common misconceptions about Taoism (tradition, Buddhism, followers, experience, faith)

[Master Vigil]

Welcome Pardus! For your first question... everyone is Tao. Who are we going to convert? There is no salvation needed as part of being Taoist. So it isn't the same as christians converting to save souls. However, I do find it in my best effort to live a good example of Taoism. That is the best "converting" one can do. Leading by example.

Do I seek to teach others? Well I do, but that is not a necessary part of being Taoist. But just like above, leading by example is the best kind of teaching.

If I saw another who I believe could benefit from Taoism, I would definitely mention it. But not to make them Taoist, just better people. I don't like to think of Taoism as a religion. Because when you study mystics of any religion, they are very much Taoist. So when I discuss Taoism with people, I rarely treat it as a faith but as a philosophy.

Solving people's problems is a tough issue. Most of my student's problems are worry, and stress related. Which of course can be benefited a hundred fold by taoism. I usually tell them to be mindful of a stream. The water is not in control of where it's going, nor does it know where it's going, but it get's there effortlessly!

I hope that answered your questions, and if you have any more. Please, do not hesitate to ask.

[Pardus]

Thank you, it is possinle to interpret taoism as a "i don't care about anyone else" belief, it's good to see this is not the case.

I am an exceptionally empathetic individual, which obviously has it's down sides, but i have practiced alot of "go with the flow" in my life, i have found more suffering when nature's changes are fought against.

Tho sometimes i feel the flow needs a little assistance.

[anders]

Originally Posted by lilithu

what in your experience, are the most common and/or most harmful misconceptions about Taoism that you've encountered?

I rearely encounter even conceptions about Daoism.

But if I were to, it would probably be, like mentioned, the misconception that Wu Wei means absence of action, instead of something like absence of actions that go against nature.

[ChrisP]

A common misconception of Daoism is that we are a branch of Bhuddism. I don't know how this happened, or maybe it's just because it's relatively unknown in NZ?

IMO Daoism is about doing what comes naturally, and trusting your intuition enough to do this. Intuition is the Dao speaking to us.

[Sunstone]

When I studied Taoism in school 20 years ago, it seemed that one of the biggest stumbling points Westerners had with it had to do with the nature of Ying Yang. People wanted to see that concept in a Western light. That is, they wanted to see Ying and Yang as mutually exclusive opposites, much like we Westerners think of Good and Evil as mutually exclusive opposites. It seemed very difficult for people to grasp that Ying and Yang are not mutually exclusive, but deeply unified.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by anders

I rearely encounter even conceptions about Daoism.

But if I were to, it would probably be, like mentioned, the misconception that Wu Wei means absence of action, instead of something like absence of actions that go against nature.

Namaste Yall,

It's nice to see this thread ressurected and getting more attention. And it is especially nice to see you again, Anders. You've been missed.

The way that I understand wu wei, non-action, (actually, the only way I understand it) is like when one is moving thru running water water. One wants to move with the minimum of disturbance to the water. If one thrashes about without thought, one obviously causes a lot of disturbance, but if one stands there trying to be immobile, one also causes a lot of disturbance. The world is constantly changing, so literally not acting is acting. Only by "going with the flow" does one achieve "non-action."

Originally Posted by SnaleSpace

A common misconception of Daoism is that we are a branch of Bhuddism. I don't know how this happened, or maybe it's just because it's relatively unknown in NZ?

In the U.S. at least, I think this is due to the popularity of Zen Buddhism, which is a mixture of Taoism and Buddhism. So when people learn "Buddhism" (ie - Zen), they are introduced to a lot of the same concepts as in Taoism.

I would think that given New Zealand's closer proximity to Asia you guys would have a lot of interesting exchanges going on, no?

[Master Vigil]

Originally Posted by lilithu

The way that I understand wu wei, non-action, (actually, the only way I understand it) is like when one is moving thru running water water. One wants to move with the minimum of disturbance to the water. If one thrashes about without thought, one obviously causes a lot of disturbance, but if one stands there trying to be immobile, one also causes a lot of disturbance. The world is constantly changing, so literally not acting is acting. Only by "going with the flow" does one achieve "non-action."

Wonderfully put, and I completely agree.

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Namaste Yall,

I would think that given New Zealand's closer proximity to Asia you guys would have a lot of interesting exchanges going on, no?

There are certainly a large variety of beliefs here, but for some reason there are not very many true daoists! mostly it's just yuppy's and yuppy like people doing the trendy thing and quoting the 'mystical' (pfft) tao.

There are quite a few Chinese daoists here but they tend not to mix with whities like myself. The people I get on with the most are the pagans in this country. We're quite a nature conscious culture, and so paganism is quite strong but still very underground as a lot of people view it as akin to satanism and wicca (which it may well be, but noone really knows what wicca is here yet, they just assume it's bad). Paganism and Daoism meet at many points so I find it interesting to discuss religion with them.