$JES 911 Essence of World Religions Reference Book

Author(s): Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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Essence of World Religions
concern for human woe, but there exists lesser divinities, from the high gods who endure for eons the natural spirits and demons. All actions create their opposing forces, and the wise will seek inaction in action.
Man is one of the Ten Thousand Things of manifestation; it is finite and will pass. Only Tao endures forever.
Tao believes in the oneness of all creation, in the spirituality of the material realms, and in the brotherhood of all men.
Symbols
The symbol of Taoism stands for what Taoist believe are the two basic forces Yang (male) and Yin (female) that mesh in a symbol of the Great Ultimate. The dark shape represents the Yin and the white shape represents the Yang. The Yin is the negative, passive, destructive principle, and the Yang is the positive, active, and constructive principle.
The dark area contains a white spot, the white area contains a dark spot, thereby indicating that no element is absolutely positive or negative, and each is within the other. The curving line between the yin and the yang signifies the golden mean or middle way, the life of harmony, ratio, and balance. The entire diagram is surrounded by a circle representing the Tao or the Absolute.
The Tao is the unchanging unity underlying changing plurality. It is the first all embracing principle from which all things are produced. It is indescribable and exists by itself.
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