In What Ways Do You Think Attitudes Towards Death Found in Religious Taoism Differed from Those of Philosophical Taoism?

In what ways do you think attitudes towards death found in Religious Taoism differed from those of Philosophical Taoism?

Religious Taoist had a very mythical perception of death, their attitude towards death was positive, because to them death meant entering into the realm of immortality and of spiritual life, they believed in the idea that longevity and immortality could be achieved through proper ritual practises, these beliefs were derived from myths and folklore. Religious Taoist had far-fetched beliefs and practises, such as the belief in the "herb of immortality" which is substances extracted from plants and animals which contain "vitality" and the "elixir of eternal youth" and if consumed, one might live forever (Eliade, 1962:111). Philosophical Taoist such as K'ung tzu however, had a unenthusiastic attitude towards religious practises surrounding death, such as the popular practise of Chinese Alchemy, his idea was that social responsibility and how people relate to each other should be the crucial parts of religious practises rather than investing ones energy solely to discover how one can relate to spiritual life and death (Hofmeyer, 1991:106).

Philosophical Taoist had the idea that Chinese Alchemy originated from traditional cosmological principles which gave meaning to myths that were connected to the elixir of immortality and which provided techniques to prolong life (Eliade, 1962:112). Religious Taoism explains the practise of Chinese Alchemy as being the practise of evoking supernatural beings to assist in transforming minerals which contain mercuric sulphide into "yellow gold" which is a spiritual object that is free from any impurities, "yellow gold" symbolises the perfection of nature and how it continues to stay absolute and free (Eliade, 1962: 114).

A very popular myth of Chinese Alchemy is the myth of the "yellow gold" being used as utensils, when one drinks or eats out of the utensils one is guaranteed to have a prolonged life and that once one's life is prolonged, one will have the ability to have insight into the spiritual world and be able to interact with spirits, upon meeting these spirits certain ritual sacrifices have to be performed which will ensure that one will not die (Eliade, 1962: 112). These practises explain the inextricable link between the evocation of spirits and Taoist religious practises and how they function to give meaning to the myths from which they are derived, it also shows that religious Taoist have a positive attitude toward life after death because they believe that they too are like "yellow gold", that when they are transformed from being alive to being dead, they too will become perfected and liberated and become immortal (Eliade, 1962: 112).

There are many occurrences in the life of a religious Taoist whereby interaction with the "Immortals" occur, a very interesting interaction, for example, is when one is embarking on a spiritual quest to find the elixir which is in the possession of the 'Immortals' or spirits, then upon meeting the spirits or 'Immortals', one experiences some kind of bliss whereby