Tell Me About Taoism.

[Dann]

There is no Taoism.

@Dawgphood001
About the most common Taoist symbol is the "Ba-Gua" - that octagonal spider-web like thing with the Yin-Yang emblem in the middle.

And Taoism is indeed very hard to explain. A few things that first come to mind are "passive", "mysterious", "hermit", "elixir of immortality" and "the bane of zombies".

But then again, I watch too many Hongkong horror movies.

 

[Becka]

I wish to know.

Why don't you just get some books about it at the library/bookstore?

 

[Dida]

I have been studying the Way for years, but to tell another person what Taoism is, I am speechless. Afterall, the old master said:"the Tao that can be told, is not the eternal Tao!". I don't know how to describe the Tao or Taoism, they just are.

 

[classical_hero]

By the looks of this, it is easier to explain the Matrix than to explain Taoism.

 

[punkbass2000]

I have been studying the Way for years, but to tell another person what Taoism is, I am speechless. Afterall, the old master said:"the Tao that can be told, is not the eternal Tao!". I don't know how to describe the Tao or Taoism, they just are.

Indeed. You could say the point is that there's little to be said. I again point to the stereotypical Taoist hermit.

 

[oagersnap]

http://www.imada.sdu.dk/~meer/

What does that have to do with taoism?

 

[punkbass2000]

By the looks of this, it is easier to explain the Matrix than to explain Taoism.

It's similar, in some senses. You can't be told what Reality it is. You just exist in it and perceive it. Trying to put it into concepts, theories and frameworks only creates illusions, contradictions and paradox. REality cannot be put in a "box" like that, so to speak. Language only works by making distinctions, and since reality is everything, making distinctions within it will be incomplete by nature. At best you can make analogies, I would say.

 

[punkbass2000]

What does that have to do with taoism?

Nothing. It was a joke based on newfangle's misspelling of "mere" ("meer").

 

[Dida]

In Lao Tzu's own words, the Tao is:

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.

The Tao is like an empty container:
it can never be emptied and can never be filled.
Infinitely deep, it is the source of all things.

The Tao of Heaven is eternal,
and the earth is long enduring.
Why are they long enduring?
They do not live for themselves;
thus they are present for all beings.

The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.

Look for it, and it can't be seen.
Listen for it, and it can't be heard.
Grasp for it, and it can't be caught.
These three cannot be further described,
so we treat them as The One.

the Tao is constant

The greatest virtue you can have
comes from following only the Tao;
which takes a form that is intangible and evasive.

Since the beginning of time, the Tao has always existed.
It is beyond existing and not existing .

Humanity follows the earth.
Earth follows Heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao.
The Tao follows only itself.

The Tao is nameless and unchanging.
Although it appears insignificant,
nothing in the world can contain it.

All things end in the Tao
just as the small streams and the largest rivers
flow through valleys to the sea.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Very nice post My favorite bit:

The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.