wandelaar

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Everything posted by wandelaar

  1. Well I had some Jehovah Witnesses at my door some days ago, and they asked me where to find the answer to the meaning of life and I spontaneously answered "nowhere". They laughed politely and I politely received their flyer, and subsequently they wend to the next door. Later I thought somewhat more about it and realised that plants and animals just live their life apparently without any need for answers to philosophical or spiritual quandaries. In a sense the question of the meaning of life is an artifact of our thinking mind. The drive to live and to live well is hard-wired, and this drive doesn't need priests and/or scriptures to explain to us what to do.
  2. Although it is often hard to see there is some use to the comments of Stosh and that is that they train you to avoid participating in egocentric non-discussions.
  3. Being content with being dead is only possible for entities that somehow still exist, so this story seems to leave open the possibility that death isn't the end...
  4. That followed after Chuang tzu realised that life and death are both part of nature and necessarily so. This latter realisation freed up his mind to see that even after her death everything is as it should be after all. But first he was for a brief moment overcome with emotion because of her death. It would be inhuman to evolve to such a state of detachment that even the death of your wife would be felt as irrelevant. I don't say such a state of detachment would be impossible, but it would go against human nature. That certainly isn't the form of Taoism that I appreciate.
  5. It's looks like Chuang tzu isn't quite sure about what happens to the dead, see also: https://www.consolatio.com/2005/05/chuang_tzu_and_.html
  6. @ Rara https://www.consolatio.com/2005/04/zhuangzi_loses_.html

  7. The Chuang Tzu

    wandelaar replied to Marblehead's topic in Zhuangzi

    Lots of times Chuang tzu doesn't take a definitive position himself, and in these cases this refusal to take a stand paradoxically appears to be his position. At other times I suspect that he is just joking and making fun of his more serious readers.

  8. The Chuang Tzu

    wandelaar replied to Marblehead's topic in Zhuangzi

    When you like the Chuang tzu you will probably want to have several translations anyhow. And I recommend reading some modern philosophical commentaries too. The latter will seem boring and pedantic compared to the lively style of Chuang tzu but over time they will help to see through the many levels and shades of meaning of the Chuang tzu.
  9. I think that Taoism is indeed more of a middle way, and not striving for complete detachment. After all Chang tzu did care when his wife died, although not for very long (because he could soon see it from the perspective of Tao).
  10. It all depends on the lineage or form of Taoism that you follow. In philosophical Taoism it's all about understanding with some (sitting or moving) meditation added, not about immortality, chi, gods, rituals, etc. But other Taoists often consider philosophical Taoism as not the real thing. It's hard to find the openness of mind to appreciate how everyone is on his/her own way to who knows where...

  11. The Chuang Tzu

    wandelaar replied to Marblehead's topic in Zhuangzi

    Let us know what you think/feel about it while reading. It's a pity that discussions about the Chuang tzu seem to have died out along with the dead of Marblehead.
  12. As there are many forms of Taoism one probably cannot pick out one particular goal as the goal of Taoism.
  13. I am wondering what you are still searching for...

  14. What are you listening to?

    wandelaar replied to sean's topic in The Rabbit Hole

    Haha - who was not there?

  15. Seeking Info

    wandelaar replied to cah5896's topic in Daoist Discussion

    @ cah5896 Maybe some of the treads on passages/chapters of the Tao Te Ching or the Chuang tzu could be revived. That should be more to your taste than talk about religious or esoteric Taoism....

  16. Seeking Info

    wandelaar replied to cah5896's topic in Daoist Discussion

    It is also Taoist to accept the world and fellow human beings even though they seem flawed when measured against rigid absolute standards. I also have trouble with that, but I see the Taoist wisdom of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. When you are too radical in your criticism you may find that in the end you have nothing left. That may be OK as a transitional phase, but it is not a healthy way to live. One cannot completely demolish Buddhism or any other religion as they all have their good and bad points, although I do prefer some more than others. To live a meaningful life we just have to (provisionally) accept some ideas and values even though we can never be sure that they are the right ones.

  17. Seeking Info

    wandelaar replied to cah5896's topic in Daoist Discussion

    No - you are what is called a philosophical Taoist.

  18. Is being a Daoist for the well off

    wandelaar replied to Mig's topic in Daoist Discussion

    Great to read of your adventures. I don't like travelling myself, so I always like to learn about far away places from people who go there.

  19. What are you listening to?

    wandelaar replied to sean's topic in The Rabbit Hole

    Yes! Makes one feel alive.
  20. The Chuang tzu and its modern philosophical commentaries are more relevant to your problem, but of course the Tao Te Ching has its own merits
  21. @ Stosh Almost correct.
  22. Or whether the beliefs and criticism of (relevant) others are even worth bothering about.... When you start doubting you have to go all the way, and then your doubt will destroy itself because the necessities of daily life will force you to return to some form of common sense (that is to relative truth). However if the later doesn't happen you will truly become an idiot, and perhaps even a dangerous one if you take the fundamentalist way out.
  23. There is nothing wrong with realising that one cannot be sure about anything. One can just as well find one's way in life without absolute certainty. And this can even be a joyful life, see the Chuang tzu. For more about this see modern philosophical and scholarly interpretations of the Chuang tzu.

  24. What are you listening to?

    wandelaar replied to sean's topic in The Rabbit Hole

    CCR - always good!

  25. What are you listening to?

    wandelaar replied to sean's topic in The Rabbit Hole