Swami said:

The much-maligned "couch potato" is actually in near-perfect alignment with the Tao. 

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ninjapixie said:

Alan Watts made a good analogy about a running river where if one struggles against the current (tao), they are still being carried along by the current (tao) so they're still part of the tao, whereas one can swim along with the current (tao) and be more in tune with it.

So if you're swimming along the same wavelength as the current (tao), everything will appear still and you feel one with everything, whereas if you struggle and fight against the current (tao), everything (the water) is moving against you and you feel separate from the tao, even though it is still carrying you along.

Assuming the tao exists of course.

That make any sense?

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Quote:

Unconditional love is often seen as a goal to many people, but those who follow it or don't follow it seem to end up in the same place; if you walk along the streets, both people will simply be humans, eating, sleeping, living their lives in mostly the same ways. It's really the minor details that separate those who use love in their life and those who do not, but both people simply follow existence.

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SerioOria said:

i havent ever taken the time to study the tao, i feel kinda out of the loop but what you describe is actually rather close to my own belief, i hadnt put a name to it yet

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I see you have Tool in your sig. I see alot of taoist and Alan Watts-inspired philosophy in Lateralus. That may explain why your beliefs are similar.

Quote:

Unconditional love is often seen as a goal to many people, but those who follow it or don't follow it seem to end up in the same place; if you walk along the streets, both people will simply be humans, eating, sleeping, living their lives in mostly the same ways. It's really the minor details that separate those who use love in their life and those who do not, but both people simply follow existence.

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Quote:

"The Tao Te Ching would insinuate that humans can transcend the simple concept of the Tao though into simply being and existing"

The Tao does not suggest that one can transcend it. The Tao IS the WAY. You cannot transcend the WAY. You can work with it or fight against it. The Tao does not care, but following the WAY is much more efficient than fighting against it.

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Quote:

The Tao is NOT a philosophy. It is simply the WAY. Look beyond the metaphors it uses and try to understand them instead of taking them literally. One more point: rotten.com is a terrible source of information. It is an exploitive web site that often publishes misinformation.

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Ravus said:

As Rotten.com says, "The Tao that can be talked about is not the eternal Tao. Nevertheless, people try to talk about it all the time."

People talk about the Tao in such a way the implication arises that you can be more in the Tao in certain states than in other states. A supple tree will accept the wind more than an old, rigid tree, and those trees not unified with everything around them will die off.

But does this mean the supple tree is more in the Tao than those rigid, dying trees? In Darwinism, all life is part of natural selection, no matter how unlikely it is to thrive in its environment; perhaps it's the same with those living in the Tao.

And if it's true, and everyone is part of the Tao, no matter their philosophies or lifestyle, then one could question what the point of Taoism would be. For if the Tao is like existence, in the fact that we all are part of it whether we realize it or not, then why make Taoism a philosophy? All humans will be equally part of the Tao, just like all trees and stones are part of the Tao, because there is no way to exist without it. Any other way of putting it would assume that the Tao has priorities, which, if it exists, seems illogical; the Tao simply is. It's not blinded by senses or covered by thoughts, but simply flows in and creates all existence and nonexistence as one.

This makes the Tao all the more intriguing, because even though we are always part of the Tao, by some odd way the Tao is also enlightening as a concept. So perhaps it's not the Tao itself which makes some humans more in tune with it, but simply the humans holding the concept of the Tao? As the Tao itself, if it exists, transcends the simple concept and thoughts of humans into being the base of all existence; it is like the lowest ground which all water flows to, no matter how polluted the stream or how many windings it must suffer before seeing the ocean.

The Tao Te Ching would insinuate that humans can transcend the simple concept of the Tao though into simply being and existing; the concept of the Tao may seem enlightening, but in the end it is the same as all other philosophies in simply being a concept. I see people on these boards who claim to have "moral superiority" yet as I see them write their words and thoughts all I see is arrogance and assumptions; I believe these people are part of the Tao as is everyone else, but they are deluding themselves even more by being caught up in the mere concept of enlightening matters rather than freeing themselves from the concepts and arrogance and just being. Because one could argue that if a concept is not inherently there in the state of simply being, then it is extra, and this includes the concept of the Tao. That is why all words and even the thought of the Tao itself are not the eternal Tao, despite being part of it.

Assuming the Tao exists.

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