Others?

[Tao]

Are there any other Taoist on this site? just wondering.

 

[MoonWater]

I'm mostly Taoist myself. I say mostly because I am still studying Taoism and haven't fully decided just how much of it I want to incorporate into my belief system. It's unlikely that I will follow Taoism exclusively.

 

[Tao]

I'm mostly Taoist myself. I say mostly because I am still studying Taoism and haven't fully decided just how much of it I want to incorporate into my belief system. It's unlikely that I will follow Taoism exclusively.

Do you believe in the Force from the star wars films. i have heard of people beliveing in it. it would be cool to know someone who does.

 

[MoonWater]

Do you believe in the Force from the star wars films. i have heard of people beliveing in it. it would be cool to know someone who does.

Yes as a matter of fact, though not exactly like in star wars(I can't levitate things or jump super high by "calling on the force"). At first I thought what I believed was a variant of the force in star wars but after doing more research I found that be view of the force and the star wars view of the force are very similar. let me see if I can digg up that excerpt I found:

"The Force existed in the universe by assuming two aspects: The Greater "Cosmic" Force, which was an expression of the Ultimate Will, and the Lesser "Living" Force; an intrinsically distinct emanation from the Greater Force, which constituted the individual wills of creatures. ... It was thought that there were an infinite number of Living Forces, each with a unique and intrinsic identity, emotional temper, cognitive bent, and will. Each individual Living Force could interface with or influence any other individual Living Force, whether sentient or not, through a "bridge" established in the Cosmic Force."

From here: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_force#Other_philosophical_views

I purposely skipped over the part about midichlorians becauseI found that to be a very lame idea and do not like the idea of it in the cannon nor do I personally believe in them. The way I see it the force does not require microscopic organisms to communicate with us or us to it. The force does not need a "telephone" just an open and ready mind.

Anyway I believe that in a sense, that there is one great cosmic force within and without everything and that all the other energies of the universe from gravity, to emotions, to electricity, everything non-physical is an aspect or manifestation of the force.

I have to go right now but I can type up more later if you're interested.

 

[Master Vigil]

I am technically a spiritual Pantheist but my philosophical leanings are heavily based upon Taoism and Zen Buddhism. I have also studied Mt. Longhu Chi Gong.

 

[Tao]

I have to go right now but I can type up more later if you're interested.

Im very interested, please i would like to hear more!

 

[Tao]

I am technically a spiritual Pantheist but my philosophical leanings are heavily based upon Taoism and Zen Buddhism. I have also studied Mt. Longhu Chi Gong.

sounds cool. I like when people blend religions and philosophys together. to me people that do that are more open. i also blend in some buddhist teachings in my Taoism.

 

[MoonWater]

Im very interested, please i would like to hear more!

k, well when it comes to the force I don't really adopt the light side dark side good evil dichotomy that the jedi have. Indeed I don't really believe in good and evil but prefer to focus on a helpful hurtful dichotomy. It forces me to way the possible consequences of my actions before commiting them as whether or not an action is good or bad will depend on the circumstances and outcome, on how many and how much it hurts vs. helps.

I see the overall cosmic force and the individual living forces that are aspects of it as all having their own "scale" as it were with light and dark at either end and all shades of gray inbetween. It is very rare for anyone to fall fully in either extreme which is good actually as I feel that extremes, light or dark, lead to destruction or stagnation and death depending on whether or not it falls to the dark side or light side respectively. So I feel extremes are best avoided and the best place is to be in the middle, to strike a balance between the two. That doesn't mean being exactly in the middle as that is another extreme, extreme neutrality.

I dont see light and dark as being divided along good and evil but rather passive and aggressive, defensive and offensive. Each one has their own time and place in which they work best and the worst damage is done when you use one at a time and place where the other should have been used or neither should have been used at all or a combination was necessary(which is most common).

Just like in a sword fight you have to balance between offense and defense. If you're only offensive then you leave yourself open, only defensive and you never take the chance to strike down your opponent. Likewise if you defend when you should attack and attack when you should defend you will also be defeated. In my current limited understanding of Taoism this is basically what it is, seeking a middle path between light and dark. But I'll have to do more research before I can officially consider myself "taoist".

Oh, and I'm also working on including Bushido in there as well

I hope that makes some modicum of sense. If you have any questions I am happy to answer them.