Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!
I wanted to answer the question as to what I drew me to Taoism.
First, I grew up Catholic, but the premises behind the faith never really aligned with my world view. It appeared to be largely manufactured and it in my opinion it was the focus of death as opposed to the beauty of life. It seemed unnatrual to have so many arbitrary rules and rituals. When I rejected Christianity I began a spiritual search for what I personally believed and I was surprised to find that Taoism described my believes almost exactly.
What I loved about Taoism was its trust in nature. After all, if their is a creator or source of life, why wouldn't we want to model ourselves after it. Nature is incredibly complex yet incredibly balanced. I found that the Bible wasn't a straight edge for our spirits, nature was. There can be nothing more inspiring than what the creator, source, Sage, God, Tao has provided us than the beauty that is the world around us.
Further, I've always been fascinated with the concept of yin and yang. There is an incredible amount of wisdom to the balance that the world inherently provides us. Life and Death, Darkness and Light, Hot and Cold... The list goes on and on and I find that we can find wisdom in learning the balance of life.
Once I began to actual read the Tao Te Ching, I was incredibly moved by the words. I began to learn about the power of yielding, humility, and compassion. I began to learn about the power of life as opposed to the fear of death. Almost instantly after researching Taoism and internalizing many of the concepts promoted by the Tao Te Ching, I immediately became much more relaxed, much more conscious of myself.
As a person I've changed incredibly by Taoism. Prior, I found myself much more arrogant, much more caught up in the frustrations in life. I was hard, inflexible, and angry. Today I take myself less seriously, I stop and smell the roses, and I humble myself. Before I would think I've lived to learn it at all (at the ripe age of 28!), but now I am excited because I realize that I have so much more to learn!
I am hoping to continue to do that on these boards!
