taoism

[travelinbob]

Not on expert on it. I read about it a bunch of years ago. But what I got from it I have integrated it into my personal belief system. So it might not be exactly what they believe but here it goes:

There is a path in front of you that should be followed. This path can be refered to as your destiny. If you follow it, your life should be a fruitful and happy one that leads to spiritual growth. The question is, what is this path? Well it varies from person to person and it must be a personal search. Only you can find it by following your instinct. You must get in touch with your instinct/higher self/ guide (whatever) so that it can guide you in and through this path.

That is why Taoist are so vague. They cannot tell you what your path is and what you should do. The search of these awnsers is what matters and makes you a better person. There are no comandments or book of rules.

Sorry if my awnser is vague but taoism is.[]

[Beth]

This is a very rich topic! I have yet to study eastern religions to any great extent.

Please continue!! I am looking forward to it![]

Peace,
Beth

[h2owong]

A very very simple meaning of Tao is "nature's way"
Taoism can be see as live a life the following way of nature.

[Rob]

I dont know much on this topic but I'll give it a shot....

Taoism recognises how nature goes in cycles of polarities. These two polarities are expressed in the symbol travelinbob has chosen to use as his avatar - very famous, of course. The yin, the female, and the yang, the male (negative/positive, dark/light, bad/good even). This law of polarity applies to everything in nature. This extends to emotions, physical things, states of mind, rythms of the universe, etc etc. So, recognising this, a taoist will see the flows in life, and never ever try and work against them, realising how foolish this would be. Instead, for instance, if he wants to bring something to a certain polarity, he might paradoxically speed up the increase to its opposite so, like a spring, it will shoot back quicker and with more force.
However, the toaist also seeks to overcome polarities and get to a point inside of himself where these opposites merge into a single Whole. At that point the taoist has gained a degree of mastery over himself and the world he lives, so that he understand things to a much higher level than other people. His perspective and field of vision has increased, ie he is in an expanded state of consciousness (=expanded awareness).

I think this is expressed as a martial art in T'ai Chi, where the objective is not like a hard martial art to hit and hurt, but more a soft one where you use the force of your attacker against them.

Toaism and its relationship to martial arts is expressed very well in the film "Twin Warriors" which I strongly recommend - especially if you like mad fight scenes!!!! Awesome....

Rob

[travelinbob]

Its similar to the concept of the Middle Way in buhddism. Its trives not to make a judgement between good and evil. It just trys to find its way through the ebbs and flows of positive and negative enrgy in the universe. It goes "Beyond Good and Evil" , to borrow from (an unlikely source) F. Nietzsche.

[Radha]

Most real Taoist work is esoteric.  It wasn't designed for westerners, so isn't very visible in the west.  The westerners were given alchemy and QBL to study to attain the same ends by a means more suited to their make-up.  One thought is to mention that while we often see in books etc that Taoism relates to "Nature", rarely is that word defined in the sense the Taoists (and other esoteric schools) apply it.
Nature refers to that part of Life that occurrs automatically.  It's causation was put into place by a prior conscious act.  Life, as it comes toward us in our day-to-day affairs is like this.  We are not in harmony with it...unless we understand the prior cause that resulted in this automatic occurence.
The Golden Mean, in it's true delineation means "Nature is to Man, as Man is to God."  You can also use the word Tao instead of God if you wish.
To understand this concept, and more importantly, to live it requires a great deal of work.  It requires Wu-Wei.  Again, westerners try to translate this as "No Action" or similar wordings that seem to imply "do nothing" or a fatilistic apprach.  Just let it all happen to me and whatever it is it must be "Tao".  That sort of idea.
Just the reverse is true.  Wu Wei is a state of Being.  It is a state of Being that places causation by postulate alone.  Below that level of Being one begins to find the opposites and between the opposites is where effort and activity is to be found.
Wu Wei is a state of consciousness, with no mass, no energy, no time or space.  It just IS.  It is above the levels of being where "I" is felt as present.  It is a state known well to The Priests of Nothing.
A.O.M.

[Akensai]

First there is a philosophical taoism and religious taoism.

I dont know to much about religious taoism, but i do know a bit about the first form.

The three supporting texts of philosophical taoism are

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chuang Tzu by Chuang Tzu
Lieh Tzu by Lieh Tzu

Taoism in essence isnt much differing than buddhism, main difference is taoism is more subtle.

Basically taoism teaches to be your very nature, but also belief we go about it the wrong way, this is why we are suffering in life. You have to understand that Taoism teaches that the tao is everything; everything comes from it and goes back to it. So duality and oneness are both supported by the tao, both are equally, two sides of the same coin. Tao teaches that we have created a image of "I" witch is not real, because of this suffering arises, we attach ourselves to this I and when this I is unhappy we say I' am unhappy, but this is not so, our nature is neither happy or unhappy. In buddhism what is called the unborn mind is viewed as what is real, not the image of I, the unborn mind is empty mind. This is hard to explain (and to understand); this mind is higher conscious its not bound by desire, its calm and never born and so will never die. This is truly us. The teaching of Taoism is about turning to this unborn mind, seeing that the body/ego(I) is not really who we are, when we go and study the I then it will be revealed that its not us, Taoism philosophy shows us the way, but its very subtle in this.

For example;

In the tao te ching chapter two the following lines are written;

Creating, yet not possessing,
Working, yet not taking credit,
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts for ever.  

The advice here is when one does something, make something when its finished do not dwell upon this, either the success or failure of it. This way if something is to happen to this creation (destruction etc), one will not be affected by it, because you have already let go of it.

Working and taking no credit, means when you work and expect credit or want to take it, if you don't get it you will be disappointed, perhaps you even want revenge. And when you do get credit, you feel proud but it will not last, because next time things may turn out to be different, but now you have created this image YOU *the I* deserves this credit.

Work is done, then forgotten. Therefore it lasts for ever. Now when you do the work and you forget about it, nothing can destroy it, its done and over whit. Now you have done it, what happens to your accomplishment doesn't matter. That's the future, and then its no longer your work, you have forgotten it, no attachment to it. When this work is somehow destroyed, it doesn't matter to you, the very moment you did the work then it was over whit, the next time will be all new, you decide if work is needed, redoing is needed, but not because of pride, desire of accomplishment, nothing needs to be accomplished, life needs nothing done.

[0]

has anyone ever read "The Tao of Pooh,"?

It is a publication referring taosim(I could be wrong, it could be the dao of pooh)through the actions and style of living of Pooh Bear.

There is another book to that goes with it. I cant remember the name, but it is Piglets book.

Just thought I would reference the two here.

[Selski]

Hi 0

I read The Tao of Pooh quite recently, knowing nothing about Taoism.

It is a brilliant read, and I added a thread to the Book Recommendations section about it.

It's very simple, easy to read, and outlines how Winnie the Pooh was a classic taoist.  After reading it, I feel I know enough about taoism for my purposes, I'm not interested in the technical/religious side of it (if there is one!).  I just know I want to be like Pooh in my everyday life. [^]

I can heartily recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in taoism.

Now back to my jar of honey []

Sarah []

[0]

You wouldnt know of the piglet book of which I spoke of as well? I cant remember the name of it.

anyway, heres a random quote on the web I found that I thought was another decent way of explaining taoism:

"The Tao is a force that pervades the universe. It is the source of the universe, but it also IS the universe.

Tao, often translated as the way or the path, is the ineffable, eternal, creative reality that is the source and end of all things. Te refers to the manifestation of Tao within all things. Thus, to fully possess Te, one must be in perfect harmony with one's original nature.

The Tao can be understood in three ways. It is the nature of the universe. It is also your true essence. And it is the way to lead your life. This meaning ties the other two together, because the way to lead your life is to get your personal Tao in touch with the Tao of the whole universe."

[0]

Here to is the translated beginning to Tao-Te-Ching:


"Even the finest teaching is not the Tao itself.
Even the finest name is insufficient to define it.
Without words, the Tao can be experienced,
and without a name, it can be known.

To conduct one's life according to the Tao,
is to conduct one's life without regrets;
to realize that potential within oneself
which is of benefit to all.

Though words or names are not required
to live one's life this way,
to describe it, words and names are used,
that we might better clarify
the way of which we speak,
without confusing it with other ways
in which an individual might choose to live.

Through knowledge, intellectual thought and words,
the manifestations of the Tao are known,
but without such intellectual intent
we might experience the Tao itself.

Both knowledge and experience are real,
but reality has many forms,
which seem to cause complexity.

By using the means appropriate,
we extend ourselves beyond
the barriers of such complexity,
and so experience the Tao."

[WalkerInTheWoods]

I believe that the Piglet book is called The Tao of Piglet. I have not read either but recall seeing them both at the bookstore.

[Shinobi]

...

[0]

Ah yes. Of course, there is no other title for it to have been. It is much appreciated Shinobi.

The Tao of Pooh

The Te of Piglet



HAHA!!

[rodentmouse]

hello good people

 could  someone explain  taoism  to me please  i really dont get it,  ive spoke  to  some  taoists  in chatrooms and i ask them the same question  and they always seem to be  annoyingly  vague,  as if they enjoy   keeping me in the dark.

i  tried  adrians link  to the religious-explanation website  but  it kept  freezing on me  and crashing  my  computer.

thankyou!

[Tyciol]

I'd suggest reading 'The Tao of Pooh'.

In essence: be carefree, find nature's flow, be good and kind, follow your heart, find your inner child. It's a lifestyle, not a law.

I greatly wish to (and think I have) incorporate the unspoken principles of Taoism into my lifestyle. I do feel that the world is not ready for everyone to fully embrace the philosophy though, as it needs order or the randomness of Taoism will cause problems. Once we're all controlled by computers so we can't hurt anything, or become immortal god-like creatures, then we can be 100% taoist