Taoism Explained

Grand Master Alex Anatole, Center of Traditional Taoist Studies founder, clearly explains Taoism.

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[TheAofive]

@watts18269 If religious Taoism does not interest you, then simply read the Tao Te Ching. Nowhere in it will you find the word religion. Nowhere in it will you find the word God or spirit.

[KamasutraButterfly]

I'm an atheist and a taoist too. There is no contradiction between the two. I don't believe I have a soul, I don't believe in an afterlife, I don't believe in following priests or bow down to some greater power. That's not what taoism is about. Religious taoism is a complete corruption of the teachings of Lao Tzu

[Mich6961]

I have been searching for the right religion for me. I've been an Agnostic/ atheist for pretty much most of my life until I got introduced into meditation and other things like that. My main 4 beliefs:

. I don't believe in any type of god

. I do believe in spiritual energy

. We all have the right to live life the fullest and be happy throught.

. This 'reality' is merely an illusion created by out consciousness and 'higher ups'.

I've been searching and this is possibly the closest one.

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - wull, if you're interested a couple of other texts that run on Taoist principals that are a good read and study are the I Ching and The Art of War. you might not like the Confucian aspects in some translations, i don't know maybe you'd be ok with that. it's not exactly religious either. it seems to annoy some people, i'm fine with it though.

[KamasutraButterfly]

@NWOareScum I don't exactly see myself "following" tao. I call myself a taoist, mostly because I get great inspiration and motivation from the texts of the Tao te Ching. I see the texts more like guidelines and good advice, I read them in the same way I would read some other philosophical text that deals with understanding our place in the universe. Nothing is 100% certain, I don't claim that taoist philosophy is perfect, but it's a very interesting philosophy none the less.

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - how do you know you are following the tao though. other than from the point of view that all is tao, so you can't help but follow it.......but that isn't exactly it, as clearly it is possible to go out of harmony with tao, then you or society gets sick and dysfunctional etc.

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - well you don't know that, cause it's a parallel timeline situation. but yes, if taoism didn't exist then of course books could have been preserved nonetheless. but i don't think you realise how prevalent taoism is in China etc - it's more the case that all the books preserved thus far have been preserved by someone who follows tao in some way or another. acupuncture is taoist, geomancy is taoist, tai chi is taoist, etc..

[KamasutraButterfly]

@NWOareScum My question was: How could you know that the texts would not have been preserved without the religious framework around it? Because as I said, we have many old texts which are purely philosophical and have been preserved anyway. Taoism is a philosophy of life, I don't need to be a member of any congregation or bow down to any higher power to be a taoist, unlike for example christianity or islam where those kind of things are the very essence of the religion

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - cause 'my' interpretation is the same one anyone that knows their shit thinks too. how could i know?! about the texts...cause that's the history of it, there isn't an alternative history where it wasn't passed down those ways.

you do realise the kama sutra is vedic too? as in that same godhead. in the east people tend to be buddhist & taoist or-and shinto &-or shamanic, like elsewhere, it happens to work well with spiritual side of any faith really.

[KamasutraButterfly]

@NWOareScum On what basis do you claim that their interpretation of god is wrong, and yours is correct? The point is: you don't need the extra label of "god" in taoism at all, nor do you need priests or nuns, "living the tao" is a purely personal thing. And your point that the texts wouldn't have been preserved if the priests hadn't done it, first of all: how could you possibly know? Second: we have many non-religious writings from thousands of years ago that have been preserved just fine

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - the taoist priests etc, those are like having buddhist structures. it's just meant to make it easier to live the tao in your everyday life, to have monks nuns etc who hold those frequencies constantly. i mean, if those guys hadn't preserved the original text and transmitted and translated it, then you'd not be able to buy it or read it online or borrow it from a library, cause it would have got lost (think of the amount that are lost...)

[NWOareScum]

@KamasutraButterfly - right, but people think of god in that way because of fake interpretations of religion, if they actually read the books that are the basis of those faiths then it's evident say the difference between Krishna described in the Vedas, compared to say reading about the generations of the adam in the Bible and the creators of them; the 'aliens' that made them eg also can attain enlightenment and are part of the tao. it's not a god, it's god. it means the same