As I read the book I got the impression that the Taoism of ancient China is an outlook on ourselves and the world that is fundamentally different from our modern way of life. It is also totally different from the way I was brought up. It is totally different from the way people I know look at life. In fact I do not know anybody who looks at life in this way and that includes myself and I am interested in Philosophy.
1 comment:
Nikhil
I agree with you that Alan Watts' book is very important in the understanding of Taoism from a western perspective (I have a copy myself and read it often).
It is only through cultivation that we can achieve that sense of compassion that enables us to understand that the Tao exists in all of us equally; only through this compassion can we trust.
It's not an easy thing, but something that we should seek to cultivate, gently, carefully, without undue striving. This realization does come, but we should try to understand the texts and how they apply to our lives first; compassion and trust will come later.
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