Heaven forbids it
The purpose of Taoist indoctrination is to purify the human heart and make it tranquil, good and charitable, and helpful to the world, thus playing a positive role in the harmonious coexistence of society and people. Therefore, from its own standpoint, Taoism constitutes a doctrine that conforms to its own characteristics in terms of the concept of good and evil retribution. This doctrine is the doctrine of the Heavenly Way of Bearing and Negation.
That is to say, it believes that there is a cycle in the Way of Heaven, and that good and evil have their own responsibilities. The core of Taoism is still centered on the issue of life and death, which is carried forward by the doctrine of “Taoism sets up life to reward the good, and sets up death to punish the evil” in the “Commentary on Lao Tzu’s Wannabe”.
The Taoist saying of “to bear the burden” originates from the “Taiping Jing”, which means that ancestors who have accumulated virtues and done good deeds will be able to shade their children and grandchildren; and if the ancestors repeatedly commit crimes and do evils, their descendants will innocently suffer calamities. That is, it is often said that “the previous generation planted trees, the next generation to enjoy the cool; the previous generation caused trouble, the next generation suffered”.
It is characterized by the inheritance of the previous and the next generation. However, there are two interpretations of “bearing” in the Taiping Jing. One of them is, “The bearer is the front, and the bearer is the back. The bearer is said to be the first person to carry the heart of heaven and line, small faults, do not know, with the days accumulated for a long time, gathered for more, the future of the people, but innocent of its faults banishment, even passed on to be its disaster. Negative, is the first negative to the latter also”. The second is, “Three Unity symbiosis, long raising all things named wealth, wealth co-born desire, desire co-born evil, evil co-born treacherous, treacherous co-born cunning, cunning co-born harm, and more than the chaotic defeat, defeat and more than that, can not be restored to reason, due to the study of the reverse of its own, so the name of the bearer of negative”. Meaning that the three systems of heaven and earth and man symbiosis, long raising property, wanting more is born of treachery and evil, to the point of not being able to restore, until the property is exhausted only to return to the source of the origin of nothingness. One of them says that good and evil have to bear the burden, and the other says that the heavenly way is cyclical.
From this, we can see that the cycle of retribution in the heavenly way is caused by people’s evil deeds and lusts, and brings great harm to future generations and the natural world (including society). In order to prevent people from suffering harm and disaster, people should learn the Way, believe in the Way, and cultivate the Way, so as to lift the “burden” of evil. To believe in Taoism and to cultivate Taoism is to ask people to follow the code of conduct of Taoism, to act according to the intention of Taoism, to accumulate merits and virtues, and to be good and beneficial to others.
In the saying of bearing the burden, Taoism also pays special attention to and believes in the retribution of good and evil in the present life. The “Taiping Jing” also says: “The good will prosper on its own, the evil will fall ill on its own, and good and bad things will happen to you. In Lao Tzu’s Commentary on Lao Tzu, it is said that Taoism sets up life to reward good and death to punish evil. If you do good, the Tao will follow you; if you do evil, the harm will follow you. It is believed that good and bad fortune and life and death are all retribution for good and bad behavior.
Therefore, people who believe in Taoism should do good deeds and accumulate virtues, so that the spirit and the sky can be passed, and can be immortalized to longevity.
Taoism’s teachings of good and evil and present-day retribution have a very important influence on later generations. It is said in the Book of Induction: “Woe and fortune have no door, but are called by one’s own self. The reward of good and evil follow one another like shadows. In heaven and earth, there is a god who takes care of people’s faults. If you do good deeds and accumulate virtues, you can prolong your life and even become an immortal. If one commits an offense, one will be punished with fewer years of life, depending on the severity of the offense.
This encourages people to pursue a positive outlook on life. At the same time, it also incorporates the doctrine of reincarnation and retribution, whereby those who cultivate good deeds can ascend to the land of the immortals, while those who commit evil deeds will be punished in hell. When a person dies, his family members should believe in Taoism and pray to the Heavenly Father of Suffering for salvation.
The above are the most basic teachings of Taoism. Although, it is not possible to explain all the doctrines of Taoism, such as Zongxiang Huanglao, the unity of life and Taoism, the true unity of Taoism, the unity of form and spirit, and the removal of form and sitting in oblivion. However, it is believed that these core and basic doctrinal ideas will help us to truly recognize and understand Taoism.
