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Theme Changer

 Topic: Taoism

 (Read 10923 times)
  • 12 Next page « Previous thread | Next thread »
  • Taoism
     OP - May 02, 2010, 01:19 AM
    I've been reading the Tao Te Ching lately, some nice passages in there -- don't agree with all of it, nor am I necessarily on board with this ineffable, mysterious concept of "Tao" itself, though some of the teachings are nice. Sort of Sufi-like.
    I know Taoism is a religion, and therefore is doctrinal, though I am just wondering if anyone else knows anything about Taoism, and if so, what are your thoughts?
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #1 - April 28, 2012, 05:15 PM
    Bump, lol

    From what i have read so far, it was initially a religion and centuries later(i think) the adherents discard the religious teachings and follow the philosophical teachings.

    Me neither, i dont agree nor on board with the ineffable and mysterious aspect of Tao since the figure is almost the same as Allah, here is the link that points out the similarities between Allah/God and Tao

    The concept Wu wei sounds interesting though i havent delve much into it along with sexual arts, and I learned that centuries ago prior to the Confucian Puritanism getting stronger and stronger, there was a rich literature of sexual arts before it got censored from the public life and sex became a taboo topic.
    "I'm standing here like an asshole holding my Charles Dickens"

    "No theory,No ready made system,no book that has ever been written to save the world. i cleave to no system.."-Bakunin
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #2 - April 28, 2012, 08:03 PM
    I don't think it's fair to say that the Tao is a personal God, Cato, or that the Tao is like Allah, I think that link is trying to find something that isn't really there. The Tao does share some similarities but then every spiritual tradition has some things in common with all the others.
    I think, if truth be told, that the tao is a far more nuanced and profound understanding of reality than the personal judgemental creator of orthodox Islam.
    At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
    Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
    Downward to darkness, on extended wings. - Stevens
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #3 - April 28, 2012, 08:05 PM
    The Tao is like Allah Cheesy Cheesy Yeah I would not believe anything on a dawahganda site like that, Cato. Read actual Taoist books, not Islamist bullcrap according to whom everything is Islam.
    "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #4 - April 28, 2012, 08:07 PM
    Quote
    Taoism too at its source believed undoubtedly in a living, personal God to be the Eternal Truth.


    BULL. These people don't understand the meaning of "personal god".
    "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #5 - April 28, 2012, 08:16 PM
    Taoism is actually understood to be atheistic.  It is to do with life force.

    Avoiding concepts of Gods smiting you.  A very different idea of working with yourself and the universe.
    When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.


    A.A. Milne,

    "We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #6 - April 28, 2012, 08:43 PM
    I didnt say Tao is exactly like Allah or believing the link i provided altogether though i admit my fault for making a rash comparison between the two but thanks for pointing out the error, z10.
    "I'm standing here like an asshole holding my Charles Dickens"

    "No theory,No ready made system,no book that has ever been written to save the world. i cleave to no system.."-Bakunin
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #7 - April 28, 2012, 08:50 PM
    Allah is conveniently seen as a personal, anthropomorphic father figure entity by Muslims but probe too much and he magically becomes a transcendent/immanent genderless formless panentheistic energy, to please the mystics, the sufis, the hindus and pagans that are needed to be converted. That 2nd type is incompatible with the 1st type because of the rituals that a personal god NEEDS and DEMANDS. A personal god NEEDS you worship him. He will put you in hell if you don't believe in him or worship him or follow his rules. Like a crazy abusive parent. A shimmery energy that runs through everything like the Tao is not a person, not a personal entity that demands anything. It just is, it doesn't matter to IT what you believe or what you do because IT is NOT a "personal" "god".
    "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #8 - April 28, 2012, 08:56 PM
    Ok,can you recommended me any materials or books about Taoism to check on?
    "I'm standing here like an asshole holding my Charles Dickens"

    "No theory,No ready made system,no book that has ever been written to save the world. i cleave to no system.."-Bakunin
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #9 - April 28, 2012, 09:01 PM
    Watch this short documentary:

    http://www.lifeartsmedia.com/opening-dao-taoism-martial-arts-documentary
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #10 - April 28, 2012, 09:12 PM
    Quote from: allat on April 28, 2012, 08:50 PM
    Allah is conveniently seen as a personal, anthropomorphic father figure entity by Muslims but probe too much and he magically becomes a transcendent/immanent genderless formless panentheistic energy, to please the mystics, the sufis, the hindus and pagans that are needed to be converted. That 2nd type is incompatible with the 1st type because of the rituals that a personal god NEEDS and DEMANDS. A personal god NEEDS you worship him. He will put you in hell if you don't believe in him or worship him or follow his rules. Like a crazy abusive parent. A shimmery energy that runs through everything like the Tao is not a person, not a personal entity that demands anything. It just is, it doesn't matter to IT what you believe or what you do because IT is NOT a "personal" "god".


    That's exactly how I've come to interpret it too allat!

    I did this thread on the subject

    http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/index.php?topic=18664.0

    And just recently posted some anti-sufi writings there the other day.

    "we can smell traitors and country haters"


    Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
    God is Love.
    Love is Blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God.

  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #11 - April 28, 2012, 09:15 PM
    Quote from: allat on April 28, 2012, 08:05 PM
    The Tao is like Allah Cheesy Cheesy Yeah I would not believe anything on a dawahganda site like that, Cato. Read actual Taoist books, not Islamist bullcrap according to whom everything is Islam.


    Everything is Islam is the basic pose of ALL dawah peddlers isn't it! Its comical initially but at another level incredibly arrogant & delusional. This impulse to 'Islamise' everything. Its not even religion that Islam actually 'owns', have had discussions in which liberalism, feminism, secularism, and even the 'scientific method' is rooted in Islam!
    "we can smell traitors and country haters"


    Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
    God is Love.
    Love is Blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God.

  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #12 - April 28, 2012, 09:16 PM
    Quote from: zoomi on May 02, 2010, 01:19 AM
    ...........anything about Taoism, and if so, what are your thoughts?

    You can achieve everything by doing fuck all, grasshopper. yes

    Also, the one thing you can be sure of is that nothing will stay the same, which means that if today you can achieve everything by doing fuck all, tomorrow you wont be able to.

    I'm not sure they thought this through. Grin
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #13 - April 28, 2012, 09:28 PM
    Quote from: Cato on April 28, 2012, 08:56 PM
    Ok,can you recommended me any materials or books about Taoism to check on?


    The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff


    (entire book in audio below)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksVgOSJ_Kv0
    "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #14 - April 28, 2012, 09:30 PM
    How can anyone consider any religion after leaving Islam? It's like trying to lose weight by eating at Burger King instead of Mcdonalds.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBUc_kATGgg
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #15 - April 28, 2012, 09:39 PM
    While I don't follow any religion, I see no reason to stop studying what kinds of religions and spiritual paths there are. Parts of Taoist and Buddhist mythologies/philosophies contain a lot of interesting things, way more than Abrahamic mythologies AFAIC. It's not about adopting another religion. It's about realizing that other ways of looking at the world exist. Once we leave Islam, some people will continue to carry Islamic/Islamist ways of thinking, on a sub-conscious level. It's good to explore different myths and philosophies to really challenge and change our beliefs and perceptions on a deeper level.
    "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #16 - April 28, 2012, 09:49 PM
    The Tao of Pooh was awesome. I read that ages ago when it first came out. grin12
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #17 - April 28, 2012, 10:00 PM
    Help you understand what exactly? Who crated the universe? Why poverty, disease and oppression pervades vast swathes of  our World laced with misery and mayhem? What happens to us after we die? Then in what authority to these 'myths' speak when they try to answer these questions that have puzzled humanity since time immemorial?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBUc_kATGgg
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #18 - April 28, 2012, 10:01 PM
    They teach you about the human race. Culture is useful and beautiful, you know.
    Self ban for Ramadan (THAT RHYMES)

    Expect me to come back a Muslim. Cool Tongue j/k we'll see..
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #19 - April 28, 2012, 10:03 PM
    Quote from: 247read on April 28, 2012, 10:00 PM
    Who crated the universe?

    The universe was cratered by meteors n stuff. Just sayin. Smiley
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #20 - April 28, 2012, 10:06 PM
    The Human race has been studied and continues to be studied by academics and the general public at large - it's surprising how we, individually, can observe and come to our own equally enlightening conclusions.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBUc_kATGgg
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #21 - April 28, 2012, 10:08 PM
    Quote from: osmanthus on April 28, 2012, 10:03 PM
    The universe was cratered by meteors n stuff. Just sayin. Smiley


    Who created the 'meteors n stuff'?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBUc_kATGgg
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #22 - April 28, 2012, 10:09 PM
    Yes, but looking at what other people have concluded can be interesting too.
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #23 - April 28, 2012, 10:09 PM
    ^ I think that was a pun.

    LOL!
    Self ban for Ramadan (THAT RHYMES)

    Expect me to come back a Muslim. Cool Tongue j/k we'll see..
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #24 - April 28, 2012, 10:09 PM
    Quote from: 247read on April 28, 2012, 10:08 PM
    Who created the 'meteors n stuff'?

    Dunno.
    Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #25 - April 28, 2012, 10:26 PM
    The Tao of Pooh is awesome, just a shame that the writer can't get over his hate for scholars.
    At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
    Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
    Downward to darkness, on extended wings. - Stevens
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #26 - April 28, 2012, 10:31 PM
    Quote from: Cato on April 28, 2012, 08:43 PM
    I didnt say Tao is exactly like Allah or believing the link i provided altogether though i admit my fault for making a rash comparison between the two but thanks for pointing out the error, z10.


    You're very welcome but I would reiterate Allat's advise in reading actual taoist texts by either Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu to find out what taoism is, because I'm no authority on it. Smiley
    At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
    Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
    Downward to darkness, on extended wings. - Stevens
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #27 - April 28, 2012, 10:37 PM
    Quote from: z10 on April 28, 2012, 10:31 PM
    You're very welcome but I would reiterate Allat's advise in reading actual taoist texts by either Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu to find out what taoism is, because I'm no authority on it. Smiley

    I read that as 'Allah's advise' and was confused for a bit. Cheesy
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #28 - April 28, 2012, 10:47 PM
    While we're vaguely on the subject of Pooh...



    I'll listen to Tao of Pooh as soon as I have a decent internet connection. 'Non-religious' religions are the only ones that even vaguely appeal to me.
  • Re: Taoism
     Reply #29 - April 28, 2012, 11:30 PM
    I did not like the Tao of Pooh to be honest, though I like what he was trying to do.

    247, as others have said, its not about following any particular dogma, but about picking and choosing pieces of things that you can learn from. For instance, I don't believe in Jesus, though I do think a lot of the stores about him are nice and I admire his character and they help me learn to become a better person (or what I think is a better person). Just like writings of Taoism, Sufism, etc..
  • 12 Next page « Previous thread | Next thread »