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Posted by Butcho
on 2/6/2009, 4:42 pm, in reply to "Why Did Lao Tzu Write the TTC ?"
71.28.136.x
--Previous Message--
: I have a freind that's really into Tao. He
: says there's nothing to do, nothing to be,
: that everything is perfect.
: I don't understand, I get something
: completely different from reading Lao Tzu.
: If there was nothing to do, no steps to
: take, everything is just hunkey dorey as it
: is.....Then why the heck write a book about
: it, wouldn't he be concerned he might upset
: the apple cart. Wouldn't he just leave
: well-enough alone ?
:
PuddinHead,
Taoism is an umbrella term that means different things to different people.
For instance, Steve is a Baptist Taoist. Once saved always saved. There is nothing to do. Steve has a good heart, but he is a fundamentalist. He thinks he has "the" answer.
Nina is a Pentecostal Taoist with a touch of Whirling Dervish thrown in for good measure. Nina too has a good heart, but she tends to be a little overly dramatic at times. She is at her best when she is dancing. Words are not her forte. For her, words are simply a necessary evil.
rat is a God is Love Taoist. His absolute is love. He loves everything. Bring it on. A little bit of a showoff that one.
And yes, I have pigeonholed everyone else that regularly posts here as well but I find it is in my best interest not to piss off more than three people at a time.
I am a Unity Taoist. Not a monity, a unity, a synergetic unity wherein the whole is greater than the sum of its parts kind of unity. "From the first totality is a unitive one". Hui-Neng. "The Father and I are a unitive one". Jesus. Same thing. Mine is at least as much a nondualistic perspective as it is dualistic. At least I like to think it is. Though the flash was seemingly instantaneous, for me it takes time to absorb everything. As it does for most of us. In the World, but not of it as much as I once was. Though a herb, I am but a lowly coriander. Perfection is a living thing that continues to grow, or it is dead. More than the sum of its parts, the journey is the goal.
What most Taoists can agree upon is that Nature is the master guide. That the "Book of Nature" is the greatest book ever written.
We do not come into existence, we come out of existence. We are home. The Book of Nature can be read by anyone that is willing to pay attention. It helps if one starts the journey from a seated position.
Any fool can answer the question how much is two plus two. It takes a special kind of fool to know the the question(s) that the answer four is the answer to. I'll put it another way. If four is the answer, what is the question? Clue: Turn the light around. That is about as esoteric as I presently get.
The Taoist is making a concerted effort to pay attention to what is right in front of him or he is not a Taoist. IMO. imo. In name perhaps, but names are cheap to a Taoist. The tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. The Christian loves even her enemies or she is not a Christian. "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'" Matthew 7:21-23. Talk is cheap.
The proof is in the Pudding. In this case, plum pudding and cherry. Two different kinds of pie, but they are both pies. Even a pie has Buddha Nature. I digress. We know a tree by its fruit. Same as our pudding.
Butcho
499
"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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