A Bit of Taoism

Spirituality Religion
#1

“The perfect man has no self;
the spiritual man has no achievement;
the sage has no name.”

  • Chauang Tzu

“The Way has its reality and its signs
but is without action or form.
You can hand it down but you cannot receive it,
you can ignore it but you cannot see it.
It is its own source, its own root.
Before heaven and earth existed it was there,
from the ancient times.
It gave spirituality to the spirits and to God,
it gave birth to heaven and to earth.
It exists beyond the highest point,
and yet you cannot call it lofty;
it exists beneath the limit of the six directions,
and yet you cannot call it deep.
It was born before heaven and earth,
and yet you cannot say it has been there for long,
it is earlier than the earliest time,
and yet you cannot call it old.”

  • The Crookbacked Woman and the Sage
    Chuang Tzu, Translated by Burton Watson, 1964
    Crone Taoism

Fifteen Articles of Taoist Master Wang Chongwang (1160 CE):

  1. Cloistered residence
  2. Wandering like clouds
  3. Study of texts
  4. Preparation of medicines
  5. Building a home
  6. Companions in the Tao
  7. Sitting straight
  8. Controlling the mind
  9. Refining original inner nature
  10. Pairing the Five Energies
  11. Merging inner nature and destiny
  12. Tao of the Sage
  13. Going beyond the Three Worlds
  14. Nourishing the Eternal Body
  15. Leaving the world
  • Wang Chongyang (1113-1170)
    Founder of the School of Complete Perfection (Quanzhen School)
#2

How can something pre-exist God or give spirituality to God?

#3

[QUOTE=thomas;44273]How can something pre-exist God or give spirituality to God?[/QUOTE]

To a tried and true overly literal Catholic, Protestant, Christian…it can’t

But learning form it is where open mindedness comes in? if you like?call the Tao (the way) God. To be honest a Taoist would not care what or who you called it.

#4

What is an “overly literal” Catholic?

#5

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.
– Lao Tzu

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
– Lao Tzu

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”
—Lao-Tze

Not Taoist but applicable

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

#6

I have great respect for the teachings of Taoism. I remember reading enjoying the Tree parable, where the tree scolds the carpenter for accusing him of being useless.

#7

I know less about that:oops:

#8

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

And some people would rather be in the frying pan than the fire, and who can blame them?

#9

[QUOTE=thomas;47370]And some people would rather be in the frying pan than the fire, and who can blame them?[/QUOTE]

Thomas! Welcome back!

#10

Thank you. Was I gone that long?

But I cannot share your appreciation of Taoism, though admittedly I know little about it. It seems to much to me like Buddhism, and Buddhism seems totally depressing to me.

You tend to lump the Abrahamic religions together, but from my perspective, Christianity and Hindiusm, in some ways, in “spirit” perhaps, seem closer than Christianity and Islam.

No offense intended, and I did not invent this idea but heard it elsewhere, one can see Christ in Hinduism.

Hinduism and Christianity seem happy and hopeful. Islam does not, no offense intended, but it seems very stern. Buddhism does not. It seems entirely hopeless. Maybe a way to get along in the world and not get too sucked into the drama and cares, but not a way to find eternal happiness and peace, or even a way to strive for these things, since they would be “desires.”

Very nice of you to welcome me back. :cry:

#11

[QUOTE=thomas;47376]Thank you. Was I gone that long?

But I cannot share your appreciation of Taoism, though admittedly I know little about it. It seems to much to me like Buddhism, and Buddhism seems totally depressing to me.

You tend to lump the Abrahamic religions together, but from my perspective, Christianity and Hindiusm, in some ways, in “spirit” perhaps, seem closer than Christianity and Islam.

No offense intended, and I did not invent this idea but heard it elsewhere, one can see Christ in Hinduism.

Hinduism and Christianity seem happy and hopeful. Islam does not, no offense intended, but it seems very stern. Buddhism does not. It seems entirely hopeless. Maybe a way to get along in the world and not get too sucked into the drama and cares, but not a way to find eternal happiness and peace, or even a way to strive for these things, since they would be “desires.”

Very nice of you to welcome me back. :cry:[/QUOTE]

Only certain aspects of Hinduism seem to be related to Christianity in the way you’re thinking. Christianity and Islam have more in common than Christianity and the aggregate of Hinduism, and, most definitely, the aggregate of Hinduism and Islam.

Some PC loon probably came up with that. It is also a missionary conversion tacti - saying.

Taoism? Well, the basic idea of it is that the world lacks absolute meaning and morality and thus, it is best to “go with the flow” or bend to the current of the river or adapt. I don’t see how that is depressing. It makes much sense, admittedly even more so than Dharmic faiths at times. There is also some religious practices to it, many of which I find interesting and admirable. Perhaps Yulaw and give us a bit more of an explanation and more input into his faith.

You cannot judge a religion by the emotions it evokes within you. I can listen to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9-XaA2f00 and feel at peace and say Buddhism is bright and happy. That is basically what you are doing. You can never know until you have experienced it yourself, looked at its history, observed the actions of Buddhists, and so forth. I cannot say more than this, since I am not a Buddhist and my knowledge of it comes from textbooks, which can never grasp the full scope of Dharmic traditions (in the case of Abrahamic religions, it can).

Islam is very dogmatic and stern. I have a few Muslim friends (though they aren’t really very into their religion and only follow the law that says it is haraam to drink alcohol. One of them said he read the first few pages of the Quran and dozed off) and lived in a Muslim city in India called Hyderabad. And let me tell you…

One of the odd things about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India is that is a mostly Hindu/Muslim city and yet has a statue of Buddha in the middle of a lake. It is very unusual for a city that far South to have something on the Buddha in that manner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hyderabad_Lake_India.jpg. I remember the times when in one Hindu festival, thousands upon thousands of Indians would carry Ganesha idols and put it in the lake, along with candles and so forth. The lake would be lit with thousands of lights and be floating with statues, with a smiling Gautama Buddha overlooking the proceedings…