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Tao

 
Greenhorn
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I like Taoism a lot. Who else here does?
 
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The Conrad that can be spoken is not the eternal Conrad.
 
Lao Tzu
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Who's Conrad? Someone told me this was a good forum to talk about anything you want. I like Taoism a lot, so I just figured I would waste some time and see where this goes...
 
mister krabs
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I like the Tao of Pooh.
 
Lao Tzu
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I read that too.
 
Leverager of our synergies
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I like Thomas too
 
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Who is Lao Tzu? And why does he talk like me?
 
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Indeed.
 
Andrew Shafer
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Dear Lao,
What is it about the Tao that you find compelling?
 
Anonymous
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That be crazified.
 
Lao Tzu
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Well, one day I was lying around the house and found a taoism book. I like pooh and I'd never heard of Taoism before so I picked it up and read it. It had good reasoning and made me look at things differently. THa's what;s compelling about it.l
 
Andrew Shafer
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Dear Lao,
What do you think of animism?
Is the Tao of Pooh what you consider to be Taoist?
Are you familiar with any Taoist practices?
 
Lao Tzu
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I've looked at other books since "The Tao of Pooh", but I would have to say that that book gives a good perspective of Taoist thoughts. Maybe I'm wrong, I really haven't talked to many people about it. Which may be good in a way, because it seems to me that you are suposed to have your own interpretation of Tao anyway.
No I'm not familiar with animism.
I'm not familiar with any practices.
[This message has been edited by Lao Tzu (edited July 06, 2001).]
 
Andrew Shafer
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Lao,
How about the Tao de Ching? You ever read that?
Or read the Ii Ching?
Not the Taoism has much of anything to do with reading.
 
Lao Tzu
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By the way Andrew,
Do you like taoism? This is a bad way of putting it but, do you believe in Taoism? Do you know a lot about taoism?
 
Lao Tzu
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I read Tao de ching. Hey by the way, in the Tao of Pooh book, he always refered to the philosopher Lao Tse instead of Lao Tzu. And he also refered to Tao de ching as Tao teh ching. Do you know why this is so?
 
Thomas Paul
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Because since the names were in Chinese and didn't use our alphabet, the actual spelling is based on... ?
That's why the capital of China used to be Peking.
 
Lao Tzu
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OK, I just thought that there would be some kind of standard...
 
Andrew Shafer
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I will say I like Taoism where it is pragmatic and useful, while I dislike what might be labeled Taoism that I consider distracting and mired in undogmatic dogma.
Which is how it should be.
The different spellings arise from the process of transliteration from the Chinese characters to the Roman alphabet. (What we are typing now.) Different Scholars chose to Romanize Chinese with different characters. This is common in transliterations from all languages. Nothing to lose sleep over. . .
 
Lao Tzu
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Let me ask you a question:
Would you rather live by yourself (or maybe accompanied by a few people) on an island on a farm with no connection with civilization, or would you rather live in the society we have today and work hard and be rich? This is a question I debate over a lot.
 
Andrew Shafer
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This is a real bitch of a question for me.
The hermit/monastic life has a certain appeal.
I'm not particularly impressed with our culture or people in general, but at the same time, here I am, with many of the weaknesses I loathe in others.
 
Andrew Shafer
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Lao,
Why don't you send me an email.
 
Lao Tzu
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I agree completly. The problem is, its a recurring question. This is what I mean:
Here I am, born into american society, filled with technology. I work hard all my life and become rich. I now have power, but I don't really want power. Then I realize, "It would have been much nicer to have been born on a distant island, with no contact to civilization."
So instead, I am born on that distant island. I only know as much as the island teaches me. So I'm probably just a crazy little person just trying to survive, not thinking about what life is all about and that sort of stuff. If I were to get just a taste of what civilization is like, I would say "Hey, I would much rather live like that, then like this"
Its a paradox, in a way. And Taoism talks about that. What is good without evil? Good is no better than evil if everything is good. Now if I went off on a distant island and lived by myself, I would probably appreciate it much more than if I began life there. So, in a way, I would owe a lot to civilization for giving me something to compare to.
 
Andrew Shafer
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First, working hard and becoming rich are not necessarily connected.
Second, the man living in isolation may or may not consider the implications of his existence anymore than the city dwellers.
My favorite paradox:
cream rises to the top/shit floats
 
Andrew Shafer
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Conrad,
How come you don't put a working email address in your profile?
 
Lao Tzu
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I think about this stuff a lot when I'm running and doing stuff like that. I never come to a good conclusion. The problem is that life just goes how it goes. We have no control over it. We hardly have any control over our only lives, and if you think about it, in a way we have no control. I think that a main part of Taoism is accepting everything as it is, and enjoying the surprises. Its hard to do that though, when I think of the things I'm doing to everything.
But what am I doing to everything? I'm just rearranging. What's so bad about that? Nothing when you look at it that way. But if you look at it from how you actually see it? it for some reason seems worse...
For instance, when you see someone get killed you probably won't like it in the least. What happened to the person? Well he turned immobile and stopped being "alive". For some reason this really turns people off. But it doesn't have to turn people off. It is how they chose to feel.
I think I'm beginning to understand a little more while I've been writing this post.
 
Greenhorn
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hey can anyone suggest me a good book on "Tao"
 
Greenhorn
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Like I always said, damn grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, once you have spent time on the other side, there's no place like home. The Tao of Pooh.
 
Lao Tzu
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Andrew, I'm not Conrad. Maybe I don't want to be contacted...
Here's what I think of the whole sherade.
We all base our beliefs on observations. For instance whenever you drop something it falls to the ground. So you conclude for yourself that whenever you drop something it will fall. Inductive reasoning. The same is how we learn to talk. We match words with emotions. Then we go on to use deductive reasoning from inducttive reasoning in order to understand more. So are we not all using a form of science? A search for truth?
Then comes religion. For aspects of life that we can't comprehend at all, we decide to conclude a higher being working its magic. Then as we progress in life we teach others from our findings, and we build on what eachother said. Religion eventually becomes much more formal and isn't really there to explain things it used to. Its there to give you moral values and such.
Essentially we are digging deeper and deeper into an infinite amount of knowledge. There will be no end until we decide to stop digging. I think its just more fun to sit back, relax, and watch all the digging.
And I think that THAT is what it's all about.

[This message has been edited by Lao Tzu (edited July 08, 2001).]
 
Lao Tzu
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Here's a quote from "House At Pooh Corner"


Then, suddenly again, Christiopher Robin, who was still looking at the world, with his chin his hands, called out "Pooh!"
"Yes?" said Pooh.
"When I'm � when �� Pooh!"
"Yes, Christopher Robin?"
"I'm not going to do Nothing anymore."
"Never again?"
"Well, not so much. They don't let you."


This quote overwhelmes me with sandness because it is so true. You can't go off walking in the forest doing nothing anymore. Because society demands more out of you. I don't even think I used to do nothing, I was always to impatient.
This summer, however, I will learn how to do nothing. I will learn to be patient. I will learn how to not learn anything at all.
 
Andrew Shafer
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Lao,
I never said I believed you to be Conrad. (By the way sherade is spelled charade)
Conrad, (who is TOTALLY different than Lao)
Why don't you put a valid email address in your profile? (you can send me email from my profile if you choose)
Anand,
The tao of pooh is a cute little book. Taoism Lite served up with familiar characters.
I'd recommend the Tao Te Ching, but the book has been translated so many different ways with different emphasis and agenda that discerning the core truth is an excercise in anecdota.
Perhaps this is how things should be.
There are quite a few twists and turns once you set out from there, animism, cosmology, immortality, alchemy, sorcery, and so it goes.
 
Greenhorn
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I am not so sure if I like Taoism or not, but the words people familiar with impressed me a lot. This is why I event quoted them in the frontof my thesis.
Here they are:
The Tao can be told is not the eternal Tao
The Name can be given is not the eternal Name
It is really a fascinating thought.
Ji
 
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Hi Anand,
here is an online "tao de ching", but the translation is not very good. Anybody want to read in chinese?
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism/ttc-list.htm
 
Ranch Hand
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Whats Pooh and whats the basic principles of Taoism?? Can someone explain please ??
 
Thomas Paul
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What's Pooh!??
Pooh is of course Winnie the Pooh, a favorite character of children for about 80 years. He's a tubby little Pooh bear (whatever that is). His friends are Piglet ( a nervouse little piglet), Eeyore (a depressed donkey), Owl (a know-it-all owl), Rabbit, Kanga and Roo. And, of course, Christopher Robin (a small boy). The stories were written for the real life Christopher Robin by his father and tells stories about Christoper Robin's stuffed animals.
Try this site: http://www.pooh-corner.com/pooh.html
 
Badriprasad Bumbabol
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Yep, i know abt that Pooh but how does Taoism fit it with him ??
Tintin
 
Lao Tzu
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Actually Pooh is an aspect of Taoism. Although it is usually translated into 'Pu' the two sound much the same. It stands for the uncarved block, or simplicity. Heh, I got that from the Tao of Pooh.
 
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