Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
The thought and culture of Taoism encompass many aspects: the history of Taoism, its scriptures, methods of cultivation, the architecture of Taoist temples and monasteries, notable figures and their writings, the immortals and their secret methods, and its precepts and rituals. Yet Taoism, as a religion, is both a culture and a distinctive system of thought, with a comprehensive and complete philosophy, and on this rich system of thought it has built its faith, giving all who revere and serve the Tao a goal for their faith and practice. In other words, its thought and culture have a certain broadness, covering every aspect of Taoism; and within this broad thought and culture there is a consistent core doctrine—the essence or constant spirit contained in Taoist thought and culture, which has considerable stability and continuity in Taoist faith. This is Taoist doctrine. Just as with a towering tree with a well-developed root system and luxuriant branches and leaves, where the roots and trunk are what hold the tree firm and keep its life going and flourishing, Taoist doctrine is the main body that sustains the lifeline and development of Taoism. In Taoist faith and practice, no method or rite may deviate from the fundamental tenet of doctrine. If our faith and practice deviate from this tenet, those with insight will rebuke us for abandoning the true to chase the false, forgetting the root to pursue the branches, and our faith and practice will go astray.
Taoist doctrine and teachings form an organic whole, and fundamentally they are hard to separate in words. The spiritual essence of doctrine and teachings is to teach people what to believe in, what the highest realm of faith is, what law of practice to follow, and how to restrain and regulate their conduct, so that in the end their practice and faith meet the requirements of doctrine and teachings and do not depart from their purpose. The “Origins of the Teaching” section of the Seven Slips from the Cloudy Satchel (Yunji Qiqian) says: “Teaching means telling; it has words, principle, and meaning.”
On the distinction between doctrine and teachings, Mr. Chen Yingning says in his writings: Every religion must have a faith; where there is faith there must be reasons for that faith; explaining these reasons in spoken and written language so that people can understand them and easily enter the door—this is what religious thinkers call “doctrine.” When a religion, on the basis of its own scriptures and writings, puts forward in brief and summary form a few words or sentences as the standard for its believers’ everyday thought and action, which accord with the whole of its “doctrine” without any obvious contradiction—this is what religious thinkers call “teachings.” Mr. Chen Yingning’s distinction helps us understand doctrine and teachings.
Viewed from the perspective of Taoist history, doctrine, as the fundamental tenet of Taoism, does not change, while the thought of its teachings has been continually enriched and developed along with society. For the purpose of religious teaching is to save people, and saving people requires setting forth the teaching according to the person and the time; so, without violating doctrine, the thought of the teachings must be continually enriched and developed, and play a positive role in the development of society.
Taoism takes the Tao as its highest object of faith. The Tao has no form and no image, yet it gives birth to heaven, earth, and the myriad things. The manifestation of the Tao in people and in all things is virtue. Therefore, among the myriad things, none fails to “revere the Tao” and “honor virtue.” When the Tao disperses it becomes qi; when it gathers it becomes spirit. The immortals are both embodiments of the Tao and models of attaining the Tao, and so all Taoists both believe in the Tao and its virtue and worship the immortals. Concretely, the teachings are expressed as: helping the world and saving people; revering the Tao and honoring virtue; the way of the immortals values life; the Three Caverns share one ancestral origin; naturalness and non-action; softness, weakness, and non-contention; returning to simplicity and to the true; and the inherited burden (chengfu) of the Way of Heaven.