tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post4678498502468243443..comments2024-03-27T20:10:46.984-07:00Comments on The Rambling Taoist: Missouri, Not ChinaThe Rambling Taoisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04730292897416827840noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-84671121813585616842012-03-31T17:58:40.414-07:002012-03-31T17:58:40.414-07:00This is why, while I have an interest in Taoism an...This is why, while I have an interest in Taoism and strive to expand my understanding of it, I don't call myself a Taoist.Joynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-3838725250580384582012-03-29T02:05:03.228-07:002012-03-29T02:05:03.228-07:00you're using western subjectivity to criticise...you're using western subjectivity to criticise western subjectivity. oh the ironyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-58350591670778461452012-03-29T00:13:03.473-07:002012-03-29T00:13:03.473-07:00No 1thing/part can be balanced by itself. It is al...No 1thing/part can be balanced by itself. It is always balanced/grounded/rooted by/in "an-other" eg similar, only different to you flying a kite.<br /><br />The polarity gives purpose; "free & unfettered wandering" (? philosophizing) without balance/grounding/rooting is akin to purposelessness. Cultivation of Philosophy without Nutrition (Mind without Body) is Lifeless.<br /><br />"embrace" as an English language word means hold closely, include/contain, accept/support. Taoism embraces the whole - it respects the "dot" in the half & the Cycle of Balance.Jennienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-28165857065680876812012-03-28T23:07:51.048-07:002012-03-28T23:07:51.048-07:00Missouri...the "Show Me" state.
There a...Missouri...the "Show Me" state.<br /><br />There are scholars and practitioners, with whom I have come to agree to various degrees, who maintain there is what is called by one, "Popular Western Taoism," interpretations and readings of the Tao Te Ching and other texts, that miss the point, ignore the key concepts, and disregard the heritage and history, water down and shape the ideas into a warm and fuzzy self-help doctrine that would embarrass any serious practitioner. I recently heard a little presentation on "Taoism" that never mentioned yin and yang; jing, qi and shen; ziran or wu wei. Meditation? Energy practices? Nope. Without grasping these concepts and, I believe, having some sort of practice beyond the intellectual (indeed without the intellectualizing) one has not fully embraced the philosophy. "Philosophical Taoism" is an incomplete embrace. Not inauthentic, exactly, just incomplete.<br /><br />I am not penalizing anyone for not being Chinese (the Chinese will do that for us in time, I'm sure)...I am saying that to play traditional Chinese music, you might want a guqin, not a banjo. You can't do Chinese painting with western brushes. Chop suey is not really Chinese food. If you do these things, you might think it's authentic, it may even be interesting, (General Tso's chicken is tasty, but it didn't originate in China), but it will only ever be an approximation of the real thing. By the same token, just because you have a guqin, a nice wolf brush and a well-seasoned wok, you may also fail miserably. And just because you know some tai chi moves and a breathing technique, cast a hexagram now and then, or consult a feng shui calendar doesn't make you a Taoist either.baroness radonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14593108634484542286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-73817773122258632392012-03-28T22:35:38.852-07:002012-03-28T22:35:38.852-07:00it can, it's just Baroness' ego getting in...it can, it's just Baroness' ego getting in the way. the central premise of daoism is not ethnically based. and why would it be? it's available to everyone because it's impartial. i'm sure there are many people who walk the path of the dao, who know nothing of daoism, or chinese culture and/or history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-20196569060598353192012-03-28T21:31:53.070-07:002012-03-28T21:31:53.070-07:00I'm Scotch-Irish and a philosophical Taoist. ...I'm Scotch-Irish and a philosophical Taoist. Though not large in number, there are several westerners who have embraced the overall philosophy. If Buddhism can originate in India and flourish in Japan, why can't Taoism originate in China and be embrace by those in the West?The Rambling Taoisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04730292897416827840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10694316.post-31363806322667335522012-03-28T21:22:57.975-07:002012-03-28T21:22:57.975-07:00I didn't think there was a "Western"...I didn't think there was a "Western" version of Taoism. Taoists (even just the "philosophical" ones), are few in number outside of China, and most those outsiders are probably ethnic Chinese. The fact is Taoism is an inescapable part of Chinese culture. Many Chinese cultural practices incorporate Taoist beliefs, even among Chinese who don't explicitly identify themselves as TaoistKaiWenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807115279983591853noreply@blogger.com