kaaazuo
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Everything posted by kaaazuo
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Being Poor and Happy is Sexy, My Epiphany
kaaazuo replied to becomethepath's topic in The Rabbit Hole
That explains it. You are not meant to be rich. And that is your karma. You should have no trouble finding your dream in life. I feel I am meant to be rich and to have everything my heart desires. The rich live in a reality very much different than that the poor faces even though all live on the same planet. Take travel for example. The poor wait for the bus at street corners where thugs loiter. The poor rides in the bus or train with other poor people and run the risk of being in the midst of a punch-up or food fight. I took a ride into the city on a train once. I didn’t sit even though there were unoccupied seats, and I didn’t look at anyone for fear of looking at anyone the wrong way. Back home, I felt compelled to take a shower. I stripped off my clothes and dumped them in the washing machine, and sent my shoes and jacket to the cleaners. The rich don’t wait. Life is precious and the sole of expensive shoes rarely touch public pavements. You step off the driveway, sink into soft leather upholstery and get driven to your destination – alone, as you work on the onboard computer writing posts to tao bums; or with other rich people you like, but never with the poor. -
U.S. funded genocide in Indonesia - new documentary
kaaazuo replied to voidisyinyang's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Maternal instinct is not taught. Your mom loves you even though nobody knows why and that kind of devotion breeds a kind of loyalty that can never be taught. This is the way of the Tao. Not all Americans are that way. You need to have faith in your countrymen. Every night, somewhere in the world, American top guns risk their lives landing fighters, loaded with live munitions, in the darkness of night, on moving airfields each no longer than a football field, in troubled seas, to protect your freedom. They are doing something commercial pilots could screw up doing in broad daylight at San Fransico airport. How are you going to wake them up? Do you think all Americans are rotten to the core? I agree. Let's begin with family which is the foundation of a nation. What makes a good American family? -
The decline and eventual fall of the USA as world superpower?
kaaazuo replied to Formless Tao's topic in The Rabbit Hole
Gandhi did not spearhead any revolution in India. His campaign to free India of British rule for over twenty years yielded no results. Britain relinquished empire after World War 2 and handed independence to a partitioned India in 1947. From Wikipedia, the following: Stanley Wolpert has argued, The "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi...who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a nonviolent one."[120] -
You sound earnest. Ok, One more reply before I ride. No, I wasn't speaking of Confucianism. Daoism is just another aspect of Chinese thought that is meant to teach us how not to live like an uncivilized beast. If we internalize Lao Tzu's Way, we would live the teaching of Confucius.
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Which traditional Daoism do I follow? Christ almighty! I think I will get on my buffalo and head west.
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Modern Daoism of the west should not be confused with traditional Daoism of China. Traditional Daoism begins and ends with courtesy. It speaks to the perfect man who never gets caught in an unsavoury situation, the lot of the uncultivated and the damned. Martial artists are like gunfighters who - sooner or later - ends up with a hole in the head.
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One of the most essential elements of (modern) Daoism is rejecting rigid ideology and traditions. The opposite is true of traditional Daoism. When there is a lack of discipline, even sitting up straight at the dinner table is rigid ideology. Good posture and etiquette, hard work and honesty, are rejected when such traditions are too hard to uphold. Thus (modern) Daoism goes one way and traditional Daoism the other.
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Ideology is man-made, an artificial contrivance. And without this script for learned manners, etiquette is a perversion? I seriously doubt that this Wikipedia offering would be endorsed even by western philosophers on ethics. Be that as it may, the traditional Daoist, namely me, sees ideologically-driven social conduct a perversion. It is such ideology that controls human behavior to maintain order in society be it a home or a Supermax where "meals are served through chuck holes in the cell door.
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I tried to use English in a metaphorical style of classical Chinese. Obviously, that language failed me. "Etiquette" was the only word I could find. My apologies. Also, I was not speaking from foreign translations, or should I say "western imaginations" as Professor Kirkland put it.
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Can any person become a Daoist? This is a loaded question, like a stacked deck or a gaffed dice that has been tampered with for cheating. When one asks this question, and also surreptiously slips in Daoism as an ideology that anyone can drape around oneself like an embroidered robe to become a Daoist, one has already determined the answer. It has already been stated that Daoism is not an ideology but a way of life that defines the behavior of the (Chinese) practitioner. Ways of standing, sitting, bowing and walking are part of Daoist etiquette that include social relationships peculiar to Chinese tradition. While preserving respect and dignity, the essence of etiquette, it is meant to protect against dishonor. Etiquette is not simply manners. Knowledge of this and its correct internalization is central to Daoist practice. Complete etiquette performance internalizes perfect inner strength. Knowing the way is easy but it goes no farther than remembering the form. Practice must follow through with dignity. At the level of dignity, there is no form, no teaching.
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To know another like yourself (a lovely thought) is one thing, to become another is something else. The former is a conscious awareness and therefore contrived; the latter, looks like unconscious transformation of a natural kind. Kevin Costner's character, in the movie "Dances With Wolves" convincingly went "injun". This epic Hollywood movie tells us that knowing people of other cultures is not only doable but cross-cultural transformation is quite possible unless one is a bigot like those heartless soldiers in the US Army. The question is, can a westerner "go injun" to become a Daoist? This implies more than putting on elaborate make-up to look like one.
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Can one ever get to know people from other cultures? The reason why none of them is all that different is because they appear the same and all look alike: a sea of faces, a field of grass. What about getting to know someone from one's own culture; like oneself, for instance? Is that possible?
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Before westerners discovered China, there was no China. Not to westerners then and not to the Chinese ever. It’s the same situation with India which exists only in the western mind. It is critical to be aware of how each sees through a cultural prism and keep pointing to the second nose that doesn’t exist on someone else’s face. Not to the other guy, anyway. So, when each talks about Daoism this and Chinese people that, it is a vision that is absolutely real to the talker. The awareness of this truth (of mine) is the beginning of (Chinese) wu-wei: non-interference with the talker and don’t mess with that vision. More importantly, don’t get negative.
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Chuang Tzu asked: When is a tree not a tree? Lao Tzu said: When a Daoist is not a Chinese. A Japanese may be a Christian or even a cook, but he is still Japanese! Does this sound funny?
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Daoism is Chinese culture and Chinese culture is Daoism. But then the stubborn could argue that not all Chinese culture is Daoism, and not all every Chinese is a Daoist. Such arrogance is beyond the pale.
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Western studies on the Daoist animal follow the same method they use on the study of the dinosaur. All that is needed is a set of dug up bones to come up with an amazingly definitive creature leaping out of an iMax screen showing "Jurassic Park". It even screeches and roar like a dinosaur should 200 million years ago, or so they say! I'll bet a real life dinosaur would have a tough time being one today. It wouldn't fit in with our idea of history. And so it is with living genuine Taoists today. They don't fit in; neither does the Great mother of the West. No way.
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Is it possible for westerners to practise (Chinese) Taoism? That would be tough, even cruel. I cannot imagine why any westerner would want to do that. Small wonder that Daoism in North America is an emergent American religion. Naturally, there will be a marked dinstinction between the traditional (Chinese) Taoist, such as yourself, and Pooh-bear Taoists.
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Great discussion! The west has a saying: Wise man say, only fools rush in. The Chinese also have a saying: 乌龟 终 于 要 爬 上 山了! 祝 大 家 好 运 ！
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Don't western taoists have a say?
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I didn't know what was boscht and googled for the receipe. Looked delicious. I'm gong to try it. Here is the receipe for the fake meat: "The Taoism of the Western Imagination and the Taoism of China" by Russell Kirkland. I look forward to see how you cook this dish.
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Sounds right. Individualism is not a traditional Chinese value. How would you explain the Tao Te Ching's transcendental appeal to the west and religious Taoism in China? Amen to that.
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This is a very interesting take on Taoism. You see it as a whole movement. Can you share a little bit about what you are as a traditionalist in terms of "what a Taoist was to Taoists"?
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Any possibility of you speaking from cultural prejudice? It would depend on how you define your own term "originalist view". What about my question on the point you raised about "organization" and "movement"?
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Hi Thinker, Interesting analysis. What would be "a more originalist view" ? "Organization" and "movement" imply mobilization of people for a purpose. Is this what you mean?
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Scholastic Study of the Received Version of the Tao Te Ching.
kaaazuo replied to ChiDragon's topic in 道家学说
I would think it is jeopardized from the Chinese scholar's point of view. The western-translated form is a totally different Tao Te Ching based on western values. The western world is happy with their version. I am one of those western-educated, English-speaking Chinese who is interested in the Chinese version preserved by the native scholars. It is so different - as different as eating with chopsticks compared to eating with knives and forks; as different as being Chinese compared to being....??
