道  PART I.

The Yang aspect of human action: benefits all harms none

When sun rises, its lights shine to everywhere on the world evenly. This explains the meaning of the Heaven’s rule, which benefits all and discriminates none. When things are done with benefit for all and harm to none. Human beings’ activities and creativities will have the intention to create harmony with nature. This way, our world will become more abundant, peaceful and beautiful. If things are done against the Tao of heaven, or opposite to the natural principles, people’s lives will be affected accordingly. This could result in people’s lives being turned upside down resulting in considerable stresses and struggles, both physically and emotionally. Such stresses will lead to illness and disruption or destruction of our relationships with people and nature. 

When peoples' lives follow the Tao of Heaven, peoples' activities and enterprises will be carried out as follows:

·         they will benefit all beings and not harm some beings

·         they will benefit something and not harm other things

·         they will benefit the present and not harm the future

·         they will be good for humanity and not harm animals, trees and the environment on earth.

The same principle can be applied to peoples' health and daily life. People should be mindful too of the ways in which they eat, live, work and play in order to prevent illness from happening. They should not seek the pleasures of the moment which could create health issues later on. If humans are healthy, our planet is healthy. Our resources won't be wasted. This is the beginning of positive change, and everyone can start making this change for themselves now.

德  PART II.

The Yin aspect of human life refers to internal virtue cultivation

The principle again is “By following the way of the sages, things are offered without wishing anything in return”. This wisdom teaches people to offer selfless service to society and the world, offering kindness and respect to other people, other cultures and to Heaven and Earth.

Each individual with great spiritual practice and openness to growth can become a sage-like being in the society where they live. “People can transform themselves into higher spiritual levels of kindness by practicing Tao. If one practices Tao continually, an ignorant person can grow to become a sage; if this practice is uninterrupted and continues, the person can grow indefinitely and reach immortality”. (Heavenly Joy Institute handbook). 

This Taoist practice is for everyone on earth. If each individual carries on this worldly great virtue, the world will be in great peace and harmony.

Study of spiritual teachings and performing spiritual practices should begin early in one’s life. Starting at a young age, children should cultivate respect towards their parents, grandparents, teachers, and other elderly people, learning ways of offering love and caring, and learning respect for mother earth by reducing wasteful life-style practices.

Adults should focus on benefiting the world by learning the skills and technologies to help human kind as well as planet by offering kindness as much as they can. Taoism teaches us that a good human being should offer selfless service to others and the world.

The elderly should focus on offering love and compassion to the world through cultivating good virtue, a good heart and long life. If you are healthy and in a good mental state, you can help the world by sharing your deep wisdom and knowledge on living harmoniously with others and with nature. This can be passed on to the younger generations. This tradition is sadly missing in the world these days.

Our Spiritual Beliefs

We believe that a soul’s journey continues after death. A person's soul is an energy form existing as a part of a cosmic energy matrix. Each soul can be transformed to a form of consciousness through reincarnation, depending on its energy vibration. The more selfless services one does, the higher energy vibration one’s soul can have, thus the higher conscious level one's soul can reach. People can reach immortality and end the cycle of reincarnation through a great deal of selfless services to the world. In summary, we believe:

• Selfless service furthers a soul’s progression in its journey

• Spiritual growth can extend one’s life and make one’s life better

• Healthy life transition generates a healthy soul

• Healthy souls will reincarnate into healthy human beings

Birth and death are the two most important events in one's life. Sages told us that we should not take them lightly. No matter who you are, no one can escape death. No one can take any material things with them when they die. But one can take their virtue and wisdom with them; these are the things embedded inside one’s soul.

The earth has four seasons. Humans have five stages of growth: birth, growth, maturation, old age and transformation. Observing how a person dies, we can understand how this person lived. Life is a cycle like everything in the Universe. If a person is mindful and cultivates their mind, body and spirit throughout their whole life maintaining a healthy lifestyle and offering kindness to others, disease and illness can be avoided or decreased.

A beautiful and peaceful dying process and death are possible for everyone. Taoists considered a healthy ending of one’s life to be a great fortune. At later stages of human life, it is very important for people to forgive and be forgiven by others. Having forgiveness is a treasure we can take beyond this world into the next. If one can leave this world without any attachment, a soul is not forced to reincarnate. If it chooses to come back, it will have a good fresh start without burdens of past-life karma. One thus can have a healthier life in this life time. If everyone strives for a healthy soul transition, humanity will be healthier in the future, and the planet will be healthier, too.

Allowing Our Soul Embracing the Light of Heaven