>you need to separate the philosophies of Tao from the religion of Tao.
Well, I'm glad to see you're at least checking on some of what I
write. Please feel free to insert 'philosophical' infront of any use of mine
of the word 'Taoism'.
And by the by, it should be "religionS" [emphasising the final 's'],
as there is rather a variety of different practices, of which your
encyclopedea only mentioned one.
Note that philosophical Taoism, as exemplified by Lao Tzu existed
for as much as a thousand years before Lao Tzu, and "religious" Taoism did
not appear until several hundred years after Lao Tzu, and even then it's
history is complex as it interacts with other religious and philosphical
movements in China.
>Perhaps, we have pursued this one as far as we can, but what you have told
>me is what you believe,
The universe is there. Big, and bright and indefatigable.
> not the why you believe it,
What choice does the universe leave you but to "believe" in it. It
is brute fact. The low table waiting to bark your shins on a dark night. The
gnawing in your belly if you go too long without eating. The sunburn you get
on a summer day spent too long in the sun. It may be good, or it may be bad,
but it absolutely does not go away.
For better or worse, you must deal with that universe every day of
your life.
> or you philosophical basis.
You take the brute facts of the universe, and try and order them. If
and when someone shows you a better way, you take it and add it to your
store of information.
> If you wish to stop discussion on this one now. It is fine with me.
Re read the post that ends with being becomming.
Ciao.
Michael Fisher, ET1/SS USN ret., lawstudent
http://www.sonoma.edu/cthink/Library/intraits.html
* * *
He that would make his own liberty secure,
must guard even his enemy from oppression;
for if he violates this duty,
he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine