hese groups are called vehicles, The Lesser Vehicle or Hinayana school, The Great Vehicle or the Mahayana school and the Diamond Vehicle or Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism. The Hinayana school emphasizes personal rather than collective liberation. It is also called the Theravada school of thought. The Mahayanists strongly emphasize compassion as the ultimate form of practice. Zen Buddhism has become the most popular of form of Mahayana Buddhism. The third group, Tantric Buddhism is a scion of the Mahayana teaching and spread to Tibet. It involves esoteric visualizations, rituals and mantras. Outside of Confucianism, Taoism is probably the most important and influential. School of thought native to China. In almost direct contract to the gravity and social responsibilities of Confucian ideals the Taoist prize contemplation of the natural world. Taoist often ignores worldly affairs and society in order to bring themselves into harmony with the flow of nature and embrace the Tao or “Way”. Lao Tse, the old master or founder of Taoism was a contemporary of Confucius. Stories tell of a meeting between the two religious founders. Lao Tse was an archivist in the Imperial Library. It is unclear whether Lao Tse summoned Confucius or Confucius asked to meet with Lao Tse to ask questions about information contained in the archives. The accounts differ however, Mr. Leporati wrote “that at least one meeting between the two philosophical giants with Confucius coming away perplexed and somewhat in awe of his elder, comparing Lao Tse to a ‘Dragon who flies among the clouds’”. Mr. Leporati goes on to say that at the age of 160 Lao Tse “decided to resign his position as keeper of the archives for the court of Chou and retire to peace, solitude and contemplation. As he departed, a gatekeeper implored the sage to please compose a book coalescing his teachings so that they would not perish when Lao Tse ...
