[color="#0000FF"]A few things HindOOs may find interesting to learn about the Daoist Gods and religion[/color]
This post is just for fun - and because this is exactly the sort of thing I like knowing about other heathens and their heathenism:
Over eighty-thousand Long (=Chinese Dragon, very sacred and part of Daoist Divine Cosmology) is just the beginning.
I've not seen the tally nor have I been counting, but I'm starting to think Daoists could also have some koTi manifest Gods the way the Hindoos do.
What's particularly interesting is the sets of Gods they have <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
Note that all the following is IIRC/As I *understand*
- Daoism has 3 realms: Swarga, Bhu, Jalam.
It does have a Patala, but not sure which that one that fits into (maybe Bhu, since Swarga does not experience death and its Gods do not descend into the Paatalam?)
The Daoist Gods are to be found in all the realms: not just the heavens, but they are all of *heavenly* (i.e. divine) nature, whatever their bodies may be composed of and no matter what realm they reside in or preside over. (This is not unlike in Hindoos' religion.)
- Many of the classes of Gods - being in the Swarga realm - are stars.
E.g. one was called (translated) "North Star" I think. :cute:
Some are planets. E.g. one goes about being called - in translation - "Great White Planet".
Some look to be Gods presiding over years and months and the (Chinese=Daoist) Zodiac. And I could be wrong, but in my limited understanding, it seems like they have Gods for each akshara/script character. If true, that in itself would add a great number of Daoist Gods. Regardless, what I can confirm is that the Chinese language and script is very sacred to the Daoists. (As can be surmised, "translation" of their mantras and stotras is prohibited.)
- the Nava Chatrapatis of Daoism (of which the Marakata Chatrapati is one) are -I think- certain specific stars (or maybe constellations). <- I *think* it's stars and not constellations though, because IIRC about 12(?) constellations important to Daoism form a separate set of their own of specific Daoist Gods, and each has their own Goddess Consort (the way all Hindoo Gods - all the way to the Diggajas - tend to be married.)
- The ambaa of the nava chatrapati-s is a very central Amman. She is the Ambaa of all the stars, or at least all the Star Gods of Daoism, most famously the mother of the famous nava chatrapati-s. And this Great Amman is herself what sounds to me like a famous constellation*, going by one of her translated titles. (Or perhaps she is a star factory <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> ).
* But this would have to be separate from the 12 or so constellations mentioned above, since those were male Gods.
Now, when the Daoists say "stars" they mean stars, but they also very much mean that the ... uh Atman of each of these stars is the Atman of their Gods. I.e. the way Surya Bhagavan is the orb of the sacred Sun but is also the great sacred Atman whose mere 'body' that orb is: the orb can one day "die" (red giant, white dwarf type stuff) or like stars go supernova, but Surya Bhagavan's atman is eternal (and is also the paramatman).
You can tell that the Daoists mean that the mentioned Star Gods are more than the cosmic bodies of the stars (and hence refer to the Stars' full identities - i.e. their Atman inclusive) by the fact that in Daoist Ritual Practises concerning these Gods, the Chi of these Gods is specifically invoked even within the earthly being (e.g. human) carrying out the Practise.
What you can also make out is that Daoist Heaven is full of Cosmic Gods (heavenly bodies that are Gods). [I can't stress enough how Daoists are NOT "superimposing character" on the heavenly bodies, or merely miscontruing the stars, planets, constellations etc as "Gods". I'm saying, they *know* their Gods. In the same sense I use when I say Hindoo Experts *know* their Gods. I.e. Daoists are known to see and interact with their Gods. It is the most basic definition of heathenism and of heathen, after all.]
The Daoists have many Important and Great Ambaas. For ease of comprehension - as a point of reference - Hindoos may want to think of Aditi in order to understand the nature of the aforementioned Great Ambaa and her importance to the Daoists and in Daoist cosmology. And can for the moment think of the Adityas in order to try to "understand" the centrality to Daoism of her Great Putras, the Nava Chatrapatis. Of course the Hindus' mother Aditi has (at least?) dvaadasha x famous putras, and I think the Daoist Amman in question (whom I choose not to name here) has nava putras in important/key positions. She may well have more, and probably does, since I think she was said to be the Mother of all stars. (She is also one of the Great Divine Mother Goddesses of Daoism.)
There's a reason the Daoists depict their Gods very specifically (and why Hindus will never mistake Daoist Gods for Hindu Gods): because the Daoists have seen their Gods. It seems the Daoist Gods - when manifest in their 'human-like' forms (where they *have* human-like forms, that is) do have Chinese features. I.e. their appearance does not seem to be owing to the Daoists transferring their own Chinese features to their Gods. Their Gods *look* like that. So perhaps the Daoists, who call their Gods their "Divine Parents" in translation, have an additional reason for doing so (?)
As briefly mentioned, the Daoist Gods have specific forms, colours, etc. At times the Gods have several colours over different manifestations. (All of this is important to Daoists - including in ritual and moorti fashioning - which is why Daoists are pedantic about such details.)
In the case of the 9 Emperors, Hindus already know of the very famous Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor. (I've seen moorties of the Jade Emperor in various colours. I could be wrong, but I can't recall seeing him in green... I think I've seen him in some sort of yellow maybe, will need to check. If indeed so, perhaps the naming of these emperors as Jade and Yellow is rather a reference to their orb-forms?)
[In any case, note that daft alien oryanists of the west imagine that the name of "Yellow Emperor" implies he must "therefore" be fair-haired and therefore be "oryan" and that therefore China and Daoism must have been influenced by oryanism. But the aliens/oryanists - who've obviously never seen the Daoists Gods, whereas traditional Daoists continue to see them - are simply morons. <- In case Hindoos didn't already know that.]
The most prominent colours of the Gods in Daoism (also for depiction) have both a literalness to them and a symbolic meaning to them - as they also do in Hindoo's own religion. They number 5 at least: Yellow, Green, Red, Black, White. Not sure of blue, but I think it may be in the extended colour set, or else perhaps they may count green and blue together. Need to make it clear from the start that there's nothing miraculous about the similarity of the prominence of these colours in both Daoism and Hinduism (BTW, such colours are also important to Polynesian religions, for instance, several being the colours of Polynesian Gods in depictions). Also, these 5 are approximately the primary colors known to man. So *everyone* tends to be familiar with them. (In NL and perhaps other "western" nations, black and white are not considered official colours - but that's a human classification scheme, sort of like whether people decide tomatoes are a fruit or a vege.)
I *think* these 5 colours are said to be the colours of/associated with the 5 directions (and also seen in the depictions of the prominent Dragons, etc).
- C.f. Hindus also have several sets of directions including 5, 8, 10 etc directions.
- Daoism has "special" numbers like Hindoos' religion does: i.e. numbers with some significance in their cosmology.
Daoism has Panchagrahas (Gods). Obviously there are more than that number making their way about in nearby/familiar space - but the Daoist set is Panchagrahas.
(They appear to me to also have Gods for the 2 nodes - perhaps these are not the nodes, and I'm merely misconstruing the translations - but in any case, these last 2 Gods are not considered grahas in Daoism, the way Hindus include the 2 nodes in the Hindus' name/set called "navagrahas").
The panchagrahas and the colours that I think I saw them depicted in in Daoist sacred imagery are as follows (which - for most obvious reasons - approximately match the colours of their counterparts in Hindus' religion) - IIRC:
Green Mercury (?), White Venus, Red Mars, Yellow (?) Jupiter*, Black Saturn.
* Can't remember what colour the Hindu God has: yellow or orange perhaps, as I think I've seen this Hindu God depicted as something warm in paintings.
The Sun and Moon are not in that list. As with the potentially-Node Gods, they're not considered in the panchagraha list.
The Panchagrahas are all Gods known to Daoism. And are *innately* known to Daoism (that is, they didn't become a part of Daoism owing to any external contact).
The Daoist Panchagrahas may very well be as different from the Hindu Gods of these grahas as the Sun Goddesses of other religions are from the Hindu Sun God(dess). This supposition also seems to be supported by the fact that all other Daoist Gods of stars and constellations that both Hindus and Daoists recognise as Gods appear to be distinct Gods between the Daoist and Hindu religions. (I.e. Daoists know their Gods, and these appear - and have characters - quite different from the Gods associated with the same heavenly bodies who are known to Hindoo experts. In such cases, I think it's best not to make assumptions of "equivalence". Also, the Daoists don't make such assumptions for these reasons.)
Another interesting aspect of Daoism is that their Gods ... can and do occasionally incarnate in the other realms. E.g. the well-known case: a certain famous Daoist Ambaa manifested in a new form of the Daoist Devi on Earth for a specific purpose and period, and is consequently widely adored and worshipped in both forms. Can compare this with how Hindoos worship Avataras of Gods as well as the earlier-known God form(s) of these Gods, and recognise the relation of one to the other. (E.g. the relation between the Hindus' Vishnu and Rama.)
1. This is obviously not apotheosis* (Daoists will tell you that from their first-hand knowledge) and
2. Incarnation of Gods outside of heavenly realms is not a notion that was "gradually developed" in Daoism (let alone imported). It is demonstrably ancient and innate to Daoism and factual.
* Can contrast the eternal-God nature of the Daoist Gods with the nearest thing to actual apotheosis that's seen in Daoism: the elevation of mortal beings to Immortals by their succesful cultivation of the Tao. The Immortals are indeed part of Daoist cosmology but are not the same as the Daoist Gods. However, even this last is not to be confused with "apotheosis". Apotheosis appears to be the process where *humans* decide to crown others as Gods, regardless of whether said others truly are Gods or not.
In contrast, the Daoist Immortals are [mortal] beings that truly *became* Daoist Immortals - with or without a human audience aware of them and the end of their evolution - and who were subsequently recognised as Immortals by Daoist Heaven itself (i.e. by all of the ranks of beings in Daoist cosmology, including the Gods themselves). Further, there are historical Daoist heroes who are not Immortals or Gods, but who are held in high esteem in the religion, remembered and have an honorary place. However, these are recognised as historical (humans) and not conflated/confused with Immortals let alone Gods. Hence not a case of apotheosis either.
Finally, another interesting feature is that the Daoist Patala(s) appear to have multiple ..."Yama-Rajas" (family of Gods, who seem to be brothers - or so I *think*)... each with very specific Yamadhootas.
The Daoists take these seriously too. It's not all quite like in Hindus' religion, as in the Daoist religion they are like ... the concept of 'policemen' in our world. They protect the world from nasty entities by implementing and preserving justice. Nasty characters are caught and held in the Daoist Patala(s) - don't know for what period. And these 'police-ing' beings track and catch any evil spirit that might 'escape'.
Daoism also has a Tiger God* <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> who is depicted in full-tiger form, as well as in part-tiger form (where he has a tiger head, but the body is more in human upright pose and dressed up, just as the sacred Dragons are sometimes depicted), etc.
He is not quite the vahanam of another God, but he does go with a certain specific God, sort of like how the God Hanuman is not exactly the vahanam of Rama/Vishnu but goes with Rama - in a "they belong together" sense, a "set". And hence they tend to be depicted together and placed together in pooja areas.
[* EDIT: this Tiger might be an Immortal rather than a God. Not sure. Moorties of him are indeed worshipped with dedicated stotras - though that's not exclusive to Daoist Gods. However, his narrative sounds like that of an Immortal to me...]
To finish off: the disclaimers.
- All Hindu terms used in this post are solely for the purpose of helping Hindoo readers "understand" (the position in Daoist cosmology of) the few Daoist Gods and aspects of Daoism mentioned here. Otherwise there's no identity-relation to Hindu religion, because Daoism is a distinct religion with distinct Gods. Indians: do NOT encroach. Don't even go there.
- Don't pass on anything about Daoism etc. to the aliens including dabblers such as oryanits-aka-aryanists/new ageists/anyone prone to "convert" to *others'* heathenisms. Alien dabblers are essentially a type of vampire. Always feasting on *others'* heathenisms, draining these of life while trying to replenish themselves with their parasiting.
- I specifically chose the sets of Daoist Gods and features of Daoism that Hindus have sorts of 'similar' sets for. There are of course also classes of Daoist Gods the likes of which I don't think Hindus have.
- What I've stated above is extremely superficial stuff. And it's at this superficial level that you see similarities. The details are different though: their Gods are different (though no less real, they are not the same as the Hindu Gods qua identity), their "mantras" etc are consequently different. Their religion is different. (What is the same is that their Gods are worthy of the piety the Daoists have for them. Meaning: the Daoists are attached to their ancestral Gods for the reasons that Hindoos are attached to theirs. Or Julian etc to his.)
- The Daoists are devout, loyal heathens: all their Gods are worshipped. Some at the right time, for a specific purpose or period (like a dedicated festival or occasion). Several Gods preside over practically Everything and can therefore be propitiated for everything (and everyday), other Gods preside over one or more specific matters and hence specifically propitiated for those things, though these Gods too can be generally and daily praised as part of Daoist Heaven I think. (And this, BTW, is another way you can tell that Daoists know that their religion does not have one 'god' entity, but has many - very real and *known* - Gods.)
This post is just for fun - and because this is exactly the sort of thing I like knowing about other heathens and their heathenism:
Over eighty-thousand Long (=Chinese Dragon, very sacred and part of Daoist Divine Cosmology) is just the beginning.
I've not seen the tally nor have I been counting, but I'm starting to think Daoists could also have some koTi manifest Gods the way the Hindoos do.
What's particularly interesting is the sets of Gods they have <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />Note that all the following is IIRC/As I *understand*
- Daoism has 3 realms: Swarga, Bhu, Jalam.
It does have a Patala, but not sure which that one that fits into (maybe Bhu, since Swarga does not experience death and its Gods do not descend into the Paatalam?)
The Daoist Gods are to be found in all the realms: not just the heavens, but they are all of *heavenly* (i.e. divine) nature, whatever their bodies may be composed of and no matter what realm they reside in or preside over. (This is not unlike in Hindoos' religion.)
- Many of the classes of Gods - being in the Swarga realm - are stars.
E.g. one was called (translated) "North Star" I think. :cute:
Some are planets. E.g. one goes about being called - in translation - "Great White Planet".
Some look to be Gods presiding over years and months and the (Chinese=Daoist) Zodiac. And I could be wrong, but in my limited understanding, it seems like they have Gods for each akshara/script character. If true, that in itself would add a great number of Daoist Gods. Regardless, what I can confirm is that the Chinese language and script is very sacred to the Daoists. (As can be surmised, "translation" of their mantras and stotras is prohibited.)
- the Nava Chatrapatis of Daoism (of which the Marakata Chatrapati is one) are -I think- certain specific stars (or maybe constellations). <- I *think* it's stars and not constellations though, because IIRC about 12(?) constellations important to Daoism form a separate set of their own of specific Daoist Gods, and each has their own Goddess Consort (the way all Hindoo Gods - all the way to the Diggajas - tend to be married.)
- The ambaa of the nava chatrapati-s is a very central Amman. She is the Ambaa of all the stars, or at least all the Star Gods of Daoism, most famously the mother of the famous nava chatrapati-s. And this Great Amman is herself what sounds to me like a famous constellation*, going by one of her translated titles. (Or perhaps she is a star factory <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> ).* But this would have to be separate from the 12 or so constellations mentioned above, since those were male Gods.
Now, when the Daoists say "stars" they mean stars, but they also very much mean that the ... uh Atman of each of these stars is the Atman of their Gods. I.e. the way Surya Bhagavan is the orb of the sacred Sun but is also the great sacred Atman whose mere 'body' that orb is: the orb can one day "die" (red giant, white dwarf type stuff) or like stars go supernova, but Surya Bhagavan's atman is eternal (and is also the paramatman).
You can tell that the Daoists mean that the mentioned Star Gods are more than the cosmic bodies of the stars (and hence refer to the Stars' full identities - i.e. their Atman inclusive) by the fact that in Daoist Ritual Practises concerning these Gods, the Chi of these Gods is specifically invoked even within the earthly being (e.g. human) carrying out the Practise.
What you can also make out is that Daoist Heaven is full of Cosmic Gods (heavenly bodies that are Gods). [I can't stress enough how Daoists are NOT "superimposing character" on the heavenly bodies, or merely miscontruing the stars, planets, constellations etc as "Gods". I'm saying, they *know* their Gods. In the same sense I use when I say Hindoo Experts *know* their Gods. I.e. Daoists are known to see and interact with their Gods. It is the most basic definition of heathenism and of heathen, after all.]
The Daoists have many Important and Great Ambaas. For ease of comprehension - as a point of reference - Hindoos may want to think of Aditi in order to understand the nature of the aforementioned Great Ambaa and her importance to the Daoists and in Daoist cosmology. And can for the moment think of the Adityas in order to try to "understand" the centrality to Daoism of her Great Putras, the Nava Chatrapatis. Of course the Hindus' mother Aditi has (at least?) dvaadasha x famous putras, and I think the Daoist Amman in question (whom I choose not to name here) has nava putras in important/key positions. She may well have more, and probably does, since I think she was said to be the Mother of all stars. (She is also one of the Great Divine Mother Goddesses of Daoism.)
There's a reason the Daoists depict their Gods very specifically (and why Hindus will never mistake Daoist Gods for Hindu Gods): because the Daoists have seen their Gods. It seems the Daoist Gods - when manifest in their 'human-like' forms (where they *have* human-like forms, that is) do have Chinese features. I.e. their appearance does not seem to be owing to the Daoists transferring their own Chinese features to their Gods. Their Gods *look* like that. So perhaps the Daoists, who call their Gods their "Divine Parents" in translation, have an additional reason for doing so (?)
As briefly mentioned, the Daoist Gods have specific forms, colours, etc. At times the Gods have several colours over different manifestations. (All of this is important to Daoists - including in ritual and moorti fashioning - which is why Daoists are pedantic about such details.)
In the case of the 9 Emperors, Hindus already know of the very famous Jade Emperor and Yellow Emperor. (I've seen moorties of the Jade Emperor in various colours. I could be wrong, but I can't recall seeing him in green... I think I've seen him in some sort of yellow maybe, will need to check. If indeed so, perhaps the naming of these emperors as Jade and Yellow is rather a reference to their orb-forms?)
[In any case, note that daft alien oryanists of the west imagine that the name of "Yellow Emperor" implies he must "therefore" be fair-haired and therefore be "oryan" and that therefore China and Daoism must have been influenced by oryanism. But the aliens/oryanists - who've obviously never seen the Daoists Gods, whereas traditional Daoists continue to see them - are simply morons. <- In case Hindoos didn't already know that.]
The most prominent colours of the Gods in Daoism (also for depiction) have both a literalness to them and a symbolic meaning to them - as they also do in Hindoo's own religion. They number 5 at least: Yellow, Green, Red, Black, White. Not sure of blue, but I think it may be in the extended colour set, or else perhaps they may count green and blue together. Need to make it clear from the start that there's nothing miraculous about the similarity of the prominence of these colours in both Daoism and Hinduism (BTW, such colours are also important to Polynesian religions, for instance, several being the colours of Polynesian Gods in depictions). Also, these 5 are approximately the primary colors known to man. So *everyone* tends to be familiar with them. (In NL and perhaps other "western" nations, black and white are not considered official colours - but that's a human classification scheme, sort of like whether people decide tomatoes are a fruit or a vege.)
I *think* these 5 colours are said to be the colours of/associated with the 5 directions (and also seen in the depictions of the prominent Dragons, etc).
- C.f. Hindus also have several sets of directions including 5, 8, 10 etc directions.
- Daoism has "special" numbers like Hindoos' religion does: i.e. numbers with some significance in their cosmology.
Daoism has Panchagrahas (Gods). Obviously there are more than that number making their way about in nearby/familiar space - but the Daoist set is Panchagrahas.
(They appear to me to also have Gods for the 2 nodes - perhaps these are not the nodes, and I'm merely misconstruing the translations - but in any case, these last 2 Gods are not considered grahas in Daoism, the way Hindus include the 2 nodes in the Hindus' name/set called "navagrahas").
The panchagrahas and the colours that I think I saw them depicted in in Daoist sacred imagery are as follows (which - for most obvious reasons - approximately match the colours of their counterparts in Hindus' religion) - IIRC:
Green Mercury (?), White Venus, Red Mars, Yellow (?) Jupiter*, Black Saturn.
* Can't remember what colour the Hindu God has: yellow or orange perhaps, as I think I've seen this Hindu God depicted as something warm in paintings.
The Sun and Moon are not in that list. As with the potentially-Node Gods, they're not considered in the panchagraha list.
The Panchagrahas are all Gods known to Daoism. And are *innately* known to Daoism (that is, they didn't become a part of Daoism owing to any external contact).
The Daoist Panchagrahas may very well be as different from the Hindu Gods of these grahas as the Sun Goddesses of other religions are from the Hindu Sun God(dess). This supposition also seems to be supported by the fact that all other Daoist Gods of stars and constellations that both Hindus and Daoists recognise as Gods appear to be distinct Gods between the Daoist and Hindu religions. (I.e. Daoists know their Gods, and these appear - and have characters - quite different from the Gods associated with the same heavenly bodies who are known to Hindoo experts. In such cases, I think it's best not to make assumptions of "equivalence". Also, the Daoists don't make such assumptions for these reasons.)
Another interesting aspect of Daoism is that their Gods ... can and do occasionally incarnate in the other realms. E.g. the well-known case: a certain famous Daoist Ambaa manifested in a new form of the Daoist Devi on Earth for a specific purpose and period, and is consequently widely adored and worshipped in both forms. Can compare this with how Hindoos worship Avataras of Gods as well as the earlier-known God form(s) of these Gods, and recognise the relation of one to the other. (E.g. the relation between the Hindus' Vishnu and Rama.)
1. This is obviously not apotheosis* (Daoists will tell you that from their first-hand knowledge) and
2. Incarnation of Gods outside of heavenly realms is not a notion that was "gradually developed" in Daoism (let alone imported). It is demonstrably ancient and innate to Daoism and factual.
* Can contrast the eternal-God nature of the Daoist Gods with the nearest thing to actual apotheosis that's seen in Daoism: the elevation of mortal beings to Immortals by their succesful cultivation of the Tao. The Immortals are indeed part of Daoist cosmology but are not the same as the Daoist Gods. However, even this last is not to be confused with "apotheosis". Apotheosis appears to be the process where *humans* decide to crown others as Gods, regardless of whether said others truly are Gods or not.
In contrast, the Daoist Immortals are [mortal] beings that truly *became* Daoist Immortals - with or without a human audience aware of them and the end of their evolution - and who were subsequently recognised as Immortals by Daoist Heaven itself (i.e. by all of the ranks of beings in Daoist cosmology, including the Gods themselves). Further, there are historical Daoist heroes who are not Immortals or Gods, but who are held in high esteem in the religion, remembered and have an honorary place. However, these are recognised as historical (humans) and not conflated/confused with Immortals let alone Gods. Hence not a case of apotheosis either.
Finally, another interesting feature is that the Daoist Patala(s) appear to have multiple ..."Yama-Rajas" (family of Gods, who seem to be brothers - or so I *think*)... each with very specific Yamadhootas.
The Daoists take these seriously too. It's not all quite like in Hindus' religion, as in the Daoist religion they are like ... the concept of 'policemen' in our world. They protect the world from nasty entities by implementing and preserving justice. Nasty characters are caught and held in the Daoist Patala(s) - don't know for what period. And these 'police-ing' beings track and catch any evil spirit that might 'escape'.
Daoism also has a Tiger God* <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> who is depicted in full-tiger form, as well as in part-tiger form (where he has a tiger head, but the body is more in human upright pose and dressed up, just as the sacred Dragons are sometimes depicted), etc.He is not quite the vahanam of another God, but he does go with a certain specific God, sort of like how the God Hanuman is not exactly the vahanam of Rama/Vishnu but goes with Rama - in a "they belong together" sense, a "set". And hence they tend to be depicted together and placed together in pooja areas.
[* EDIT: this Tiger might be an Immortal rather than a God. Not sure. Moorties of him are indeed worshipped with dedicated stotras - though that's not exclusive to Daoist Gods. However, his narrative sounds like that of an Immortal to me...]
To finish off: the disclaimers.
- All Hindu terms used in this post are solely for the purpose of helping Hindoo readers "understand" (the position in Daoist cosmology of) the few Daoist Gods and aspects of Daoism mentioned here. Otherwise there's no identity-relation to Hindu religion, because Daoism is a distinct religion with distinct Gods. Indians: do NOT encroach. Don't even go there.
- Don't pass on anything about Daoism etc. to the aliens including dabblers such as oryanits-aka-aryanists/new ageists/anyone prone to "convert" to *others'* heathenisms. Alien dabblers are essentially a type of vampire. Always feasting on *others'* heathenisms, draining these of life while trying to replenish themselves with their parasiting.
- I specifically chose the sets of Daoist Gods and features of Daoism that Hindus have sorts of 'similar' sets for. There are of course also classes of Daoist Gods the likes of which I don't think Hindus have.
- What I've stated above is extremely superficial stuff. And it's at this superficial level that you see similarities. The details are different though: their Gods are different (though no less real, they are not the same as the Hindu Gods qua identity), their "mantras" etc are consequently different. Their religion is different. (What is the same is that their Gods are worthy of the piety the Daoists have for them. Meaning: the Daoists are attached to their ancestral Gods for the reasons that Hindoos are attached to theirs. Or Julian etc to his.)
- The Daoists are devout, loyal heathens: all their Gods are worshipped. Some at the right time, for a specific purpose or period (like a dedicated festival or occasion). Several Gods preside over practically Everything and can therefore be propitiated for everything (and everyday), other Gods preside over one or more specific matters and hence specifically propitiated for those things, though these Gods too can be generally and daily praised as part of Daoist Heaven I think. (And this, BTW, is another way you can tell that Daoists know that their religion does not have one 'god' entity, but has many - very real and *known* - Gods.)