by Currie Jean

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: January 18, 2009

While it may come as a surprise to many Westerners, especially those adhering to the 'big three' faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the most peaceful major religions still practiced today trace their origins eastward.

From a global perspective, Buddhism and Jainism originated next door to the major Western religions, in India. Daoism originated further east, in China. All of these religions can be considered ultimately peaceful, and while some have been used in an attempt to justify war, those searching their scriptures and basic teachings are hard pressed to find any justification of violence.

Daoism

Daoism is very abstract and mystical, but at the same time, isn't steeped in the metaphysical: rather, it puts forward many of its ideas in linguistic puzzles which, while serving to undo unnecessary conceptions, can reveal truths in an ironic way.

Daoism sheds the grandeur of many other religions and adopts a more playful, relaxed philosophical perspective. A lot of Daoism's focus rests on perceptions of balance, demonstrated by the popularized circular figure of yin and yang. Its teachings can be traced back to the "Daodejing," its central text. It also has a close relationship with "I Ching," a book centered around a systematic form of divination.

"Dao," roughly translated, means "way" or "path." Another important term to Daoism is "wu-wei," or "effortless action:" a goal of Daoism is to perform in life in a way that is without effort or difficulty, fitting into daily life with a simplistic perspective, avoiding unnecessary work and avoiding causing unnecessary work for others. To Taoism, there is no point in achieving self-aggrandizing power or fighting with the world: the world is the way it is, and there's almost nothing you can do about it, so deal with it. While kindness is important, happiness is more important than perfection.

The philosophy of Daoism has entered many minds, nagging at them to explore it and write books about it. For an introduction to Daoism, check out "The Tao of Pooh," a short but poigniant work explaining Daoist philosophy through the A. A. Milne's famous characters: notably, Winnie the Pooh is an example of a Daoist. "The Tao of Physics" is a good one for more advanced readers, comparing the puzzling philosophies of Taoism to the even-more-puzzling quantum theory, and finding the two to be remarkably similar.

Buddhism

The Buddha, having considered first a life of luxury, then dedication to asceticism, emerged finally from an enlightening

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