Hello

[IntuitiveWanderer]

Hello, I am a young adult male, originally from eastern Europe, and I am interested in the truth. I appologize in anticipation for the strangeness of my expression, due to English not being my first language.

 

I will first give a very minimal summary of how I got to the point of joining a forum which deals with the topic of Taoism in particular and Eastern philosophy in general.

 

So, after discovering Alan Watts 3 years ago, I became very intersted in eastern philosophy, especially Zen. But after having read Alan Watts's biography by M. Furlong, I realized that he was actually (shockingly for a man so knowledgeable and eloquent) ignorant of the truth because he led a life composed of substantial vices and immorality. Thus, in a foolishly reactionary manner, I had abandoned all interest, particularly in eastern philosophy, and ontology, religion, mysticism in general.

This has been the case until a few months ago when, upon realizing how deeply repulsive the idiotic ignorance and the materialist philosophy on which the modern and post-modern world is based really is, I decided to initiate my journey anew.

I have very superficially looked over western philosophies and religions (such as christianity, stoicism, neo-platonism), but, in my personal opinion, they are definitely lacking that wonderful breadth of insight, clarity and "philosophical completion" which I had formerly witnessed in the presentations of Alan Watts, so I have decided to take up eastern philosophies once more, particularly Hinduism instead of Zen, for the simple reason that Hindu philosophy is much more broadly developed and richer in its philosophical disertations than Zen and also because Hinduism is more profoundly religious, and thus it also has a more authoritative stance on morality. We need a sense of the Sacred.

 

Some may ask why I joined a forum which is primarily about Taoism instead of joining a forum which is specialized on Hinduism. The answer would be that, firstly, I like the feel of this forum, secondly, I am not here for academic purposes, I am interested in following the way of Truth as undoubtedly valuable in itself.

 

So, hello to everyone once more.

[soaring crane]

Hello IntuitiveWanderer, and welcome to the forums!

 

Thank you for the thorough introductio, happy to have you here :-)

 

Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started.

 

For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day.

 

Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you,

 

SC and the TTB team

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Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new

Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin

[IntuitiveWanderer]

Thank you.

Edited November 19, 2014 by IntuitiveWanderer

[Trunk]

IntuitiveWanderer,

 

The relationship of "wisdom" (absolute truth, mystical experience, merging with the One, Tao) and "virtue" (correct action, character, Te) is an interesting topic. The typical myth (that in my observation is untrue) that a student initially hears is that mystical immersion and virtue/character procede in sync. It's clearly not that simple. We tend to be more of a mess than that.

 

Welcome,

Trunk

[Trunk]

Started a thread on the topic

http://thetaobums.com/topic/36935-mystical-progression-tao-and-virtue-character-te/