Cultural Diversity in the Health Care Setting Cultural diversity in the health care setting is increasing each year. Knowing how to care for patients of different religious and spiritual faiths is essential to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. The author of this paper will research three lesser-known religions; Taoism, Sikhism and Shamanism. Through this paper, she will provide a brief background on each of the three religions and present information regarding spiritual perspectives on healing, critical components of healing and health care considerations associated with each religion.
Taoism
Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion dating back to the sixth century. The basic foundation of Taoism is a life philosophy and method
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The first is qigong which is a health practice that utilizes body movement, breathing techniques and mental focus to assist in healing, relaxation and reconnecting (Winn, 2009). Next is that art of meditation. Meditation is an important element in the Tao religion. Many Taoists practice meditation to achieve mental serenity and heighten mental awareness. There are also various forms of exercise, such as yoga and Tai Chi, and therapies, acupuncture and moxibustion, which Taoists use to restore balance within the body and achieve healing.
Health Care Considerations When caring for Taoist’s patients, the most important thing to remember is their need to restore balance. For them, this may not be achieved through traditional medical practice; however, this does not mean that we should do nothing. Taoists do not believe in artificial or arbitrary healing. Healing must be natural and spontaneous (Tai, 2009). If we try to force medical treatments on them, it may in turn do more harm than good and cause great suffering. Taoists see artificial treatment as a source of evil; however, if the treatment follows the flow of Tao, it is regarded as natural and therefore allowed (Tai, 2009). For example, if a Taoist patient is in need of mechanical ventilation to sustain life, it is no longer natural. The only way to natural care for that patient, without disrupting the Tao, is to provide palliative care and ultimately let the
Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity are all religions practiced in China, which allows freedom of religious beliefs. Taoism, also known as Daoism, refers to a better understanding of English in the Chinese word. Taoism is a balanced between humans and nature, Tao is the originally meaning of the religion, meaning extending the road in one direction. Roads that have a lot of forks and directions are not considered Tao, the religion also has rules that govern the behaviors of human beings and objects. Taoism believes that people must follow the rules to have peace and order in their life, allowing everyone to be equal and kind to one another. The practices of Taoism include, meditation, Feng shui, fortune telling, and reading and chanting
Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism can co-exist for several reasons, but to begin, the religions are considered to be the “three teachings.” Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist beliefs were collective based on their usefulness in self-cultivation. It can be understood that the three teachings have a mutual influence and certain teaching that could be complimentary of each other. Confucianism is a compound school of thought and Its main concepts are morality, politeness or manners, devotion, along with a strict adherence to social roles. Taoism, or Daoism, is a viewpoint focusing on the idea that life is usually happy, but should be lived with balance and virtue. There is a stress on balance found throughout nature. For example, the yin/yang symbol
Taoism was made mostly of the Lao-Tzu and Tao-Te-Ching philosophical writings. It was a belief in the natural way of life. The symbol stands for the day the night it is called Ying-Yang. Most of their actions are effortless. ex: water, air, and sleep are all effortless actions. Water can do all sorts of things for your life, and it did for theirs. it was a source of drink, to grow plants, and could wear away the hardest of substances. Air is what we breathe in and if we didn’t have water we could have plants to supply us with the oxygen we need. Sleep is the body’s way of refueling after a hard work day we have.
After researching potential cultures and religions, I chose to do my project on Taoism, also known as Daoism. Taoism doesn’t have an absolute being such as Christianity with god. Instead, Taoism follows Tao which is “the source of creation, the ultimate, the inexpressible and indefinable, the unnamable, the natural universe as a whole, and the way of nature as a whole.” Tao is everything and nothing by including the universe but being intangible at the same time. I still find it difficult to completely wrap my head around this term. The most prominent part of Taoism which is also part of Tao, is Yin Yang, which are a principle of two opposite forces working in harmony. Taoists also have a collection of texts and teachings known as the Daozang.
Although sometimes called Daoism, Taoism was first brought to china in the “Eastern Han Dynasty” (25 - 220), with some where around 300 Taoist temples, where almost 30 thousand Taoists lived in. Taoism is the oldest in religion in the country. Dao means way so Daoism is often called ¨The Way or Path of Life¨. In its 1,800 years, Taoism also “influenced the local culture deeply”, especially to create common medicine and literature. There are also alot different kinds of Taoism. Some Taoism focuses on the study of ancient scriptures like the Dao De Jing.
China 's most strapping religion, Taoism is an ancient tradition of philosophy and religious beliefs that have been deeply rooted within the Chinese customs. It can also be referred to as Daoism, which is a more accurate way of saying the Chinese word in English. The Tao in Taoism is usually translated as the Way. Despite the unknown of what the Tao really means, it upholds a significant importance to the universe in the warmest regards.
Health care facilities in the United States today are faced with a unique patient population with diverse cultures with different religions and faiths (Leavitt, 2012). Health care providers have a tedious task when it comes to caring for their patients. The care that they provide need to meet not only the physical needs of the patient, but also the spiritual ones as well. In order to meet these needs it is important for the health care provider to gain insight on their patient’s unique culture and religion. All faiths have a unique philosophy oh healing; this paper shall discuss the philosophies of Christianity and Buddhism.
In “Selections from The Tao te Ching”, Lao-tzu explains in depth his philosophy of Taoism. “He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it)” (Tzu, 250). A follower of Taoism will not tell others they follow Taoism, but will allow Taoism to come to them. The Tao is the path all followers take and is the essence of all things. All things in existence are apart of the Tao. Followers of the Tao believe, “(The Tao) produces (all things) and nourishes them” (Tzu, 247). All things are created by the Tao and remain alive because of the Tao. The Tao is what someone wants to believe it is and anybody in any religion can follow Taoism. Each person will define the Tao as something different because each person creates their own Taoism. Taoism
These are just a small glimpse at the differences and similarities that Confucianism and Taoism
Taoism is one of the great philosophical and religious traditions that’s originated in China. It is a unique and interesting religion, due to the fact that many Taoists do not even consider it a religion. In many ways it can be seen as not a religion but more of a philosophy. The Taoists never claimed that the Tao ever existed. This separates them from other religions because there is no debate or battle on the Taoist doctrine. The individuality and open-mindedness has allowed the religion to flourish almost unchanged from over two thousand years ago. One may learn the way of Taoism through its origins and history, its beliefs, and its rituals and practices.
Taoism is centered on mindfulness, like Buddhism, Taoists believe mindfulness transforms the body to create a sense of harmony and peace. Taoists are heavy believers in meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and massages as ways to bring about peace and harmony in connection
One of the oldest and most complete medical systems ever developed is traditional Chinese medicine. The Taoist ideas and the importance of nature have been intertwined with Chinese Medicine from the ancient beginnings of Chinese culture. “'Tao' or way, is the major idea of Taoism: 'Man models himself on earth, earth on heaven, heaven on the way, and the way on that which is naturally so'. Taoism teaches that human beings should be in harmony with nature, that is, with Tao” (Y). Taoism celebrates the forces of nature and recognizes the interplay of yin and yang in all things. The Taoist principles of Yin-Yang, the eight principles, Chi energy, and the five elements are tools used in Chinese medicine to comprehend the web of phenomena as it
What is Taoism? Answering that question turned out to be much harder than I thought, is it a religion, a philosophy or a way of life? The more I researched, the deeper I got into it and the deeper I got in to it, the more it made my head spin. Taoism is described as being, indescribable, undefinable, and nameless, in the words of the great sage Laozi “That which can be named is not the true Tao”.
Taoism was the better of three as it made people more connected with their environment and compassionate about it. Taoism was about concerning the accomplishments of unity and being together as one, while the other two were about being close to your family and finding yourself. Though, they might all have similarities, they are all very different.
Though no one is completely certain, The Urantia Book Fellowship(Sprunger) many scholars believe Taoism’s foundation goes back to 604 BC, by Lao Tzu. Taoism is one of the more influential religious practices of the Eastern culture and many view it as a way of life rather than a religion. It emphasizes various themes centered on naturalness, vitality, peace, non-interference/non-resistance, refinement, detachment, flexibility, receptiveness, spontaneity, and the ways of life, speaking, and guiding behavior. Taoism represents the road, path followed in life, the flow of the universe, or the force behind the natural order of life that keeps the universe balanced and ordered. There are several variations of Taoism practiced around the