Taoism in everyday life

# 14 Aug, 2013 23:59
Tingish	Hey guys, I'm new here but have been listening to this podcast since episode 1. My name is Ting but you can call me whatever name you want, just give me a heads up so I know you're talking to me. I studied physics and I'm starting up teacher's college soon. I was born in China but grew up mostly in Canada. Seeing how this is the Drunken Taoist Podcast, let's talk a bit about Taoism/Dowism. I've been trying to put my life philosophy into words and I definitely realize it's heavily based on Taoism. I want to put it on this board and see if other people have similar sentiments or strong objections. A thing I've integrated into my life that I took from Taoism is that nothing is everything. In any situation, whenever I think I've found the sole reason for an event that occurred or a decision that someone made, I've been able to find something completely opposite that sounds just as convincing as the sole reason. So my conclusion was that no single factor is entirely responsible for anything. You can't travel back in time and kill Hitler and just expect the whole world to be a billion times better. And while a butterfly flapping it's wings can cause a hurricane across the world, a hundred nearly identical worlds with a hundred flapping butterflies doesn't necessarily mean a hundred hurricanes. Similarly, everything is everything. Indra's Net has a similar sentiment in that everything is connected to everything else. A deep enough look into anything will let you turn it into a philosophy because you can start connecting your wisdom in aspect of the Universe to another aspect. There was a quote from Duncan Trussell about mastering the sword means you can master 10000 other things. Flip that around and you get nothing is nothing, in that because everything is interconnected, nothing is irrelevant. Me stealing a nickel in 2nd grade can be connected to the existence of TDT podcast (tall claim, not true tbh (probably)). The final version of my everyday philosophy is everything is nothing. The great Tao is the nothingness from which all things are from, so then it must also be what everything is made up of. Permanence is not something that exists in real life. Anything that's a thing will one day disappear. It's like the Carl Sagan quote about the pale blue dot. Seen from afar, the Earth is so insignificant, yet it's everything to us. This puts my worries in perspective and let's me laugh off the many hardships of life. Let me end with a favorite Taoist tale: The Horse Once upon a time in a village in ancient China there was an old man who lived alone with his son. They were very poor. They had just a small plot of land outside the village to grow rice and vegetables and a rude hut to live in. But they also had a good mare. It was the son's pride and joy, and their only possession of value. One day the mare ran away. The old man's friends came to him and commiserated. “What a wonderful mare that was!” they said. “What bad fortune that she ran off!” “Who can tell?” the old man said. Two weeks later the mare returned accompanied by a fine barbarian stallion. Friends and neighbors all came around and congratulated the old man. “Now you have your mare back, and that stallion is as fine as any in the land. What a stroke of good fortune!” “Who can tell?” the old man said. Two weeks later the son fell off the stallion while riding and broke his leg. Friends of the old man came to him to express their sympathy. “It's too bad your son broke his leg, and right before the planting season, too. What bad luck!” “Who can tell?” the old man said. Two weeks later, war came to the land, and all able-bodied young men were drafted. The troop that contained the men from the village was at the front in a bloody engagement, and the entire troop was lost. All the men from the village died in battle. The young man with the broken leg stayed home. His leg healed. He and his father bred many fine horses, and tended their fields. (Huai Nan Tzu) Copied from: http://www.caroldeppe.com/TaoistStories.html I wonder if there are enough fans here to create some newer more modern stories. I would love something that's easier to digest for younger people today. quote

# 14 Aug, 2013 23:59

Hey guys, I'm new here but have been listening to this podcast since episode 1. My name is Ting but you can call me whatever name you want, just give me a heads up so I know you're talking to me. I studied physics and I'm starting up teacher's college soon. I was born in China but grew up mostly in Canada.

Seeing how this is the Drunken Taoist Podcast, let's talk a bit about Taoism/Dowism. I've been trying to put my life philosophy into words and I definitely realize it's heavily based on Taoism. I want to put it on this board and see if other people have similar sentiments or strong objections.

A thing I've integrated into my life that I took from Taoism is that nothing is everything. In any situation, whenever I think I've found the sole reason for an event that occurred or a decision that someone made, I've been able to find something completely opposite that sounds just as convincing as the sole reason. So my conclusion was that no single factor is entirely responsible for anything. You can't travel back in time and kill Hitler and just expect the whole world to be a billion times better. And while a butterfly flapping it's wings can cause a hurricane across the world, a hundred nearly identical worlds with a hundred flapping butterflies doesn't necessarily mean a hundred hurricanes. Similarly, everything is everything. Indra's Net has a similar sentiment in that everything is connected to everything else. A deep enough look into anything will let you turn it into a philosophy because you can start connecting your wisdom in aspect of the Universe to another aspect. There was a quote from Duncan Trussell about mastering the sword means you can master 10000 other things. Flip that around and you get nothing is nothing, in that because everything is interconnected, nothing is irrelevant. Me stealing a nickel in 2nd grade can be connected to the existence of TDT podcast (tall claim, not true tbh (probably)). The final version of my everyday philosophy is everything is nothing. The great Tao is the nothingness from which all things are from, so then it must also be what everything is made up of. Permanence is not something that exists in real life. Anything that's a thing will one day disappear. It's like the Carl Sagan quote about the pale blue dot. Seen from afar, the Earth is so insignificant, yet it's everything to us. This puts my worries in perspective and let's me laugh off the many hardships of life.

Let me end with a favorite Taoist tale:

The Horse

Once upon a time in a village in ancient China there was an old man who lived alone with his son. They were very poor. They had just a small plot of land outside the village to grow rice and vegetables and a rude hut to live in. But they also had a good mare. It was the son's pride and joy, and their only possession of value.
One day the mare ran away.
The old man's friends came to him and commiserated. “What a wonderful mare that was!” they said. “What bad fortune that she ran off!”
“Who can tell?” the old man said.
Two weeks later the mare returned accompanied by a fine barbarian stallion. Friends and neighbors all came around and congratulated the old man. “Now you have your mare back, and that stallion is as fine as any in the land. What a stroke of good fortune!”
“Who can tell?” the old man said.
Two weeks later the son fell off the stallion while riding and broke his leg. Friends of the old man came to him to express their sympathy. “It's too bad your son broke his leg, and right before the planting season, too. What bad luck!”
“Who can tell?” the old man said.
Two weeks later, war came to the land, and all able-bodied young men were drafted. The troop that contained the men from the village was at the front in a bloody engagement, and the entire troop was lost. All the men from the village died in battle.
The young man with the broken leg stayed home. His leg healed. He and his father bred many fine horses, and tended their fields.

(Huai Nan Tzu)
Copied from: http://www.caroldeppe.com/TaoistStories.html

I wonder if there are enough fans here to create some newer more modern stories. I would love something that's easier to digest for younger people today.

# 16 Aug, 2013 21:17
Daniele	Thank you, Ting! the quote mentioned in Duncan's podcast is from Miyamoto Musashi in The Book of Five Rings I love the story you quoted. very true. i'm working on a whole taoist themed series of audio lecture–hopefully to be released before the end of the year. and btw, the only reason why the DT Podcast exists is because you stole a nickel in 2nd grade! quote

# 17 Aug, 2013 02:51
Tingish	I knew it! Should have taken the quarter instead, then maybe we'd have five drunken taoist podcasts! I look forward to the taoist audio lectures. It's a topic I hold close to me. quote

# 17 Aug, 2013 14:22
I_Am_A_Savage	What a great line “who can tell?”. Lets just do all we can to make this world a better place, and hopefully the world directly around us will change, and then we just wait and see what happens. “Who can tell?” Change the world … but start with yourself first … then the world immediately around you? quote

# 18 Aug, 2013 12:59
monkeychoke	Thanks for that tale of the horse Ting, first time I've heard it. Am I wrong in thinking that the same ideas of avoiding attachment to circumstance pop up in Hinduism as well? Although they seem to teach it through the conduit of ‘karma’. Been reading Ram Dass lately; a lot of his lessons are about attachment and being in the present moment. And Daniele; can't wait for that lecture series! “Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama quote

# 18 Aug, 2013 12:59

monkeychoke

Thanks for that tale of the horse Ting, first time I've heard it.

Am I wrong in thinking that the same ideas of avoiding attachment to circumstance pop up in Hinduism as well? Although they seem to teach it through the conduit of ‘karma’. Been reading Ram Dass lately; a lot of his lessons are about attachment and being in the present moment.

And Daniele; can't wait for that lecture series!

“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama

# 31 Aug, 2013 22:36
Tingish	The net of Indra jingles with giddiness at this particular connection. Detachment is a prominent feature at many Eastern philosophies the big ones that I know of being Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The way I see it is more about judgement in that you must not judge a situation once it's impossible for you to know everything relevant to a situation (and according to the Indra's net metaphor, that's the whole universe). This I try to extend to not just situations in life (which is good for stress and remaining optimistic) but also to concepts, people and things. No technology is good or bad (“GMO's will save the world!”, “Who can tell?”; “Nuclear energy is evil because it will kill us all!”, “Who can tell?&rdquo, no human is irredeemably evil or untouchably good. This help me keep an open mind and try to look for the multiple sides of any jewel on the Indranet. quote

# 31 Aug, 2013 22:36

Tingish

The net of Indra jingles with giddiness at this particular connection. Detachment is a prominent feature at many Eastern philosophies the big ones that I know of being Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The way I see it is more about judgement in that you must not judge a situation once it's impossible for you to know everything relevant to a situation (and according to the Indra's net metaphor, that's the whole universe). This I try to extend to not just situations in life (which is good for stress and remaining optimistic) but also to concepts, people and things. No technology is good or bad (“GMO's will save the world!”, “Who can tell?”; “Nuclear energy is evil because it will kill us all!”, “Who can tell?&rdquo smile

, no human is irredeemably evil or untouchably good. This help me keep an open mind and try to look for the multiple sides of any jewel on the Indranet.