Nothing Exists

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.” - Democritus (Greek philosopher, 460-370 BCE)

Matter and energy are really forms of the same thing. (See E=mc².)

The people in my reality are made of atoms, pure energy.
The people in my dreams are made of thoughts, synapses firing, pure energy.

Are they really different?

Nothing exists except Tao.

You Can Believe Your Ego-- Yes, you can!

You can believe your ego and think that you can impact the world, railing against those who oppose you, hoping that your prayers will be answered, battling what you think is evil or wrong, lashing out in anger and frustration, struggling ever upward, making the world a better place, and you might succeed. You might. It could happen. People have done it.

Or you can be at peace with Tao, enjoying your family and friends and the perfect universe that you've been given, avoiding friction and drama, getting done what needs to be done, bending in the wind, keeping your nose out of other people's business, enlightened, understanding that we all are one with Tao down here in the low calm places.

Your choice.

Floating Taoists?

My friend, Doug, recently asked, "So that feather at the beginning of Forrest Gump is a perfect analogy of how life should be according to the Taoist? Just floating where I need to be? Hey! That's what the whole movie is about! No plan for today other than enjoy and be happy? Really?"

I always feel like I should start my response with a Philosophical Taoist disclaimer, "It's all based on how YOU interpret the Tao Te Ching". There are no rules. For me it's about enjoying life. Seeking balance.

We all know that you have to eat and clothe yourself, so you have to do something that will provide for that. You can farm, you can work for someone else, you can create or do stuff that other people will pay you for. That's the day to day stuff that has to happen or you starve or freeze to death.

Verse 11 of the TTC says that 30 spokes make up the wheel but it's the hole in the middle that makes the wheel useful... clay can be molded into a pot, but it's the size of the empty space inside (and what you fill it with) that determines it's value.

Ya gotta work, but it's what you fill the space in between with that determines the value of your life.

You Might Be A Taoist website

Just for fun I've started a new webpage called YouMightBeATaoist.com hoping that it might, in a less serious way, help others discover that they're actually Taoists.

Bird in a Tree vs. Bird in a Cage

Which is better:
A bird in a tree or a bird in a cage?
A fish in a river or a fish in a bowl?
A flower in the field or a flower in a pot?
A person living close to nature, in harmony with all those around them or a person living in a state where there are government and religious leaders controlling their lives?

One could argue that the fish, bird, flower, and person will all live better lives because they are protected and taken care of.

Are you sure?

Water Flows Inwards?

Lao Tzu talks about water flowing downwards.

Today I realized that water doesn't flow downwards, it flows towards the strongest source of gravity. If it flowed downwards, the bottom half of the earth would be covered with water and the North Pole would be completely dry.

Sometimes I just think of silly stuff and then post it.

Sorry. Please go back about your life.

A Facebook Conversation

A Facebook status conversation... this started when FB Friend posted this:

"God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them. Press Like if you agree! =)"
This is all over my facebook wall - I wonder if this is true - why pray at all? Why not just let him read our minds?

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Taoish Guy: Are you sure you want to open THAT door? :)

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There were a few posts, then this:

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FB Friend: Taoish, did you have your hand up? We're very interested in your take on this...

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Taoish Guy: Nuh-uh... I'm just sitting very quietly over here behaving myself. ("Continues tossing grenade from hand to hand.")

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Taoish Guy: Some of us have no need to pray. We realize that we're already in constant contact with our source. And, on top of that, the life we have been given is perfect. Your mileage may vary. Namaste :)

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FB Friend: how did you open that constant contact?

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Taoish Guy: ‎:) ("pulls pin") By replacing Abrahamic religion with Taoist philosophy.

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FB Friend: hmmm - that's not real step-by-step now is it. Or is it a "watch that first step cause it's a doozy" kind of step...

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Other FB Friend: I am really enjoying this thread...

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Taoish Guy: Step-by-step? "The path that can be described (to you by others) is not your True Path." - Lao Tzu

It's sort of like me asking you how you take those really cool pictures that you take. "1. Buy a really good camera." You can tell me how to focus, you can tell me how to light, you can tell me where to stand... but I bet your picture still looks way different than mine.

Included in my steps were a disenchantment with the way that Christian/Muslims/Jews are taught to treat each other and the world, a better understanding of more ancient religions, a better understanding of quantum physics(!), reading books by Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell, Richard Dawkins, and 8-10 different translations of the Tao Te Ching, understanding that Taoist religion (Buddhism, Confucianism) and Taoist philosophy are two different things. And a million other things...

Step-by-step starts to look like one of those wild dance numbers from one of those crazy experimental dance groups!

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FB Friend: but if you can package it in a handy 7 step program, you got yourself a religion - and quite possibly a source of residual income... lol - I'm bad!

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FB Friend: So back on topic - I'm interested in this "constant contact with our source". Do you feel it directs you? Or gives you peace to accept that what comes to you is right for you?

I've felt flashes of it as I've considered Taoism, and wonder... how you would describe it?

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Taoish Guy: ---Disclaimer: Philosophical Taoism is a framework, not the structure itself. There are no membership requirements nor a formal community. There are no creeds. There are no set principles. (As George Carlin might say, "We have no special building where we gather once a week to compare clothing.") About all that any person who considers themselves a Taoist might agree on is the use of certain metaphors and imagery. How those metaphors and imagery are interpreted is up to each individual.---

Having said that, through reading Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and others, I have come to understand that we are never separate from our source, even in death, and neither are rocks or trees or birds or the kitchen table. It's the glue that holds the molecules together. It directs my heart to beat and my lungs to inflate, just like it directs the sun to shine, the wind to blow, and the earth to turn. It offers no moral guidance, because none is necessary.

The peace of acceptance ("Life is perfect.") comes from knowing that (if you believe in God) that God in his/her perfection would have never created a life for you that was not perfect for you.

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FB Friend: well said - that helps me understand

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Taoish Guy: And that's why I don't pray.

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FB Friend: does "the source" know your thoughts?

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Taoish Guy: It is my thoughts. We are all part of it.

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Taoish Guy: Abrahamic religions teach that we are separate from the source calling it "God". Taoist, Native American, and others don't see the same separation.

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FB Friend: oh there's a lot behind this door

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Taoish Guy: We have much to learn, grasshopper! :)

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FB Friend: Because in most religions there's a God that answers prayer, but that kind of goes away when my thoughts become part of some higher collective "good"...

It has interesting ramifications for what we do with our thoughts - literally when we hate... or envy or lust or other "low energy" thought patterns we are hurting the source? Bringing down the collective good? or is it stronger and bigger than that?

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Another FB Friend: I can't even keep up with you guys. Wow.

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Taoish Guy: ‎(What fun!) Behold the infinite universe! I will now bring down the collective good by thinking mean thoughts. :) What? It doesn't care? Nope. The source is not concerned with our thoughts.