Religious Taoism and philosophical Taoism are two very different aspects of the same general tradition. Religious Taoism has gods, temples, rituals etc. Philosophical Taoism is the Taoism of the Tao-te Ching and Chuang Tzu texts. Religious and philosophical Hinduism are also exactly like this, i.e. vary a great deal in terms of their orientations.
Such a "pure taoist" never existed outside the imagination of western people basing their belief in one or two pre-taoist texts nobody knows much about. Taoist lineages continue to exist through a wide and complex set of believes and practices, and this is true taoism, I mean one that really exists outside fools dreams.
Religious Taoism and philosophical Taoism are two very different aspects of the same general tradition. Religious Taoism has gods, temples, rituals etc. Philosophical Taoism is the Taoism of the Tao-te Ching and Chuang Tzu texts. Religious and philosophical Hinduism are also exactly like this, i.e. vary a great deal in terms of their orientations.
kingway3945 3 years ago
Exactly.
avantibarbari 4 years ago
Such a "pure taoist" never existed outside the imagination of western people basing their belief in one or two pre-taoist texts nobody knows much about. Taoist lineages continue to exist through a wide and complex set of believes and practices, and this is true taoism, I mean one that really exists outside fools dreams.
Dao'an.
iggyzenoid 4 years ago
True Daoism has always included belief in deities, and rituals... your idea of Daoism is a western fantasy.
TheEvilPanda 4 years ago
agreed
XTRAO 4 years ago
A true Taoist should not pray or have such rituals and temples.
Galindari 4 years ago