Taoism as a religion

[Yue]

I am at a wierd place in my spiritual life, not exactly knowing what to do. I have strong ties to Christianity, but Taoism seems to be such a more appealing religion. I have been thinking a lot lately about life after death, and hell. What exactly are the Taoist beliefs in life after death?

[xenolith]

Read this book.

[seadog]

Yue the Aramaic translation of the gospels are remarkably similiar to much taosit thought.Quite beautiful.As far as life after death will just have to wait and see

[beancurdturtle]

What exactly are the Taoist beliefs in life after death?

Trouble is, "Taoism" has as many flavors as Christianity. Except many of the flavors have very different views of death and "the afterlife."

 

My answer? It's irrelevant. You are here now - you will be there then. Your objective is to do the here and now correctly.

 

So life after death is irrelevant.

[Sunya]

Read this book.

 

taoism is not tibetan buddhism.

there is quite a difference i'm sure.

 

i think in taoism after death it's like a drop falling back into the ocean

[jjwalters]

I am at a wierd place in my spiritual life, not exactly knowing what to do. I have strong ties to Christianity, but Taoism seems to be such a more appealing religion. I have been thinking a lot lately about life after death, and hell. What exactly are the Taoist beliefs in life after death?

 

I had strong Christian ties once myself...even to the point of living on a commune of true believers. What i found was ALL true believers are dillusional........and ALL spiritual teachers tend to promote more delusion ......(just read this forum and see how many teachers/teachings/Ways their are out there.)

 

The Tao is IMO opinion not a religion......it is a deliverance from all religious dogma and magical 'feel good tricks' ....all this STUFF......... Tao is simply living, observing, learning and experiencing........the path far more important than the goal........

 

So I would say jump on in and live in this world as if it is all you got......knowing in your heart the best is yet to come.............(and as a word of caution..watch for the teacher huksters, they will lengthen the path and turn simplicity around.......cause in the real, natural, every day world it's not so much about shedding ego as it is about loving your neighbor. This is the opportunity for you to bring your religion into reality.......good luck.

[Yoda]

I'm definitely a Jesus freak myself. He's a great teacher and can continue to guide you and there's absolutely no conflict whatsoever. It could be argued that Taoism is much more compatible with his presence than is Christianity.

 

Put a picture of Jesus high in the SW portion of your home and high in the SW wall of room you practice in. That uses principles of Vastu to bring his energy more strongly into your practice.

 

You might experiment with praying to him before practice.

 

I believe that Jesus is not only the hottest teacher to ever live on this planet, but on **any** planet.

 

I don't know anything about death, but have heard that it is fun.

[Cameron]

I think highly of Jesus myself.

 

Max says he was an essene, is that correct Yoda?

 

Some people seem to think he was an adept in the Egyptian school.

 

So many stories about him(obviously).

[jjwalters]

It could be argued that Taoism is much more compatible with his presence than is Christianity.

 

I can agree with that as although I seem to be knocking teachers that's not necessarily the truth...I mean there ARE great teachers both past and present who can help the cause tremendously.......Jesus being one of them......

 

What I find distasteful is when the teacher becomes more important than his teaching...........

 

Take Jesus....how many have become just name dropping followers?

How many have taken his teaching to heart by incorporating them into their lives and completed the circle?

 

This new age stuff is making a whole lot of so called teachers rich who would have been, in Jesus day, mere tax collectors and white dove salesmen.

[Cameron]

Interesting website on Essenes.

 

Looks like they are located in Az so you might want to check it out next time you come out Yoda.

 

http://www.essenespirit.com/

 

Uh oh..the site says Jesus wouldn't teach you if you ate meat.

 

Looks like he might not be a good mix with Kunlun

[Jakara]

There seems to be a number of different views on what happens after you die if you are a Daoist. If you are a wu-wei practitioner it is perhaps as said previously like a drop in the ocean.

 

The alchemists/yoga practitioners strive to create an immortal body to live in the immortal realms.

If you are a priest or part of a family lineage in orthodox Daoism you might join the rest of your ancestors in whichever realm they exist in.

 

From what ive been told (by a priest) death in daoism is very similar to that in tibettan buddhism. They both have shamanistic roots and share many similar pratices.

 

One extra piece of interesting information I was taught was about the existence of ghosts, in that if you die in a shocking manner and unprepared way, you may well become a ghost that is trapped by the compulsion from your life. You apparently relive a moment again and again or hover around a certain place or person unaware that you are dead. Saying that, no one state seems to be permanent (asides from the drop in the ocean one) and eventually you cease to be a that ghost.

[Cameron]

Great article on the Essene website on the importance of gratitude.

 

http://www.essenespirit.com/gratitude.html

[beancurdturtle]

Interesting website on Essenes.

 

Uh oh..the site says Jesus wouldn't teach you if you ate meat.

 

Are you serious?

 

Any faith that says "Jesus wouldn't teach you if you ate meat." has got to be full of cr@p. The dude was all about acceptance and non-judgment (when at his best). The assertion the he wouldn't teach someone, for any reason, is absurdity.

 

Religious (belief, practice, dogma, ritual) chauvinism is everywhere. In Christianity, Islam, Taoism & etc. If you even smell it from a teacher - run for the hills - The teacher is full of cr@p.

[Taoist81]

Are you serious?

 

Any faith that says "Jesus wouldn't teach you if you ate meat." has got to be full of cr@p. The dude was all about acceptance and non-judgment (when at his best). The assertion the he wouldn't teach someone, for any reason, is absurdity.

 

Religious (belief, practice, dogma, ritual) chauvinism is everywhere. In Christianity, Islam, Taoism & etc. If you even smell it from a teacher - run for the hills - The teacher is full of cr@p.

What about when he referred to the Samaritan woman (and by extension her race) as a dog? He said she would be saved but he wouldn't teach her anything because she wasn't a Jew. Jesus never taught anyone who wasn't Jewish, it wasn't until Paul started warping his teachings that anyone who wasn't a Jew could be baptised. The meat thing sounds like horse feces since meat was "acceptable" to all but the Nazarites in Judaism (not to mention the whole "not what goes into a man but what cometh out that defiles him") but Jesus was by no means perfect. Just like all teachers (if he existed) he was human and flawed.

[Cameron]

I think what they are saying is that he wouldn't teach them his alchemy or "high level" stuff if they ate meat. Obviously if he made all these fish for people and other miracles he wasn't quite as hardcore with the masses.

 

I don't have the slightest clue either way but it's another interesting perspective.

[beancurdturtle]

I think what they are saying is that he wouldn't teach them his alchemy or "high level" stuff if they ate meat.

"high level?"

 

alchemy is dancing with the expression of the tao

 

seems to me, there is something

 

with more substance than the expression

 

doncha think?

[thelerner]

An intriguing part of some taoist alchemical practices is the ability to reherse death. In the deeper conscious dream practices there are methods to re-integrate the different soul spirits that would generally separate out at death. Thats more Michael Winns bag. A good place to get other views might be to ask on his site and/or get his Dream CD.

 

Tibetans have there Powa practices too, a similar death practice.

 

I do think its important to live for today, but keep a consciousness of death. I think its important to die well and to calm and together after death.

 

Michael

[Cameron]

"high level?"

 

alchemy is dancing with the expression of the tao

 

seems to me, there is something

 

with more substance than the expression

 

doncha think?

 

 

Ok..let me say it another way so it makes sense to you.

 

You know how he was supposed to have had these disciples?

 

Ok..so I am going out on a limb he told his disciples things he didn't tell the Roman guards.

 

Hopefully that is simple enough for you to have conveyed the point I was trying to make.

 

[doc benway]

Random thoughts on death....

 

Lately I'm looking at death as just the flip side of life. Life is all action, involvement, engagement, attachment, effort, intensity. Death is the opportunity to let out a long satisfied sigh... AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH and just melt away and let go and be (or not be) everything that is the opposite of living. If you've ever seen someone die, they tend to let out this unbelievably long breath that's reminiscent of the word nirvana which can be translated sort of like to let out the breath.

 

While alive, our organism develops this "I" sense as a consequence of our thought process and memories which is a useful, though misleading thing. When we die that "thought function" that gives the impression of a separate "self" from the big "Self" just goes away as the organic organism quits functioning. The real "Self" doesn't change. It's the only thing that is constant simply because it includes everything so change is meaningless at that level. People seem hung up on "where do we go?" when we die. We don't go anywhere. "We" is always here. It's simply the thought "I" that takes a breather for a bit, but don't worry, it'll be back!

 

Everything we experience in the universe is based on waves or oscillations as energy is fundamental to everything and is present in the form of a wave. For every peak there's a trough. For every flash of light there is a similar period of absence of light. Same with sound. All of our senses require pulses of stimulus to perceive. Some waves are fast (short periods) like light, sound, matter.... Some have much slower waves (longer periods), like sleep cycle, eating/shitting, days, years, star life cycles...

 

Death is the flip side of the "life" wave. That's it. It's the trough to life's peak. It's the absence of life for a temporary period until the new life begins and the wave cycle continues. The Hindus believe the entire realm of existence, the universe, the total Self also cycles ~ every 4 million years. Cool stuff to think about. I wouldn't take the 4 million number too seriously though, I think it's probably more illustrative than scientific. We're currently in the Kali Yuga which is one of the cycles, and has been going on I think for a few hundred thousand years and still has a ways to go...

 

I look at death as an opportunity to let go and rest for a while... I'll be back. I believe that death should be honored, revered, celebrated. It's the flip side of birth. There was a time when birth was considered illness, unnatural. Unfortunately, we still consider death that way. We fight it. We hide from it. We deny it and lie to our loved ones about it - for what? We can't possibly ever avoid it! I'm not looking for a premature ending nor would I advocate taking life. But when the cycle is over, I'd like to think we could have the courage and sensibility to celebrate the natural course of our existence. Just think... no more work, taxes, headaches, stress, fear, preachers, politicians ... and you get to find out the real truth! What could be better?

 

PS I don't know whether or not my ideas qualify as Daoist but it's all I've got to share...

[Mal]

[mbanu]

I am at a wierd place in my spiritual life, not exactly knowing what to do. I have strong ties to Christianity, but Taoism seems to be such a more appealing religion. I have been thinking a lot lately about life after death, and hell. What exactly are the Taoist beliefs in life after death?

 

What makes Taoism seem more appealing? What have been your thoughts on life after death?