Does Taoism mention God?
 

Or is God considered a part of the Tao?

I don't recall Taoism ever mentioning God; so I was wondering how God is seen by Taoists.

Hi Honza,

There is no "God" in Taoism .

Of course ... the word "God" .... as all words .... means specifically what it means to those that give it that specific meaning !

There is no "one" meaning.... thus every perspective meaning is "right" from a given perspective.

Thanks WG. Interesting. Welcome to the forum.

All things are born from the Tao, from the Taoist point of view. The Tao is formless. The word God has form.

The idea is mentioned only to state that it is impossible to have any ideas about it which would even remotely be accurate or true.

Sorry, you and I, we all, are on our own.

There are many gods, spirits and immortal masters that are venerated and worshiped by Daoists.

Such as the Jade Emperor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Emperor

This may be so but AFAIU it is clear to Daoists that these Gods are just symbolic and not real. Very unlike the God of the 3 Abrahamic traditions.

I know many philosophically oriented Daoists would agree, but because of the fluid nature between "daoism" and Chinese Folk religion and ancestor worship there are plenty of people who embrace worshiping gods and ancestors while also practicing daoist traditions, without necessarily adopting a symbolic belief in gods.

I thought God is the Tao... But then what do I know... Anything?

God is a concept, the Tao is beyond concepts.