Erdrickgr

Here is a list of Papal Encyclicals, if that helps.

Don't drop out of college! No, really, when you went back a second time, don't drop out again! Don't go out on that date!

I only know enough to stay away from her

Good question. I hope someone can answer it. I did a search earlier and came up empty as far as statues go, the only thing I could find of Lao Tzu was a bunch of posters/prints on Amazon.com.

That was an interesting discussion, thanks for posting a link to it!

-bAN7Ts0xBo

You could always reread his version online and compare it with other translations and see what you think Stephen Mitchell Legge, Suzuki, Goddard Merel Lin McDonald Rosenthal There's probably more out there if you do a Google search...

Maybe I'm just a crazy skeptic who is blinded to the true powers being wielded here... but yeah, I think it looks exaggerated.

I don't mind people discussing whatever it is that they like to discuss. However, I will say that when different perspectives (various forms of buddhism, taoism, etc.) get thrown into one discussion, it's not necessarily easy for new people to sift through the views and pick out which opinion goes with which faith and whatnot. Over time it's probably for the best that different views get expressed, but in the beginning it can be confusing.

Well, that's sort of why I brought this up. I don't believe in a personal God. However, as I've read about Taoism, I've seen different people say different things about God/gods. On the one hand I've seen people say that Taoism is atheistic. On the other hand, I've seen people say that there are indeed gods in Taoism that have been worshipped. So, when I came across the passage I quoted in the Tao Te Ching, I figured I'd ask about it. Regarding some of the gods worshipped by Taoists throughout the ages, are some these "gods" only divine in a limited sense? I could understand that, coming from an Eastern Christian background. Many eastern theologians hold to a belief that humans can be deified (theosis) and become like gods, though these deified humans are totally different than God Himself, because humans are limited, created beings, and only God is limitless and uncreated. Or, do gods merely represent something non-personal, like virtues or a black emptiness (as King Kabalabhati said)?

One of things that I've been struggling with as I've read Taoist literature is the seemingly anti-intellectual tone that I run across at times. Here are examples of what I mean from the Tao Te Ching: If what books like the Tao Te Ching say about the Tao and knowledge and such is true, then I can understand the statements above. But I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around ideas like: "the more you know, the less you understand". I've spent most of my adult life as a truth seeker, and that has always meant to me that I should be seeking more knowledge, examining what I believe, coming to conclusions, etc. But Taoism seems to be asking me to do the opposite of what I've intuitively done over the years: to stop focuing on my question asking and investigating, and simply accept or simply be. Do I have that right, or have I gone off track here? And if you've found yourself having similar issues, how have you tried to resolve the problems?

Thank you for the responses. After looking over some other translations, I think part of my problem was in what translation I was quoting from (Mitchell), as I only now see two passages which really reflect what I was talking about (20 and 47). I'll be sure to come back later today and reread the responses again, thanks!

I am still familiarizing myself with Taoism, so I don't know if this is relevant, but one thing that comes to mind when I think of things like meditation from a Christian perspective is this passage by Saint Gregory: "For we ought to think of God even more often than we draw our breath; and if the expression is permissible, we ought to do nothing else. Yea, I am one of those who entirely approve that Word which bids us meditate day and night (Ps. 1:2), and tell at eventide and morning and noon day, and praise the Lord at every time; or, to use Moses' words, whether a man lie down, or rise up, or walk by the way, or whatever else he be doing--and by this recollection we are to be moulded to purity. " - Gregory the Theologian, Oration 27 I'm not sure what to say other than that, partially because I'm unfamiliar with Taoist cultivation practices, and partially because I suspect that Christian practices are probably different than Taoist ones. I do know that there is a book called Christ The Eternal Tao, which seeks to show similarities between Taoism and Christianity, but I don't think it focuses on cultivation practices in particular (though I'm not sure, it's still on my to-read list). If Taoist cultivation practices can in any way be compared to Christian meditation, then certainly you can tell these people that there is a long history of Christian meditation practices. I am more familiar with the practices of the Christian (near) East, such as the Jesus Prayer, which is where the person says "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" (or a similar saying) repeatedly, until you can fulfill Paul's admonition to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17). I don't know how similar such practices are to the cultivation practices that you're speaking of though.

My name is Justin, I'm 30 years old, and I have two daughters, named Sahara and Athanasia. I recently split with my wife, though as far as divorces go, ours is rather peaceful. I was a Christian for about 9 years, at first a Protestant (Wesleyan Holiness), and later Eastern Orthodox. For various theological and historical reasons I eventually decided that I couldn't remain a Christian, so I became an agnostic, and then an atheist. Actually my religious history is much muddier than that, but that'll do as a summary. I had come into contact with Taoism a few years ago, but at the time (and I forget why exactly) I felt that I couldn't accept certain parts of Taoist philosophy/spirituality. Recently I began to reexplore Taoism, and found that much of what it was about mirrored my own life philosophy. And the parts that didn't match up, well, I'll work on that. I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to stuff like having a soul, energies flowing through us, etc. And there are some rather strange ideas out there, or at least they seem strange to me. For instance, one website about eating like a Taoist spoke against eating potatoes and tomatoes, "which are thought to be deadly". Er... ok. Anyway, I'm rather new to Taoism, and I'm here to learn what I can. And hopefully work through whatever issues I still have.

Corrosion of Conformity - Goodbye Windows I figured I'd check real quick and see if it was on youtube, and sure enough I found it there... JF4Nkh0kbNo

"We are a company of ignorant beings, feeling our way through mists and darkness, learning only by incessantly-repeated blunders, obtaining a glimmering of truth by falling into every conceivable error, dimly discerning light enough for our daily needs, but hopelessly differing whenever we attempt to describe the ultimate origin or end of our paths..." - Leslie Stephen

Thanks for taking the time to post that, it was indeed of interest. Though some of what you say I'm going to have a hard time wrapping my head around, or putting into practice at least, such as this: I'm always trying to make sense of things, trying to seek answers and solidify what it is that I believe (I'm a geek/egghead, I admit it). I'm gonna come back and reread what you wrote again after I think about it some more. Um... or maybe I shouldn't think about it, lol. Well anyway, I'll get the hang of it I suppose.