Buddhism or Taoism

Velo Princesse said:

I'm too tired to think right now so I don't have a ton of comments and that makes me feel bad because of all the effort you clearly put into this post. Thank you so much for sharing this information. I really appreciate it even though I don't have a lot to say.

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My pleasure. Both Taoism and Buddhism are very interesting. I hope my post was helpful.

I have to disagree with the interpretation that Taoism is not a religion. There are Taoist temples and clergy. Magical practices are inherently religious. Systemised spiritual practice and thought is religion.

kit said:

I have to disagree with the interpretation that Taoism is not a religion. There are Taoist temples and clergy. Magical practices are inherently religious. Systemised spiritual practice and thought is religion.

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Agreed, there are some pretty crazy taoist religious beliefs out there, but there is a philosophical aspect too that is a-religious.

I don't see Taoist practices as any crazier than any other religions. Playing dice with bones is less crazy to me than Pentecostals gibbering and rolling on the floor. Monotheists flagelating themselves is pretty crazy to me.

philosophy within religion is also not A-religious. It is a component of a religion just as philosophy is a part of Western religions.

Namaste Velo princess,

thank you for the post, i hope i'm not too late for the thread to have any relevance

whilst it is undeniable that differences exist within the two traditions due to the cultural millieu in which they arose, i have a feeling that is not really the thrust of the query you are posing.

i seem to have the impression that you are asking more about metaphysical aspects, philosophical views and so forth... the "whys" as it were, of the tradition.

in terms of practice, the traditions share much in common.. so much so that to an outside observer there would be little to distinguish the two traditions especially with regards to Ch'an Buddhism which is the Buddhism which arose in China.

there are several way which we could discuss the differences in terms of historical development the methods by which the tradition was promulgated and so forth, all of which is probably outside the scope of a simple chat forum thread. in my mind it would be easier for our conversation were you to select a discussion point for comparision and we can proceed from there.

that said, i would offer that the opening lines of the Tao Te Ching indicate precisely the difference in the two traditions. from a strictly orthodox Buddhist standpoint, these opening lines would be indicative of a being that had realized suchness, experienced the vastness of Emptiness but had not been able to go beyond.

having said that, it would be a mistake for us to presume that Tao, like Buddha Dharma, has a single, unified point of view that all schools agree upon. this is manifestly not the case. some rather large differences exist between the Northern Complete Reality school and the Southern Hygeine school, differences which are doctrinally important but probably not all that relevant for ones actual practice.

Taoist practice was profoundly effected by the arrival of Buddha Dharma in China and, to a lesser extent, Buddha Dharma was effected by the cultural millieu in which Bodhidharma carried the teaching and turned the Wheel for the Chinese.

metta,

~v