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NTGenericus t1_ix954fa wrote

Reply to comment by DracoOccisor in The famous Butterfly Dream of Taoist Philosophy and how it recommends a radical openness to judging right from wrong by CaptainOfTheKeys

The World is always going to be involved only with itself. The World (the ten-thousand things) can't see anything outside of itself, and probably never will. The Razor's Edge (1984) is an excellent film about exactly this. Worldly people see the movie as a string of tragedies, but what they're really seeing are the results of Worldly attachments. The one unattached person is the only person who becomes enlightened and makes it out. Imho, attempting to teach the attached about wu wei and the pathless path is pointless. The World is only ever going to see the world. In this case, wu wei is probably the way.

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DracoOccisor t1_ix9nbll wrote

Zhuangzi doesn’t teach detachment. His recommended way of living looks like detachment, but it’s actually a radical reorientation of your relationship to your personal values and the world around you. That mode of living still allows for attachment. Zhuangzi still mourned the death of Huizi, after all. The detachment you seem to be talking about is Buddhist influence on later religious Daoism (道教 as opposed to 道家).

That being said, I am sympathetic to your point and I think you’re right. I’m only pointing out some blurring that you have between religious Daoism and philosophical Daoism, which are distinct branches of thought. It’s easy to fall into this trap if you follow online Daoist groups instead of studying Daoism academically.

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NTGenericus t1_ixa00g5 wrote

You're absolutely right. I have consciously blended Daoism and Zen. I have never been a member of a Daoist group. And all I have ever done is read Laozi and Zhuangzi. However, I had quite the mystical experience one day that lasted for more than two years. That came directly from reading Laozi. But, the only explanation I could find for what happened to me came straight out of Zen. Very perceptive on your part. Not too long ago I shifted back toward Daoism, but only the Laozi/Zhuangzi version. I couldn't care less about Internal Alchemy and all that. I studied with a Daoist priest and after two days I left because it was nothing like what I was after. It was then that I started looking at Zen.

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