healingand mother of everything because everything owes its existence to it.
Because the Dao, representing a union of being (its function) and non-
being (its essence), exemplifies the harmonious flux of the eternal prin-
ciple, humans beings are instructed to conform to it in order to endure
existentially and live in harmony.
Among the Native American Navaho of the southwestern part of North
America, there is the notion of Hozho, which conveys the meanings of
harmony, good, favorable, beauty, perfection, normality, well-being, and
order. The prefix ho means a complete environment and also something
abstract, indefinite, or infinite. This general and pervasive ordering prin-
ciple can be disrupted, and order can become disorder. It is implied that
the Navaho can attempt to maintain or restore it through ritual.
These various cross-cultural examples of different concepts of har-
mony enable a reader to recognize some common features in spite of
conceptual differences. A common feature is the way that harmony is
related to the natural cosmic order of everything. In addition to orderli-
ness, harmony points to notions of rightness, truth, stability, security,
and safety. It is thus important for humans to maintain it, restore it, or
conform to it, depending on the religious tradition. The various examples
also enable readers to recognize that harmony is either personified in the
form of a deity or left abstract. It is, moreover, a cosmic and/or social
force binding everything together.
Further reading: Boyce (1979); Needham (1969); Reichard (1950)HEALING
Spurred by an ordinary cold, lung or heart disease, an accident that leaves
a person crippled, mental illness, or the anxiety caused by the threat of
eminent death, healing becomes a major concern for all religions. Sickness
interrupts a person’s life and everyday routine, disrupting personal assump-
tions about him/herself and the world in which he/she lives. Healing is
directly related to concerns and uncertainties caused by illness.
There is a fundamental assumption among many religious cultures that
physical health is connected to spiritual well-being or that health is some-
how related to morality with the implication that illness is punishment for
transgressions. Some cultures also assume that health is associated with
a web of social relationships. When a person is sick, there is thus an
assumption that there exists a disharmony between the sick person and
the universe. Because sickness and healing are closely related to religious