What is the difference between Buddhism and philosohical Taoism?

Buddhisim or even zen Buddhism vs philosophy of taoism.|||Both Taoism and Buddhism share one important quality in common: Both are practice traditions, rather than faith traditions. Both emphasize *doing* rather than believing. Even Taoism, which has a strong philosophical aspect, focuses primarily on practices.





Many Buddhists, particularly those in the Mahayana tradition, also practice some form of Taoist energy work - certain breathing or energy exercises.





In Buddhism, especially in Mahayana Buddhism, people practice in order to attain enlightenment and help all beings become free from suffering. While Taoism is a more amorphous tradition than Buddhism, the general aim of Taoist practice is more self-centered on longevity, health, personal harmony with circumstances, and simplicity.





Although Taoism and Buddhism are distinct spiritual traditions, they meet at one point: Zen Buddhism (Ch'an).





When Buddhism was first introduced to China in the 1st century CE, the Chinese referred to it as "Indian Taoism" because of the apparent strong affinity between the two traditions.





Taoists took the Buddhist concept of emptiness to mean the same thing as the Taoist notion emptiness.





This turned out to be an error, since the Taoist notion of emptiness refers to qualities such as restraint, patience, frugality, simplicity, and lack of worldly desire; in Buddhism, emptiness refers to the never ceasing flux of each thing in the universe.





Probably the two most important Taoist concepts to influence the development of Zen Buddhism are:





- "Wu wei," or 'not doing.' In Taoism, this doesn't literally mean passivity. It means acting in accord with a situation. Zen internalized this concept as "correct function" -- perceiving how to function correctly, from moment to moment. However, in Zen correct function means acting for the benefit of all beings (bodhisattva action) -- a concept that exists in Taoism but is not central.





- "Pu," or 'natural state.' Taoist training cultivated "pu," a mental state not confused by thinking, ideas of right/wrong, good/bad, beautiful/or ugly -- just pure awareness. This concept first appears in the Zen tradition through the writings of the 3rd Zen patriarch, Seng-Ts'an, who wrote, "The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything."





Hope this helps!|||Taoism is not religious, it does not seek to explain how we came to exist. It simply teaches how to cope with the harshness of reality.





"The Tao which can be known is not the true Tao" is a mystical claim that suggests we can not understand ourselves.





I like green tea with my Tao, both have a light airy flavor not at all reminiscent of dogma.|||Who says Buddhism is not a philosophy,the Han peoples blended the tao or dao with buddhism of that area.Siddhartha never completed his own concept of buddhism,he could have ended the cycle of rebirth if he chose not to awaken or enlighten fellow Bharat people.The prince left his Legacy to one of his children and questionable follower who changed the logical approach to nirvana or moksha.India [Bharat land]was well aware of his philosophical Ideas because he denounce the vedas,and wore hindu death robes for a political statement,certainly not the only one in 500B.C. there were many.End note BUDDHISM IS NOT SIDDHARTHA AWAKENING OR ENLIGHTENMENT|||Buddhism turned into an organized religion. The Tao is for personal development. Buddha studied the Tao, as did the one they call Jesus.