Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Yes, seems so. 
"The Chinese were interested in pattern, not things" - Good point. Of course there was a concern with pattern in Europe in classical times - Pythagoras and all that. 
Religious and philosophical Daoism still both continue to this day…"
Oct 10, 2020
Robert Joshin Althouse replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"My understanding is that both the philosophical and the religious Daoism existed along side each other. The philosophical Daoism was taken up mostly by intellectuals, poets and artists while the religious Daoism was a kind of folk religion practiced…"
Oct 9, 2020
Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Thanks, Juan. The term hierarchy can be understood in different ways. I would say that in a healthy hierarchy every member is equally important."
Mar 11, 2016
Juan de Dios López-Rienda replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"I agree with you, David. I mentioned perversion only under the Taoist point of view, not from my personal point of view. For describing what I figure out about the self-rule, I prefer to refer to P2P philosophy where the value is in the endpoints.…"
Mar 11, 2016
Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Thanks, Juan. Yes, there is certainly some truth in all that, though, of course, any kind of social grouping naturally produces hierarchies so the only way to avoid them completely is to be a hermit, which, again, many Taoists did. When you said…"
Mar 5, 2016
Juan de Dios López-Rienda replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Thank you, David, for the creation of this group. When I say perversión is because any spiritual movement once become in any kind of organization generates by itself a hierarchy and consequently one uneven situation. Taoism is the first attempt of…"
Mar 4, 2016
Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"To the best of my knowledge the Chinese do distinguish between a Taoism as philosophy and a Taoism as religion, but I don't think that the see them as antagonistic to one another, particularly, so I think that using the word "perversion" is overly…"
Mar 4, 2016
Juan de Dios López-Rienda replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"The Taoism, as an organized religion, is a perversion of Taoism principles that are not religious ones because, mainly, they are against any hierarchical organization. Moreover, for them God is not required, you are the responsible of your destiny.…"
Mar 4, 2016
Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Thanks, Kaspa. I've just written an answer that has some relevance in the other discussion in this group about the I Ching. I think there is an old and a new way of using these materials. I don't agree with, you, Juan, that what I call the new way…"
Mar 4, 2016
Juan de Dios López-Rienda replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"Sorry. I am not talking about Taoism as a religion. For me this religion is a perversion of the original idea, Taoism is merely a philosophy with its cosmogony and mainly it is a way of self-cultivation and self-empowerment. Abrazos desde las Islas…"
Mar 4, 2016
Dharmavidya replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"As I think Waley points out, different interpretations belong to different phases of history. The earliest phase of all this is probably the idea that there is the Way of Heaven and the ways of humans. Heaven, in China, originally simply meant the…"
Mar 4, 2016
Juan de Dios López-Rienda replied to Kaspalita's discussion The Tao vs Amida in TAO & EASTERN WISDOM
"The Taijitu symbol expresses the dynamic equilibrium that fuels the Universe, is as you mention very similar to western Homeostasis concept, anything in the Universe tends to its minimum entropy state. The deep idea behind Tao is that Universe is…"
Mar 4, 2016