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I'm not sure exactly what you mean by creation and reaction in this context. Though, I think that creation as an 'occurence', so to speak, is any state of affairs observed in its most fundamental spontaneity. 'Observed' is the key word, really, because that which can arguably be called...

Well, the four points I mentioned were simply covering the entire gamut of what is usually called Taoism. I did not intend to convey that Jesus, were he a Taoist, would have necessarily exhibited all four traits. My point was in showing that Jesus did not leave us any evidence that he...

It has been a while since I've looked at this thread, and I've noticed that one of my entries was quoted a few times with some further commentary. I feel compelled to add some notes based on these further discussions. Firstly, 'cavalier' mentioned my post in the context of 'westerner bashing'...

The entry posted by AletheiaRivers hits the problem right on the head. It is a common misconception among Westerners that Taoism is a specific spiritual doctrine. Although this is true in that there is a Taoist orthodoxy, the term Taoist is often used to refer to many types of people also called...

Well, to say 'no doubt' is a bit of an exaggeration. Jesus' time in the East is still in its theoretical stages as far as I could determine. After all, if Jesus did take a tour of the East, then why is it that he didn't: -Express sentiments to a shamanic Taoist pantheism, instead expressing...

Well, what would be the qualification for him to be termed a Taoist? He certainly was not a shaman of the early days of Chinese Taoism. After all, he had a new spiritual message, one that was particularly non-pantheistic. In fact, the tradition erected in his worship has been talking all...

Well, the problem in this case is not a confusion of literal Hinduism and liberal Hinduism. Rather, the problem is a confusion between what is essentially "scholarly" Hinduism and Hinduism as it is practiced and lived in normal, everyday life. It is not as though a Hindu hears that a new book...

Well, I suppose that from a certain persepctive, religions of any kind are basically just models for what has been called many different names: "spiritual power", "faith", "enlightenment", the list goes on... I say this only because the real benefit that 'established' doctrines offer a...

As a matter of fact, Gunner, Confucius always refused to define 'jen', in much the same way as Lao-Tzu never really defined 'te'. The reason that such sages never set these in stone is because both qualities were known as things that could not be verbally conveyed. Even though Confucius is...

I am somewhat compelled to ask why you would want to be a Hindu if you didn't believe in 80% of their scriptures? I mean, being a Hindu isn't really anything special, so if you don't particularly like most of their scriptures, just enjoy the ones you do like. There is no need to determine...

Wen-Tzu In the previous posting about the Hua Hu Ching, I mentioned that I would add some information about Wen-Tzu. Wen-Tzu is an interesting book for anyone interested in Taoist literature. As it turns out, Wen-Tzu could be called a 'Lost Book of Lao-Tzu'. Unlike the Hua Hu Ching, Wen-Tzu...

I have recently been thinking alot about the so-called 'lost books of Lao-Tzu' myself. I was wondering exactly why these 'lost books' aren't noted in the typical line-up of the quintessential Taoist books: Lao Tzu (or the Tao Te Ching'), Chuang-Tzu, and Lieh-Tzu. The two 'lost books' I know of...

I read the post that started this thread, and admittedly, it seems that the last dozen or so replies in the four-page listing have gotten pretty far away from the original question. This is to be expected, of course, in a discussion forum. However, I would like to address the original question...

The Buddha Putai, the Laughing Buddha, is not really supposed to be a representation of a Buddha deity. The Buddha Amitabha, for instance, is the primary Buddha of most Japanese forms of Buddhism/Zen Buddhism, but he is not a manifest Buddha. That is to say, he's not in any way related to a...

I see the parallel of the four states between the areas you've listed, but the 'dimensional' properties? I've personally read the Book of Changes, and I can't recall any direct mention of dimensions. As for the four states of Buddhism, I am familiar with them as: "ji", "ri", "ri ji muge"...

Firstly... ----- For me though, I find the whole experience of being alive to be an uplifting thing in itself. I've been through depression recently, and there have been times of despair. But the thing that's pulled me through it is looking around at how amazing each individual person is. When...

I, personally, have smoked plenty of marijuana in my life. And although I'm sure that this can be misconstrued as reflecting a certain bias to my viewpoints, I don't believe that I am really partial to any particular preconceived argument. I speak from my own experience and from what I can...

Well, even rebirth is difficult to 'pin down' (this may be a bit long-winded, sorry if I get boring). The entire Universe is like a pendulum in a certain sense...everything is revolving or switching...on/off. We are alive, and we thus have a gamut of experiences and memories, and when we die...

It seems to me, personally, that too much is being 'technically' pinned down about 'enlightenment'. How can one even begin to approach saying what enlightenment or nirvana is? It is not a particular sound or a grouping of letters, really. When I first began to be interested in Buddhism, I was...

I think an interesting note on this topic is found in Chuang Tzu. I don't recall the details of the story, but the more notable portion (I have sort of rewritten it from memory, but have tried to remain as close to the original story as I could). This doesn't really shed any light on the finer...