I plan to wrap up the miniseries on the HHC within the next week. As indicated previously, I have no plans to cover every verse of the HHC at this time. It repeats itself a lot and, coming on the heels of the series on the TTC, we're covering a lot of the same ground. I don't know about you, but I'd like to address or tackle some different topics.
Since I actually like this series format, I think I'm going to start a new one in the next ten days or so. However, in this case, I plan to move away from solely discussing theoretical concepts and ideas. Mind you, I love the philosophical poetry of classic Taoist texts, but one question I often get is: How do these concepts apply to routine everyday life?
And that's what I'm going to try to address!
Let me just say here and now, I will not be offering any definitive answers. I don't want anyone to think to themselves, "Hmm. This fellow seems to know a lot about philosophical Taoism, so if he suggests I should handle a particular situation in such and such a manner, it's probably the correct way to handle it!"
As I've stated numerous times before -- I'll probably repeat it numerous times in the future -- I'm stumbling my way through life just like the rest of you. What I will be offering are examples and, in a manner of speaking, thinking out loud. Some of my suggestions may be spot on, while others may miss the mark completely. Through your comments, we'll see how you and others might deal with a given situation.
It is my sincere hope that, through my writings here and your comments, we can offer each other and new readers some practical general suggestions as to how to incorporate Taoist ideas and themes into our lives.
In the end, no matter how appealing a belief system may sound in the abstract, the proof in the pudding is IF it can impact our lives in positive and/or beneficial ways. I believe that philosophical Taoism has benefited my worldview and I hope this exercise will benefit each of us as well.
Since I actually like this series format, I think I'm going to start a new one in the next ten days or so. However, in this case, I plan to move away from solely discussing theoretical concepts and ideas. Mind you, I love the philosophical poetry of classic Taoist texts, but one question I often get is: How do these concepts apply to routine everyday life?
And that's what I'm going to try to address!
Let me just say here and now, I will not be offering any definitive answers. I don't want anyone to think to themselves, "Hmm. This fellow seems to know a lot about philosophical Taoism, so if he suggests I should handle a particular situation in such and such a manner, it's probably the correct way to handle it!"
As I've stated numerous times before -- I'll probably repeat it numerous times in the future -- I'm stumbling my way through life just like the rest of you. What I will be offering are examples and, in a manner of speaking, thinking out loud. Some of my suggestions may be spot on, while others may miss the mark completely. Through your comments, we'll see how you and others might deal with a given situation.
It is my sincere hope that, through my writings here and your comments, we can offer each other and new readers some practical general suggestions as to how to incorporate Taoist ideas and themes into our lives.
In the end, no matter how appealing a belief system may sound in the abstract, the proof in the pudding is IF it can impact our lives in positive and/or beneficial ways. I believe that philosophical Taoism has benefited my worldview and I hope this exercise will benefit each of us as well.
It is good to get to the real day to day living the Tao, many texts say just that. The HHC also as you wrote recently saying you don't get to be a good horse rider talking of horses.
ReplyDeleteThe philosophy is the entrance to this, setting the mind on a certain frequency so it tunes into life in a more harmonious way.
Lets see how you get to pointing to the day to day living. Should be good.
"Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism as the "art of being in the world,""
ReplyDeleteThe Book of Tea
Doing is always the best way to learn, you never learn anything properly till you try to apply it and Taoism is not an intellectual proposal, but a way of being.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the reasons that I advise anyone who wants to learn Taoism to do some Tai Chi with a good instructor, preferably one who teaches at least a little of the martial element. It brings it right in to the physical for you.
I agree with the both of you that philosophical Taoism is about being. However, this point can hard to get across in a blog format, but I'm going to try. ; )
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Tao. You're a virtual librarian!
Richard, I agree about Tai Chi and bemoan the fact that I seem to live in an area in which there seem to be no instructors, good or bad. I'll keep looking, though.
yes! i look forward to it. while i love dealing with concepts in the abstract, i also love applying it to life, in real or theoretical situations. plus it's not something i theorize about on a regular basis, so i'll probably gain some new insights. :)
ReplyDelete