The skeptical Taoist.

[infornography]

I found myself wondering if any here identified at all with the way or the Tao.

I also somewhat wonder if any here have ever looked into Taoism at all.

I do not consider myself taoist but I am very partial to the philosophy. I agree with much of it but have found that I am happy with how I am now and do not intend to change myself to match an attractive philsophy.

For any that have never researched the Tao but are curious about it, I would reccomend reading the Tao te Ching.

 

[Miss Whiplash]

I've read the Tao and agree with some of the philosophy, myself. I'm not a Taoist either, but do find comfort in the simplicity and immaterialism. I will confess there are times I feel overwhelmed by the consumer driven materialism of American society.

 

[Kopji]

I probably lean more toward 'philosophical Taoist' than other things.

I am interested in most philosophy, but I spent many years completely ignorant of all the great philosophical ideas out there. Not every religion is so isolating, but mine was. It's almost funny, when I packed up my Bible collection I thought life would be so empty. What a nutty thought that was. I can't say my life was wasted in religion, but the isolation is sad in hindsight.

When I left my beliefs behind it was something like scorched ground. Maybe that's why I also tend to be fairly detached about philosophy.

Occasionally I feel I owe something to ideas, as if they rescued me in some way. The TTC is that kind of thing. I first read it while waiting several hours for the outcome of a surgery. (A long time to wait on life or death). The room had a couple other families also waiting for outcomes of loved ones, and I remember that it struck me that what we shared in common waiting was more important than words or ideas. (Maybe the beginning of the end for me in the religious world I suppose.)

My first impression of the TTC was that the chapters rendered ideas as various scenes or mental images. "it was pretty" even if some concepts are difficult. Many years later I still think that is a good way to look at it.

Understanding religion as not so much as a source of artistic creation, but an artistic expression itself - was an epiphany sort of like that famous picture with the two lamps that are also two faces. There's the face, and the lamp, and a third place where you understand that it depends on your perspective.

After losing my faith I really tried for a while to 'go back', but it was like that image. Once I saw both sides there was no going back.

I can do an excellent 'fortune cookie speak' when I have a mind to.

 

[infornography]

My first impression of the TTC was that the chapters rendered ideas as various scenes or mental images. "it was pretty" even if some concepts are difficult. Many years later I still think that is a good way to look at it.

Thats an excellent way of putting it.

Oddly enough I was introduced to the Tao te Ching when a roomate left a copy of it on the toilet. I think it lasted me about a week or two of "sittings". I found interestingly enough that I really did give a crap about it ;-).

 

[Bikewer]

I read through several translations of the Tao Te Ching years ago, as well as some of the other works. There's a lot to be admired in the philosophy, which should be separated from the "religion" that it subsequently became.

The simple manner of dealing with life's viscisitudes, the notion of not striving against your own nature; these are valuable ideas applicable today.

The same applies to Buddism, of course.

 

[T'ai Chi]

Dao De Jing : A Philosophical Translation by Ames and Hall is a pretty good read, as is work by Chad Hansen.

 

[Roadtoad]

Where's Rikzilla when you need him?

 

[Kopji]

Some of the early texts have the order of the chapters reversed.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/laozi.htm

The order of the chapters is reversed, with 38-81 in the Wang Bi coming before chapters 1-37 in the Mawangdui versions. More precisely, the order of the Mawangdui texts takes the traditional 81 chapters and sets them out like this: 38, 39, 40, 42-66, 80, 81, 67-79, 1-21, 24, 22, 23, 25-37. Robert Henricks has published a translation of these texts with extensive notes and comparisons with the Wang Bi under the title Lao-Tzu, Te-tao Ching.

The above link seems like a good critical site. An early question I asked myself was why China was so screwed up throughout history if they wrote such pretty things.

This is all the more interesting when we remember that the philosopher and legalist political theorist named Han Feizi used the DDJ as a guide for the unification of China. Han Feizi was the foremost counselor of the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-206 BCE). It is a pity that the emperor used the DDJ's admonitions to "fill the bellies and empty the minds" to justify his program of destroying all books not related to medicine, astronomy or agriculture.

So as in all things, 'careful out there'.

There is an interesting perspective on the TTC here:
http://www.friesian.com/taote.htm

(Someone told me this site promotes a philosophy of logical positivism.) The various papers seem well reasoned even if not everything is agreed with. The article on Taoism is interesting because it attempts a more modern slant. I generally dislike attempts to analyze the TTC in an expository sense like one might the Bible, but if you were to do it this is a way to do it.

 

[Kopji]

My last comment on the Fresian website is somewhat flawed. The TTC article is good but not the one I was thinking of. I'll look for that one.

I disagree the site promotes logical positivism. I think I would describe it as reductionist. Should I stop guessing while I'm ahead?

 

[Trantor]

I have the Tao Te Ching translation by Alan Watts. Back when I gave most of my metaphysical books to my local public library, this is one of the few books that I decided to keep. Beautifully written and thought provoking. In my opinion, one of the best philosophy books ever; it's words have stood the test of time. Older than the Bible and far deeper. Highly recommended.