Taoism: Is it what I think?

Luthien wrote: Ah, the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet. How I remember those books, well. I first started reading the Tao Te Ching in high school, which was fairly daunting at the time. When I read the Tao of Pooh and Te of Piglet, I understood it a lot better, especially the part about the uncarved block. Definitely a recommended read!

Oh, yea! I the uncarved block is one of my favorite parts! Probably a close second to the Pooh Way (Wu Wei Wu)

Luthien wrote: Ah, the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet. How I remember those books, well. I first started reading the Tao Te Ching in high school, which was fairly daunting at the time. When I read the Tao of Pooh and Te of Piglet, I understood it a lot better, especially the part about the uncarved block. Definitely a recommended read!

Aren't you forgetting the Ching of Tigger?

lol, I didn't know there was a Ching of Tigger. Is it a limited edition?

Luthien wrote: lol, I didn't know there was a Ching of Tigger. Is it a limited edition?

Not sure if playing into joke, or if serious

Kohadre wrote:

Luthien wrote: lol, I didn't know there was a Ching of Tigger. Is it a limited edition?

Not sure if playing into joke, or if serious

Bazinga! It's my specialty. lol

why not both, seriously playing into the joke? his ching of tigger book would look lovely on the mantle next to my 'christopher robbins grows up to sell his soul to the man' gold foil leaf limited edition with holographic cover.

Desolous wrote: why not both, seriously playing into the joke? his ching of tigger book would look lovely on the mantle next to my 'christopher robbins grows up to sell his soul to the man' gold foil leaf limited edition with holographic cover.

Love it!

Desolous wrote: why not both, seriously playing into the joke? his ching of tigger book would look lovely on the mantle next to my 'christopher robbins grows up to sell his soul to the man' gold foil leaf limited edition with holographic cover.

This gave me a good laugh :silly:

Kristofer Schipper argues in The Taoist Body for the inseparability of Daoist beliefs from traditional practices and everyday activities in China. While traditional, historical, and cultural Chinese Daoism is academically interesting, my own form of Daoism/Jediism focuses more on living its philosophical insights than in a lifestyle that practices or re-enacts Chinese myth in ritual activities. Even so, Daoism is a way of being in the world. Its philosophical tenets are to be lived, but for me that doesn't include Chinese ritual practices. To read more about what the West has done with and to Daoism, I recommend The Tao of the West: Western Transformations of Taoist Thought by J. J. Clarke.

In addition to Schipper and Clarke I recommend also these scholars/translators:

Livia Kohn
Harold D. Roth
Thomas Cleary
Burton Watson
Hans-Georg Moeller

See also the publications from The University of Hawai'i Press and Shambhala Press, Boston.

It seems that most intuitive practices that last long enough are doomed to become ritualised. This was certainly the case with Taoism as ritual took over as a way of connecting. There is a clear distinction between Classical Taoism and later, more ritualised, forms. I suspect that many of us here practice as you do, focusing on the earlier incarnations of Taoism.