/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13801485]

Do you follow the Tao, /lit/?

[Anonymous No.13801489]

>>13801485
The Tao that can be followed is not the eternal Tao

[Anonymous No.13801494]

>>13801489
That's not entirely true.

[Anonymous No.13801503]

>>13801485
how do I follow the Dao?

[Anonymous No.13801510]

>>13801503
The first rule of the Dao is not to talk about the Dao.

[Anonymous No.13801517]

>>13801503
read Guenon

[Anonymous No.13801519]

>>13801510
well then we both already failed, fuck the Dao lol

[Anonymous No.13801647]

I follow the Tao
You follow the Tao
We all follow the Tao
And the Tao follows you too

[Anonymous No.13801814]

Maybe I would if I could figure out even the slightest difference between Taoism and Buddhism.

[Anonymous No.13801832]

>>13801814
One has chill and cool as fuck metaphysics, and the other one does not.

[Anonymous No.13801866]

>>13801832
Which is which, and what should I read to understand these metaphysics?

[Anonymous No.13801868]

I follow the way of Buddhas and Zen Masters. I follow nothing.

[Anonymous No.13801882]

>>13801866
>chill and cool as fuck metaphysics
I guess he meant Taoism.
But we also have Zen which is literally merged from Buddhism 2.0 and Taoism 1.0 into finally Taoism 2.0 / Buddhism 3.0.

[Anonymous No.13801893]

>>13801882
I see. Are Taoism and Buddhism basically as different as Catholic and Preotestant Christianity? It seems more like they're two branches of the same religion/philosophy than separate things entirely.

[Anonymous No.13801898]

>>13801485
I know nothing about it. What does "following the Tao" means?

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » !mxvabIoSIE No.13801899]

>>13801893
More like Judaism and Christianity

[Anonymous No.13801900]

Zen is the effeminate bohemian metrosexual soiboi of eastern philoaophy

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » !mxvabIoSIE No.13801910]

>>13801900
Corn post, lad.

[Anonymous No.13801919]

>>13801900
Imagine being so clueless. Zen is based as fuck. But not in the West of course.

t. Living in the East

[Anonymous No.13801923]

That nigga look comfy af

[Anonymous No.13801929]

>>13801923
lmao niggy straight chillin

[Anonymous No.13802018]

>>13801898
>What does "following the Tao" means?
Nothing.

[Anonymous No.13802075]

>>13801519
absolutely based

[Anonymous No.13802381]

>>13801485
>https://www.wussu.com/laotzu/laotzu46.html

My favourite verse.

[Anonymous No.13802402]

>>13801485
>it's good that the general population remains dumb because it makes it easier for the goverment to control them
Truly the greatest of the world religions, I can't imagine why it's not as popular as Buddhism in east Asian countries.

[Anonymous No.13802474]

1.Yang. This is the great creative force, the source of all the myriad beings arising. Clouds move, rain spreads out, and the species take shape. There is great brightening when beginnings reach completion. The six lines show the seasons doing their work, riding the six dragons to heaven. The creative power of the Way changes and transforms all things and each finds its true nature, secure in the harmony of the Way. It is favorable to persevere. Leaders emerge among the people, and the myriad cities join together in peace. One who follows the Way is strong and untiring.
Line 1: The dragon lies low. It is not yet time to act.
Line 2: The dragon is sighted in the fields. It is favorable to visualize great people. Realization of the Way spreads in all directions.
Line 3: One who follows the Way is creative all day and cautious at night, as if there were danger. No error or harm. Reversing and returning, one follows the Way.
Line 4: Maybe leaping for joy, maybe lying low. No error or harm. Either way, one makes progress.
*Line 5: The dragon flies in the heavens. It is favorable to visualize great people and their creations.
Line 6: The dragon goes too far and has cause for remorse. Such arrogance is not allowed to last long.
All nines: Visualizing dragons gathered without a head. A good omen. To receive all nines is to realize heavenly Dao without even thinking about it.

[Anonymous No.13802475]

>>13801489
/thread.

[Anonymous No.13802501]

seems like some kinda brainwashing to get citizens to just work mindlessly

>do nothing but work hard, do your work and shut up
>be passive
>keep working
>say nothing
I mean, that just leads to a life of getting the scraps

[Anonymous No.13802545]

>>13802501
>keep working
>implying
A daoist would be pretty removed from the usual work-consume circle. So much that no state would have any interest in it occurring on a big scale.

[Anonymous No.13802580]

>>13801485
I follow the Henad

[Anonymous No.13802769]

>>13802402
Is it really worse for the people? or the state? If the leader follows the Tao as well then there is nothing better.

[Anonymous No.13802825]

>>13802501
its nothing like that, at least in to te ching

[Anonymous No.13802829]

>>13802501
Making yourself useful is not the way

[Anonymous No.13803035]

>>13802402
are there even any dense writings in taoism like buddhism and hinduism or is it all about chilling like the dude in op

[Anonymous No.13803047]

Of course, fellow Gue'la!

[Anonymous No.13803062]

>>13801489
The tao that can be named is not the eternal tao
the tao can be walked, it can be followed but can never be defined.

[Anonymous No.13803065]

>>13801814
one is intp other is intj

[卐 No.13803069]

>>13801485
I follow rivers

[Anonymous No.13803080]

>>13801893
the tao is about being one with oneself and nature, it is about flow and accepting the world as it is. there is no pain or happiness there only is.
Buddhism is about accepting that the world is pain and one must let go of oneself and the wants to achieve nirvanna.

the tao has no nirvanna, no heaven. there is only now there is only existing and going down the flow of life.

[Urantia No.13803097]

T'ai Chi [Supreme Ultimate] comes from Wu Chi [Formless Void] and is the mother of yin and yang. In motion T'ai Chi separates; in stillness yin and yang fuse and return to Wu Chi. It is not excessive or deficient; it follows a bending, adheres to an extension.

When the opponent is hard and I am soft, it is called tsou [yielding]. When I follow the opponent and he becomes backed up, it is called nien [adhering/sticking]. If the opponent's movement is quick, then quickly respond; if his movement is slow, then follow slowly.

Although there are innumerable variations, the principles that pervades them remain the same.

From familiarity with the correct touch, one gradually comprehends chin [intrinsic strength]; from the comprehension of chin one can reach wisdom.

Without long practice one cannot suddenly understand T'ai Chi.Effortlessly the chin reaches the headtop. Let the ch'i [vital life energy] sink to the tan-t'ien [field of elixir]. Don't lean in any direction; suddenly appear, suddenly disappear.

Empty the left wherever a pressure appears, and similarly the right.

If the opponent raises up, I seem taller; if he sinks down, then I seem lower; advancing, he finds the distance seems incredibly long; retreating, the distance seems exasperatingly short. A feather cannot be placed, and a fly cannot alight on any part of the body. The opponent does not know me; I alone know him.

To become a peerless boxer results from this.

THE TREATISE ON T'AI CHI CH'UAN

[Urantia No.13803109]

>>13803097
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TSEnoAa39s

Although they use different forms, for the most part they don't go beyond the strong dominating the weak, and the slow resigning to the swift. The strong defeating the weak and the slow hands ceding to the swift hands are all the results of natural abilities and not of well-trained techniques. From the sentence "A force of four ounces deflects a thousand pounds" we know that the technique is not accomplished with strength.

[Anonymous No.13803153]

>>13803097
damm how can buddhist styles even compete

[Anonymous No.13803231]

>>13803153
they can't

[Anonymous No.13804401]

Non-doing is chilling on my bed browsing 4chan, Wu Wei dude

[Anonymous No.13804412]

the virgin tao versus the chad heraclitian flux

[Anonymous No.13804418]

>>13804412

[Anonymous No.13804427]

>>13804418

[Anonymous No.13804607]

>>13801485
>>13801503
>thinks it's possible not to follow the Tao

[Anonymous No.13804627]

>>13801893
Philosophical Taoism is only seems similar because Zen/Chan Buddhism is popular with westerners and was influenced by Taoism when it came from India. Other forms of Buddhism are a lot more different.

[Anonymous No.13804916]

>>13802501
that's a pretty hardcore misreading.

[Anonymous No.13805074]

>>13804412
>>13804418
>>13804427
Interesting. What's this from?

[Anonymous No.13805078]

>>13805074
Prometheus and Atlas (Jason Reza Jorjani)

[Anonymous No.13805095]

>>13805078
Aight, thanks.

[Anonymous No.13805174]

>>13804412
>the pre-socratic greeks "planted the seeds of the natural and political sciences"
extreme ahistorical projecting intensifies.

[Anonymous No.13805200]

>>13805174
How is that false?

[Anonymous No.13805207]

>>13804418
>>13804427
wow the projecting got even worse as this went on. shit document.

[Anonymous No.13805229]

>>13805207
Are you sure you know what "projection" means?

[Anonymous No.13805253]

>>13805229
yes.

[Urantia No.13805384]

>semen retention for sexual revitalization (virgin boy training)
>multi-orgasmic non-ejaculatory masturbation (edging)
>micro-cosmic orbit (deep breathing)
>herbs

[Anonymous No.13806242]

Bump

[Anonymous No.13806259]

>>13802402

That interpretation is entirely western projection onto the teaching.

The western governments all keep their populaces in a confused and distressed state to control them.

Lao Tzu advocated keeping people calm and clear headed.

[Anonymous No.13806260]

>>13801485
I assume the artist drew him on purpose to look like a mountain. If so, it brilliantly underlines how happily he's lying there, comfortably, steady and unmovable, as if always and forever, like the entire world around him should have to move before he would.

[Anonymous No.13806264]

>>13802501
Everyone knows the use of being useful, few understand the use of being useless.

[Anonymous No.13806265]

>>13801485
Is Daoism the single most nebulous religion in human history?

I've read a bit about it and I STILL don't know what you're supposed to "do".

[Anonymous No.13806271]

In the beginning was the Dao, and the Dao was with God, and the Dao was God.

[Anonymous No.13806272]

>>13802501
t. kike

[Anonymous No.13806275]

The Tao became flesh so that you may follow Him.

[Anonymous No.13806279]

>>13806275
Fuck off, Christfag.

[Anonymous No.13806293]

>>13806279
No

[Anonymous No.13806297]

>>13801485
Being an edgy atheist most of my life I've become oddly spiritual in my late 20's. Taoism is the religion I've mildly chosen and I've been reading a lot of Buddhist philosophy, listening to Alan Watts lectures etc. but I can't commit.

I'm spiritually aloof but I do gravitate towards Taoism.

[Anonymous No.13806298]

>>13806279
>he hates the Truth
...typical

[Anonymous No.13806306]

>>13804412
>>13804418
>>13804427

Most of this is entirely founded on the author's misunderstanding of Taoism. Taoism is highly concerned with the operations of nature, as the Tao follows nature. Nature is the result of the Tao. To follow the Tao is to harmonize with the rhythms of nature.

Moreover Taoism is not pacifist, neither is it aggressive. It is difficult to consider a religion that contains so many martial techniques to be 'pacifist'. Indeed, just above you a poster referenced Taoist boxing technique, a very old part of the philosophy.

Taoists recognize the need for strength to protect yourself, and the need to cultivate virtue in oneself and others.

[Anonymous No.13806308]

>>13806297
>Alan Watts lectures
What made you think you'd find spiritual edification from a literal CIA operative?

[Anonymous No.13806321]

>>13806265
>I've read a bit about it and I STILL don't know what you're supposed to "do".

Do Non-doing.

[Anonymous No.13806325]

>>13806308
Eh, I find it relaxing/mildly entertaining.

[Anonymous No.13806327]

>>13806321
Literally a paradox.

[Anonymous No.13806332]

>>13806293
Missionaries are scum.

[Anonymous No.13806335]

>>13801510
No, it's just that words will never be close to enough.

[Anonymous No.13806337]

>>13806327
The great key is a matter of inversion.

I have found in my journey that working to resolve seeming paradoxes has led me to the greatest insights.

[Anonymous No.13806345]

>>13806337
A paradox cannot be solved, brainlet.

[Anonymous No.13806352]

>>13801893
Taoism has incorporated a lot of Buddhism, and it's pretty accepted that the Buddha and Lao Tzu are incarnations of the like.

[Anonymous No.13806358]

>>13806265
>don't know what you're supposed to "do".
Heh, you see...

[Anonymous No.13806359]

>>13806332
It's not really a missionary work. The author's spiritual father was Seraphim Rose who was influenced by eastern mysticism before converting to Orthodox Christianity. The thesis is that Taoism is a kind of pre-Incarnational Christianity.

[Anonymous No.13806360]

>>13806345

What seems like a paradox to a brainlet, can be understood by someone with a sharper mind.

[Anonymous No.13806373]

>>13806327
Literally not a paradox. Same thing as beating your heart and breathing unconsciously. Let things do their own thing and let yourself do your own thing.

[Anonymous No.13806396]

>>13806373
And no, it's not just letting the world shake you around like a puppet- You can go with the flow and use that in your favor. That's called the art of non-doing.

[Anonymous No.13806413]

Can anyone recommend some books about Daoism? I'd like to learn more about the history/philosophy of Daoists but I'm not sure where to start (after reading the Dao De Jing, obviously).

[Anonymous No.13806419]

>>13806413
Zhuangzi

[Anonymous No.13806447]

>>13806413
>I'd like to learn more about the history/philosophy of Daoists

Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva Wong.

Zhuangzi is definitely good primary material, but if you want a broad overview Eva Wong will show you far more of the breadth of it.

[Anonymous No.13806452]

>>13806396
>And no, it's not just letting the world shake you around like a puppet- You can go with the flow and use that in your favor.

Trying to fight the universe will just waste your energy. Better to learn to weave the currents around you.

[Anonymous No.13806454]

>>13806419
>>13806447
Thanks, friends!

[Anonymous No.13806457]

>>13801485
The lack of curiosity about life and the universe shown by taoism disgusts me.

[Anonymous No.13806468]

>>13806457
Tell me about your studies of math and science, good anon.

[Anonymous No.13806557]

>>13805384
fuck off cumbrain

[Anonymous No.13806567]

>>13806557
>sexuality triggers me
wtf is wrong with you
you are not in harmony with the Dao

[Anonymous No.13806570]

>>13806557
Get out of my thread.

[Anonymous No.13806663]

Does someone here practices Qi Gong?

[Anonymous No.13806697]

>>13804427
brainlet take on heraclitus on an even brainletier take on Daoism. Learn Greek, then learn classical Chinese, then kill yourself

[Anonymous No.13806708]

>>13801485
should i?

[Anonymous No.13806721]

>>13806663
I do.

[Anonymous No.13806722]

>>13806567
>i use asian terms to justify my sexual delinquence

[Anonymous No.13806727]

>>13806697
incredibly based! can't believe people who aren't fluent in greek even dare to speak about metaphysics! embarrassing!

[Anonymous No.13806744]

>>13806727
I literally think that if you don't know Greek you shouldn't get anywhere near Heraclitus

[Anonymous No.13806745]

>>13806722
>sexual delinquence
Yikes

[Anonymous No.13806755]

One does not follow the Tao. If one were to it would be like following a circle back to your original location. For it is not a set of doctrine, principles, attitudes. It merely is, it's the natural, autonomic flow of the cosmos-body.

[Anonymous No.13806936]

>>13806697
kek easternboos get so triggered by the superiority of the western mentality

[Anonymous No.13806953]

>>13806327
There’s actually a miraculous possibility that paradoxes can lead to something like “sudden enlightenment”, a flip going off in your head, lower-order reductionistic thinking suddenly being engulfed by a higher-order wave of holistic thinking.

[Anonymous No.13806960]

>>13806936
No, I love Heraclitus, not that poster, it’s actually an awful take on him. The author is a hack. I’m sorry, but he can’t write, he can’t think. No discernible talent.

[Anonymous No.13807249]

>>13806960
To answer your objection, if I may
you quoted Harold Bloom, as if to say
that his opinion matters—it does not.
So let’s begin again and see what’s what.
In the first place, you have no argument,
nor can you make a point that’s relevant.
I scarcely see at all what you get at.
Agree to disagree and say that’s that.

[Anonymous No.13808292]

bump

[Anonymous No.13808330]

>The thought of jsut being a dream of a butterfly relaxes someone
How retarded could you be? This is absolutely terrifying to me. The thought sends shivers down my spine and causes near panic attacks.
If you believe to have achieved the Dao then this seems reasonable, but to anyone aiming to achieve this it has to be terrifying no matter how often you have read the Tao te king and what not.

[Anonymous No.13808426]

>>13801893
Hinduism as Catholicism and Buddhism as Protestantism would be a much more apt comparision. They share more similarities and many Buddhist concepts come from Hinduism. Many Buddhists have the same attitude towards Hinduism as a kid reacting against his parents though so they dont like to talk about it and prefer to claim Taoism

[Anonymous No.13808434]

>>13803080
Sounds like stoicism a bit

[Anonymous No.13808436]

>>13801489
>>13803062
>eternal Tao
Platonists have to leave.

[Anonymous No.13808485]

>>13801893
>are two priceless jewels as different as different types of sand dirt
of course not

[Anonymous No.13808523]

>>13808426
well traces of most human knowledge can be found in hinduism so you could even say that most of western civilization also reacts like a kid against his parents if they were to claim that foundation of all western progress was provided by hinduism, never mind christianity and all that garbage which ends up looking like a skillful means for the stupid from both hindu and buddhist prespectives

[Anonymous No.13808824]

>>13806279
>>13806293
Orthodoxy is based, it's the other types you should avoid.

[Anonymous No.13809355]

>>13808523
>well traces of most human knowledge can be found in hinduism

[Anonymous No.13809390]

>>13808436
>Platonists have to leave.
But they're incapable of movement tho.

[Anonymous No.13809401]

>>13809390
You’re thinking of Parmenideans

[Anonymous No.13809430]

>>13808523
>traces of most human knowledge can be found in hinduism
The Vedanta is pre-hindu moron.
>stupid from both hindu and buddhist prespectives
>buddhist prespectives
The Buddhists reject the Vedanta and all the old knowledge that you are championing. Your criticising someone about being ignorant whilst falling for the all pajeet philosophy are the same meme.

[Anonymous No.13809443]

>>13809430
You mean the Vedas? Vedanta is not pre-hindu

[Anonymous No.13809559]

>>13809401
Parmenideans can't move but they get around everywhere, Heracliteans move but never reach their destination.

[Anonymous No.13809584]

>>13801893
Taoism is to Buddhism as Platonism is to Christianity.

[Anonymous No.13809763]

>>13809559
Whiteheadeans strap a Herclitean on one foot and a Parimenidean on the other like jet skis and propel themselves on incredible adventures.

[Anonymous No.13809769]

>>13809763
sounds pretty based

[Anonymous No.13809775]

>>13809769
It is https://imgur.com/a/ZtLDYJT

[Anonymous No.13810373]

Is Daoism actually based or is it just a meme?

[Anonymous No.13810929]

>>13810373
Very based

[Anonymous No.13811136]

>>13806265
Just be urself :)

[\˚ㄥ˚\ !!gqyesdiiDOD No.13811148]

>>13801910
based compostist

>>13802501
this seems like a misreading, but IIRC the intent for the initial work was to convert the leadership to the just life following the Tao, so yes, it does focus a lot on what we might deem subservience from certain classes. I think you can take the bulk of the philosophy apart from that context, though, in the same way that The Art of War (for instance) is obviously not applicable to most lives outside metaphor.

[Anonymous No.13811162]

>>13801485
Does it have anything to do with our lord and savior Tao Lin?

[Anonymous No.13811169]

>>13809443
>>Vedanta is not pre-hindu
>he doesn’t know

[Anonymous No.13811224]

>>13811169
It's not pre-Hindu. I know.

[Anonymous No.13811343]

>>13808330
Listen mate, I ain't one of you 5head book reading bitches but I don't care if I'm a dream. Nothing changes for me if I am.

[Anonymous No.13811523]

How do I get OP image as a poster

[Anonymous No.13811550]

>>13801485
yeah on Twitter

[Anonymous No.13811557]

>>13801494
That's not entirely true.

[Anonymous No.13811770]

>>13811343
>t. 3Head bruv

[Anonymous No.13811889]

>>13811523

[Anonymous No.13811921]

why do some people equate taoism with kabbalah? is there an esoteric aspect to it?
is there a taoist reading chart?

[Anonymous No.13811968]

>>13811921
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neidan

[Anonymous No.13812540]

bump

[Anonymous No.13812543]

Enjoy burning in hell, heathens. : )

[Anonymous No.13812551]

>>13806663
what the fuck is IQ mong?

[Anonymous No.13812559]

>>13812543
>>13812551
Severely retarded posts

[Anonymous No.13812599]

>>13810373
Taoism is based meme

[Anonymous No.13812639]

>>13809763
Pretty rad way of putting things, so I'm stealing that. Thanks bro.

[Anonymous No.13812769]

>>13811162
The Tao that can be understood is not the true Tao

[Anonymous No.13813314]

>>13812639
I'm thinking of commissioning someone who can actually art to draw it so I can toss it around. I think that Whitehead could be a good influence here because I think he is such a good role model, and 4chan definitely needs those. Whitehead would reject such an infantilizing role, as he saw others as horizontal contemporaries - this is apparent in how he treats other philosophers, but also the public - he didn't want to trap his readers in another system of dead ideas, as all systems of understanding have an expiration date after which they can no longer contribute to the advancement of understanding. He wanted others to discover their own ideas, and his faithfulness to non-dogmatism drove the massiveness of his understanding. Reading Whitehead clarifies the reason for why we care about philosophy at all, first and foremost as such an admirable attempt to explore it. Whiteheadean thought is a holistic style of thought, and what it aims to pass as indelible is the spirit of thought: it's adventurousness that explores beyond itself and within itself. Whitehead inspires self-honesty, which is the true foundation of intellectual pursuit.

And he'd probably wildly disapprove of this heroization of him, and instead point to the many other sources from which he was given the same spirit of inquiry, and be wholly correct. 4chan needs philosophy, and philosophy is necessarily a syncretic process comprising a massive conversation of voices spanning history, which is why Whitehead described philosophy as "footnotes to Plato." The conversation is alive as those footnotes, and philosophy is an adventure with this conversation. Politics of course ruins this, but the political is so oppressingly heavy in the present that it is impossible to avoid political implications, and thus divisions into "this politics and that philosopher" that makes /lit/ a board of hyperpolitics. Philosophy and education should be like Minecraft, an open-world adventure, not a competitive first-person shooter.

[Anonymous No.13813430]

>Talismans
>magic rituals
>esoteric garbage

It's fucking SHIT.

[Anonymous No.13813535]

>>13813430
>Religion uses symbols and rituals
Holy shit dude. Thanks for pointing that out man.

[Anonymous No.13814334]

>>13813430
Retard