What does Taoism say about free will?
Does Taoism teach total free will or determinism?
福生無量天尊，（This is a very blessed greeting, just you know)
Taoism teaches, or more like guides, people through their lives and shows people what the fate of their life is. Once you know yourself and your fate, it will be very easy to make a happy life and always be in the right spot. No harm, no hurt, no bad things, and all of this will be your free will, because the path is there, and you have your free will to make decisions. Free will is very important for people, because Taoism believes that if the decision does not come from your true heart, it won't work so well or maybe it won't work at all.
About determinism's definition quote: Determinism is the belief that all actions and events result from other actions, events, or situations, so people cannot in fact choose what to do. If the definition is this, then determinism theory is in fact not quite right, because everybody knows they have free will to make choices. The real point is about making a good choice or a bad one, a useful one as opposed to a useless one, and so on…
If you read this definition carefully, the definition is flawed within itself from a Taoism point of view. Taoism believes everything follows the law of nature and since too many things are happening at the same time, it’s like water flowing to the sea. You cannot choose not to end up in the sea, but you can choose how to end up in the sea. In the same way, you can choose how to live your life but you cannot choose not to die in the end. So, determinism is Taoism - we believe that all the actions and events result from the other actions, events, or situations (these are motions of people) so people surely can choose what to do and how to do it, but in fact, nobody can choose the end.
Taoism believes in free will and this free will have it limits, just as nature does.
We show our students the law of nature and how to obey the law with great pleasure of free will.
I hope that my words have given you a peek of Taoism.
