Our Binary System of Meaning (creation, experience, eternal, verse)

[Mr Spinkles]

I find this thread extremely fascinating....Master Vigil, I have gained an all-new appreciation for the Tao. And the stuff Runt said about binary meaning was really good too 8)

Our western ideas and culture favors the logical vocabulary-oriented Left side of our brain (that's why western philosophers seem to have a lot of debates over mere symantics)....Taoism and other eastern religions seem to focus more on the Right side of the brain--the part that we use when we see the "big picture" all at once rather than in parts, and the part of the brain in which we understand things without being able to find adequate words to describe our understanding (it's also the creative/artistic side).

In many ways, hearing you two describe the Tao, I feel like I already "believe" in the Tao--I just don't call it the Tao, I call it the universe. Maybe by not assigning a name to it (like Tao), and by "keeping it simple" I am being very Taoist-like.

[Mr Spinkles]

I find this thread extremely fascinating....Master Vigil, I have gained an all-new appreciation for the Tao. And the stuff Runt said about binary meaning was really good too 8)

Our western ideas and culture favors the logical vocabulary-oriented Left side of our brain (that's why western philosophers seem to have a lot of debates over mere symantics)....Taoism and other eastern religions seem to focus more on the Right side of the brain--the part that we use when we see the "big picture" all at once rather than in parts, and the part of the brain in which we understand things without being able to find adequate words to describe our understanding (it's also the creative/artistic side).

In many ways, hearing you two describe the Tao, I feel like I already "believe" in the Tao--I just don't call it the Tao, I call it the universe. Maybe by not assigning a name to it (like Tao), and by "keeping it simple" I am being very Taoist-like.

[Master Vigil]

It is true Mr. Spinkles. Western thought is normally called linear thought. Which means that it tries to get to the answers as fast as possible. (The closest distance between 2 objects is a straight line.) But western thought however, is the opposite. It focuses more on the path to the answers than the answers themselves. It is great that the word Tao literally means "way, or path." It is the way of the universe, not the universe itself. So it includes all things. And being that it includes them, it caused them. Make sense?? Maybe you had the idea that the Tao was synonomous with the idea of god. It is not. But I'm glad you are starting to appreciate Taoism. It is a wonderful system of thought. And it is true, keeping it simple is VERY Taoist like. Actually, once you get past calling it a name, (you still call it the universe) you become more like the Tao. Its hard to be like that on the internet since everything is in words.

[Master Vigil]

It is true Mr. Spinkles. Western thought is normally called linear thought. Which means that it tries to get to the answers as fast as possible. (The closest distance between 2 objects is a straight line.) But western thought however, is the opposite. It focuses more on the path to the answers than the answers themselves. It is great that the word Tao literally means "way, or path." It is the way of the universe, not the universe itself. So it includes all things. And being that it includes them, it caused them. Make sense?? Maybe you had the idea that the Tao was synonomous with the idea of god. It is not. But I'm glad you are starting to appreciate Taoism. It is a wonderful system of thought. And it is true, keeping it simple is VERY Taoist like. Actually, once you get past calling it a name, (you still call it the universe) you become more like the Tao. Its hard to be like that on the internet since everything is in words.

[Runt]

See, having heard that there are two kinds of Taoism (philosophical and religious), I really wonder if it is possible to be an atheist Taoist. I think it is... and if so, that is what I am.

[Runt]

See, having heard that there are two kinds of Taoism (philosophical and religious), I really wonder if it is possible to be an atheist Taoist. I think it is... and if so, that is what I am.

[Mr Spinkles]

I still wouldn't consider myself a Taoist, though

[Mr Spinkles]

I still wouldn't consider myself a Taoist, though

[Master Vigil]

Even as a philosophical taoist, you still have the idea of the supernatural Eternal Tao. And that would not be taken as atheism. Taoism in any way, is not atheism. Just taoism.

Mr. Spinkles... I know, I guess you could say I am Taoist, but I also have native american and eastern mystic thoughts as well. I also enjoy zen very much. But to me they are all connected. And being that most of my thoughts stem from ancient Taoism, that is the term I am not most often using. But just because you may have taoist thoughts does not make you taoist in any way.