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You can look at it, but you can't see it; it has no color, no size
You can listen to it, but you can't hear it; it has no tone, no words
You can grasp it, but you can't hold it; it has no texture, no shape
These three senses can not measure its depths
It passes beyond where they mingle and become one
One - there is nothing greater around it
Nothing smaller inside
It has no edge, no definition, no name
And it is constantly returning to itself
It is the form of formlessness
The image of imagelessness
Subtle and hidden
How can you follow what has no back
How can you lead what has no front
Stay with it, here and now, and you will find
The thread that runs unbroken from the ancient past
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Real eyes
Realize
Real lies
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why is a poetic mishmash of tautologies and contradictions considered important?
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>>9895994
>The closest description to the reality of things ever seen in philosophy
>mishmash of tautologies and contradiction
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DUDE VIA NEGATIVA LMAO
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>>9896088
“A frog in a well cannot discuss the ocean, because he is limited by the size of his well. A summer insect cannot discuss ice, because it knows only its own season. A narrow-minded scholar cannot discuss the Tao, because he is constrained by his teachings. Now you have come out of your banks and seen the Great Ocean. You now know your own inferiority, so it is now possible to discuss great principles with you.
井蛙不可以語於海者,拘於虛也;夏蟲不可以語於冰者,篤於時也;曲士不可以語於道者,束於教也。今爾出於崖涘,觀於大海,乃知爾醜,爾將可與語大理矣。”
― Zhuangzi, The Way of Chuang Tzu
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>>9896003
>The closest description to the reality of things ever seen in philosophy
Hinduism does it better. Taoism describes the impersonal Brahman. Hinduism does this while also describing the higher Brahman with attributes, the Ishvara.
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>>9896224
Maybe the impersonal Brahman is all that can be described, that was my point
Do you recommend the Upanishads to into Hindu philosophy/teology?
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>>9896235
The impersonal Brahman, by nature, cannot be described as it contains no qualities. How do you put words to something that has no features? At best all you would manage is to call it eternal and unchanging.
The personal Brahman, simply known as God as well, can be described however as it he is full of qualities. Just as a person has certain characteristics, Parabrahman also has certain characteristics. For example, God being truthful, ever youthful, strong, steadfast, are just among his various qualities.
The Upanishads are very dense for an intro into Hinduism, I would recommend the Bhagavad Gita to begin with, as it summarizes all Vedic wisdom quite elegantly and is easy to understand.
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>>9896088
I absolutely suck at shit posting
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I can pick this up for next to nothing, should I do so?
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>>9897879
absolutely
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>>9897879
Depends on the translation. Attempts to translate Chinese are notoriously variable. You need to come at it from several angles to form a coherent picture.
Pic related is my recommendation. It will cost you rather more than nothing ...
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>>9896138
>shitposter BTFO
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>>9897879
taoist and buddhist texts are all really interesting and not as pompously written as a lot of other religious writing. it's made pretty plain in a way that makes you think about the content more than how it's written. i like the dhammapada more than the tao te ching tho.
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I don't trust the asians, not after pearl harbor
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while we're talking eastern religion, what's the best translation of the lotus sutra?
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>>9896138
based
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>>9896138
Taoposters should avoid becoming a meme.
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>>9895299
Assuming they are talking about nothing, then they have their metaphysics out of sorts. Nothing can't be an unbroken thread, it can't return to itself. It's nothing.
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>>9896138
Utterly fucking destroyed.
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>>9898452
>Assuming they are talking about nothing
You assume wrong.
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>must be intentionally obscure because i can't comprehend it
>i must comprehend everything
>even when i'm explicitly being told this can't be comprehended
this is a once in a lifetime opportunity fellas. a moment when you can let go. don't worry so much about understanding. what's it to you if you manage to define the undefinable and grasp the ungraspable? it will be regardless. it has existed and will continue to exist. from the beginning of time till far after you are dead, it is
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>>9898452
They are talking about everything fool
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>>9898475
>form of formlessness
>he thinks that isn't nothing
>>9898489
So in your world everything has no color or texture? Tell me how your music sounds with no tone. Step aside peasant you don't know what you're talking about. In the case that you do, please be my guest and tell what the text is referring to. The Dao doesn't count.
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>>9898489
Silly anon. They are talking about the pattern in everything. The confucians have a better word for it: Li. It means the markings in jade. It's the same thing the Buddhists believe is the mutual essence between incarnations.
Too bad the daoists intentionally speak vaguely of it. If they would have taken their thoughts more seriously maybe they could have come up with something corrigible. They were too busy trying to make youth potions and finding ways to tell the future. Daoism is a cult like any other senpai.
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I like Taoism & Hinduism....
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>>9898747
I bet you also like jazz cabbage and Birkenstocks
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Soooooooo, imagination?
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>>9898764
I like cooking with cabbage and pondering the meaning of life while listening to Alan Watts on (You)tube, but no Jazz.
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>>9895299
Can you feel it, see it, hear it today?
If you can't, then it doesn't matter anyway
You will never understand it cause it happens too fast
And it feels so good, it's like walking on glass
It's so cool, it's so hip, it's alright
It's so groovy, it's outta sight
You can touch it, smell it, taste it so sweet
But it makes no difference cause it knocks you off your feet
You want it all but you can't have it
It's cryin', bleedin', lying on the floor
So you lay down on it and you do it some more
You've got to share it, so you dare it
Then you bare it and you tear it
You want it all but you can't have it
It's in your face but you can't grab it
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>>9898877
Oh Alan watts. If only a more truthful less pernicious man had been given his golden voice and wizard face. He has every appearance of a sage and speaks like one but his ideas are dangerous. Go ahead and listen to him it's worth it just to inherit more interesting questions.
One idea, to give an example of his messy philosophy, he shares is that we live in a world of symbols or like he says we eat the menu not the food, confuse money for wealth, etc. This can lead you to think there is an illusion you are caught in and that you don't see real reality. This sounds extreme but coupled with other parts of his logic it is very subconsciously convincing. Especially if you got into him to attain some sort of higher knowledge in the first place.
He also introduces thought loops intentionally. Hell ask you to find your self and say that it is like policemen chasing criminals up a building. Every time they search a floor the criminals go up to the next one. This is exactly how it is if you pay attention.
"What am I thinking?"
"Well now I'm thinking about what I'm thinking about"
"Now I'm thinking about what I'm thinking about what I'm thinking about"
At some point you realize you aren't really a step behind and that you are always just thinking. There isn't a thinker of thoughts just the thoughts. Anyways go down the Alan watts rabbit hole at your own risk.
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>>9896138
So... The Cave Allegory?
Thread posts: 34
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Thread images: 5