Over the past year I have been following a lot of Eastern philosophy. Like all philosophy I find a bit of truth, and I thought I like Buddhism, but it is so mired in myth that is distracts from the message. Taoism, though it does have some organized following, seems to propose the crazy idea that all is subjective. What's even better is that it is a philosophical standpoint, and not a religion.
For so long I have been agnostic, and the Tao does not change this, but it is nice to belong to a following even if it is quite a small niche in my country. I have read a lot of the Tao Te Ching and decided to buy a hard copy to carry around with me. I do feel enlightened, but enlightenment is not what I expected of it. The closer I have come to feeling this way the more I realize it is not to be disconnected and 'above' the world, but deeply rooted in it - accepting of human nature and the natural order of things. Relishing in both chaos and order.
My favorite chapter from the Tao Te Ching:
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 80
A small country has fewer people.
Though there are machines that can work ten to a hundred times faster
than man, they are not needed.
The people take death seriously and do not travel far.
Though they have boats and carriages, no on uses them.
Though they have armor and weapons, no one displays them.
Men return to the knotting of rope in place of writing.
Their food is plain and good, their clothes fine but simple,
their homes secure;
They are happy in their ways.
Though they live within sight of their neighbors,
And crowing cocks and barking dogs are heard across the way,
Yet they leave each other in peace while they grow old and die.
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