Common Elements of Eastern Religious Traditions Essay

Common Elements of Eastern Religious Traditions - Essay Example y Chinese do not consider themselves spiritual but their traditions with local gods and daily practices have provided a sense of religion for them for over a thousand years. In the recent years, there has been an increase in interest between the relationship of spiritualism and business (Rarick, 2009). Daoism, also known as Taoism, has greatly shaped the Chinese way of thinking. Daoism is one of the greatest religious systems in China (Hansen, 2013). A person can be spiritual but not religious. Molloy (2010), views religion as a belief system and focuses on how those beliefs’ expression in different contexts. The meaning of religion differs depending on an individual’s society and upbringing. Religion denotes a particular system of faith and worship and/or the human recognition of a higher power (Park & Paloutzian, 2013). In the Eastern cultures, religion encompasses a set or system of beliefs and practices adhered by a given community, supported by rituals that recognize or worship the ultimate truth, reality or nirvana (Park & Paloutzian, 2013). In the natural world, spiritual relationships are important and are very common as they are part of the human survival (Molloy, 2013). Spirituality connotes the personal and effective relationship with God. It is the domain of spirits; God or gods, souls, angels, jinni, demons and metaphorical extensions to other intangible or invisible things (Park & Paloutzian, 2013). Daoism is traceable to shamanism, which spread in china and Mongolia more than ten thousand years ago. The Dao is the opposing force and energy of the universe, and is the beginning and the end of Daoism. The Dao represents a cosmic principle that permeates all the aspects of creation. The exact founding date of Daoism is unknown, even though there is a belief that the mystic Laozi (Lao Tzu) is the one who developed the spiritual and philosophical orientation of Daoism. According to Laozi, the Great Unity known as Yin and Yang ruled the universe.