Vinegar

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the story of the vinegar tasters, but what I'm about to say may be a more barefaced. In my vaguely Taoist ramblings, I do commonly refer to Zen quite fondly and sometimes fondly towards Buddhism, on the whole, though I'm not too into Buddhism. Philosophically, I lean that way but as for the religion and the methodology then, no, not for me.

Honestly, and this just occurred again to raise my count to many+1, I find a lot of Buddhism rinsed out. As an example, when Buddhist teachers or commentators speak along these lines "the world is messed up [for sighted reason] meditate to make yourself better" it grates against the grain of my Taoist flow.

Some may well say, and have, that if you find the state of things to be unpleasant, then it is you at fault and the very teaching of "the world is messed up [for sighted reason] meditate to make yourself better" is for your benefit but - I don't dig it, and here's why.

My view is that the world is just perfect, each moment is magical. The dwelling in some negative place (even defined as positive) really just goes to make for the illness that Buddhism prescribes the cure for, the cure brings the issue it cures (in a fantastically simplified way that I'm too lazy to flesh out). Ironically, introspection goes to emphasizing the root of all suffering, the I-dea and so from that the false seeing of just some small aspect of reality to then blame or be upset over.

This trimmed down view I have is from reading numerous Buddhist texts and thinking that they commonly get bogged down in things that the purer, but less spoken of texts, do not. The purer ones would be, for example, the heart and diamond sutras where the Buddha says over and over to be free of the first calamity, the belief in I, and to then in the whole and enlightened way, be free. The newer texts, sects, schools, commentaries, offshoots, self-declared awakened masters and monks who write for pleasure or donated treasure, get so tied to medicines that they make themselves and their readers sick and dependent when all they need is a simple realization for freedom. One that I see only in some Buddhist texts, a fair bit of Zen and much more in Taoism.

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Tao Wow | Daily Cup of Tao