Just curious
- Thread starter fluffy bunny
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Pantalimon
Lucid as a Lord
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2002
- Messages
- 270
I was a Taoist for 8 years, but nothing to do with the religion, I'll be spending my NewYear with her though......... 
She was all about ballence though.
She was all about ballence though.
Pantalimon
Lucid as a Lord
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2002
- Messages
- 270
Sorry the this site should have a drunk filter to stop me drinking n posting *hic* my ex long term partner was called Tao and she normally embodied the ballence inherant in Taoism. 
appart from a few days every month when she seemed to embody everything about satanism 
appart from a few days every month when she seemed to embody everything about satanism 
AlienLogic
hug me
- Joined
- May 22, 2002
- Messages
- 47
I believe that good deeds, altruism etc is genetic.
Humans evolved in small family groups. The groups that tended to look after each other would have a better survival chance than groups that didn't and this has led to the warm glow that comes from helping someone else.
Thinking about it though maybe the groups that had a mix of altruists and more selfish individuals may have had the best survival chance.
The generosity towards the other members of the tribe probably did not extend to members of other tribes and in fact when resources are scarce your tribe may have a better chance of survival if you look after members of your own tribe but destroy the other tribes.
Racism, religious intolerance may be able to be traced to this tendency to detroy the other tribes for your own survival?
Humans evolved in small family groups. The groups that tended to look after each other would have a better survival chance than groups that didn't and this has led to the warm glow that comes from helping someone else.
Thinking about it though maybe the groups that had a mix of altruists and more selfish individuals may have had the best survival chance.
The generosity towards the other members of the tribe probably did not extend to members of other tribes and in fact when resources are scarce your tribe may have a better chance of survival if you look after members of your own tribe but destroy the other tribes.
Racism, religious intolerance may be able to be traced to this tendency to detroy the other tribes for your own survival?
Aik Haw
Mystic Cyborg
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2002
- Messages
- 395
Shanoncia:-
Me wise? I am sure the Buddhas and the Celestials are in disagreement with you on this one!!
Anyway, the Three Pure Ones are close to the Highest and as the name implies Purest Immortals in the Taoist Pantheon. They are represented by three sages who flow at one with the Tao in completion and whose wisdom encompasses everything ( apparently ). These three were actual and living sages, mystics and teachers at one point or another 3200 to 4000 years ago who are said not to have died but transcended into immortality as the Eight Immortals had at one point or another or the Three Stars. However, given that the history were recorded even before the Trojan War started, these personages death may never have been recorded at all!!
And can you PLEASE change your avatar back to your beautiful one??? PLEASE.....falls on his knees.
Pantalimon:-
Taoism like Buddhism, is a way of life and philosophy that is more based on the modulus internus, not a religion that demands you to be subjected to the whim and fancy of a deity or follow strict codes.
AlienLogic:-
I am glad you raised this issue. Indeed, there are ample evidence that in nature, there is a protective tendency towards people who are more closely genetically linked to you, which means that if someone fought your family, you will defend your family but if another population fought your population, you will defend your population even though you just fought another family within your population.
However, there are also evidence that in higher mammalian species, another forms of protectionism exist due to similarity exist. It seems that memetic protection also exist in roughly though not strictly the same manner. In primates, we see this in adopted orphans from another population where the foster parents will teach the orphan their ways of feeding, hunting etc.. and after a while, during an interpopulation fight, the young orphan will now fight for it's memetic population, not it's biological. This trend can be seen in humans when it comes to religion or ideology, as is reflected by countless encounters where people fought against their own race or family!!
However, than which is stronger, genes or memetic? I doubt that in this PC age this question will be sufficiently answered!!
Me wise? I am sure the Buddhas and the Celestials are in disagreement with you on this one!!
Anyway, the Three Pure Ones are close to the Highest and as the name implies Purest Immortals in the Taoist Pantheon. They are represented by three sages who flow at one with the Tao in completion and whose wisdom encompasses everything ( apparently ). These three were actual and living sages, mystics and teachers at one point or another 3200 to 4000 years ago who are said not to have died but transcended into immortality as the Eight Immortals had at one point or another or the Three Stars. However, given that the history were recorded even before the Trojan War started, these personages death may never have been recorded at all!!
And can you PLEASE change your avatar back to your beautiful one??? PLEASE.....falls on his knees.
Pantalimon:-
Taoism like Buddhism, is a way of life and philosophy that is more based on the modulus internus, not a religion that demands you to be subjected to the whim and fancy of a deity or follow strict codes.
AlienLogic:-
I am glad you raised this issue. Indeed, there are ample evidence that in nature, there is a protective tendency towards people who are more closely genetically linked to you, which means that if someone fought your family, you will defend your family but if another population fought your population, you will defend your population even though you just fought another family within your population.
However, there are also evidence that in higher mammalian species, another forms of protectionism exist due to similarity exist. It seems that memetic protection also exist in roughly though not strictly the same manner. In primates, we see this in adopted orphans from another population where the foster parents will teach the orphan their ways of feeding, hunting etc.. and after a while, during an interpopulation fight, the young orphan will now fight for it's memetic population, not it's biological. This trend can be seen in humans when it comes to religion or ideology, as is reflected by countless encounters where people fought against their own race or family!!
However, than which is stronger, genes or memetic? I doubt that in this PC age this question will be sufficiently answered!!
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2002
- Messages
- 1,712
Had a few questions come to me in the shower:
1) what's the difference between buddism, taoism and shintoism
2) how did kung fu monks get involved in the mythology?
1) what's the difference between buddism, taoism and shintoism
2) how did kung fu monks get involved in the mythology?
Aik Haw
Mystic Cyborg
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2002
- Messages
- 395
Must be a very holy shower than if such thoughts can come while showering. My only thought during showering is usually whether it is hot enough, or whether I should be using one of the three brands of shampoo that seem to have made it's way to the rack, even though my hair is only 1 cm long.
1. I am no Japanese so I cannot answer Shintoism. From a Chinese perspective though, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism have been so intricately woven in our culture and belief system that most people are unable to distinguish where one starts and the other ends. Though there are obvious things like the Yin-Yang which is a Taoist philosophy and Ku which is the Buddhist philosophy, everything else blurs because the three paths have been embracing each other for over 2000 years and until recently because of the coming of Christianity and Islam, have not sought independent stridings from one another.
To make it simple, original Taoism and Buddhism emerges from two completely different line of thinking and two totally different cultures and worldview.
Buddhism emerged from the Hindu and basically pan-Aryan intellectual Hellenism stretching from Greece all the way to India. As a result, Buddhism incorporated values and world views native to this system. For example, the swastika and the wheel of change, the idea of rebirth and reincarnation, philosophies like that of self and impermanance, the eight fold path and the 4 noble truths and the three states, the middle path, fragments of concepts like salvation as a result from the influence of the mystery religions, etc..
Taoism on the other hand emerged from an older philosophical movement starting from the time of the Xia and Western Chou dynasty. Taoism emphasised unlike the than Hellenistic philosophy which focused on freedom from suffering or complete embracement of deities like Serapis or Mithra or something or deep intellectual philosophical pursuit a very different approach....the return to the simple and to live in time with the Way. This resulted from the than beauracratic Chinese governing system which focused a lot on order and hierarchy which Taoism sees as counterproductive to the path of Enlightenment and Immortality. This approach of blending spiritual life with mundane daily living which is what Taoism is about was something so alien to pan-Aryan philosophy than, which focused on deitic worship, salvation by somet deity, monastic pursuit etc..
When Buddhism came to China, the original Chinese saw it as some form of Taoism and because of this, the two schools could come closer to one another. This is helped with a confluence of certain similar philosophies like the middle way of Buddhism and Balance in Taoism. Therefore, even up till today, most Buddhist and Taoist schools among the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are actually practising a varying blend of the two concepts with Confucianistic values.
2. Fighting monks emerged in India long ago, but never became popular till 800AD in China when Buddhism was on the verge of being annihilated. 700AD to 800AD marked the peak of Buddhism in China, and also the peak of lavishness in the monastic system. The monks nearing 800AD were living life so luxurious that people were sending their children to live in monasteries just to have a comfy headstart. This was bad for the economy and also as the monks were living such happy life, they neglected their primary task to society which are....to guide, to assist, to help.
As a result, support for them declined and at the same time, the nation was assailed with the first wave of barbarians from south and west. In many places, governance collapsed due to internal struggle and foreign assailing. The monks were called upon and as a result, the fighting monks were reformed. Not to harm, not to kill, but strictly to defend the people and the Dharma. The fighting monks according to the ideal will only attack if many people are going to be harmed through non-action, but if only they themselves alone will be harmed and others spared, a lot of them, as history recorded, kungfu masters of the highest degree, let people harm them without retaliating.
Because of this philosophy, fighting monks becomes part of the folklore as defenders for the people.
1. I am no Japanese so I cannot answer Shintoism. From a Chinese perspective though, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism have been so intricately woven in our culture and belief system that most people are unable to distinguish where one starts and the other ends. Though there are obvious things like the Yin-Yang which is a Taoist philosophy and Ku which is the Buddhist philosophy, everything else blurs because the three paths have been embracing each other for over 2000 years and until recently because of the coming of Christianity and Islam, have not sought independent stridings from one another.
To make it simple, original Taoism and Buddhism emerges from two completely different line of thinking and two totally different cultures and worldview.
Buddhism emerged from the Hindu and basically pan-Aryan intellectual Hellenism stretching from Greece all the way to India. As a result, Buddhism incorporated values and world views native to this system. For example, the swastika and the wheel of change, the idea of rebirth and reincarnation, philosophies like that of self and impermanance, the eight fold path and the 4 noble truths and the three states, the middle path, fragments of concepts like salvation as a result from the influence of the mystery religions, etc..
Taoism on the other hand emerged from an older philosophical movement starting from the time of the Xia and Western Chou dynasty. Taoism emphasised unlike the than Hellenistic philosophy which focused on freedom from suffering or complete embracement of deities like Serapis or Mithra or something or deep intellectual philosophical pursuit a very different approach....the return to the simple and to live in time with the Way. This resulted from the than beauracratic Chinese governing system which focused a lot on order and hierarchy which Taoism sees as counterproductive to the path of Enlightenment and Immortality. This approach of blending spiritual life with mundane daily living which is what Taoism is about was something so alien to pan-Aryan philosophy than, which focused on deitic worship, salvation by somet deity, monastic pursuit etc..
When Buddhism came to China, the original Chinese saw it as some form of Taoism and because of this, the two schools could come closer to one another. This is helped with a confluence of certain similar philosophies like the middle way of Buddhism and Balance in Taoism. Therefore, even up till today, most Buddhist and Taoist schools among the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese are actually practising a varying blend of the two concepts with Confucianistic values.
2. Fighting monks emerged in India long ago, but never became popular till 800AD in China when Buddhism was on the verge of being annihilated. 700AD to 800AD marked the peak of Buddhism in China, and also the peak of lavishness in the monastic system. The monks nearing 800AD were living life so luxurious that people were sending their children to live in monasteries just to have a comfy headstart. This was bad for the economy and also as the monks were living such happy life, they neglected their primary task to society which are....to guide, to assist, to help.
As a result, support for them declined and at the same time, the nation was assailed with the first wave of barbarians from south and west. In many places, governance collapsed due to internal struggle and foreign assailing. The monks were called upon and as a result, the fighting monks were reformed. Not to harm, not to kill, but strictly to defend the people and the Dharma. The fighting monks according to the ideal will only attack if many people are going to be harmed through non-action, but if only they themselves alone will be harmed and others spared, a lot of them, as history recorded, kungfu masters of the highest degree, let people harm them without retaliating.
Because of this philosophy, fighting monks becomes part of the folklore as defenders for the people.
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