The Real Deal

Trey Smith

As this blog is focused on philosophical Taoism, you might get the idea that I believe Taoism is the real deal -- THE belief system that answers all the big questions in life. If you think this, you're wrong. NO belief system is the real deal because none of them asks all the right questions nor provides all of the right answers.

Each of us is like a small child lost in a never-ending maze. We try going one way, then another. We move forward until we hit a barrier or dead end, then we backup and try a different route. We bob and weave, move fast or slow, head this way and that. Whichever course we choose almost always leads back to the starting point.

Since it may well be impossible to succeed in extricating ourselves from this House of Mirrors, we look for those ideas, notions and concepts that resonate with us. Philosophical Taoism resonates with me and that's why I started this blog to discuss this philosophy.

But, if truth be known, my approach to life is rather eclectic. I realize that most religious and philosophic traditions contain kernels of insight. I don't happen to be a big fan of the Christian faith tradition, but who can deny the simplistic beauty of the Sermon on the Mount? I'm confident that, if I was more knowledgeable about the Koran or Bhagavad Gītā, for example, I would find themes in them that resonated with me too.

And so, while there can be no denying that I have chosen philosophical Taoism as my functional framework, I agree with something Scott wrote earlier today: "I am not really anything at all." I'm just a simple bumpkin walking around in the dark of the night bumping into things here and there.