I wanted to share some of Lao Tzu's philosophy on spiritualism and humanity. Before escaping civilization into a far away temple, Lao Tzu was asked to write down his tips for the rest if mankind. In doing so with some help, this amazing transcript known as the Tao Te Ching was written. He speaks of Tao, which is the basis of all things; the ebb and flow of living energy, the essence of vitality, the bare soul of all things. He teaches us how to throw away material thinking and become closer to Tao. This Tao is you and the universe aligned, the scattered imprints left behind long ago by your soul, but forgotten. Tao is beyond words and beyond understanding. Words may be used to speak of it, but they cannot contain it. Tao existed before words and names, before heaven and earth, before the ten thousand things. It is the unlimited father and mother of all limited things. Therefore, to see beyond all boundaries to the subtle heart of things, dispense with names, with concepts, with expectations and ambitions and differences. Tao and its many manifestations arise from the same source: subtle wonder within mysterious darkness. This is the beginning of all understanding. ..The wise person acts without effort and teaches by quiet example. He accepts things as they come, creates without possessing, nourishes without demanding, accomplishes without taking credit. Because he constantly forgets himself, he is never forgotten. When praise is lavished upon the famous, the people contend and compete with one another. When exotic goods are traded and treasured, the compulsion to steal is felt. When desires are constantly stimulated, people become disturbed and confused. Therefore, the wise person sets an example by emptying her mind, opening her heart, relaxing her ambitions, relinquishing her desires, cultivating her character. Having conquered her own cunning and cravings, she can't be manipulated by anyone. Do by not-doing. Act with non-action. Allow order to arise of itself. Heaven is eternal, earth everlasting. They endure this way because they do not live for themselves. In the same way, the wise person puts himself last, and thereby finds himself first; Holds himself outside, and thereby remains at the center; Abandons himself, and is thereby fulfilled. Pretty self-explanatory. Forget yourself & you won't be forgotten, and learn to love without possessing, create without expectations, build without pride. Leave yourself at the center by abandoning your desires.. I'll try & post a couple verses everyday. Hope this helps you align yourself and walk the path towards this oneness. Some questions to ponder.. Have you studied the Tao Te Ching, and what does it mean for you?
I'm a Buddhist, but study world religions, particularly those of the east, including Taoism. The Tao contains a fair amount of Buddhism and shamanism, as it tends to be a mix of other religions that came to China via the Silk Road many years before.The 'yin yang' symbol and some basic ideas came from the Cucuteni of eastern Europe at least two thousand years before Taoism became a coherent form. Many lines of the verses are written 'with veiled intent' to prevent those with insufficient kowledge from understanding it - but having said thatthere are many translations that do not really refelct the original content. MelT
I agree it is a layman's mirrored translation. However with the actual content of the Tao veiled, we can still hope to take something from the one available to us. The teaching goes far beyond religion, and that's what I like about it. How do I learn to live with honor? By not living for yourself. This is one of many teachings the Tao provides, albeit limited.
lol... a materialistic Buddhist. How many contradictions do you carry on your shoulders? First, you posit the existence of a reality that's unobservable and independent of our subjective experience's (and you do this "empirically" - which is a joke), and now you dare to say, as a proponent of materialism, that you're a Buddhist. How can a determinist believe that he or she, i.e., their material bodies, can extricate and free themselves from samsara (isn't there no free will within the structures of physical nature, materialist)??? And, Buddhist don't believe that man is simply an aggregation of permanent physical material... i.e., nice job of fooling yourself, buddy.
trolly trolltastic troll if you wanna bash a user maybe start your own thread for your vendetta. it seems like this forum isn't moderated? there's a rule against you and yet you remain. threadjack more
Who was talking to you?? Yet, it was not unexpected... a blind dogmatists defending another dogmatist by resorting to screaming TROLL! (like how they use to scream WITCH back in the days lol) - cool. Someone disagreeing with your dogma doesn't make them a troll... even if it comforts you to believe such a thing.
LOL! Boats, do you really exect me to respond seriously to someone like yourself who is here purely to troll? MelT
You misunderstand; that it's veiled doesn't mean that it lacks valid content, it works at all levels when understood. I'm saying that, as a 'mixed' teaching it's useful to all. MelT
Through my studies, I learned that most of this has nothing to do Lao Tzu, the person who actually lived as a scribe, but it's really more of a meta-creation of many eastern philosophies of the time. Still, a nice read and good teachings.
The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, also known as Cucuteni culture (from Romanian), Trypillian culture (from Ukrainian) or Tripolye culture (from Russian), is a Neolithic–Eneolithic archaeological culture which existed from approximately 4800 to 3000 BC, from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions in modern-day Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine, encompassing an area of more than 35,000 km<sup>2</sup> (14,000 sq mi).<sup>[1]</sup> During the Trypillia BII, CI, and CI-II phases, populations belonging to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture built the largest settlements in Neolithic Europe, some of which contained as many as 1,600 structures.<sup>[2]</sup> However, the majority of Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements consisted of high-density, small settlements (spaced 3 to 4 kilometers apart), concentrated mainly in the Siret, Prut, and Dniester river valleys.<sup>[3]</sup> One of the most notable aspects of this culture was the periodic destruction of settlements, with each single-habitation site having a roughly 60 to 80 year lifetime.<sup>[4]</sup> The purpose of burning these settlements is a subject of debate among scholars; some of the settlements were reconstructed several times on top of earlier habitational levels, preserving the shape and the orientation of the older buildings. One particular location, the Poduri site (Romania), revealed thirteen habitation levels that were constructed on top of each other over many years.<sup>[4]</sup> They were quite advanced in many ways and invented the wheel before the Sumerians. MelT
What I find interesting is that Tao is a spiritual link between man and nature, and that a person who practices Taoism sees himself and everything else as his equal, and nudges us to observe nature and the nature of the universe.Like the sage, we shall do better when sawing with the grain of the wood rather than against it. As so, nature is correct and us humans must strive for that equilibrium. By observing nature, the Sage retreats all materialisms and live in cooperation with nature instead of against it.The Tao Te Ching teaches me that our journey should be a journey of no-direction, and it glorifies the essence of nature in ourselves.I find it interesting that 'sin' in Taoism is going against nature, and thereby the punishment is immediate in this life: stress and troubled lives.The verses of the Tao taught me that existence and non-existence produce one another, and that the relationship between spirit and matter balance each other, no one is dominant. To be able to live and produce bountiful lives, one needs to live with no coercion, no domination and a spiritual alignment with yourself and everything around you.Non-being, non-attachment, humility; Tao Te Ching promises that those who cultivates these ideas will have true goodness. 'Cultivate these in your community, and goodness will catch on. Cultivate these in the World, and goodness will fill the Universe'.
. Unfortunately your grasp of Buddhism is as bad as your understanding of science and metaphysics. Troll! MelT
A key aspect of the Tao is understanding the meaning of sunyata too, it adds a lot to your interpretation of what is being described. MelT
The emptiness of the Tao is about frugality, restraint, simplicity, freedom, formlessness and a lack of worldly desires, kind of like water I might add..Bruce Lee: "When one has reached maturity in the (martial) art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style."Now its when I can quote him again, 'Be like water.."Water is emptiness without form..In the whole World nothing is softer than water.Even those who succeed when attacking the hard and the strong cannot overcome itBecause nothing can harm it.The weak overcomes the strong. The soft conquers the hard.No one in the World can deny thisYet no one seems to know how to put it into practice. (Poem 78 TTC)
I understand what you're saying, but no, the emptiness of the Tao - and other eastern traditions is something else (though your term 'formlessness has some relevance, but not in the sense you've used it). It's primarily about the nature of reality itself, not about conduct. This is not a criticism, as I said, much is written with veiled intent and it isn't immediately apparent, but an understanding of sunyata is crucial if someone were heading for realisation. MelT
Who was fucking talking to you? Calling out your trolling and threadjacking has nothing to do with dogma, philosophy, or superstition. You are actually here, threadjacking, and you are actually here, trolling, and someone should put a stop to it. It's not a matter of interpretation right now. It's a fact, verifiable by your posting. Your post had nothing to do with anything except a personal disagreement you have with another user, which was not what the thread was about. That is actual trolling.