Religion: Taoism, COSMOGONY

TAOISM (DAOISM), Religion TAOISM (DAOISM), TAOISM (DAOISM)Religion. COSMOGONY:

COSMOGONY

Fundamental Difference Between the Daoist Theory of Universal Evolution and the Christian Concept of the Creation by God

The question of whether the universe has always existed as it does now is a most interesting, but also most perplexing one. Countless are those who, over the past thousands of years, have deeply pondered over this question and formulated what they considered to be the best answer, some going so far as to elaborate wonderful theories on the subject. Nonetheless, until today no consensus has emerged. Contemporary opinion tends to consider that the universe had a beginning, and that this beginning was a stage in the evolution of the universe -- looking at the universe as a whole, it has neither an absolute beginning nor an absolute end. Daoist Cosmogony has proposed a similar view of the universe for the past two thousand years. This theory of universal evolution is radically different from the Christian theory of the Creation of the universe by God. Daoism considers that universal evolution follows its own laws and is not the product of divine creation. Rather, it is the product of Spontaneous evolution under the control of the Great Dao. The highest divinity of Daoism, the Primeval Lord of Heaven, emerged during the evolutionary process, which he helps to push forward according to the circumstances. On the other hand, Christianity considers that God created the world out of absolute nothingness.

Initial speculations on the origin of the universe

Early on, Laozi had reflected on the origin of the universe. He considered that Heaven and Earth have not existed indefinitely. Dao preceded the formation of Heaven and Earth. The process of the generation of Heaven and Earth by Dao is resumed in the following formula: <> In other words, Dao generated the primeval unified whole, which divided into two opposing forces, whose interpenetration generated all beings. The two forces referred to by Laozi as the 'Two' are commonly considered to be designate Heaven and Earth. Later on, other Daoist theorists further reflected on the origin of the world and formulated systematic theories. These were discussed in the scripture The Source of Dao, which points out that before the formation of Heaven and Earth, there was nothing but limitless dark space, in which nothing existed. There was only Essential Vital Breath and Vital Breath of Spirit circulating everywhere. These Essential and Spiritual Vital Breaths refer to different functions of Dao, which formed the world and the myriad beings.