vinegar Taster. In this story there are 3 different vinegar taster, …show more content…
His point of view was that life was full of suffering and pain. The only way to escape this of the loop was to enter the state of the highest purity, and to reach Nirvana. When Laozi tried the vinegar, he found it sweet. He believed that harmony existed everywhere and could be obtained by anyone. The road bumps of life were just valuable teaching to make you a better person. Another difference it had from other religion, was that it didn’t have any form of afterlife. There was no heaven or hell, no reincarnation or rebirth, so basically once you died you are dead forever. Because of this belief, Taoist believers focused on the life during the moment and enjoying every bit of it, because you will never know when it is going to be taken. Even though they don’t believe in an afterlife, they still have the concept of gods. The Taoist believed that there’s an entity controlling every single form of matter in the universe. This leads to the question, how does someone become a god, even though there is no concept of an afterlife that they can ascend to. Technically there is an heaven, but they don’t really care for