What Buddhism and Taoism have in Common?

[Sunya]

thank you for the post Mat, very insightful!

[hagar]

It is sometimes said that taoism is about virtue and purity.

The main focus of Buddhist cultivation is compassion, virtue and wisdom. On that level, not too different.

 

A very important figure in Buddhism is Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. A wonderful thing is that Avalokiteshvara can help the practitioner in their cultivation he uses all sorts of means to teach and help beings . Avalokiteshvara can assist a person according to one's circumstances or affinites, that is, appear in ways that one can relate to according to their culture race, etc. This is stated in chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, called the Universal Door of Avalokiteshvara.

Avalokiteshvara is known as Gwan Yin in China, and he has a history and accepted place in Taoism as well.

 

Another Taoist diety is the Jade Emperor who also has the name of Shakra, Indra, Lord God, that is, the true God that most people are familiar with. There are Taoist texts attributed to him including the Scripture in Forty Nine Chapters here: http://home.comcast.net/~taoistresource/0018.html

This Lord God, the Jade emperor is mentioned in Mahayana Buddhist Sutras as well.

Also spoken as "Namo Indraya"

Source: http://www.taoistsecret.com/taoistgod.html

 

Lao Tzu in the Treatise on the Response of the Tao talks about karma for example:

"Fortune and misfortune are the result of our actions

Reward and retribution follow us like shadows."

As Master Hsuan Hua says: "Therefore, Taosim talks about influence and response

 

Buddhism also talks about karma, and places emphasise on compassion, that is to regard everyone with compassion and kindness.

"We should practice kindness, compassion, joy and giving, because by being kind we can make others happy." - Hsuan Hua

 

Great post.

 

In one sense, you cannot separate the "ism" of Daoism from its point of origin. Yet if you take both Buddhism and Daoism as a practice seriously, you realize that they are both "isms" applied as principles of thought, action and experience after the fact. In reality, neither Dao nor Buddah is more important than this fact;

 

"Big River" is a great country song.

 

My experience is that what WESTERN Buddhists and Daoists have in common is that they are just Buddhist and Daoist up to a certain point. If you push them long enough, they go back to listening to Big River by Johnny Cash.

 

And that is a good thing.

 

h

[Michael Roland]

Are they not two sides of a coin?

 

The front pleases some, the back pleases others.

 

In the end, must they not be the same?

 

The Path. The Way.

 

Is there more than one ultimate and final destination?

 

If we start at the end, can the differences actually exist?

[Marblehead]

Lao Tzu in the Treatise on the Response of the Tao talks about karma for example:

"Fortune and misfortune are the result of our actions

Reward and retribution follow us like shadows."

As Master Hsuan Hua says: "Therefore, Taosim talks about influence and response

 

 

I like that translation.

 

In my opinion, cause and effect are equal to the concept of karma. (Details differ somewhat.)

 

Peace & Love!

[Vajrahridaya]

thank you for the post Mat, very insightful!

 

I agree, Great post Mat!

[Marblehead]

I agree, Great post Mat!

 

You guys didn't expect anything other than a beautiful post from Mat did you?

 

Peace & Love!

[Vajrahridaya]

You guys didn't expect anything other than a beautiful post from Mat did you?

 

Peace & Love!

 

I guess not. I don't have many expectations though.

[Marblehead]

I guess not. I don't have many expectations though.

 

Hehehe. I do.

 

Peace & Love!

[Mark Foote]

 

My experience is that what WESTERN Buddhists and Daoists have in common is that they are just Buddhist and Daoist up to a certain point. If you push them long enough, they go back to listening to Big River by Johnny Cash.

 

And that is a good thing.

 

h

 

That is why we are Tao Bums, we love Johnny Cash!

[nac]

Buddhist morality:

Don't kill anything. ...unless skillfulness demands it in extenuating circumstances.

 

Taoist morality:

Do what your heart tells you is right. ...but try real hard not to kill anything if you can get away with it.

[Marblehead]

Buddhist morality:

Don't kill anything. ...unless skillfulness demands it in extenuating circumstances.

 

Taoist morality:

Do what your heart tells you is right. ...but try real hard not to kill anything if you can get away with it.

 

 

Both belief systems have followers who are arguementive.

 

Peace & Love!

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Buddhist morality:

Don't kill anything. ...unless skillfulness demands it in extenuating circumstances.

 

Taoist morality:

Do what your heart tells you is right. ...but try real hard not to kill anything if you can get away with it.

Tibetan Buddhists and many others eat meat and justify it by citing the lower consciousness and potentiality of animals. So Buddhists do kill. The just rationalize it. animals do feel pain and fear. Any good spiritual practitioner and any good Buddhist ought visit their local slaughterhouse before they make that rationalization.

[C T]

Tibetan Buddhists and many others eat meat and justify it by citing the lower consciousness and potentiality of animals. So Buddhists do kill. The just rationalize it. animals do feel pain and fear. Any good spiritual practitioner and any good Buddhist ought visit their local slaughterhouse before they make that rationalization.

This assumption that Tib Buddhists and many others (Buddhists?) eat meat and justify it.... is a vague observation, made with not very good motives i think. It appears you are trying to portray Buddhists in a negative light, and it does not achieve any purpose, yes?

 

I am not being defensive here, Songs. It does reflect your judgement in a way IMO.

[xabir2005]

Edited October 29, 2009 by xabir2005

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

As told by someone present at the event: Cheng Man Ching, a notable Taiji master, and some of his students were walking down a street in NYC.. one of the students said, "i'm hungry".. CMC truned abruptly and entered a McDonald's.. there, he ordered a whopper, fries and a soda.. the puzzled students asked, "Master, why do you eat this kind of food/".. CMC replied, "Jan said he was hungry, and i noticed that Tao had put food where it was needed", when hungry, eat..

 

Be well..

[~jK~]

I just heard something from one of my Buddhist audio cds that has me troubled. If I understand this right in (Buddhist Yoga Tantra) it appears I was born a woman (and of course this holds for every other woman on this planet - including all of your mothers, sisters, girlfriends and daughters) because my past merit is less than that of a man. Being born a man means one has accumulated enough good merit in past lives that one finally automatically gets to be born such even if the rebirth still remains unconscious.

 

I'm upset now over the fact I was born a woman. It is an outer sign of inferior merit to even the least of men - including the rapist, murderer and suicide terror bomber. I hope in the future I get to be reborn as a man.

 

*heavy sigh*

 

The concept you speak of, in practice, is that they both see a woman's first 1/2 of her life as belonging to her family -not her.

Buddhist and Taoist nuns learn a form of meditation & yoga that stops the monthly cycle.

If you always listen - you will hear almost everything you can imagine.

It helps tremendously to search out the practical applications.

[~jK~]

Good Video - I was born about 5 miles from where the movie was made... 'Average' education is 6th grade.

 

In China both Taoism and Buddhism teach meditation as a practice.

Buddhism is more concerned with a philosophy of life

Taoism is concerned with defining life.

They share the same sites.

 

Only the highest educated see the books we think of as common.

They know the books very well - particularly the history of the knowledge.

To date, I have not known anyone that could define what I see as the higher aspects.

Most meditate but it is only a beginners form that is designed to co create a harmonous society.

 

Here's another song, with video, from a movie that was made back home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=LRH7FtAAbJE

[nac]

Tibetan Buddhists and many others eat meat and justify it by citing the lower consciousness and potentiality of animals. So Buddhists do kill. The just rationalize it. animals do feel pain and fear. Any good spiritual practitioner and any good Buddhist ought visit their local slaughterhouse before they make that rationalization.

I'm just saying they're not supposed to, strictly speaking. Tibetans did not slaughter animals regularly, gather honey from hives or even catch fish from most rivers and lakes. Most of their meat was gathered from the corpses of animals that had died of natural causes such as falling off cliffs. Meat doesn't spoil for a long time in the rarefied atmosphere of the Himalayas. But Tibet was also a highly infertile region and when there wasn't enough food to go around, they said a prayer for each and every slaughtered animal like the Native Americans.

 

This assumption that Tib Buddhists and many others (Buddhists?) eat meat and justify it.... is a vague observation, made with not very good motives i think. It appears you are trying to portray Buddhists in a negative light, and it does not achieve any purpose, yes?

 

I am not being defensive here, Songs. It does reflect your judgement in a way IMO.

It's okay. Personally speaking, I'm willing to let some of our non-Buddhist brothers delude themselves into thinking that many Buddhists are simply Taoists in denial as long as they do so consciously. People have a tendency to turn into the things they dislike, so be very careful what you hate.

Edited October 30, 2009 by nac

[~jK~]

I'm just saying they're not supposed to, strictly speaking. Tibetans did not slaughter animals regularly, gather honey from hives or even catch fish from most rivers and lakes. Most of their meat was gathered from the corpses of animals that had died of natural causes such as falling off cliffs. Meat doesn't spoil for a long time in the rarefied atmosphere of the Himalayas. But Tibet was also a highly infertile region and when there wasn't enough food to go around, they said a prayer for each and every slaughtered animal like the Native Americans.

It's okay. Personally speaking, I'm willing to let some of our non-Buddhist brothers delude themselves into thinking that many Buddhists are simply Taoists in denial as long as they do so consciously. People have a tendency to turn into the things they dislike, so be very careful what you hate.

 

From my understanding, the reason for not eating meat is that it contains adrenalin -left over from the flight or fight syndrome of being killed... makes it a bit difficult to meditate with a shot of adrenalin running around inside.

Another is from a friend that I asked why she did not like red meat - she said it looked human...

Amazing how much emoting is done over traditions that have very practical aplications.

[Marblehead]

Another is from a friend that I asked why she did not like red meat - she said it looked human...

 

I don't eat red meat simply because it's not good for the heart (cholesterol) and since I smoke that's one strike against me. I eat a lot of European, high fat, high cholesterol cheeses - that's two strikes against me. Three strikes and you are out.

 

But I do eat fish and foul.

 

A friend of mine who is Vietnam Buddhist eats all types of meat except beef.

 

Peace & Love!

[C T]

I don't eat red meat simply because it's not good for the heart (cholesterol) and since I smoke that's one strike against me. I eat a lot of European, high fat, high cholesterol cheeses - that's two strikes against me. Three strikes and you are out.

 

But I do eat fish and foul.

 

A friend of mine who is Vietnam Buddhist eats all types of meat except beef.

 

Peace & Love!

In my humble opinion, fowl would taste a little nicer than foul...hehehe!

 

Just kidding brother - its all in good fun!

 

TzuJanLi told of an interesting story earlier. Towards the end of it, there was a line that said, "when you're hungry, eat". Thats very Zen i think, and very practical too. People tend to struggle with a lot of unnecessary baggage at times. If one wants to get around lugging all this on the back, i have no issues with that. Its a personal choice.

 

When it comes to meat-eating, like anything else, wouldn't it be wise to listen intuitively to what our bodies need, instead of trying to impose our will regardless? Some people eat meat all their lives, and go on to live to a ripe old age. Others do all kinds of healthy alternatives, and dont live past 40. Life is funny like that.

 

When we neglect what our inner wisdom tells us, in some ways, thats called irresponsible indulgence. And this aint good in all aspects of life, not only in relation to whether meat-eating is right or wrong. There are more important issues at hand to consider.

 

Of course, holistically and humanely speaking, eating meat can be a negative, and many Buddhist teachers and lamas (contrary to what some posters here think) do in fact speak in favor of a vegetarian diet. In addition, i believe representatives of other traditions and faiths do encourage this as well. Ultimately, it is up to the individual and his/her priorities and health/spiritual considerations. I know that those doing higher tantric practices do abstain from meat-eating, but may return to it after they have completed the practice. Its up to them.

 

On a personal level, i used to be an active meat-eater, and being a Chef, thats quite natural to me. But in the last two years, there has been a gradual reduction in this, not because of my spiritual pursuits, but my body tells me to ease off, so i listen, and its okay. There is harmony. Nowadays i might eat meat once a week, whereas it used to be meat in every meal. Do i feel any healthier now? Maybe. The important thing is there was no struggle to try to impose anything - it was a natural transformation, a Tao *moment* perhaps.

 

Forgive me for rambling. Got carried away, but there it is. Thank you for reading y'all. Bee good!

Edited October 30, 2009 by CowTao

[Marblehead]

In my humble opinion, fowl would taste a little nicer than foul...hehehe!

 

That's the second time I have done that. Must be some kind of Freudian slip thing. How about I say I eat foul fowl - the ones that quack and gobble and cackle to much?

 

Forgive me for rambling. Got carried away, but there it is. Thank you for reading y'all. Bee good!

 

Just be careful who you get carried away by. Some women might do you harm.

 

Peace & Love!

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Buddhist morality:

Don't kill anything. ...unless skillfulness demands it in extenuating circumstances.

 

Taoist morality:

Do what your heart tells you is right. ...but try real hard not to kill anything if you can get away with it.

Well, how to make sense of these statements? I find it hard to believe that whole populations that live in areas where little grows that is edible rely on carrion alone to make it through a winter, but if you say so, well ok. But are all westerners who follow Tibetan Buddhism vegetarians? Are you a vegetarian, nac? Mikaelz? V? Most western Tibetan Buddhists? If not, then how do you get around the proscription against killing? If you are, that's great, and consistent. If you guys do eat meat, aren't you more like the Taoists above?

 

I don't hate Buddhists, or anyone else. I just find some of the statements confusing.

 

If truly so

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

I was just pondering the OP, what DO Buddhists and Taoists have in common? It occurs to me that they share the same experiences, but.. they each limit their interpretations according to the preconceptions programmed by their choice of 'path'.. then, to add fuel to the fire, they feel compelled to defend their choices.. generally, by trying to discredit the choices of those not in agreement with their programming..

 

Be well..

[Vajrahridaya]

Greetings..

 

I was just pondering the OP, what DO Buddhists and Taoists have in common? It occurs to me that they share the same experiences, but.. they each limit their interpretations according to the preconceptions programmed by their choice of 'path'.. then, to add fuel to the fire, they feel compelled to defend their choices.. generally, by trying to discredit the choices of those not in agreement with their programming..

 

Be well..

 

Ah, but liberation is all about how one inwardly and intuitively interprets reality.

 

So, liberation is about right cognition.